Sutherland, P. (2014) “Dying for Europe“, Project Syndicate, 19 September.
This summer, a gruesome tragedy unfolded aboard a ship in the Mediterranean Sea. Twenty-nine men, women, and children fleeing crisis-torn countries succumbed to engine fumes in the vessel’s hold. As 60 others scrambled to escape, the human traffickers carrying them to Europe stabbed them and threw them into the sea off the coast of Lampedusa. Eventually, a Danish petrol tanker rescued 569 survivors.
More recently, some 500 migrants died off the coast of Malta, when a group of human traffickers responded to the passengers’ refusal to move onto smaller vessels by deliberately ramming the boat that had carried them from Egypt. Less than a week later, dozens of asylum-seekers perished when their boat capsized near the Libyan coast.
Such large numbers of deaths in and around Europe should do more than briefly seize headlines. But Europeans seem inured to the plight of asylum-seekers and migrants, almost 3,000 of whom have died in the Mediterranean this year. This situation is untenable, both morally and politically.
Of course, Europe cannot help all of those fleeing violence and destitution. But, as the world’s wealthiest continent, it can certainly do more, especially if it adopts a unified approach.
At a time when the number of displaced people is at an historic high, the European Union – which accounts for 29% of global wealth – hosts just 9% of refugees, leaving far poorer countries to carry most of the burden. For example, tiny Lebanon shelters more than one million of the three million Syrians who are displaced, whereas the EU – 100 times larger – has taken in only about 100,000.
Relevant posts:
- Razin, A. & Sadka, E. (2014) “Migration states and welfare states: Why is America different from Europe?“, VoxEU Organisation, 01 September.
- Jaroszewicz, Μ. (2014) “Can we expect a rise in migration from Eastern Europe?“, EU Observer, 15 July.
- Aldea. E. (2014) Five minutes with Eva Aldea: “A ‘Fortress Europe’ accessible only to those within would be as much of a failure of the European project as dissolution of the Union”, LSE EUROPP Interview, 07 July.