2023-06-16 20:00:34
Issued on Saturday 17 June 2023
Innsbruck (OTS) – 500 people drowned this week when just one refugee boat sank near the Greek coast. And Europe is discussing registration centers and detention-like camps. The real problems remain.
The image released by the Greek Coast Guard is fuzzy and blurry. Nevertheless, the horror in the Mediterranean makes it much clearer than numbers can. You can see people crowding aboard a crowded fishing boat. The ship sank a little later – and with it 500 people or more. 104 shipwrecked were rescued.
Only a few days before the accident, the EU interior ministers had presented outlines for a common asylum system. Migrants are to be subjected to an initial quick check in camps with conditions similar to detention at the EU’s external borders. If they need protection, they can stay. If they are not, they have to start the journey back from these camps.
It is true that there is still a long way to go before a valid decision is taken on new asylum rules. Many questions are open. Still, it was the first approach in years.
And suddenly the reports from Greece: “At least 32 dead,” it said at first. Bad, but almost used to it. Later there were 59. Even hardened people listen up. In between, the message that more people than ever are fleeing the world. shrug. Then once more Greece: “At least 79 dead” – and no more hope for hundreds more.
The interior ministers justify the tightening of the asylum rules with the fact that they want to cut off the traffickers’ business. Then fewer ships with migrants would leave.
Can this plan work? At least it can’t be ruled out. Is “Fortress Europe” the solution? Rather no. Walls and fences, no matter how high, cannot prevent people from setting off if they lack prospects at home.
Safe escape routes, as required by the UN? Difficult: Who is allowed on these routes? And under what conditions? And won’t many try once more to get past the restrictions? Regulated labor migration as an outlet? A solution for the few – and not a solution for the many.
So what? There is no such thing as a miracle recipe. There are many steps that are necessary – in Europe, but also with the countries from which the migrants come and through which they pass. This is tedious and tedious, some things are already happening, often too little.
It is clear that there is no time. Because people continue to set sail every day on overcrowded and unsuitable boats. And many perish.
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