Migrants at the gates of Europe: Will the EU tear down walls of fear?

The history of humanity is very much a history of human migrations –often turbulent, but mostly an agent of creative and progressive ferment.  The current influx of migrants to EU from Middle East and Africa should not be seen as a crisis, but rather as a win-win opportunity, and a lesson on human solidarity that both Europe and the U. S. should learn. Media discussion concerning the arrival of those who seen protection and better lives at the gates of Europe have been lately heavily dominated by something very familiar – labeling people. Labels seem to matter. They have the power to determine who deserves entry, protection and help, and who is considered to be an undesirable burden. Migrants’ individual stories as well as theirs and our humanity get lost in dubious distinction between “refugees” and “economic migrants.”

In the past, Europe had a very troublesome and complex relationship with non-European migrants. Post-colonialism brought both limited migration and social tensions with local populations over resources and cultural differences. EU countries allowed, often unwillingly, a small number of migrants, both political and economic, to settle there. Overall though, in some EU member counties policies concerning migrants were, and sometimes still remain, design in a anti-migrant spirit and often just flat out xenophobic. In many places, the failure of social, educational, and economic integration led to formation of ethnic urban slums with rampant poverty and disproportionate raging youth unemployment. The unwillingness to address this challenge is many political circles catering to nationalistic chauvinism prevented any radical policy changes to disarm this ticking bomb.

The latest massive migration from Northern African, Syria and surrounding area, created a human crisis exacerbate by the unsolved integration issues in Europe. People risk everything to desperately reach European soil for reasons that loosely fall into two categories. The primary reason is the fear for their personal security.  The ongoing war amongst many different factions in Middle East after the collapse of dictatorial regimes has created the unmanageable situation of power vacuum and unraveling of social fabric with basics trust and safety.  There is no end in sight and no one is safe in this mayhem. The West no longer sees the strategic value in the region as new alternative energy sources are being developed. Self-absorption with political processes and economic troubles only add to the list of other reasons for this lack of engagement.  Dropping few bombs in the name of deterring terrorists is supposed to pass as a proof of our commitment to solving the problem. Meanwhile, innocent people are dying from starvation, lawlessness and are indiscriminately killed for simply being contingent hostages of circumstances of their predicament. The West confronted with the massive influx of these desperate victims or “refugees” and struggles to accommodate them in the spirit of human solidarity and moral decency. Some scenes are flat out appalling. At a station in Czech Republic, police pulled migrants off a train and marked numbers on their arms.  Hungary is building a barb-wired fence to keep them out. Sounds familiar? Sadly, it seems very little is learned from history.

The other reason for this colossal migration is due to economic despair.  People from North Africa went through years of conflicts, repression, corruption, kleptocratic regimes, and Arab Spring, which failed to deliver and brought more instability in the region. Particularly, the African and Middle East youth do not have any chance of succeeding in this deplorable and impossible situation. The damage inflicted by this depravation, lack of any prospect of economic upward mobility, and growing income disparities. Particularly, the African and Middle East youth do not have any chance of succeeding in this deplorable and impossible situation. Climate change and scarcity of resources will likely further exacerbate this crisis. The image of better future in EU is a powerful motivator to migrate, often as strong as fear or persecutions and death. Life without hope and dignity is for many not a life worth living. The closest “shining beacon” of opportunities from the mentioned regions happened to the EU. These people are called “economic migrants.” They are considered to be less desirable in Europe than “refugees” and at a greater risk of deportation.

This convergence of “refugees” and “economic migrants” of the fleeing populations is a perfect storm that has been brewing for sometime.  Until recently, EU and the U.S. were too busy stabilizing the global economy after the financial brinkmanship of 2008. Furthermore, political climate has shifted leading to American disengagement in the entire Middle East, diminished the geopolitical importance of the region due to development of domestic energy sources, and lack of foreign investment in North Africa following the Arab Spring.  Labeling of these two groups by different names and making it difficult for one group to stay in EU is essentially fueled by ignorance and cynicism of policy makers who pander to xenophobic and nationalistic extremists. Sadly, this fatal injection of fear may spread to the rest of liberal society.   Differentiating migrants dependent on their perceived motivations is highly questionable and bears an uncanny resemblance to selections done not too long ago on ramps based on perceived human utility. In reality, they are all vulnerable human fellows who seek safety, protection of their families and are willing to take unimaginable risks to achieve that.

If the appeal to basic human solidarity is not powerful enough to alleviate fears a shatter economic selfishness, perhaps more pragmatic approach may help.  EU as a collective is facing a major problem with its aging population. Soon, the old European life style will not be possible to sustain without a major additional fresh work force.  These young vibrant migrants can be a great addition to the future of aging EU societies.   EU’s integration policies, however, would have to undergo radical transformation and improvement in order to also help a harmonious multicultural society in long run. Ultimately, if done correctly, the massive influx of migrants could culturally and economically revitalize the Old Continent. Thus, embracing all migrants is not only the right thing to do, but also a necessity for its own future survival. Yes, there is also a lesson for the U.S. on how to welcome our own migrants.

Authors:

Dr. Dennis Anderson is Professor of Management and IT at St. Francis College. He also serves as Founding Executive Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and the Institute of E-Government and Sustainability. He has taught at NYU, CUNY, and Pace University. He has advised the United Nations on e-government and public administration as an expert.    http://drdennisanderson.wordpress.com

Mr. Robert Niewiadomski is an educator in New York who has published on various topics including philosophical and social implications of technologies.