The Guardian reports that nearly all of the 150,000 or so of refugees who are attempting to cross into Europe will be sent back to Africa and only 5,000 or so will be settled in Europe. This is a misguided policy which will only exacerbate the massive humanitarian crisis in Libya and the Middle East and which does not address any of the underlying causes. This despite the publication of a letter from 50 people across the political spectrum calling the current indifference and police state tactics a "stain on the conscience."
The summit comes as a joint letter to EU leaders signed by more than 50 former European prime ministers, foreign ministers and business leaders, condemned the death toll of migrants in the Mediterranean as a “stain on the conscience of our continent” and demanded the immediate restoration of expansive search-and-rescue operations. Signatories include the former EU commissioner and Conservative party chairman, Chris Patten; the former Swedish prime minister, Carl Bilt; French former foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner; and George Soros of the Open Society Foundation.
The letter appeals to EU leaders to go beyond the 10-point plan agreed by foreign and interior ministers on Monday and instead calls for an immediate restoration of expansive rescue operations “with a mandate and level of funding that match the humanitarian emergency that confronts us”. The letter says the decision to withdraw support last October for Italy’s Mare Nostrum operation had only succeeded in vastly increasing the number of deaths.
The US can help in this effort by finding places for some of these people. It need not be a chaotic, uncontrolled flow of people; the US could match some of these migrants to job situations where they would succeed. This country was built on immigrants and the US has always branded itself as a refuge for people fleeing from war, famine, and oppression. The US had no laws regarding immigration until the same people who brought us Jim Crow brought us the Yellow Scare and the first immigration quotas. And it is a myth that immigrants somehow take jobs away from the rest of us; in fact, the same skills that are needed to succeed in the business world -- risktaking, positive thinking, and the sustenance of hope in the face of impossible odds -- are skills that migrants have.
This crisis is blowback for the failed Western policies in Iraq, Syria, and Libya. The overthrow of Iraq's and Libya's governments have simply created a power vacuum which have displaced millions, spawned one failed state in Libya, and created massive civil war in Syria. The least that the West can do is help the people affected by these conflicts rebuild their shattered lives in some way. And it is obvious that many have not learned the lessons of the failure of our policies in Iraq and Libya given the continued attempts to effect regime change in Syria.
Migration has been a phenomena throughout history, and passing laws against it will not stop the problem any more than Prohibition stopped alcohol consumption or the War on Drugs stopped pot use or laws against abortion stop women from going out and getting one. In all likelihood, migrants who are deported will simply try again. And given the fact that manmade Climate Change is already displacing people and creating hardships in Africa, this is a problem that will only get worse over the next few decades.
We all agree that the kind of trafficking practiced, where traffickers force migrants to spend their life savings for a chance at crossing into Europe alive and start over again, needs to be cracked down on and stopped. But that is only treating the symptoms of the problem. Open borders is not a solution either; governments will not be able to screen for potential ISIS terrorists. The ideal goal for the West would be to make it as easy as possible to migrate legally while strengthening the civil societies of African and Middle Eastern countries as much as possible given the circumstances.
If the West fails to come up with a plan to manage the flow of migrants legally and settle them in places where they can rebuild their shattered lives, then ISIS will do it for them. The Sunnis in Iraq who were disenfranchised by the Iraqi government's policies were easy targets for ISIS recruiters who promised them a much greater stake in their society. This will only serve to strengthen the Islamic State right as US, Iraqi, Iranian, and Kurdish efforts have finally checked them in Iraq.
The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal, not just all Americans. Therefore, the US has a moral obligation to play a role in solving this crisis and reclaim its historic role as a refuge from war, famine, and conflict. Most organizations function better if they are more diverse. The problems of manmade Climate Change, the threat of a third world war and nuclear conflict, and massive economic displacement due to the rise of technology are all problems which need a collective solution. If the US reclaims its role as the world's melting pot, it will be well-placed to meet these challenges in future years.