How to Win Human Smugglers?

According to the International Migration Organisation, this year alone has seen over three quarters of a million refugees from Middle East and Africa on the coasts of Italy and Greece. Many of them have crossed the Mediterranean with the help of human smugglers. Human smuggling has become a profitable business for criminal networks, which has brought along a severe humanitarian and security crisis. The smugglers receive profit from the problems of other people – they ask ridiculous amounts of money for a service that lacks quality and security. Both businessmen and corrupt officials earn from this migrant flux and therefore have no interest in lessening these numbers. Besides, the stop and rest areas of migrants feed hundreds of legal businesses: hostels and restaurants, transport firms and building companies. However, the demand for such services comes from abroad. It is caused by the military crises in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea. To end this, European soldiers must get their boots dirty and bring some sacrifices. Despite these sacrifices, we can still not be sure whether the result would be stable lawful republics with religious pluralism, or a new set of problems, like in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq currently face. Thus, military measures would hardly decrease this pressure. Should we close the borders around Europe until things settle down? Even if it would be technically possible, how would hermetic seals work with the humane and legal obligations to offer international protection to those in need? By building fences, we throw new obstacles in the way of those escaping from war, making their journeys longer, more expensive and more dangerous. Is it ethical? Is it sustainable? Let’s look closer Even though people can answer these questions in different ways, everyone will agree that asylum applications must be reviewed more thoroughly. We must separate people in need of international protection from economic migrants as fast and flawlessly as possible. The president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker implied that even Europe, the richest of all continents, could not solve all the problems and concerns of the world. That would be a naive goal to set. That being said, we must not forget that every decision to deny an immigrant must be weighed and has to respect their human dignity. Quite often, refugees stay at their neighbouring countries, Syrians prefer Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. By now, one in four Lebanese people is actually Syrian and the Zaatar refugee camp established in Jordan in 2012 has become one of the biggest “towns” in the country with 80 000 inhabitants. According to the UN migrant service, in the summer of 2015, four million people in these countries waited for the end of the war and the chance to return to Syria. As months turn into years and civil wars keep raging, people acknowledge the improbability of returning to their motherland and the quality of life in their new home becomes an increasingly important factor – the chance to educate children, find legal work and support the family, getting medical help, safety and self-fulfilment. Sadly, the UN refugee agency claim many large refugee camps have problems with elementary equipment. Food rations are being significantly reduced. If the life in the neighbouring country is not up to any standards and returning home impossible, the refugees move on. Instead of towing overcrowded vessels across the Mediterranean and reviewing hundreds of thousands of applications in Greece and Italy, the finances of the European Union would be much better invested in supporting refugee camps and arranging the application system in Africa and Middle East. This would also save money or the refugees – money that currently flows into the pockets of criminals. Another proposal to ponder is the idea that member states of the EU should mutually agree on not only the denied applications, but also recognise the ones accepted. This would give those under international protection the freedom to move across the European Union to wherever they can find employment and better opportunities for self-fulfilment. Less than half Not everyone that reaches Europe, not even the majority of applicants can be identified as refugees. For example, in 2014 only 45% of applicants received a positive answer. We receive people who are not persecuted, who do not escape from war and death. What they escape from, is a poor and dead-end life, which no European could accept. The flux would be reduced by activities that help develop the economy of Africa and other countries near Europe. It is possible that abolishing customs taxes on “third world” products would increase their export capabilities and raise the local quality of life. The wealthy western countries should not feel guilty only about the legacy of colonial exploitation, but also the gigantic ecological footprint set by the modern consumer culture, which results in climatic change – desertification and vanishing fresh water supplies, which in turn make people leave their homes. An interesting way to decrease the numbers of migrants would be informational campaigns, which explain the threats and problems of cooperating with human smugglers and staying illegally in the European Union. This is the approach currently used by the International Migration Organisation. It is still unclear, to what extent people living in poverty in Mali, Senegal or Nigeria care about such warnings. They probably are psychologically more inclined to believe the promises of the smugglers. Equal opportunities Those who are deemed worthy of international protection should be treated with respect and warmth. People are only accepted if it is certain there is no swift solution to the problems in their country. They will stay in their new homes for a long period or even indefinitely. Therefore, it is vital to integrate them into their new society. They and their descendants must have the same opportunities for self-fulfilment as locals, equal engagement in decision processes and identical quality of life. It is highly improbable the first, second or the third generation of immigrants would turn against the country and the people who welcomed and embraced them. The kindness must be all encompassing – from politicians, officials and the media through to the teachers, co-workers and neighbours. Integration will help us avoid the security risks that accompany social exclusion. On the other hand, it helps us insure that those receiving the protection will benefit the economy and well-being of their new European home country. Europe is approaching a demographic void. New workers must replace the numerous generations receiving their old age pensions and soon the social welfare of the elderly will demand an increase in workforce. The smugglers would run out of business if the European Union would act proactively in the source countries as well as the neighbouring states. The terrorists would also have a hard time finding accomplices if we really welcomed and embraced those the Union has approved. The original article was published in Eesti Päevaleht on 25 November to accompany the European Migration Network conference “Human smuggling – the Challenges and Solutions for Europe” held in Tallinn on 24 November. Original author: Marion Pajumets, Estonian coordinator for the European Migration Network.