Editorial: Humanitarian Refugee Crisis

The bloody Syrian war has generated a gargantuan wave of refugees that is challenging the structure of the European Union (EU). The scores of people who, by land, flee the sectarian war waged by Islamic extremists – a conflict that is effectively disintegrating the Middle East’s post-colonial map – join the copious African migration coming by sea that has long been putting pressure on the continent’s immigration policies.

This is the result of the disastrous U.S. intervention in the last decade, which – combined with the Arab Spring that drove Syria to civil war – have helped unleash a religious war in Iraq. The emergence and strengthening of ISIS introduced a level of cruelty that has terrorized civilians, whose only alternatives are waiting endlessly in a refugee camp or trying to find new horizons to rebuild their lives.

Europeans have been divided regarding a collective response to the crisis. Germany stepped up by accepting 800,000 refugees, as the rest of the countries look nervously at the migrants who are doing everything they can to reach German soil. In contrast, Hungary, the door to Europe, has attempted to restrain the entrance of foreigners by erecting border fences. Meanwhile, the presence of thousands of refugees at their train stations awakens an aggressive reaction from nationalists who thrive on a weak economy and encourage anti-immigrant hatred.

As one of the EU’s major achievements – the free movement of individuals across its countries – is at stake, European coordination is crucial. Today, Germany is the door providing legal entrance to hundreds of thousands of refugees who, according to the current regulations, will be able to move freely to other countries after being regularized.

It is urgent that Europe welcomes these refugees in a coordinated and generous manner. So far, with the few exceptions including Germany, the impact of the arrival of these hundreds of thousands of refugees has been underestimated. Failing to have a positive reaction will lead to further tragedies and unexpected consequences in this humanitarian crisis. As we know, nothing can stop a refugee or a migrant escaping to save their life and their family’s.