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The word humanity is on the rise in Europe. Ever since the Moria refugee camp caught fire, politicians from Athens to Helsinki have been arguing about humanity, theirs, of course. 400 unaccompanied minors from Moria will be distributed across the EU. It’s time.
You also want to think quickly about the remaining refugees who are literally lying on the street. Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer is willing to bring families from Lesbos to Germany in consultation with the EU’s neighbors. A change in immigration policy is announced. It’s not just a good thing.
Without a doubt, given the catastrophic situation in Greece, Europe is getting closer. After years of inexcusable delay, it has become clear to governments that the policy of not participating does not solve migration problems, but allows them to escalate in a potentially deadly way. The flames of Moria prove it.
Anyone who thinks the misery on Lesbos has persuaded immigration critics like Horst Seehofer to back down or even convert the Greek government hardliners has not listened. Yes, there is help, also because German civil society is putting pressure on it. From students and mayors to the Union parliamentary group, people refuse to see the misery in the extreme southeast of Europe any longer.
But that’s it with laurel. Because a completely different twist was announced on Friday. Seehofer and a representative of the EU Commission announced that there would now be a new one on Lesbos center Built for asylum seekers, very modern, with EU money and active support from Germany. The thing is not supposed to be called camp. But that’s exactly what it should be. A closed reception camp for refugees and migrants is planned, at least if Seehofer has his way.
The concept that was presented at the beginning of the Presidency of the German Council establishes that in such Centers Asylum procedures in the outer periphery of the EU are accelerated, if possible in three months. Of course, no one should keep traveling during this time. But that is not possible without walls and barbed wire. Those who are ultimately classified as worthy of protection should be allowed to go to Europe, while everyone else should be deported, as directly as possible.
Sounds good, the inhabitants of the island of Lesbos might think. Something better than the years of bureaucratic stagnation in the asylum system. But what will happen to the residents of those camps whose applications have been rejected? Even in Germany, where the authorities work comparatively professionally, it is often not possible to deport rejected asylum seekers who are forced to leave the country. Passports are often missing or the country of origin refuses to accept people. After years, asylum seekers often simply stay in the country.
The planned center on Lesbos, which Seehofer’s idea is to serve as a “blueprint” for reception camps at all the EU’s external borders, will be a huge prison. Rejected asylum seekers could be detained there for months, if not years, at least if they are given an asylum procedure with every chance of objection. Don’t be under any illusions. The high human rights standards that apply in German asylum law will undoubtedly be a thing of the past at the new centers on the EU’s external border. Now the greatest vigilance is required.
