The EU's New Migrant Crisis
As migrants are denied land crossings, they resort to inflatable boats and smugglers to cross the turbulent Mediterranean waters. Source: United Nations
The international community has been aware of the migrant crisis in Europe for a decade. In 2015, more than a million Syrian migrants arrived in the EU through Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Italy. This crisis resulted in far-right governments and movements that swept through Europe to close borders and prevent terrorism. While the Syrian Civil War triggered this crisis, climate change has become the new driving force of migration.
Recently, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey, displacing over 800,000 people, with most aiming to make Europe their new home. Although earthquakes are not a direct consequence of climate change, studies show that melting glaciers can trigger seismic activity. In addition to Turkey’s earthquake, droughts and locust infestations have disproportionately affected the Middle East and North Africa, displacing hundreds of thousands and creating another refugee crisis. The difference in the EU's response to the 2015 Syrian war crisis and today's migrants displaced by climate catastrophe is the international law that defines a refugee seeking asylum. The 1951 refugee convention defines refugees as someone unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. However, this definition fails to address the problems that poor communities face worldwide. The current definition offers no protection to climate refugees and does not define who qualifies as one. Without this legal status, climate refugees cross into Europe with no legal migration options, leaving them stranded once they enter the continent.
Rather than reforming its migration policy, the EU has wasted billions of Euros on border walls and fences, particularly in Greece, which plans to double its fences and walls on its Turkish border. This approach will undoubtedly result in increased desperation from migrants and cause more to undertake the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean from Turkey to Italy or across the Aegean Sea into Greece. As migrants are denied land crossings into Greece, they attempt dangerous crossings of the Aegean Sea.
Shipwreck of the Calabrian Coast of Italy in which more than 87 migrants were killed. Credit: REUTERS
Europe's stance on the migrant crisis has hardened with a 64% increase in unauthorized migrant crossings from 2015 and an increase in political polarization across the continent. Meanwhile, more deaths from dangerous sea crossings on cramped boats occur off the coasts of many European countries, particularly Italy. In 2013, a shipwreck killed 368 migrants, and just last month, a similar incident killed over 87. In 2015, Italy's government aimed to provide migrants with more accessibility, but today, far-right politicians like Giorgia Meloni hold negative views on legal migration. Meloni urges the EU to "hurry up and act" to stop the departures of migrants, expressing anger towards smugglers in charge of illegal crossings. Rather than attempting to promote legal entrances for migrants, Meloni aims to tackle the problem at the source. The EU recently struck deals with the Libyan Coast Guard and Turkey to shelter migrants who reach Turkish soil and prevent crossings from Libyan outposts, where many suffer from horrendous abuses due to the ongoing Libyan Civil War.
Learning from the 2013 shipwreck off the coast of Sicily, Italy will most likely impose search and rescue missions for migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Although this policy lasted for about a year, it grew unpopular and was eventually replaced by harsher border controls.
As Italy and Europe prepare to act on the ensuing crisis, many hope that governments will go beyond search and rescue policies and provide legal entrances to the EU for migrants, catering to their needs. All eyes are on Europe's far-right governments, which continue to face pressure from citizens for policy change.