It was an ominous start to the new year. Rickety boats and rubber dinghies sinking into the Mediterranean have become a distressingly common sight throughout the ongoing migration crisis. Less than a month into 2018, more than 200 people have already died or gone missing at sea, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

As the crisis enters its third year, Europe continues to struggle with how to respond to an influx that has seen more than one-and-a-half million refugees and migrants come to its shores — and nearly 12,000 perish or go missing attempting the journey.

Since the crisis began, the European Union has spent millions discouraging people from making the journey, funding and supporting countries that have become main points of entry, and speeding up the return of people to their countries of origin. While these measures have contributed to a steep decline in arrivals to the continent, rights groups and humanitarian organizations say they have also had unintended consequences. For some, the journey to Europe has grown increasingly deadly, while others are now stuck in nations where they are vulnerable to human rights abuses.

“I’m sure plenty of people will say it’s a success, but at what cost?” said François Crépeau, a professor at McGill University who served as U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants from 2011 to 2017, of the drop in overall arrivals. “There’s a human cost to all this.”

The EU Response

The sudden influx of those escaping violence, persecution and poverty starting in 2015 triggered a series of reactions from individual governments in Europe. One by one, countries along the primary route taken by asylum seekers to western Europe — Hungary, Slovenia, Austria and Macedonia — tightened their borders. Politicians who had initially been sympathetic to refugees adopted harder stances as public backlash grew and elections drew near.

Amid pressure to act, the European Union moved to stem the flow. In March 2016, it struck a controversial deal with Turkey, one of the main transit hubs along the eastern Mediterranean route, particularly for those fleeing war-torn Syria. Anyone — refugee or migrant — who tried to cross from Turkey to Greece outside of proper channels would be sent back. For every Syrian sent back to Turkey, the EU would accept one refugee.

In February 2017, the EU took aim at the central Mediterranean route, popular among those fleeing from Africa and arriving in Italy. It gave $245 million to the internationally recognized government in Libya — itself beset by conflict and politically instability — to stop boats from leaving the country’s territorial waters. As part of the agreement, the EU would provide training and equipment to the Libyan coast guard, seek to ensure “adequate” conditions for migrants inside of Libya, and support the voluntary returns of people to their countries of origin. Italy also inked a deal with Libya, providing an additional $245 million, and increasing training and cooperation with Libya’s coast guard.

The EU framed its response as an effort to strengthen cooperation and support for transit countries like Turkey and Libya, saying they would break the business model of smugglers and help save lives.

These deals and border closures have helped precipitate dramatic declines in the overall flow of refugees and migrants coming to Europe by sea. Arrivals have fallen by nearly 85 percent, dropping from more than one million in 2015 to 171,300 last year, according to data from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

The sharpest declines happened along the Turkey to Greece route, which saw a drop of 97 percent between 2015 and 2017, per UNHCR. Arrivals in Italy fell almost 35 percent from a record high in 2016.

Deaths at Sea

As with arrivals, the total number of deaths is also down, dropping from a high of more than 5,000 in 2016, to slightly more than 3,000 last year.

Yet critics point out that the number of those who either died or went missing at sea has never fallen below 3,000 per year.

In fact, even with fewer people attempting the journey, the risks of dying in the Mediterranean have only grown as smuggling networks employ more dangerous routes and methods using smaller, overcrowded vessels that are not seaworthy.

There was a 1 in 269 chance of dying or going missing at sea for those who crossed the Mediterranean in 2015. The next year, it crept up to a 1 in 71 chance. Last year, the odds rose to 1 in 55.

Experts argue that one reason deaths have continued at such high rates is because the EU response has focused too heavily on stemming arrivals, rather than developing legal alternatives to reach Europe.

“Every time states try to prohibit an activity which is not necessarily considered criminal … all it does is create underground criminal networks who are bypassing government,” said Crépeau.

“Saving lives, protecting migrants, fight[ing] traffickers and replacing irregular migration with organized, legal and safe pathways are the core objectives of the EU’s migration policy,” a spokesman for the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, told FRONTLINE in a statement. “The way forward must build on these steps by further enhancing cooperation with our partners in Africa, disrupt the criminal smuggling and trafficking networks, fighting the root causes of irregular migration, helping stranded migrants return home and ensuring the most vulnerable can come to Europe safely.”

The Stranded

Among those who have survived the journey, thousands along the migration route have been stranded since nations began closing their borders. More than 1,300 are stuck in Bulgaria, another 4,400 in Serbia, and 54,000 in Greece, according to IOM figures from last November. The worst conditions at camps inside these countries were described by Doctors Without Borders as “on the brink of a humanitarian emergency.”

On the other side of the Mediterranean, in Libya, conditions are unimaginable, according to humanitarian reports. “Every single person — and it really is that extreme — every single person who has made this journey through Libya describes Libya in one way or another as hell,” said Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty International’s deputy Europe director.

According to Amnesty’s research, tens of thousands are being held in official detention centers or held captive by militias or gangs. A reportfrom December says, “They are systematically exposed to torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual violence and severe beatings and extortion. They are also at times killed or left to die after being tortured, exploited, abused, or sold on for forced labor and other forms of exploitation to other militias, armed groups or criminal gangs.”

In November, U.N. Human Rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein called the suffering of migrants in Libya “an outrage to the conscience of humanity.” The EU’s efforts, he said, “have done nothing so far to reduce the level of abuses suffered by migrants.”

“The EU is extremely active in doing everything we can to provide protection and alternatives to migrants and refugees in Libya,” the European Commission told FRONTLINE, adding that it was EU funding that allowed 20,000 people to voluntarily return home from Libya since January 2017.

But aid groups say that EU support of the Libyan coast guard has led to more interceptions of boats, which results in migrants and refugees being sent back to Libya, where they’re vulnerable to abuse. Critics say this has presented new challenges for Western aid groups and humanitarian organizations.

Luca Salerno, Doctors Without Borders’ project coordinator onboard the rescue ship Aquarius, said there have been incidents where the ship has been told to stand by while a boat was in need of rescue, in order to allow the Libyan coast guard to intervene instead. On one occasion, he said, the rescue ship waited almost four hours in front of a rubber boat in distress, because they weren’t allowed to carry out the rescue.

“The situation can become critical at any moment,” he said. “To wait three, four hours in front of a rubber boat without authorization to intervene — it was an extremely risky situation.”

The European Commission said the EU does not send migrants back to Libya. “What we do is to train the Libyan coast guard, since the vast majority of people were dying in Libyan territorial waters — to which we do not have access,” a spokesperson said, adding that training emphasizes human rights, women’s rights and the correct handling of migrants.

EU member states have pledged to receive around 40,000 refugees by May 2019, but the need is vast. Turkey, which was the transit point for more than 800,000 people heading to Europe in 2015, now hosts 3.6 million refugees, 3.3 million of them of Syrian origin.

“Sooner or later, we will need to deal with the fact that these people continue to flee their countries of origin, even if they don’t reach Europe,” said Eugenio Ambrosi, director of the IOM’s regional office for the EU, Norway and Switzerland. “We’re talking about thousands of people that move out of desperation. And if you’re desperate, yes, you might know that you’re going to risk your life or run into serious trouble, but you’re already in serious trouble back home so you have nothing to lose.”

Source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-human-cost-of-the-eus-response-to-the-refugee-crisis/

The post The “Human Cost” of The EU’s Response to the Refugee Crisis first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Asylum seekers will be forced to hand over their cash and mobile phones under a raft of tough new measures proposed by Austria’s new far-right coalition.

The country’s new government has pledged to stop illegal immigration, cut taxes and resist EU centralisation, and will be led by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, at 31 the world’s youngest leader.

Kurz’s conservative People’s Party (OeVP) and the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) were sworn in yesterday amid protests in Vienna.

Under plans unveiled by the coalition, future migrants coming to the country will have their cash impounded if filing for asylum in Austria. The money would then be used to cover the legal costs of their procedures.

Asylum seekers will also be forced to hand over their mobile phones to the authorities, which will read out all data to track their true identity and exact travel route, according to Austrian media.

The coalition’s programme calls for a halt to ‘illegal immigration’ and to speed up the asylum process to deport those who are not accepted. Asylum is ‘temporary protection’ only.

Those ‘refusing to integrate must expect sanctions’ and ‘parallel societies’ must be prevented.

There will also be a stop to ‘immigration into the social system’. Monthly payments to those with asylum and subsidiary protection will be cut to 365 euros plus an ‘integration bonus’ of 155 euros.

‘We want to protect our homeland Austria as a liveable place with all its cultural assets. This includes deciding for ourselves who can immigrate and live with us and ending illegal immigration,’ the plans state.

Last night, the United Nations’ human right’s chief has warned that the far-right tilt of Austria’s new coalition government marks a ‘dangerous development’ in Europe.

Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said he is ‘very worried’ about the surge of the far right,  and cautioned against ‘the peddling of fear’ in European politics.

As Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was sworn into power in Vienna yesterday, more than 2,000 people took part in demonstrations, brandishing placards such as ‘refugees welcome’ and ‘Nazis out’ and ‘No Nazi pigs’,

Prince al-Hussein said that Kurz’s decision to take hard-right position on things like immigration to gain support marked ‘a dangerous development in the political life of Europe.’

The coalition between Kurz’s conservative People’s Party (OeVP) and the far-Right Freedom Party was agreed on Friday along with pledges to stop illegal immigrationand resist EU centralisation.

It will be led by Kurz, who took over the OeVP in May and moved it to the right, securing his party first place in October elections. At 31, Kurz will be the world’s youngest leader.

He said the new Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s decision to take hard-right position on things like immigration to gain support marked ‘a dangerous development in the political life of Europe.’

A heavy police presence of about 1,500 officers, with helicopters overhead and water-cannon trucks at the ready, blocked off the area around the Hofburg palace.

At one point police fired a smoke grenade when some protestors tried to break through a barricade.

At Kurz’s side for the investiture by Austria’s president in the Hapsburg dynasty’s imperial palace in Vienna was FPOe chief Heinz-Christian Strache, 48, now vice-chancellor, and FPOe general secretary Herbert Kickl, the new interior minister.

Strache has said Islam ‘has no place in Europe’ and last year called German Chancellor Angela Merkel ‘the most dangerous woman in Europe’ for her open-door refugee policy.

On Sunday, Strache trumpeted to his 750,000 followers on Facebook that the new government would slash social benefits for asylum-seekers.

‘It will no longer happen that migrants who have never worked here a single day or paid anything into the social system will get thousands of euros in welfare!’ he said in a post that has gained 9,000 ‘likes’.

The FPOe also obtained the defence and foreign ministries, while the OeVP got finance, economy and justice amongst other portfolios, and will continue to handle EU affairs.

Both Kurz and Strache won over voters two months ago by stoking concerns about immigration after the record influx in 2015, mirroring elections elsewhere in Europe this year.

Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party became the second-largest in The Netherlands, Marine Le Pen of France’s National Front was in a runoff for the presidency and the Alternative for Germany entered the Bundestag.

But the FPOe is rare in western Europe in having translated success at the ballot box into real power.

Speaking at a far-right congress in Prague on Saturday, Wilders said the FPOe’s entry into government was ‘an excellent result’, while Le Pen called it ‘very good news for Europe’.

‘Every election demonstrates a form of rejection of the European Union,’ Le Pen said, echoing the euro-scepticism shown by the FPOe in the past.

Both Kurz and Strache emphasised however on Saturday that Vienna would stay staunchly pro-EU and that their plans for more Swiss-style ‘direct democracy’ excluded a referendum on EU membership.

But Kurz said that during Austria’s presidency of the EU, set for the second half of 2018, Vienna would press for Brussels to have less say in areas that he believes should be up to member states.

Kurz said he envisions an EU which should be ‘stronger in big questions and which should step back on smaller issues’.

Kurz also said that Austria would not change its line on supporting EU sanctions on Russia imposed over Ukraine, even though the FPOe, like other far-right groups, wants them lifted.

But according to their joint programme, Austria will ‘actively work’ towards easing the sanctions ‘in unison’ with the rest of the EU.

In addition the new government’s programme says that Austria will seek support to ‘definitively’ end Turkey’s bid to join the EU, sparking anger on Sunday from Ankara.

They may have failed to actually clinch a victory in national elections, but 2017 has nonetheless proven a bumper year for Europe’s far-right parties at the ballot boxes.

Yet with success also come growing divisions, which could mar their future ambitions.

Across the continent, eurosceptics peddling anti-migration agendas have reaped historic election results this year, tapping into unease about a mass influx of asylum-seekers – many from Muslim-dominated countries.

‘The far right in Europe is more popular today than it was at any time in postwar history,’ said Dutch expert Cas Mudde, an associate professor at the University of Georgia.

2017 has proven a bumper year for Europe’s far-right parties at the ballot boxes. Pictured, left to right: Marine Le Pen, head of French far-right National Front party, Tomio Okamura, leader of Czech far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy party and Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders of the PVV party

The first boost to populists came in March when the Dutch anti-Islam Freedom Party of Geert Wilders became the second force in parliament.

Then followed the French National Front (FN) of Marine Le Pen, which took nearly 34 percent of votes in the May presidential run-off won by Emmanuel Macron.

This was double the score Le Pen’s firebrand father and FN founder Jean-Marie obtained in the second round in 2002.

September saw Germany’s Islamophobic and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), founded in 2013, enter the Bundestag – the first far-right party to do so since the end of World War II.

Last but not least, Austria’s anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPOe) got a near-record result of 26 percent in October and on Friday became the junior coalition partner in the rightwing government of leader-in-waiting Sebastian Kurz, 31.

Experts point out that far-right contenders don’t need to come first to seriously bruise traditional parties.

‘The glass is clearly three-quarter full for nationalists right now,’ French analyst Patrick Moreau said.

The migrant crisis has been a key factor in fuelling the rise of far-right populism.

More than 1.5 million people, many fleeing the civil war in Syria, have landed on Europe’s shores since 2015.

Resentment toward these new arrivals has grown in wealthy nations like Germany and Austria, which have received among the bloc’s biggest share of asylum seekers.

Observers say far-right discourse seeks to conflate the issue of immigration with terror attacks carried out on European soil over the past two years.

According to US sociologist Mabel Berenzin, the far right plays on fears relating to ‘the economy, migration, and security, which all contribute to a global feeling of insecurity’.

Shock events like the 2016 election of US President Donald Trump and Britain’s decision to leave the EU also revealed voters’ frustration with the political establishment.

Stemming the populist tide is a major headache for traditional parties, which are forced to decide whether to ostracise, copy or collaborate with the far-right.

Austria’s Kurz opted for the two latter options to march his People’s Party to victory.

‘Kurz has gone very far in his ideological rapprochement with the FPOe, a strategy which can work as long as he doesn’t completely trade off his party’s identity,’ noted Austrian analyst Thomas Hofer.

In neighbouring Hungary, the ultra-nationalist Jobbik party has been outflanked by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s hardline anti-immigration stance.

Meanwhile Bulgaria’s centre-right government of Boiko Borisov in March entered a coalition with ultra-nationalists.

And while France – like Germany and the Netherlands – refuses to rule with the far-right, its opposition veered distinctly right earlier this month after electing controversial rightwinger Laurent Wauquiez as its leader.

However some experts say centrist parties imitating the far-right will only find short-term success.

‘A sizeable part of the electorate of populist radical-right parties are not only motivated by authoritarianism and nativism, but also by very strong anti-establishment sentiments, which make them sceptical toward all promises by establishment parties – even authoritarian and nativist one,’ said Mudde.

In addition, the real challenge for Europe’s nationalist parties lies in keeping internal strife at bay.

The FN and AfD have been riven by leadership issues in the aftermath of their ballot success.

Similarly, Finland’s ultranationalist Finns Party imploded over divisions in June, barely two years after entering a coalition government with centrists.

‘Playing the opponent is in the DNA of populist parties,’ said Hofer, the Austrian expert.

‘It’s not easy to reconvert that into a government mindset.’

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5193485/Austrian-far-right-Asylum-seekers-hand-phones.html

The post Asylum seekers will be forced to hand over cash and mobile phones under tough new rules unveiled by Austria’s new far-right coalition first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

In fact, many African migrants face a Catch-22: African migrants can either remain in detention centers, be sold into slavery with promises to reach Europe (which inevitably never happens), risk death in making the passage via boat, or wait for an opportunity for the UN or other international organization to bring them to Europe, which is highly unlikely given the current refugee restrictions in European countries.

Although there is no consensus on when the human trafficking and slavery networks began throughout Africa and the Middle East, Global Slavery Index has estimated large populations of slaves in the area for years. The 2016 Global Slavery Index estimated that there are more than 6 million slaves in Sub-Saharan Africa and another 2.9 million in the Middle East and Northern Africa. In 2016, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) released a reportthat found than nearly 70% of migrants using the Mediterranean route from North Africa to Europe endured human trafficking. Even with predictions, slavery networks have remained hidden and prominent in Libya.

The lack of oversight in the war-torn country can be strikingly tied to the on-the-ground departments that manage African migrants. The UN detailed that groups that have been tasked with aiding migrants in Libyan detention centers have been implicated in the selling of slaves. According to a report from June 2017, the UN noted that “International Organization for Migration (IOM) also reported enslavement of sub-Saharan migrants. Smugglers, as well as the Department to Counter Illegal Migration and the coastguard, are directly involved in such grave human rights violations.”

In response, the IOM has transported 13,000 migrants out of detention facilities in Libya and 8,000 detention centers in Niger, according to a November 2017 report from the UN. The UN has also been considering implementing sanctions on Libya for the negligence of human trafficking in the country.

The EU has also responded by pledging a €44 billion “Marshall Plan” for Africa to help block further human trafficking. Leaders in Europe have also pledged to help aid the problem, particularly French President Emmanuel Macron, who visited Africa and met with leaders to strategize a solution.

Despite recent plans that advance a façade that the EU has effectively aided the problem, strict immigration laws in countries and recent reports point to the EU as partially responsible. In response to such reports, Macron raised more controversy when he said that the human trafficking is caused by Africans and Africans alone, rather than by Europeans’ strict immigration policies. While he was in Burkina Faso, Macron visited the University of Ouagadougou and said “It’s not the French who are the traffickers, it’s the Africans. So, everyone should understand the responsibility, and we’ve started to do that, to dismantle them. But stop the argument saying, ‘It’s someone else.’”

Even though the traffickers are indeed African, the EU has inevitably become involved in funding policies that regulate migration in Libya. According to a report from Amnesty International, the EU sponsored million-dollar anti-migration measures in Niger, including assisting police operations that block transportation to the Libyan border. In addition, the EU has allegedly supported the Libyan Coast Guard, which has been found to help facilitate human trafficking.

Italy, which boasts some of Europe’s strictest immigration policies, has also been found aiding the Libyan Coast Guard. In February 2017, Italy issued a code of conduct, which required NGOs to enter a “commitment not to enter Libyan territorial waters, except in situations of grave and imminent danger requiring immediate assistance and not to obstruct Search & Rescue by the Libyan Coast Guard.”

The EU’s support for the Libyan Coast Guard did not go unnoticed, however. The UN Human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said “The European Union’s policy of assisting the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept and return migrants in the Mediterranean (is) inhuman.”

With increased international attention to slavery networks in Niger and Libya, the UN has facilitated conversations about possible solutions. Filippo Grandi, the UN refugee chief, told Reuters that the UN has “heard finally authorities—Libyan authorities, the international community—talk about practical measures and how to respond to those abuses, to try to stop them, and to try to find solutions for the people affected by them.”

Grandi also announced that the focus of the aid will be on the detention centers and facilities that have been exposed to have been places where migrants face risks of being trafficked. Grandi said “We will also need to have more access…to the detention centers to do the work that we want to do.”

With the need for reform more urgent than ever, the UN and governments have more motivation than ever to relieve the crisis. Although slavery in Libya has debilitated thousands of people, the situation has translated how the refugee crisis led to such an immoral human tragedy. Most importantly, slavery in Libya has exemplified that despite the illusion of societal improvements in the 21^st century, the world still has devastated and discriminated vulnerable communities of people.

Source: https://www.diplomaticourier.com/slavery-libya-exemplifies-refugee-crisis-led-loss-humanity/

The post Slavery in Libya Exemplifies How the Refugee Crisis Has Led to a Loss of Humanity first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The EU is aiding the Libyan Coast Guard by intercepting boats crossing the Mediterranean, and returning them to prisons where they face the possibility of forced labour or extortion. The EU’s policy includes boats in international waters, which human rights groups claim is a breach of human rights. Over 20,000 people are now being held in custody, which is up 7000 from September.

Europe turning into a dead end for desperate migrants

There are reports of violence, sexual assault and inhumane conditions in detention centres across Libya, where migrants are being detained before returning home. People have described beatings from guards as well as rape and sexual violence. The UN has urged Libyan authorities to take action to stop detaining migrants and put an end to the abuse of detainees.

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said that “We cannot be a silent witness to modern day slavery, rape and other sexual violence, and unlawful killings in the name of managing migration and preventing desperate and traumatized people from reaching Europe’s shores. The increasing interventions of the EU and its member states have done nothing so far to reduce the level of abuses suffered by migrants,” Hussein said, adding that instead, there appeared to be a “fast deterioration in their situation in Libya”.

These comments follow recent news that 13 European and African countries have pledged to improve conditions for migrants being held in Libya. Ministers from the countries impacted by the migration have expressed their concerns over the “ongoing human tragedy” of the Mediterranean route.”The participants intend to address the challenges posed by the alarming situation along the migration route to North Africa,” A representative from Switzerland said in a statement.

Is Europe exporting its refugee crisis to North Africa?

With the support of the EU, Italy has been training the Libyan coastguard to intercept more boats crossing the Mediterranean as part of a deal. This controversial deal has resulted in Italy’s arrivals falling 70% since July. The UN has criticized the EU for its role in deported migrants whilst knowing the conditions they face. The EU’s response to the UN’s statement is that Brussels is providing funding to protect those being held in Libya. “We believe that the detention centres in Libya must be closed. The situation in these camps is unacceptable,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Source: http://eu-policies.com/competences/regional-policy/un-says-eus-treatment-libyan-migrants-inhuman/

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