How Syria Refugee Crisis Changed, Essay Example

How Syria Refugee Crisis changed/effected The EU Border Control and Politics

The European migrant crisis is noted as when the European borders received a lot of migrants that were seeking asylum. The term was coined explicitly for 2015 when it drastically rose to approximately 1.3 million refugees seeking asylum from their neighboring European countries. The crisis has raised the number of refugees seeking asylum from EU countries escaping the Civil war in Syria.  The essay aims to address how the Syrian civil war impacted border control and politics in EU countries.

Refugees fleeing Syria (Taken by Daniel Trilling)

Positive Measures by EU resulting from Syrian Refugee Crisis

The positive measure that has been effected to address the Syrian crisis includes establishing the Regional Protection Programme (RPP). The RPP put in place by EU countries is a political move to enhance the capacity of non-EU countries to ensure that cases such as the Syrian crisis can be handled by regions other than the EU countries (European Commission, 2021). The RPP is a measure that helps groups of people affected, such as Syria, address their issues internally. However, seeing that the RPP has not been effected yet, the EU countries should, for the time being, adopt other measures such as increasing resettlement of the Syrian asylum seekers.

Increasing resettlement is another measure effected in handling the Syrian crisis. The Syrian war has been raging since 2011, meaning that the number of refugees seeking asylum will increase steadily. The EU countries increased the number of settlement areas for Syrian refugees, allowing governments to maximize their support to refugees, as was the case in the Iraq war. (European Council on Refugee and Exiles, 2021). For a measure such as increasing resettlement to apply effectively, the government must first accept the asylum seekers into their jurisdictions. This is achievable through Prima facie identifications and provision of support to the Syrian refugee asylum seekers

Prima facie identifications and provision of support to the Syrian refugee asylum seekers ensure that asylum seekers have the necessary protection. This is a measure that a lot of the European Union countries have been encouraged to adopt. It is noteworthy that giving protection to asylum seekers also involves giving them access to enter the country while escaping from conflict. Many EU countries have failed to protect refugees and asylum seekers. A Prima facie identifications and provision of support to the Syrian refugee asylum seekers is only effective if the government needs to ensure appropriate strategies to protect refugees.

Effective strategies for resettling asylum seekers involve the government putting laws and measures to make refugees’ settlements easy. An example of the laws that ought to be put in place includes the laws dealing with visa application that has made entry into EU countries impossible for refugees. Germany’s regulations relating to asylum for refugees align with the preceding argument, as the amendments made to their refugee laws ensure no delay and burden of cost in the application (Fargues & Fandrich, 2021). This has allowed many refugees to enter Germany seeking asylum, and the whooping twenty-five thousand refugees that have been given asylum by Germany (Fargues & Fandrich, 2021) evidence this.

Syrian Refugee Camp in Germany (courtesy of BBC)

Negative Measures by EU resulting from Syrian Refugee Crisis

Some EU countries are reluctant to allow refugees into their jurisdictions lest their citizens get disadvantaged through unemployment and reduced earnings due to an overpopulated labor market. Other factors include terrorism and racism. It is essential to ensure the country does not suffer on many fronts, as is the case with Turkey due to the number of refugees they have taken in. An example of such a jurisdiction is in Italy. Despite the country enacting a law to help in the reception of refugees seeking asylum, the rate at which they take in refugees has been perceived as slow.  The slow intake has resulted in desperate measures by the Syrian refugees who tried crossing into the Greek islands using boats across the Mediterranean Sea, resulting in the death of many Syrian refugees.

Bodies of Mediterranean drowned Syrian Refugees (Courtesy of UNHCR)

It is also noteworthy that the influx of Syrian refugees in a country increases insecurity and threats of terrorism in the country. Many EU countries have also argued against taking in Syrian refugees for security purposes (Sakib, 2021). The political instability in the refugees’ areas is evidence of said fears. Additionally, fear of insecurity prompted countries like Hungary and Poland to mount a war against refugees. Hungary, for example, took measures to increase the security of its borders.

Additionally, countries like Denmark have withdrawn the residency of Syrian refugees because parts of Syria are safe enough to live in, such as Damascus. However, it is noteworthy that Denmark is hesitant to let bale men leave, seeing that they are integral in building the Denish Economy. Furthermore, there are EU countries such as Poland and Hunger.

Conclusion

The Syrian war has affected the EU countries in several ways, more so concerning border control policies. On the one hand, countries like Germany have readily opened their borders to asylum seekers and even amended their laws on refugees and asylum seekers to accommodate even more people. On the other hand, EU countries like Italy, Hungary, and Poland are reluctant to open borders to asylum seekers for fears of terrorism from the refugees. Additionally, countries like Denmark have also started revoking refugee visas demanding Syrian refugees go back to Syria. The aforestated steps have infringed EU laws dealing asylum seekers. It is worth pointing out that the EU countries should develop ways of resolving the crisis in Syria. To reduce the number of asylum seekers and amend their laws to accommodate asylum seekers and not force them to go to countries where their lives are endangered.

Reference

European Commission, E. (2021). regional protection programme. Migration and Home Affairs.

Retrieved 4 November 2021, from https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/pages/glossary/regional-protection-programme_en#:~:text=Definition(s),resettlement%20in%20a%20third%20country).

European Council on Refugee and Exiles, E. (2021). Five years on Europe is still ignoring its responsibilities towards Iraqi refugees. Refworld.org. Retrieved 4 November 2021, from https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/47e1315c2.pdf.

Fargues, P., & Fandrich, C. (2021). Cadmus.eui.eu. Retrieved 4 November 2021, from https://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/24836/MPC_RR2012-14.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

Oezel, Y. (2021). Providing Security? Border Control and the Politics of Migration in the EU. E-ir.info. Retrieved 4 November 2021, from https://www.e-ir.info/pdf/56685.

Sakib, N. (2021). How Syrian refugee influx has shaped the polarisation of European politics.

How Syrian refugee influx has shaped the polarisation of European politics. Retrieved 4 November 2021, from https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/how-syrian-refugee-influx-has-shaped-the-polarisation-of-european-politics-28548.

United Nations High Commission for Refugees, (2021). Press Coverage of the Refugee and Migrant Crisis in the EU: A Content Analysis of Five European Countries. Unhcr.org. Retrieved 4 November 2021, from https://www.unhcr.org/56bb369c9.pdf.