Shortly before Christmas, Berlin’s Governing Mayoress opened temporary accommodation for 850 refugees in the closed Tempelhof Airport, attracting media attention. In the meantime, she noted in passing, the capital has to make more places available for refugees than at the height of the crisis in 2015/16.
In fact, every day Berlin takes in around 200 refugees from Ukraine and 100 asylum seekers, mostly from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa. At the end of 2022, there were almost 120,000 people in total. The approximately 90,000 refugees from Ukraine have a special status and do not belong to the category of asylum seekers. In the short term, Germany’s capital needs another 10,000 places for refugees.
What applies to Berlin applies to the entire Federal Republic – and to Europe: the migration crisis is back. This also has to do with the fact that the number of unrecognized asylum seekers who should actually be returned to their home country is too small.
In the European Union there is no coordinated repatriation concept for all member states, advances by the European Commission come to nothing. In Germany, warnings from the central municipal associations that cities and municipalities are at the limit when it comes to accommodation are hardly heard. Europe and Germany in particular are facing a challenge that is as new as it is old: migration.
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The war in Ukraine, the climate and energy crisis, fears of inflation and fears of economic decline are still overshadowing the topic. Migration runs more or less under the official radar in the EU and the governments of the member countries. But that is a huge mistake.
Because the figures from Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, speak a clear language. In the first half of 2022, 406,000 asylum applications were made in the EU – an increase of 63 percent compared to the same period last year. In October 2022 alone, a good 100,000 people applied for asylum, which was the highest monthly figure since 2016.
Europe is close for many refugees
Europe is a place of longing for many people in the Middle and Near East, in Asia and Africa, regardless of whether they are threatened by civil war or poverty. Europe with its high quality of life, rule of law, liberality and welfare state is comparatively close for refugees. Japan, Australia, the USA and Canada, on the other hand, are far away. For geographic reasons alone, the pressure to migrate to the old continent is growing, for example from Africa, where there are repeated famines, not least because of the climate crisis.
Global Challenges – idea and regular authors
In order to curb reasons for fleeing, Europeans must finally find a clever approach to their foreign and neighborhood policy, characterized by peacekeeping, poverty reduction and, in extreme cases, military intervention. The guiding principle is: Europe must export stability in order not to import instability. Because this is exactly where the inhuman strategy of autocrats comes into play.
Whether Putin, Lukashenko, Assad, the Taliban or Erdogan – they all participate in politics and at the expense of refugees, they all want to split the democratic camp. A common counter-strategy is the order of the day.
Europe’s failure in Syria and Afghanistan, possibly in Mali, but fortunately not in Ukraine’s struggle for survival, must wake us up: Europe’s responsibility extends far beyond its borders. Strengthening stable neighboring regions, stabilizing unstable neighboring regions and resolutely opposing autocrats – that should be our claim.
We need a European asylum law
However, it must also be clear which tasks, rights and obligations the European border and coast guard Frontex and the respective border guards of the EU member states have. In any case, unlawful practices must not be accepted. Within the EU, it is important to recognize the particular challenge facing the Mediterranean countries.
Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Italy, France and Spain are directly affected by refugee flows and need more solidarity. For non-residents, this means taking on certain contingents of refugees or at least providing financial help.
Of course, it is unacceptable when EU members Poland and Hungary refuse to take in asylum seekers. But Sweden and Denmark are now also acting very restrictively. On the other hand, the fact that no fewer than 1.2 million new refugees and asylum seekers came to Germany in 2022 has a lot to do with the pull effect of higher social benefits.
All of this shows that we need European asylum and immigration law that is worthy of the name and includes the harmonization of social benefits and legal processes. Despite the numerous current crises, this must be a priority in this year’s work program of the European Union.
The author:
Günther H. Oettinger is President of United Europa eV He was Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg and EU Commissioner for Energy, Digital Economy and Society, Budget and Human Resources.
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