This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/24/calais-desperate-migrants-dying-eu-migration-squalor-poverty
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Calais’ desperate migrants are dying – politicians must intervene urgently | Calais’ desperate migrants are dying – politicians must intervene urgently |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Crac des Chevaliers is a medieval castle that still sits on a 650-metre peak in Syria, just over the northern border with Lebanon. It was once one of a chain of crusader castles, a relic of 200 years of conflict so massive that it survived into the 21st century in a remarkable state of completeness. Only four years ago, it was easy for a traveller to stand on the battlements and imagine how those who held it exercised control over hundreds of miles of the surrounding fertile land. | |
| After three years of civil war, the state of the castle is uncertain. There are images of it under artillery fire. Maybe this historic icon has also been reduced to just another bit of collateral damage, like the millions of Syrian refugees who are now enduring another freezing winter in the camps of Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. | |
| Crac des Chevaliers used to be a highlight of any trip around the historic glories of the eastern and southern Mediterranean. Syria, Egypt, Libya – all ancient places rich in history and culture. They have also been, for most of the past 50 years, police states. Entry and exit were strictly controlled. They were not easily crossed. Few refugees fleeing the chaos of Eritrea or Somalia would imagine travelling overland. | Crac des Chevaliers used to be a highlight of any trip around the historic glories of the eastern and southern Mediterranean. Syria, Egypt, Libya – all ancient places rich in history and culture. They have also been, for most of the past 50 years, police states. Entry and exit were strictly controlled. They were not easily crossed. Few refugees fleeing the chaos of Eritrea or Somalia would imagine travelling overland. |
| Now that these police states have imploded, it’s as if Europe’s outer defences, its barbican, had, like Crac des Chevaliers itself, crumbled. As a result, the victims of the war and lawlessness of the Middle East head to Europe to escape, as do refugees from Eritrea and Somalia. Some of them work their way overland to Calais, hoping to get to Britain. According to the UN, there are now 3,000 refugees camped in squalor and poverty in and around the port. That is three times as many as a year ago. | Now that these police states have imploded, it’s as if Europe’s outer defences, its barbican, had, like Crac des Chevaliers itself, crumbled. As a result, the victims of the war and lawlessness of the Middle East head to Europe to escape, as do refugees from Eritrea and Somalia. Some of them work their way overland to Calais, hoping to get to Britain. According to the UN, there are now 3,000 refugees camped in squalor and poverty in and around the port. That is three times as many as a year ago. |
| And there they are stuck, unable to move on, reluctant to move back, ready literally to risk their lives. This year, 15 are known to have died, jumping from bridges onto lorries, hit by lorries manoeuvring in parking areas, trapped by lorry fires. The figure does not include the young man who was killed last week on the M25, crushed as he tried to get out from under the lorry he had hidden on, or the Eritrean knocked over by a bus in Norfolk, or the Afghan man who suffocated in a locked container. | |
| There is not an easy answer to this humanitarian crisis. But there is an answer. As the former head of the British Refugee Council, Tim Finch, argues in his most recent blog, two big changes need to be made. | There is not an easy answer to this humanitarian crisis. But there is an answer. As the former head of the British Refugee Council, Tim Finch, argues in his most recent blog, two big changes need to be made. |
| First, proper camps should be established near countries that contribute most to the outflow of people; there, those seeking asylum can be assessed. That would be the start of a fair system of resettlement. It would also ease the sense of a disorderly mass at the gates of Europe that obscures rational debate. | First, proper camps should be established near countries that contribute most to the outflow of people; there, those seeking asylum can be assessed. That would be the start of a fair system of resettlement. It would also ease the sense of a disorderly mass at the gates of Europe that obscures rational debate. |
| Second, the EU must acknowledge its obligation to play a central part in a planned resettlement project. The countries neighbouring Syria, none of which are as rich as most European countries, are currently sheltering 3 million refugees. The EU, with 500 million citizens, has taken 1 million. Germany and Sweden, both of which take in thousands, are at the top of any list. Britain has offered a home to a few hundred. | Second, the EU must acknowledge its obligation to play a central part in a planned resettlement project. The countries neighbouring Syria, none of which are as rich as most European countries, are currently sheltering 3 million refugees. The EU, with 500 million citizens, has taken 1 million. Germany and Sweden, both of which take in thousands, are at the top of any list. Britain has offered a home to a few hundred. |
| This won’t happen while politicians conflate the two distinct issues of migration and refugees, and frame every debate in terms of harm. That makes it impossible to search for consensus around a constructive and compassionate solution. Yet until such a conversation begins, there will continue to be, just across the English Channel, a shameful blot on our moral landscape. | This won’t happen while politicians conflate the two distinct issues of migration and refugees, and frame every debate in terms of harm. That makes it impossible to search for consensus around a constructive and compassionate solution. Yet until such a conversation begins, there will continue to be, just across the English Channel, a shameful blot on our moral landscape. |