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| Scandalous treatment of Rohingya and African boat migrants | Scandalous treatment of Rohingya and African boat migrants |
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| Tahmima Anam (This migrant crisis will change our world, 20 May) is right. The root causes of the Rohingya boat people’s crisis must be addressed with greater breadth and urgency. It is welcome news that Indonesia and Malaysia have finally agreed to allow thousands of desperate Rohingya refugees stranded in boats at sea to land. The danger now, however, is that international attention will move on, and the root causes of the crisis will continue to be neglected. | Tahmima Anam (This migrant crisis will change our world, 20 May) is right. The root causes of the Rohingya boat people’s crisis must be addressed with greater breadth and urgency. It is welcome news that Indonesia and Malaysia have finally agreed to allow thousands of desperate Rohingya refugees stranded in boats at sea to land. The danger now, however, is that international attention will move on, and the root causes of the crisis will continue to be neglected. |
| Among the most important of those causes is the Burmese government’s deliberate, merciless policy of using a combination of brutal repression and abject poverty to drive the long-established Rohingya minority out of Burma. As part of that, their inhumane restrictions on international aid efforts by NGOs mean that camps in Burma sheltering 140,000 Rohingya who fled attacks in 2012 have been described by UN officials as having the worst conditions in the world. It is time UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon personally took the lead in negotiating free humanitarian access to these desperate people. The British and other EU governments should give him their full support in such a diplomatic effort, not least in mobilising pressure to secure change in the policies of the Burmese regime. Without that, the appalling misery and loss of life which has at last generated world interest will continue and worsen.Glenys KinnockLabour, House of Lords | Among the most important of those causes is the Burmese government’s deliberate, merciless policy of using a combination of brutal repression and abject poverty to drive the long-established Rohingya minority out of Burma. As part of that, their inhumane restrictions on international aid efforts by NGOs mean that camps in Burma sheltering 140,000 Rohingya who fled attacks in 2012 have been described by UN officials as having the worst conditions in the world. It is time UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon personally took the lead in negotiating free humanitarian access to these desperate people. The British and other EU governments should give him their full support in such a diplomatic effort, not least in mobilising pressure to secure change in the policies of the Burmese regime. Without that, the appalling misery and loss of life which has at last generated world interest will continue and worsen.Glenys KinnockLabour, House of Lords |
| • The position of the EU and its member states (and in particular the UK) in relation to the flood of seaborne migrants from North Africa to the EU’s southern shores is a scarcely believable sellout of its claims to promote basic human rights within and beyond its boundaries (This tide of tragedy can be stemmed only in Africa, 16 May). The Lisbon treaty confirms the obligation of the EU to sustain “the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe”. This “inheritance” is reflected in the findings of the Eurobarometer poll of 2010, to the effect that 72% of its citizens claim to be Christian. Core Christian teachings celebrate the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a complete stranger, and possible enemy, is embraced as a brother to be rescued. Notwithstanding the disastrous conflicts that have taken place in Europe’s long history, the succouring of refugees is in Europe’s DNA. | • The position of the EU and its member states (and in particular the UK) in relation to the flood of seaborne migrants from North Africa to the EU’s southern shores is a scarcely believable sellout of its claims to promote basic human rights within and beyond its boundaries (This tide of tragedy can be stemmed only in Africa, 16 May). The Lisbon treaty confirms the obligation of the EU to sustain “the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe”. This “inheritance” is reflected in the findings of the Eurobarometer poll of 2010, to the effect that 72% of its citizens claim to be Christian. Core Christian teachings celebrate the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a complete stranger, and possible enemy, is embraced as a brother to be rescued. Notwithstanding the disastrous conflicts that have taken place in Europe’s long history, the succouring of refugees is in Europe’s DNA. |
| The decision to destroy the migrants’ boats – whether owned by people traffickers or not – cuts off all hope for refugees from some of the world’s most intractable crises, nearly all of which have been caused or exacerbated by Europe itself (Britain and France in Syria, Italy in Eritrea etc). As this process unfolds, any possibility that Europe can claim a distinct pro-human rights position and support for the world’s dispossessed is being completely discarded. With net wealth of €223bn in its pockets, or 30% of the world total, this is a scandalous walk away from any claim to humanitarian values. | |
| I believe the approach from Europe needs to be for us to shoulder the IMF debt some countries carry | I believe the approach from Europe needs to be for us to shoulder the IMF debt some countries carry |
| In the UK the position of the home secretary, Theresa May, Europe’s leading hawk on this issue, is a disgraceful rejection of many generous initiatives taken by the UK in the past – such as the very successful resettlement of Uganda’s 30,000 Asians in 1972. We are witnessing the growth of fortress Europe, which has untold consequences for the rest of the century.Laurence CockcroftLondon | In the UK the position of the home secretary, Theresa May, Europe’s leading hawk on this issue, is a disgraceful rejection of many generous initiatives taken by the UK in the past – such as the very successful resettlement of Uganda’s 30,000 Asians in 1972. We are witnessing the growth of fortress Europe, which has untold consequences for the rest of the century.Laurence CockcroftLondon |
| • I was brought up by colonialist parents in the Gold Coast, later Ghana, and educated at the Ghana International school. I recently returned to visit the country. Natalie Nougayrède says “to tackle the migration problem, a farther reaching European approach is needed”. I believe the approach from Europe needs to be for us to shoulder the IMF debt some countries carry, and to immediately return some of the immense wealth we all stole from these countries, such as gold (as in Gold Coast), diamonds etc, which we have long used to build up our own wealthy “fortress” Europe. Then the young men and women of whom Natalie speaks, and whom we see drowning and dying on their desperate journeys, could remain at home, with jobs, resources enough to feed their children, to build houses with toilets and clean running water, have schools, books, railways, roads fit to drive on, reliable energy supplies. | • I was brought up by colonialist parents in the Gold Coast, later Ghana, and educated at the Ghana International school. I recently returned to visit the country. Natalie Nougayrède says “to tackle the migration problem, a farther reaching European approach is needed”. I believe the approach from Europe needs to be for us to shoulder the IMF debt some countries carry, and to immediately return some of the immense wealth we all stole from these countries, such as gold (as in Gold Coast), diamonds etc, which we have long used to build up our own wealthy “fortress” Europe. Then the young men and women of whom Natalie speaks, and whom we see drowning and dying on their desperate journeys, could remain at home, with jobs, resources enough to feed their children, to build houses with toilets and clean running water, have schools, books, railways, roads fit to drive on, reliable energy supplies. |
| We have a huge debt to pay for our former crimes – we owe these young people their future. There is plenty of money and we all, especially the very rich few, need to be made to share it, with those in need, if we want to stop migration.Drusilla LongLeeds | We have a huge debt to pay for our former crimes – we owe these young people their future. There is plenty of money and we all, especially the very rich few, need to be made to share it, with those in need, if we want to stop migration.Drusilla LongLeeds |
| • Natalie Nougayrède has identified the real source as to why Africans are leaving Africa. They are leaving for the same reasons that people left Europe in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries for better lives in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. They are fleeing the modern plagues highlighted by Susan George 25 years ago in her book The Debt Boomerangs. Unless the source of the problem is addressed by the EU administration in consort with indigenous African administrations, the exodus will continue.Bobby GilmoreNavan, Republic of Ireland | • Natalie Nougayrède has identified the real source as to why Africans are leaving Africa. They are leaving for the same reasons that people left Europe in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries for better lives in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. They are fleeing the modern plagues highlighted by Susan George 25 years ago in her book The Debt Boomerangs. Unless the source of the problem is addressed by the EU administration in consort with indigenous African administrations, the exodus will continue.Bobby GilmoreNavan, Republic of Ireland |
| • The Indonesian authorities have forgotten the vast amount of assistance they received from around the globe after the devastation of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami (Editorial, 16 May). The province of Aceh suffered particularly, and was largely restored through international aid. But recently Aceh fishermen have been forbidden to rescue Rohingya migrants, instead condemning them to perish by drowning, starvation or thirst.Rev Richard InglesbyGloucester | • The Indonesian authorities have forgotten the vast amount of assistance they received from around the globe after the devastation of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami (Editorial, 16 May). The province of Aceh suffered particularly, and was largely restored through international aid. But recently Aceh fishermen have been forbidden to rescue Rohingya migrants, instead condemning them to perish by drowning, starvation or thirst.Rev Richard InglesbyGloucester |
| • The heart-rending picture of Rohingya migrants at sea etches itself on the mind’s eye. However, we need to view the crisis in a historical perspective. These are people escaping from communal violence, their status as second-class citizens in Burma and growing environmental problems in the Bay of Bengal rim countries. One cannot ignore the history of mobile communities and fluid boundaries in this region in the past. Modern nationalism and the partition of India following the decolonisation by Britain has trapped these coastal communities in narrow national boundaries. In the case of Bangladesh, with a population of 158 million trapped on a delta with rising sea levels and prone to flooding and cyclones, migration to neighbouring India or elsewhere is inevitable. | • The heart-rending picture of Rohingya migrants at sea etches itself on the mind’s eye. However, we need to view the crisis in a historical perspective. These are people escaping from communal violence, their status as second-class citizens in Burma and growing environmental problems in the Bay of Bengal rim countries. One cannot ignore the history of mobile communities and fluid boundaries in this region in the past. Modern nationalism and the partition of India following the decolonisation by Britain has trapped these coastal communities in narrow national boundaries. In the case of Bangladesh, with a population of 158 million trapped on a delta with rising sea levels and prone to flooding and cyclones, migration to neighbouring India or elsewhere is inevitable. |
| The so-called international community need to go to the core of why people risk all in their attempts to get into Europe | The so-called international community need to go to the core of why people risk all in their attempts to get into Europe |
| Environmental threats are exacerbating the predicament of these communities, whose fishing commons are being eroded by competing interests and whose productive lands are being submerged by the ingress of salt water from the sea. With global warming on the rise and with the destruction of mangrove forest, tropical cyclones hit harder, killing millions. Scientists are predicting a rise in the frequency and intensity of the bay’s cyclones in the context of climate change. Over the past decade, tropical cyclones have affected thousands in Bangladesh, Burma and Thailand. | Environmental threats are exacerbating the predicament of these communities, whose fishing commons are being eroded by competing interests and whose productive lands are being submerged by the ingress of salt water from the sea. With global warming on the rise and with the destruction of mangrove forest, tropical cyclones hit harder, killing millions. Scientists are predicting a rise in the frequency and intensity of the bay’s cyclones in the context of climate change. Over the past decade, tropical cyclones have affected thousands in Bangladesh, Burma and Thailand. |
| Migration has been part of the region’s history but the new intense policing of boundaries and borders is going to cause enormous suffering on an unimaginable scale if the environmental crisis is unchecked. Ending the suffering of migrants and taking global responsibility for this humanitarian crisis affecting the Rohingyas is in order if the region is to come to terms with its fluid history and its global connections, not least with Britain. This is more than just the responsibility of countries in the region.Dr Vinita DamodaranDirector, Centre for World Environmental History, University of Sussex | Migration has been part of the region’s history but the new intense policing of boundaries and borders is going to cause enormous suffering on an unimaginable scale if the environmental crisis is unchecked. Ending the suffering of migrants and taking global responsibility for this humanitarian crisis affecting the Rohingyas is in order if the region is to come to terms with its fluid history and its global connections, not least with Britain. This is more than just the responsibility of countries in the region.Dr Vinita DamodaranDirector, Centre for World Environmental History, University of Sussex |
| • One of the 302 coffins Natalie Nougayrède recalls from the Lampedusa migrant disaster of October 2013 contained the body of the brother of one of my current Eritrean access-to-HE students, who took two years to get to the UK by land, a journey that also carries very real risks. This student, with other Eritreans, has delivered a number of oral presentations which have focused not just on deaths by drowning, but on why he and so many other young men have fled Eritrea and other African countries. | • One of the 302 coffins Natalie Nougayrède recalls from the Lampedusa migrant disaster of October 2013 contained the body of the brother of one of my current Eritrean access-to-HE students, who took two years to get to the UK by land, a journey that also carries very real risks. This student, with other Eritreans, has delivered a number of oral presentations which have focused not just on deaths by drowning, but on why he and so many other young men have fled Eritrea and other African countries. |
| We have a resource right here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe for direct and well-informed information on what’s happening on the “ground” in Eritrea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, DRC, Ivory Coast (and so the list runs on, and well beyond Africa), and yet those sources are in many cases having to subsist in the UK (and beyond) in a twilight, too often Kafkaesque, world of unstable status and uncertain futures – able, for example, to achieve university entrance in the UK, yet unable to provide the kind of original documents that are demanded by Student Finance England and so denied the finance that would allow them to take up their university places. | We have a resource right here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe for direct and well-informed information on what’s happening on the “ground” in Eritrea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, DRC, Ivory Coast (and so the list runs on, and well beyond Africa), and yet those sources are in many cases having to subsist in the UK (and beyond) in a twilight, too often Kafkaesque, world of unstable status and uncertain futures – able, for example, to achieve university entrance in the UK, yet unable to provide the kind of original documents that are demanded by Student Finance England and so denied the finance that would allow them to take up their university places. |
| Yes, Natalie Nougayrède is right, the EU and the so-called international community need to go to the core of why people risk all in their attempts to get into Europe. That this won’t happen any time soon is the only prediction that can be made with certainty.Bruce Ross-SmithOxford | Yes, Natalie Nougayrède is right, the EU and the so-called international community need to go to the core of why people risk all in their attempts to get into Europe. That this won’t happen any time soon is the only prediction that can be made with certainty.Bruce Ross-SmithOxford |
| • The Mediterranean migrant issue should remind us that just as a common currency implies a political union, so the same can be said of the EU accord on the free movement of people. Italy, for instance, could solve its Mediterranean migrants problem at a stroke by handing out passports. Thus armed, most migrants would rush northwards. Such is the power of the EU accord. | • The Mediterranean migrant issue should remind us that just as a common currency implies a political union, so the same can be said of the EU accord on the free movement of people. Italy, for instance, could solve its Mediterranean migrants problem at a stroke by handing out passports. Thus armed, most migrants would rush northwards. Such is the power of the EU accord. |
| Membership Event: Guardian Newsroom: Migration in crisis | |
| Purchase a Maltese passport and you can reside anywhere within the EU. Similarly for Moldovans with an easily acquired Romanian passport. Ditto for Bosnian Croats, via Zagreb. | Purchase a Maltese passport and you can reside anywhere within the EU. Similarly for Moldovans with an easily acquired Romanian passport. Ditto for Bosnian Croats, via Zagreb. |
| Then there is the amnesty granted by Madrid to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, the first step towards Spanish citizenship and the right to EU-wide residence. Spain also freely hands out citizenship to Latin Americans. Lest we forget, the EU states most geographically exposed to illegal immigrants demand EU-wide burden sharing. | Then there is the amnesty granted by Madrid to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, the first step towards Spanish citizenship and the right to EU-wide residence. Spain also freely hands out citizenship to Latin Americans. Lest we forget, the EU states most geographically exposed to illegal immigrants demand EU-wide burden sharing. |
| It’s time to choose how to regulate immigration. Either opt out of the free movement accord, which means leaving the EU, or seek an EU policy on passports as well as non-EU immigrants, asylum seekers and amnesties. It’s either a lot looser or ever closer.Yugo KovachWinterborne Houghton, Dorset | It’s time to choose how to regulate immigration. Either opt out of the free movement accord, which means leaving the EU, or seek an EU policy on passports as well as non-EU immigrants, asylum seekers and amnesties. It’s either a lot looser or ever closer.Yugo KovachWinterborne Houghton, Dorset |
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