Monday, April 04, 2016

Regardless the crass appearance of physical barriers, they do work.

April 4, 2016
By Gabriela Raczynska and Sara Ledwith

...The European Union (click here) was founded in the ashes of World War Two, in part on a principle of freedom of movement among member states. But since the fall of the Berlin Wall, European countries have built or started 1,200 km (750 miles) of anti-immigrant fencing at a cost of at least 500 million euros ($570 million), a Reuters analysis of public data shows. That distance is almost 40 percent of the length of America's border with Mexico.
Many of these walls separate EU nations from states outside the bloc, but some are between EU states, including members of Europe's passport-free zone. Most of the building was started in 2015.
"Wherever there have been large numbers of migrants or refugees trying to enter the EU, this trend has been followed up by a fence," said Irem Arf, a researcher on European Migration at rights group Amnesty International.
For governments, fences seem like a simple solution. Building them is perfectly legal and countries have the right to control who enters their territory. Each new fence in Europe has sharply curbed the numbers of irregular immigrants on the route they blocked.
For at least one company, fences work. The firm which operates a tunnel between France and Britain says that since a major security upgrade around its French terminal last October, migrants have ceased to cause trouble....
People trying to get into Europe state they are inhibited from pursuing a speedy asylum right in the EU Constitution. The right to a speedy asylum procedure is for the people who already have come to the EU, not those massing to come to the EU.

Europe should not be dictated to when receiving refugees. Each country has a right to sovereignty within the EU and need to flex their muscles when accepting refugees. Each country should assess their ability to provide for refugees. Immigrants should be going through a process to determine their intentions when coming to Europe. 

Any refugee acceptance should cost a country their identity. It is more than sad to realize some communities in the EU are actually breaking down their cultural identity that has served tourist dollars. 

The EU should not identify as sacrificial lambs to refugees or immigrants. People should celebrate their best selves, but, also realizing their new country acknowledging its proud heritage and economy.

The best relief to any country accepting migrants and refugees from Syria is a joint power sharing governance and a right to return of the refugees and immigrants. When there is an end to killing and a return of food and water people can begin to rebuild their countries. Having a homeland that is secure and provides for an economy is the best way to end these massive numbers of people risking everything to reach Europe.

In the discovery of the Panama, Papers President Assad was noted to be an account holder. He should provide those monies back to any loans by Syria for the country to engage rebuilding while practicing peace. I am sure President Assad protected monies for such a purpose in offshore bank.

...The EU refuses to fund fences, saying they don't work. As European Commissioner, Avramopoulos has tried instead to persuade fellow member states to show solidarity by offering homes to 160,000 refugees and migrants, mainly from Greece and Italy. As of March 15, just 937 asylum applicants had been relocated....

The migrating danger into Europe might be contained and they have seen the worst of any more attacks.