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Refugee Crisis in Europe

THREE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES VIOLATED EUROPEAN UNION AGREEMENT

Background on European Refugee Crisis: According to the UN refugee agency, by the end of 2016, approximately 5.2 million refugees and migrants reached European shores. The refugees and migrants came from various countries such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries who leave their countries due to war and poverty. Thousands have lost their lives through this treacherous journey. others have been missing since 2015. Yet, women and unaccompanied children continue to take this dangerous journey in search of safety. In 2018, more than 138,000 people risked their lives by trying to reach Europe by sea and more 2,000 people drowned.

Earlier this year, the European Court of Justice ruled that Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic had violated their obligations by refusing to take in their fair share of asylum seekers at the height of the refugee crisis in 2015. The court said that these three countries failed to keep their promise on the European Union agreement to distribute 160,000 asylum seekers who made their way to Greece and Italy. The countries were struggling to keep up with the large numbers that were arriving from war zone and fleeing from poverty. From the polish government: “The refusal to comply with the relocation mechanism was dictated by the need to protect Poland’s internal security and defend it against uncontrolled migration. The most important goal of government policy is to ensure the safety of our citizens.” The nationalist governments of the three countries previously cited national security reasons in refusing to take in any of the refugees and migrants. Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, for example, vowed to block the European Union program to resettle migrants from Africa and the Middle East, saying that it was important to secure his nation’s borders from the mainly Muslim migrants “to keep Europe Christian.” Source: NY times.com