Overcoming 'disconnect' in Europe's refugee response

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Shada Islam, director of policy at Friends of Europe, discusses the role of collaboration and funding in this exclusive #AcrossBorders video interview.

What examples of successful collaborations between governments and non-governmental organizations can steer future interventions? And in the current response to the refugee crisis, is there any room for optimism?

Many key figures are working on bringing the issue higher up the agenda, but there is a disconnect between what is happening on the ground and what’s being discussed by policy makers, Shada Islam, director of policy at Friends of Europe, told Devex associate editor Richard Jones.

Watch the video clip above to hear how this “political blockage” could be mitigated with better coordination, more funding and a focus on long-term strategies.

Whisper It Softly: Muslims Are Part of Europe's Future

Europe can’t avoid Muslims and must wage sensible, civil debate on refugees and their integration

A specter is haunting Europe – the specter of Islam. Fear has reached new heights, pushed by rising concerns about terrorism and the flow of refugees. Nothing illustrates the fear more than the recent cover of Poland’s popular weekly magazine WSieci, warning of the "Islamic Rape of Europe," complete with a graphic depiction of a screaming blonde woman, with eyes closed, draped in the European Union flag. Three sets of brown and black hands claw at the flag and her hair.

The illustration may be among most shocking of the many images and articles analyzing Europe's ongoing refugee crisis, but the sentiments reflect generalized prejudices and stereotypes associated with Islam throughout Europe. The magazine also offers harsh words for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, accusing her of allowing Muslim refugees from Syria and Iraq to "shock and undermine" European culture and civilization. The anti-Islam lobby and critics of Merkel are having a field day as European governments stumble under the weight of managing the sudden arrival of a million or more refugees. Far right groups and many eastern European leaders rant against Islam and the “Muslim invasion,” with some politicians recommending shooting refugees entering illegally or allowing their boats to sink.

The 28-nation bloc is hopelessly divided between those like Merkel who feel that Europe has a moral duty to help those fleeing war and terror and leaders in eastern and central Europe who build fences and walls to keep the refugees out. Europe’s cities, civil societies, universities and businesses do their best to welcome the refugees, but are drowned out by the rage against the destruction of European values and clamor for tough actions that are often impractical – like sending all Muslims back “home.” Fierce, often hysterical debates leave little space for intelligent arguments and have little to do with the reality of 21st century Europe.

The crisis is stretching economic resources, radicalizing politics and straining political institutions. Fear is spreading as mainstream political parties emulate the strident anti-refugee and anti-migration rhetoric of the far right for an increasingly toxic debate. It need not be so.

The truth is simple, and Europeans have little choice: Islam has long been part of Europe and will continue to be so in the years to come. Throughout history, Europe has never been a fenced-in land. Islamic Spain was a multicultural mix of Muslims, Christians and Jews, and since the Ottoman Empire’s expansion into Europe, parts of the Balkans continue to have large populations of native, European Muslims. A new wave of Muslims from North Africa, Turkey and South Asia has arrived in Western Europe since the 1960s.The crisis is stretching economic resources, radicalizing politics and straining political institutions. Fear is spreading as mainstream political parties emulate the strident anti-refugee and anti-migration rhetoric of the far right for an increasingly toxic debate. It need not be so.

Despite shrill headlines of a clash of cultures, Europe is home to about 44 million Muslims, of which 19 million live in the 28 European Union countries. Muslims represent 8 percent of the population in France, 6 percent in Germany, 5 percent in Great Britain.

Europeans must come to terms with Islam and Muslims.

Muslims, also, whatever their origin and sectarian affiliations, must get used to regarding Europe as their home, if they are to have fulfilling and productive lives. Many do so already, and so will most of the refugees settling in to new lives.

The majority of European Muslims are law-abiding citizens who pay taxes and, according to the Open Society Institute, share the same concerns, needs and experiences as non-Muslims, including the quest for a “better quality of education, improved housing, cleaner streets and [the tackling of ] anti-social behaviour and crime.”  Moreover, the institute adds that despite the populist rhetoric, an overwhelming majority of Muslims in France and Germany describe themselves as loyal to their country and see no contradiction between French/German and Muslim values.

Germany’s Bertelsmann Foundation notes that Muslims in Germany “feel closely connected” to the country and support “fundamental values” of German society, adding “There is no evidence supporting the common contention that Muslims are living in a separate, parallel society.” Muslim populations are concentrated in cities, and Muslims in France, the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe post higher rates of unemployment with many struggling to find work.

Legacy: History and geography have contributed to Muslims in Europe (Data from Muslims in Europe, 2014)

Europe’s focus is on Muslims as terrorists, refugees, foreign fighters, criminals and misfits, but these represent a minuscule minority of European Muslims.

The process of adaptation, accommodation, integration, of Europe and Islam is well underway. Children of migrants engage in politics, including Sajid Javid, Britain’s business secretary, and Sadiq Khan, candidate for mayor of London. At least 11 members of the European Parliament have a Muslim family background.

Across Europe, migrant entrepreneurs are revitalizing impoverished urban neighborhoods, creating jobs and prompting innovation. Migrants “contribute to the economic growth of their local area, often rejuvenate neglected crafts and trades and increasingly participate in the provision of value-added services” and “and form an important bridge to global markets,” notes a report by the European Economic and Social Committee.

The economy demands such integration. As European economies stagnate, an aging society needs migrants, skilled and unskilled, to pay taxes and do work that citizens may not want to do. Diversity brought about by migration can be a competitive advantage and a source of dynamism for economies.Such arguments deserve a hearing. Europe must conduct a sensible conversation on refugees, migrants and Islam which includes arguments with a civil tone, backed by facts. People must move from talking about “us” and “them” to a more inclusive language of living in a shared space, with shared concerns, interests and values.

The conversation must underline that living together means abiding by certain ground rules. Integration is a two-way street, requiring adjustment efforts by migrants and host societies.  Newcomers must live according to existing rules and values so that they can become active citizens. The European Commission’s “Integration Handbook” points to the need to learn the host society’s language, history and institutions as “indispensable” to integration. Germany, Norway and other countries are giving refugees lessons on how to treat women and gay people as well as be accepted as full-fledged members of society

The discussion must be inclusive. Such civil conversation requires tackling concerns over economic effects of migration on families, jobs and communities while confronting both pressures and benefits that refugees and migration bring. Extremists cannot be allowed to hijack a debate that concerns all Europeans.

The stakes are high: Europe’s global reputation and hopes of playing a stronger international role depends on its internal conduct and policies. The tone and content of the debate have repercussions on Europe’s internal cohesion and economic dynamism, but also impact EU foreign policy and international standing.

The environment is more favorable to a changed approach than many assume. Tragedies in Paris and elsewhere as well as the focus on foreign fighters who have joined the Islamic State in Syria highlight the disaffection felt by many young Europeans of Muslim descent.

Europe’s single-minded security-focused approach to deal with Muslims is being replaced by a more balanced view that includes an integration agenda and migrant outreach programs.

Governments and businesses are gradually adjusting recruitment policies to increase employment of migrants. For their part, migrant groups are becoming more active as citizens.

But people with migrant backgrounds remain under-represented in national governments and EU institutions, and some form of affirmative action with support for minorities in higher education, recruitment and job promotion may be needed.

The crisis offers opportunity for profound transformation and renewal. It’s true that Europe will never be the same again – and it could be better.

By Nawab KhanBRUSSELS, March 6 (KUNA) -- Leaders of the 28-member European Union are to make another attempt on Monday to tackle Europe's worst refugee problem since World War II (WW2) amid warnings that the continuing impasse could lead to a collapse of the EU itself.EU leaders will hold the summit with Turkey the front-line state which is host to some 2.5 million refugees. They want Ankara to stop the flow of refugees to Europe. In November 2015, the EU and Turkey signed a three billion euro Joint Action Plan to better manage the situation, but the ambitious plan has yet to bear fruit.About one million refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan left their countries to escape war and persecution and seek shelter in European countries in 2015.Analysts opine that EU member states have miserably failed to agree on a relocation scheme of a mere 160,000 refugees, and politicians and analysts are warning that Europe's disunity in responding to the refugee crisis has created an existential threat to the European integration project. "In the next 10 days we need tangible and clear results on the ground otherwise there is the risk the whole system will completely break down," warned last week the EU's Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs Dimitris Avramopoulos.March 2016 may well make it into the history books as a make or break month for the EU," commented Rosa Balfour, an analyst at the Brussels office of the German Marshall Fund think tank. She said that the EU-Turkey Summit of March 7 and the EU leaders' summit March 17-18 "will have to produce short and long term measures addressing the current mayhem caused by the European governments' disorderly responses to the surge of refugees fleeing from conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere." Balfour opined that "it is hard to see how solutions will take shape, but it is safe to assume that continuing this paralysis will lead to further disintegration, starting with Britain leaving the EU." Moreover, the failure to deal with the refugee crisis has increased political tensions between the EU member states themselves. Greece has recently recalled its ambassador from Austria after Vienna accused Athens of not doing enough to protect its borders from the influx of refugees.French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve complained, last month, that Paris had not been informed of Belgium's decision to reinstate border controls at its borders with France. Moreover, analysts are alarmed that the refugee crisis has increased the outburst of racist and Islamophobic attacks against the refugees not only by far-right extremist groups but also by European leaders and politicians.Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban was among the first European leaders to advocate exclusion of Muslim migrants from entering Hungary and he even erected fences to stop the refugee flow to Hungary from Turkey through the Western Balkans and Greece.Vincent Cochetel, Director of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, Bureau for Europe and UNHCR's Regional Refugee Coordinator for the refugee crisis in Europe, told reporters in Brussels last Friday that "we had a number of statements from some Central European leaders that in my view are clearly Islamophobia." He noted that those statements compared the "arrival of Syrians to the Turkish Ottoman invasion." Shada Islam, director of policy in the Brussels-based think tank Friends of Europe, commented that Europe's global reputation and hopes of playing a stronger international role depend on its internal conduct and policies."The tone and content of the refugee and migration debate have repercussions on Europe's internal cohesion, economic dynamism and societal harmony, but also impact strongly on EU foreign policy and international standing," she wrote in an opinion piece."When Muslims are targets of racist attacks and discrimination, the EU's role and influence in helping to stabilise a very volatile Arab and Muslim world is diminished," she opined.However, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, is hopeful that Monday's meeting would result in some sort of European consensus to deal with the refugee situation. "For the first time since the beginning of the migration crisis, I can see a European consensus emerging," he wrote in his invitation letter to EU leaders for the summit. "It is a consensus around a comprehensive strategy that, if loyally implemented, can help stem the flows and tackle the crisis," he said.

VIEW FROM ABROAD: Turkey and EU (Originally published 10/10/2015 at Dawn.com)

Crises can result in strange bedfellows. Having criticised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his “authoritarian” ways, European Union leaders are now turning to the Turkish leader to help ease the unprecedented influx of refugees on to EU territory.As EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told the European Parliament in Strasbourg: “In the refugee crisis, Turkey and the EU walk together and work together.”Not surprisingly Erdogan is making the most of it. The Turkish president has not endeared himself to democrats and human rights activists at home or abroad with his clampdown on the media, arrest of opponents, the crackdown on civil society protests, lavish spending on his official residence and other actions, including targeting of Syrian Kurdish strongholds.Relations between the EU and Turkey have been on the backburner for several years as the 28-nation bloc has fretted and sweated at the rollback of reforms in a country which is a candidate to join the EU.EU membership negotiations have been put on hold. Turkey has sulked, saying its interests lie to its east, not the west.The EU has raged against Ankara’s disregard for European values. Relations are still strained. But both Turkey and the EU are more vulnerable than in the past.Ankara’s dreams and ambitions of becoming an indispensable regional player have been destroyed by Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s refusal to listen to Turkey. As a result, Erdogan’s influence in the region is not as potent as it was a few years ago.Europe’s many vulnerabilities are common knowledge. Even as Germany under Chancellor Angela Merkel has opened the borders to refugees from Syria, the sudden and massive arrival of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers has eroded public and political support for the move.And so to the negotiating table where Erdogan and the EU engage in horse-trading over the fate of refugees from Syria and other countries in conflict even as they try to put their own relations back on track.According to media reports, the Europeans are offering eventually to take half a million Syrians from new refugee and asylum-processing camps they would co-fund in Turkey in return for Ankara tightening its borders to stop people being smuggled in hazardous vessels to Greece, and agreeing to take back migrants who make it “illegally” to Europe via Turkey.As part of any possible pact, Erdogan is asking for a relaxation in visa requirements for Turks travelling to Europe. He also wants the EU to list Turkey as “a safe third country”, effectively whitewashing Ankara’s increasingly repressive policies and deteriorating human rights and media freedoms record.“Europe has to manage its borders better. We expect Turkey to do the same,” said Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, following talks with Erdogan. “The situation where hundreds of thousands are fleeing to the European Union from Turkey must be stopped.”Erdogan responded that Ankara was hosting almost 10 times as many Syrian refugees as the EU. While open to talks with Brussels, he said the key to stopping the flow of refugees was to establish a no-fly zone over the Turkish-Syria border and a buffer zone in northern Syria.This is viewed as a non-starter in Europe and in Washington, but Tusk said: “The European Union is ready to take up all issues with Turkey so we can also discuss a possible buffer zone in Syria.”Turkey is home to two million Syrian refugees and is the source of most of the influx into Europe of recent months. A pact with Turkey is now seen as the key to the effort to turn chaos into control.The aim is to have the Turks and the Greeks mount joint border controls at sea, organised by Frontex, the EU’s borders agency and that intercepted boat people be turned back to Turkey.Meanwhile, in an unusual joint appeal, Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have urged European politicians to pull together amid multiple crises in a bid to heal EU divisions caused by the influx of refugees, debt crises and encroaching nationalist sentiment.In separate addresses to the European Parliament in Strasbourg last week, both leaders underlined the risks now besetting the EU’s 28 nations.“The debate is not about less Europe or more Europe,” Mr Hollande told politicians, evoking the question of national sovereignty besetting member nations. “It is about the affirmation of Europe or the end of Europe. Yes, the end of Europe.”Chancellor Merkel, who has come forward as the champion of refugees flowing into Europe, said overcoming the refugee crisis together is a key challenge for the European Union.“It is precisely now,” she said, “that we need more Europe ... If we overcome that, we will be stronger after the crisis than before.”It was the first such joint appearance in Strasbourg since 1989, when West German chancellor Helmut Kohl and French president Francois Mitterrand spoke days after the fall of the Berlin Wall.“In the refugee crisis we must not succumb to the temptation of falling back into acting in nationalistic terms,” said Ms Merkel, standing next to French President Hollande, adding: “National solo efforts are no solution to the refugee crisis.”Significantly even as the two EU leaders were speaking in Strasbourg, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, announced that a combined EU naval mission known as EU Navfor Med will now be able “to board, search and seize vessels in international waters, [after which] suspected smugglers and traffickers will be transferred to the Italian judicial authorities”.Yes, Europe is confused, overwhelmed and uncertain about what to do next. President Erdogan, in contrast, knows exactly what he wants: respect and recognition from a Europe that has too often disregarded Turkey as an important ally. And, ultimately, Turkish membership of the 28-nation European Union.

View from abroad: Not everyone wants Fortress Europe (Originally published 29/08/2015 at Dawn.com)

Throughout the summer, the headlines have reflected the heart-wrenching reality of Europe’s worsening refugee crisis.The messy, incompetent and often cruel response to the influx of embattled men, women and children arriving on its territory is a huge blot on Europe’s reputation. It is also a source of disappointment for many who believed in the creation of an open, more tolerant society and thought Europeans had learned the lessons of a shameful, tragic past.Alas, many have not. The hostile reaction of governments in Britain, Hungary, Slovakia and others to the refugees arriving in Europe from war-devastated countries illustrates a callousness, intolerance and indifference that many hoped would never be seen again in Europe.News from the different “fronts” in the crisis — the Mediterranean sea, the scene of many shipwrecks and deaths, the Balkans where desperate refugees are using land routes to reach Europe and Calais where thousands are stuck in a no-man’s land between France and Britain — continues to dominate the media, elbowing out news of Eurozone troubles, including early elections announced by Greece.The focus is on the harsh statements and even harsher actions by European nations. British Prime Minister David Cameron infamously referred to “swarms” of immigrants while his foreign secretary Philip Hammond warned of “marauding migrants” on Europe’s doorsteps. Meanwhile, the huge camp of refugees seeking entry into Britain set up in Calais in France is kept in check by a swelling police presence and more fences.Many governments, especially in the former Communist central and eastern European states are gearing up for military action to keep out the desperate people on their doorsteps. More and higher fences are being erected. Some countries such as Slovakia and others in Eastern Europe have said openly that they will only take in a limited number of refugees — and only those they can identify as Christian. Not surprisingly, the refugee crisis dominated a summit on the western Balkans attended by EU leaders last week.United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged countries “in Europe and elsewhere to prove their compassion and do much more to bring an end to the crisis”. The thousands of migrants and refugees who brave perilous journeys “should not, when they arrive, encounter new challenges”, Ban said during a visit to Paris.Yes, the crisis has brought out the worst in Europe. But — at least in some cases — it has also brought out the best.Take the governments in Italy and Greece which have been struggling to cope for months with the arrival of an ever-rising number of refugees, their appeals for a more equitable sharing-out of the “burden” rejected by other members of the European Union. Italians coastguards continue to save hundreds of endangered refugees on the high seas. While far-right groups in both countries are up in arms against the refugees, ordinary Italians and Greeks — suffering from their own Euro-imposed troubles — are providing food and shelter to the new arrivals.Even as Britain’s Cameron panders to the xenophobic sentiments of the anti-foreigner UK Independence Party, many British citizens are helping out in the Calais camp. And a letter from the Jewish Council for Racial Equality to Cameron says British Jews are appalled by Britain’s response to the situation in Calais. “Our experience as refugees is not so distant that we’ve forgotten what it’s like to be demonised for seeking safety,” the letter said, adding: “People fleeing conflict and persecution are not to blame for the crisis in Calais; neither is our welfare system, nor the French government. Above all, we in the UK are not the victims here; we are not being invaded by a ‘swarm’.”Most importantly, perhaps, Germany has emerged as the country most willing to welcome the new arrivals. As the country gears up to receive an unprecedented 800,000 refugees, many of them from Syria, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has lashed out against “vile” anti-migrant violence and warned: “There will be no tolerance of those who question the dignity of other people.”Public opinion appears to be largely behind her, with 60 per cent of Germans polled by public broadcaster ZDF saying that Europe’s biggest economy is capable of hosting the asylum-seekers.Desperately seeking a joint EU response to the crisis, Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have said the refugees need to be distributed more equally among the 28 European Union countries, a demand backed by the European Commission. But there is strong opposition to such collective action from Britain and the eastern European states.Germany has in fact taken more than 40% of the Syrian refugees who have reached Europe; Sweden has taken another 20% and Greece, Italy and Spain account for another 25%.As the weeks drag on — and far right parties become ever more vocal in their anti-foreign rhetoric — the need for a joint EU response to the crisis will become more urgent. Merkel and a few others may worry about the erosion of European values — but others are busy building the walls and fences required to secure Fortress Europe.

View from Abroad: A week of tears, tragedy and shame (Originally published 23/05/2015 at dawn.com)

They may disagree on many issues, but as they struggled to respond to their respective refugee crises, the European and Asian governments acted with an equally distressing disregard for human life.The Europeans showed little concern for the human rights and much — touted “European values” of tolerance etc that they often preach on the international stage and in their dealings with other states. The Asians illustrated an equal ruthlessness and lack of humanity.The Europeans turned a deaf ear to the Vatican’s appeal for mercy and charity. The Asian nations had little pity for the plight of fellow Muslims.In Europe, as the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean Sea worsened, with thousands of desperate African, Arab and Asian refugees continuing to arrive on Italian and Greek shores, the 28 European Union countries squabbled over the number of people they could “realistically” be expected to allow on to their territory.Plans were drawn up for a naval operation against the human traffickers. There was toxic talk of keeping out as many as possible of the world’s huddled masses.Take a look: In Asian seas, Rohingya migrants have nowhere to landIn Asia, the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) showed itself to be even more inhumane as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia left thousands of Rohingya refugees adrift on the high seas, adamant that they could not be expected to open their doors to Myanmar’s persecuted Muslim minority.The Rohingyas were eventually given temporary shelter by Malaysia and Indonesia, but only after repeated scoldings by the United Nations to protect migrants and refugees stranded on the vessels, to give priority to saving lives, protecting rights, and respecting human dignity.Amazingly, Mynamar where persecution against the Rohingyas is rife escaped Asean censure. Thailand which has received many of the migrants said it was not going to be taking in any more. None of the other Asean states said a word of protest.A meeting to discuss the problem has been called at the end of the month — but many believe that Myanmar is unlikely to attend.Significantly, UN officials, including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein have also appealed strongly to European leaders to put human life, rights and dignity first when agreeing on a common response to what they called the “tragedy of epic proportions” unfolding in the Mediterranean Sea, where some 1,600 people have died this year trying to flee their strife-torn homelands.Certainly, it isn’t easy for any country to open its doors to thousands of foreigners in one go and to provide them with food, water and shelter — and a future.But in a world of war, violence, extremism, persecution and poverty, the mass movement of desperate people is inevitable. Pakistan opened its doors to millions of Afghans. Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey are taking in displaced Syrians.The situation of so-called “stateless” people is even worse. Palestinian refugees have been in camps for decades as have so-called “Biharis”. The Rohingyas, chased out by the Buddhist extremists in Myanmar, are unwelcome across Southeast Asia. Lampedusa in Italy is crowded with men, women and children of many different nationalities — but as they flee war and poverty, often leaving their documents behind, they might as well be stateless.The number of migrants entering the EU illegally almost tripled last year. Of the nearly 170,000 migrants who crossed the Mediterranean to Italy in 2014, more than 3,200 lost their lives trying to reach Europe. During the first two months of this year, arrivals were up 43 per cent versus the same period last year.The outlook for Asean is equally grim. Nearly 31,000 refugees took to the boats in the last three months of 2014, followed by another 25,750 in the first quarter of 2014. Europe’s initial response to the mass arrival of the refugees was feeble, disjointed and inadequate. But the reality of the human tragedy unfolding in what many now call the “sea of death” finally forced governments into action — of sorts.It’s still not clear if the distribution of the hapless people among EU member states will take place as the European Commission would like. Britain and France have already said no. With Europe’s Far Right xenophobic leaders breathing down their necks, others are not too keen either.Asean’s callousness is not unexpected. Countries in the region don’t really have a tradition of caring much about human rights and have a policy of not interfering in the affairs of others.Still, the lack of humanity initially shown by the region towards the desperate Rohingyas is cause for dismay. Most of Myanmar’s 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims are stateless and live in apartheid-like conditions. Almost 140,000 were displaced in clashes with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in 2012.In addition to taking in the refugees, Asean must demand that Myanmar stop the continuing violence against Rohingyas. The credibility and reputation of the region is at stake. Asean may want to focus on high economic growth and its plans to build a frontier-free common market. But it would be a pity if it lost its soul in the process.