Islam in Europe: The twain shall meet

Aijaz Zaka Syed, a Gulf-based writer, writes on the well documented topic of Islam in Europe. As Shada Islam has covered the issue herself over the years and months leading to the publication of this article, it would be best to have the events and perceptions painted using the words of another writer for once.Fear stalks Europe's fortress. Perhaps seldom in the long history of the continent has it been afflicted by such overwhelming insecurity and paranoia. The scare of “Muslims are coming” dominates conversations everywhere. Images of refugees from Syria and other hot spots pouring into Europe abound. The breathless coverage of the “refugee crisis” by European media and scaremongering by politicians like Marie Le Pen doesn’t help.It is not just the extreme right that is raising the specter of Islamic invasion of the white, Christian continent. Mainstream parties like David Cameron’s Tories have been resorting to the same alarmist rhetoric against migrants both old and new. A new UK law threatens to deport thousands of immigrants who earn less than 35,000 pounds a year. It is this politics of paranoia and hate that has brought an unhinged bigot like Trump to the center-stage of US presidential elections. Terror attacks like those in Paris and the fear of homegrown extremists only add fuel to the raging debate and play into the hands of the Right, which has been steadily rising everywhere.The recent cover of Poland’s popular weekly WSieci, warning of the “Islamic Rape of Europe” perhaps best illustrates the paranoia. It is a graphic and racist depiction of a screaming blonde woman, with eyes closed, draped in the EU flag with three sets of brown and black hands clawing at the flag and her hair.This is but just one example of the extreme fear and loathing being whipped up across Europe. The WSieci cover story also attacks German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has demonstrated rare humanity and moral courage by welcoming more than a million refugees last year, for “undermining European culture and civilization.”But is Europe really in danger of being swamped by the predominantly Muslim migrants?Jordan with a population of 8 million has provided refuge to 1.7 million Syrians. Turkey has been sheltering more than 3 million Syrian refugees. So if the EU with a population of more than 500 million people and a GDP of more than $27,000 faces the possibility of receiving a million or two war victims, it’s not the end of the world. By the way, as author Kenan Malik points out, a million refugees constitute less than 0.2 percent of the EU’s population. Besides, these are the people who have fled their countries in extremely trying circumstances. Thousands have perished in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas or overland in trying to reach to safety in what they hope is a better life for their loved ones. This is what people have done for thousands of years — migrate — when faced with danger and certain, perilous future. This is why the UN Charter mandates member states to provide refuge to all such people.More important, Europe has a moral and ethical responsibility to do its bit for these migrants considering this is a crisis largely created by the West. While the Arab Spring quickly toppled the regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, Syria has proved a tough nut to crack. If Assad has survived this long, at catastrophic cost to his people and country, the credit goes to Iran, their ally Hezbollah and Russia of course. This conflict has claimed at least 300,000 lives with nearly half of the country’s population now living in refugee camps in neighboring countries.Can you blame the Syrians if they are fleeing this veritable hell?What will it take for Europe and other world powers to recognize this and show some mercy and humanity to these desperate men, women and children who are fleeing persecution and in most cases certain death? After all, no one willingly abandons his/her home and land of ancestors.  And it’s about time Europe accepted Islam and Muslims as essential part of the continent. They are here to stay. Europe has been home to at least 50 million Muslims, who have enriched the European society in numerous ways. Indeed, Islam has been part of Europe for the past 1,200 years.Muslims arrived in the continent as early as 711 AD when they conquered Spain and created a society that remains a model of religious harmony. The Muslims ruled Spain for centuries in a period known as the Golden Age of Andalusia where Muslims, Christians and Jews co-existed in peace and created a great civilization that produced great art, architecture and scholarship. The expansion of Turkey’s Ottoman Empire marked the second phase of Islamic engagement with the continent, which saw millions of indigenous Europeans embrace Islam. The third phase of engagement came with the arrival of thousands of South Asian, Turkish and North African immigrants who provided cheap labor to countries like UK, Germany, France and Belgium.So it’s not as if this is the first time Europe is opening its doors to Muslims. Islam and the West have co-existed for more than a millennium and there is no need for conflict now. This is possible only when both sides tried to understand, engage and accept each other. Integration is a two-way street.  If instead of viewing Muslims through the lens of security, Europe sincerely try to accommodate them, as Germany, Canada and Greece have done, it would be in the interest of both.The majority of European Muslims are law-abiding citizens who pay taxes and share the same concerns, needs and experiences as non-Muslims, according to the Open Society Institute. And across Europe, immigrants are revitalizing impoverished urban neighborhoods, creating jobs and prompting innovation, reports the European Economic and Social Committee. As Shada Islam of Friends of Europe says, “Europe’s focus is on Muslims as terrorists, refugees, foreign fighters, criminals and misfits, but these represent a minuscule minority of European Muslims. Europe must conduct a sensible conversation on migrants and Islam. People must move from talking about “us” and “them” to a more inclusive language of living in a shared space, with shared concerns and interests.” As the experience of nations like America, Canada and Australia demonstrates, migrants are never a burden and only bring value, dynamism and diversity of experience to host societies.That said, Muslims cannot be found wanting in their efforts to become acceptable and valuable to host societies. They must do everything to integrate and adapt themselves to the values, concerns and sensitivities of their adopted countries. They mustn’t do anything that puts their faith in the dock. There is an opportunity in this crisis for both Muslims and Europe.

Overcoming 'disconnect' in Europe's refugee response

[embed]https://youtu.be/NYBSmMw3eu4[/embed]

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: In this dark world, who can still make us dream?

Back in 1963, Martin Luther King had a dream. His vision of empowered African Americans resonated across the world where millions believed in his message of equality and brotherhood, and his calls for an end to racism.

The struggle for the emancipation of black Americans was not easy. Many people died. King himself was assassinated. But eight years ago, Americans elected their first African American president.

Barack Obama spoke of hope and change. He also had a vision of an America at peace with itself and with the rest of the world.

How times and presidential election campaigns change. As Obama’s second term as president draws to an end, talk of dreams and hope have been replaced by poisonous messages of hate and fear.

These days, America’s would-be presidents don’t dream. They have nightmares. They spout ugly words and dark, morbid visions of an America overrun by immigrants, terrorists, Muslims and Mexicans.

Billionaire Donald Trump is of course “hate-monger in-chief”, his anger and loathing for those outside his circle appears to know no bounds. But he is not alone. Others in the US are propagating an equally toxic message.

And here in Europe the political landscape is just as grim. The one woman, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who did harbour a dream of a Europe willing to receive and accept people fleeing war and persecution, is in a minority of one in a European Union which counts 28 states.

Instead of being acclaimed as a courageous leader who lives by the values that so many in Europe profess to believe in — but clearly don’t want to practice — Merkel is derided as naive and irresponsible.

The German leader’s male colleagues have a different agenda. They are clamping down hard on refugees, building fences, reinforcing border controls. And they are joining Trump in disseminating a message of fear, intolerance and hate.

Even as hapless EU officials have warned governments not to take “unilateral actions”, last week Austria and the Balkan states made clear that they will go their own way.

Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have been among the staunchest opponents of EU plans to transfer asylum-seekers arriving in southern Europe to other EU states.

Austria last week announced a daily cap on the numbers of people allowed to apply for asylum or travel through to apply elsewhere, prompting some Balkan countries to introduce restrictions. As a result, migrants have been stranded in Greece, the main entry point into Europe.

There is angry talk by Greece and Italy of stopping funding for the countries who refuse to play the “solidarity” game by taking in refugees, but nobody is really listening.

Meanwhile, in France, a court has given the green light to plans to evacuate hundreds of migrants from the notorious “Jungle” camp in Calais. Worried that the migrants will cross the border, Belgium has decided to impose frontier checks, thereby giving another blow to the EU’s so-called Schengen agreement on the free movement of people.

Europe’s reaction to the refugee crisis is chaotic, inhumane and shocking. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has warned, for instance, that border restrictions along the Balkan route go against international and European rules.

Europe’s tough-talking leaders have escaped media scrutiny for the moment. Most journalists have neither the time nor the inclination to investigate the reality of Europe’s migrant crisis.

But history will certainly pass harsh judgement on the policies and actions of the European, especially Eastern European, leaders.

And what about Britain? As continental Europe frets over refugees, British politicians are in the grip of a strange self-inflicted wound known as the “Brexit” debate over membership of the EU.

Having secured a “deal” earlier this week with his EU colleagues on renegotiating the terms of Britain’s EU membership, British Prime Minister David Cameron’s hopes of winning the June 23 referendum for his “stay in Europe” campaign were shattered when the quirky but very popular Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, threw his ample weight behind the “exiters”.

With any expectations of a sane conversation in Britain now also buried, people can put aside any hopes of a change in Europe’s politics of fear.

So is there anyone else out there who can make us dream again? Russia’s Vladimir Putin has his cabal of admirers but does not inspire hope among anyone else.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may have caught the world’s imagination a decade ago but is now discredited as just another authoritarian leader who has lost touch with reality.

China’s President Xi Jinping is too busy grappling with his country’s “new normal” economic slowdown to pay attention to global challenges.

For all the talk of India’s rise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is no global leader. Neither is Indonesia’s President Jokowi or Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Iran and Saudi leaders are busy adding to the world’s problems by fighting each other through proxies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Which brings us nicely to Canada. Justin Trudeau certainly stands tall as a man of principle, compassion and humanity. While his counterparts in other countries deafen us with their rabid rants, and European and US politicians paint the world in black, the young Canadian leader is proof of the power of dreams.

View from abroad: The Balkans’ macabre race to be tough on refugees

Western Balkan nations are back in the news. This time, unlike in the 1990s, the headlines are not about war, conflict and massacres in the region but about the thousands of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan trekking up north from Turkey, through the Balkans, to reach Germany and other western European countries.

It used to be the dangerous sea routes that were in the news as refugees fled civil wars, deprivation and more to seek shelter on Europe’s southern shores. The focus has now shifted to the Balkan land route and the efforts of the region’s governments to stem or even stop this flow.

It’s difficult to keep a “harshness towards refugees ranking” of the different states in the region. And frankly, it is also difficult to keep track of just which country is sealing the routes, building fences, imposing quotas and the like. Directly or indirectly, they all seem to be doing something nasty.

It’s a macabre race to be the toughest kid on the block. But perhaps the toughest are the so-called “Visegrad Four”, composed of the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, which have made no secret of their loathing for the refugees and are clamouring with increasing insistence for border closures between Greece and the Balkan states, especially Macedonia.

While they may be grumbling about the crisis, at a conference organised in Brussels last week, many of the regions’ top policymakers were also underlining that the inflow of refugees through the region illustrated the importance of the Balkans to the rest of Europe.

The sentiment was shared by Johannes Hahn, the EU Commissioner for the neighbourhood and enlargement policy. Western Balkan countries can turn the migrant crisis to their advantage given their importance as transit zones, the EU’s enlargement chief said.

“I believe this crisis has opened the window in the way that much more people, politicians, are looking to the western Balkans,” he said, adding: “There is a better understanding among European leaders that the western Balkans are already surrounded by EU member states, and it is quite clear at a certain moment that they should also join the family.”

Joining the “family” is not going to be that easy, however. For all their insistence that they are part of Europe, the truth is that beyond geography, the conduct, values and policies followed by many countries in the region put them firmly outside the European mainstream.

The Balkan states may have found friends among the EU’s “new” member states — Poland, Hungary, Slovakia — whose own belief systems are increasingly un-European, but many in western Europe are appalled by their behaviour. Still, the Balkans’ reputation got a fillip last week when Bosnia Herzegovina formally applied for EU membership, joining Serbia, Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro which are also in the queue to join the EU.

There was much cheer and self-congratulation of course with officials pointing out that even as the EU lurches from crisis to crisis, it’s “power of attraction” for outsiders remains untarnished.

But much as they would wish otherwise, the western Balkan states are years away from being ready to join the EU.

And having learned from the premature entry of Bulgaria and Romania, the EU is in no rush to open its arms to the region.

In fact, one of the first things that EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker did on taking over in 2014 was to decree a five-year standstill on any further EU enlargement.

And even as they accepted Bosnia’s application, EU officials were warning that the country — and the region — needed to carry out a series of reforms.

Let’s not forget that the war in Bosnia in the 1990s, part of the break-up of Yugoslavia, killed some 100,000 people. The country remains split along ethnic lines and is still economically impoverished.

The Dutch foreign minister, Bert Koenders, speaking on behalf of the EU’s Dutch Presidency, has warned that Bosnia’s application would only be considered after “meaningful progress in the implementation of the reform agenda is achieved”, meaning Sarajevo would not be given candidate status for now.

It’s not just Bosnia that has problems, however. As John O’Brennan of Maynooth University wrote recently, “Twenty years ago, the Dayton Agreement was meant to definitively settle the ‘Balkan Question’, but today the region remains politically explosive, an economic basket case and a substantial security risk for the EU.”

Critics warn that corruption is rife across the region, there are major deficits as regards the rule of law, economic growth is low and foreign investors are hesitant about moving in.

The message from the EU is that the western Balkans “must integrate to integrate”, meaning they must first build their own cross-border links before joining the EU. But regional integration is weak and unconvincing, with the region’s politicians admitting that there is much work ahead if countries are to move from being “enemies to neighbours”.

In a glaring example of a dismal lack of regional cooperation, many Balkan countries are putting up their own national candidates for the job of the next United Nations Secretary General.

When asked why they could not throw their weight behind one candidate, the response from one Balkans official was honest: “That’s a step too far for now. We are not there yet.”

View from abroad: Europe’s best kept secret (Originally published 13/02/2016 at Dawn.com)

Call it Europe’s best kept secret. As the arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees hits the headlines and Europeans tie themselves in knots over how to deal with the desperate, mainly Muslim, newcomers, it’s worth noting: Islam has always been part of Europe — and it will be part of Europe’s future.Europe and Europeans have no choice. It will be long, difficult and sometimes painful but sooner or later, like it or not, they are going to have to come to terms with Islam and Muslims.It’s also true that if they are to live fulfilling and productive lives, Muslims, whatever their origin and their sectarian affiliations, will have to get used to calling Europe their “real” home. Many do so already and so will most of the refugees currently settling in to their new lives.There is no other option. Christians, Muslims and Jews have lived side by side, in peace and in Europe in the past. Despite the shrill headlines of a clash of cultures and values, they also do so today and will in the future.Europe’s current focus may be on Muslims as terrorists, refugees, foreign fighters, criminals and misfits — and extremists on all sides may cry blue murder at the existence of a vibrant multi-cultural Europe — but the process of adaptation, accommodation, integration, of Europe and Islam is well underway.For one, the economy demands it. As European economies stagnate, Europe’s ageing society needs refugees and migrants — skilled and unskilled — to pay taxes and do the jobs that no one else wants to do.But it’s about more. There is an interesting story to be told about migrants’ economic contribution to their host nations especially the fact that many migrant entrepreneurs are actively fostering the revitalisation of impoverished urban neighbourhoods, creating jobs and prompting innovation in products and services.A recent European Commission study stresses that diversity brought about by migration can be a competitive advantage and a source of dynamism for the European economies, whose workforce is expected to decline by approximately 50 million between 2008 and 2060.But these facts get lost in the toxic conversation being led by the far-right groups. The inconvenient truth is that Europe needs a new narrative on immigration and it needs it urgently.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 immigration debate has repercussions on Europe’s internal cohesion, economic dynamism and societal harmony but also impacts strongly on EU foreign policy and international reputation.The harsh reaction of some European governments to those fleeing war in the Middle East colours global views of Europe, eroding the EU’s efforts to promote human rights worldwide.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. Young Africans drowning in rickety boats in the Mediterranean raise questions about the effectiveness of EU development policy.The environment is more favourable to changing the narrative than many believe. Recent tragedies in Paris and elsewhere as well as the current focus on European “foreign fighters” who have joined the militant Islamic State group in Syria has spotlighted the malaise and disaffection felt by many young Europeans of Muslim descent.Europe’s once solely security-focused approach to deal with the Muslims has been replaced with a more balanced view that includes an integration agenda and migrant outreach programmes.Government and business recruitment policies are being gradually changed to increase the employment of migrants. In fact, business leaders are demanding an increase in immigration, including that from Muslim countries, to meet Europe’s skills shortage, and the Lisbon Treaty includes a new anti-discrimination directive that strengthens existing rules on combating racism.For their part, migrant groups are becoming significantly more active in demanding equal rights as fully fledged citizens, organising themselves into pressure groups and emerging as influential politicians, entrepreneurs and cultural icons.But there are certain ground rules. Integration is a two-way street, requiring adjustment efforts by migrants and host societies. Newcomers must abide by existing rules so that they can become part of the conversation. But in exchange they should be accepted as full-fledged members of society.European politicians face the challenge of engaging in an intelligent debate on immigration and integration which is not about accusatory interventions or the adoption of populists’ rhetoric but does not shy away from discussing the real challenges of living in a multicultural and diverse society.Given the present sorry lack of representation of people of migrant background in national governments, parliaments and EU institutions, some form of support for higher education, facilitation of job promotion is needed to encourage minorities to become active social participants.Business leaders, for their part, must become less timid in pointing out that ageing and skills-deficient Europe needs foreign labour.Europe’s most serious refugee crisis since World War II seems to be ripping the continent apart, stretching economic resources, radicalising politics and straining political institutions. It need not be so.This is also a period of profound transformation, change and renewal. It may not look like it because of the ongoing chaos and turbulence. But Europe will never be the same again — it could be better. 

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: Europe will never be the same again (Originally published 04/10/2015 at Dawn.com)

Don’t believe the upbeat headlines. The summit of European Union leaders held in Brussels a couple of weeks ago has not ended the acrimonious quarrelling among the bloc’s 28 leaders over Europe’s refugee crisis. The divisions are deep. Yes, some cracks have been papered over. Make no mistake, however, Europe has changed and may never be the same again.The summer and autumn of 2015 will be remembered as an important defining moment for a continent which has itself suffered the horrors of war, and persecution but which now, despite the economic slowdown, is still a largely comfortable and prosperous place. And with comfort have come complacency, self-righteousness and, yes, a certain degree of selfishness. Mixed with this is fear of foreigners, especially those who also happen to be Muslim.So why is this such an important watershed moment? Quite simply, because this is when Europe has to decide whether it turns inwards, enjoying its many assets and charms while shunning the rest of the world or whether it truly embraces the 21st century. The sudden arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees has shaken Europe to the core, revealing and highlighting still-deep-seated differences among nations and people and throwing cold water on the EU’s endless talk of shared “common values” among the 28 countries.For years, Europeans have known that they have an ageing population and need foreign labour — both skilled and unskilled. And for just as many years, Europe has tried to ignore this reality. There are no legal channels for those seeking to migrate to Europe. Piecemeal efforts like ‘blue card’ schemes end up in tatters.That’s not unique. Like many other countries and regions, Europe and Europeans are undecided about who they are and what they want to be. They vacillate between good and bad, open and closed. And the refugee crisis has made these uncertainties and internal rifts visible to the world. Suddenly, there is no more time for discussion, no time to fudge and vacillate.The “Islamic invasion”, the “Muslim hordes”, the “swarms of migrants” from poor nations are not just a nightmare, they are a reality. There is no place to hide. The wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan have ensured that Europe is now face to face with what it fears most: the arrival of thousands of “Muslims” who want refuge, shelter, asylum in Europe.Not surprisingly, the EU has been taken by surprise. Divisions within the EU are not new. It’s not easy for 28 sovereign nations to work together, pool resources and sometimes even pool their sovereignty in the name of European integration. But so far the infighting has been relatively civilised and calm. It’s been about the sharing of money, trade policy and whether to bomb or not to bomb foreign nations.In the case of the Eurozone crisis, especially as regards Greece, it did become ugly at moments. The Germans were demonised for forcing austerity on the poor suffering Greeks. The Greeks in turn were accused of being lazy and corrupt. Now it’s about much, much more. It’s about history, humanity, about Europe’s place in the world and about those cherished European “values”, namely tolerance, respect for others, compassion, etc.As they grapple with the reality of hundreds of thousands of refugees on their territory, those values have been neatly discarded by most of the EU’s new members from eastern and central Europe. And even the “old” EU nations are beginning to waver. The decision by EU leaders to give one billion euros in aid to Syria’s neighbouring countries which are sheltering the majority of the refugees may have temporarily stopped some of the embarrassingly public wrangling. Agreement to shore up the bloc’s external borders has also led to a collective sigh of relief among those who fear being engulfed by the world’s “poor and huddled masses”.Now is also the time for anguished soul-searching, mea culpas and backtracking. The EU’s Polish president of the council, Donald Tusk, has warned that it is time to “correct our policy of open doors and windows” towards the refugees. Significantly, Tusk did not mention the policy of barbed wire fences, prisons and “jungles” implemented by most of his counterparts in eastern Europe. Tusk’s criticism of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to let in Syrian refugees did not go unnoticed. But Tusk is not alone.The Slovak, Czech and Hungarian leaders are also up in arms against the EU decision to reallocate 120,000 refugees across most of the 28 member states. The EU’s most robust anti-immigration hardliner, Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, warned Merkel, against any “moral imperialism”.Significantly, however, economists at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have said that the short-term strain on Europe posed by the refugees is outweighed by the long-term opportunity the newcomers present for a continent struggling with sluggish growth and home to an ageing population.Many European businesses have already said they are ready to offer jobs to the refugees who they believe can help bolster the bloc’s economies. In Germany, employers’ organisations have issued an appeal to accelerate training for refugees, including German language training so that they can be employed as soon as possible.So yes, Europe today is confused, undecided and uncertain. Europeans know they need foreign labour and many recognise that the Syrian and other refugees, given their youth, talents and professional skills are a godsend for an ageing continent. But many are also likely to say: what a pity that so many are Muslims.

VIEW FROM ABROAD: Let’s focus on the 'mother of all' SDGs (Originally published 19/09/2015 at Dawn.com)

In just one week, world leaders will gather at the United Nations General Assembly in New York to adopt the much-anticipated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed to steer global economic, social and environmental policies over the next 15 years.The SDGs are important and their implementation will have a critical impact on what the world will look like in 2030. After all, the previous Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) certainly contributed, among other things, to reducing extreme poverty and halving the number of annual deaths of children under five.And yet. Promises about the future are fine but I can’t help wondering: shouldn’t the focus in New York be on the need for urgent global action to tackle a raging refugee crisis which is affecting not just Europe but number of countries, including many in the developing world?The UN should use next week’s meeting to craft one over-arching “mother of all SDGs” which would tackle the deep, structural problems — poverty, inequality, conflicts, climate change — which lie behind the world’s growing refugee problem.Instead of making speeches on the SDGs, world leaders would be more credible if they hammered out a global strategy to ensure a decent, dignified life for the millions of refugees on the move today — while also taking action to deal with the wars, conflict and persecution which cause people to flee their homes.Such a blueprint should be about the current plight of the refugees — mostly from Syria, Iraq, Eritrea and Afghanistan — who are desperately seeking shelter in Europe but also in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and many African countries.But it should be about much more as well. It should focus on the deficiencies in current global development policies which have helped to provoke the current disastrous situation.In fact, the world body doesn’t have to add on another — eighteenth — SDG which focuses specifically on refugees. It could quite simply and forcefully put its full weight behind the urgent need to link the implementation of the SDGs to the resolution of the refugee crisis.Certainly, there will need to be a sharper focus on fragile states. As Gideon Rabinowitz from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) points out in a recent blog, “although certainly not its primary cause, the international community’s inadequate support for countries facing humanitarian and conflict-related challenges has contributed to this [refugee] crisis”.Rabinowitz underlines that funding for food vouchers for Syrian refugees has been slashed. Aid to fragile states is down.At a recent conference on the SDGs held in Brussels, there was agreement that the refugee crisis should lead to greater emphasis on peace and conflict resolution in the SDGs.“The crisis is actually a test for many of the SDGs — some of the social ones and education, health, things like that,” said James Mackie, Senior Adviser on EU Development Policy at the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM). “But the one I would really focus on would be SDG 16 on conflict, peace, justice and inclusive institutions. I think that’s where the real solution to this crisis is, and we should learn that lesson looking forward.”Certainly, attention at the moment is on European governments’ messy and discordant responses. Hungary’s odious mistreatment of the refugees is one cruel facet of the story, Germany’s still-humane reaction is another.Most “ordinary” people are going out of their way to welcome the refugees even as the Far Right screams blue murder.The sad truth is that Europe is overwhelmed by the number of people seeking entry, the collapse of its cherished Schengen border-free system and the need to rapidly craft a new and more intelligent asylum and immigration policy.All this will take time. Speedy decision-making is not something the EU is good at.But what about others? Where is the compassionate global response that could be expected, especially from Muslim Middle Eastern nations which have taken only a few escapees from the brutal conflict they are helping to finance in Syria. Saudi Arabia has offered Germany funds to build 200 mosques. Hopefully, Berlin will say no.Japan took in eleven asylum seekers last year although Tokyo faces labour shortages and the huge problem of an ageing population. The US has been slow and lumbering in its grudging decision to take in about 10,000 Syrians.Little can be expected meanwhile from Southeast Asian countries which were at loggerheads only a few months ago over their reluctance to house the Rohingya fleeing ethnic strife in Myanmar.The problem won’t go away, however. The UNHCR has warned that that worldwide displacement is at the highest level ever recorded, with the number of people forcibly displaced at the end of 2014 rising to a staggering 59.5 million compared to 51.2 million a year earlier and 37.5 million a decade ago.The increase represents the biggest leap ever seen in a single year. Moreover, the report said the situation was likely to worsen still further.Since early 2011, the main reason for the acceleration has been the war in Syria, now the world’s single-largest driver of displacement.If they are to mean anything to anyone in the coming years, the SDGs must focus on preventing, managing and resolving the many conflicts and the many inter-connected challenges of poverty, inequality and climate change which are devastating the world.So here’s my advice to the great and the good as they head for New York: tone down the rhetoric, tear up your speeches. Remember your speeches and the SDGs will be meaningless unless the new set of global development priorities also help tackle the reasons behind the global refugee crisis.

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.