Europe and refuge

In Europe, might is with the Right. The ultra-right wing in the continent has been steadily gaining support in recent years largely by channeling racism, but has yet to come into power. Where it has had disproportionate influence is by exploiting fears over immigration and terrorism and forcing centre-right parties to move towards a fascistic position. The latest country to deal a blow to the ideal of an inclusive and tolerant Europe is Denmark, which will confiscate valuables from incoming refugees. The ostensible reason for this shockingly inhumane decision is to help pay for their resettlement but Denmark is fooling no one. Its aim is to make refugees feel so unwelcome that these helpless people, already forced to abandon their homes and livelihoods, go elsewhere. Other Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Finland have announced that they will deport tens of thousands of refugees while Germany will no longer accept refugees who come from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Chancellor Angela Merkel followed that announcement by declaring that refugees will be sent back to Syria and Iraq after the war is over, even though such a prospect seems distant and the refugees will likely have rebuilt their lives in Germany. Some refugees in Germany will also not be allowed to bring their immediate families. The message sent to Muslims who are already facing deaths at the hands of the Islamic State in Syria, Iraq and other countries is clear: you are not welcome here.

The reasons for condemning Denmark and every other country which have unreasonably restricted refugees from entering are obvious enough. Pure humanitarian instincts alone should guard against such hateful actions being carried out. Such rhetoric also encourages attacks on refugees, as in Sweden where masked men have been handing out pamphlets threatening to attack migrants, in France where a school teacher falsely claimed to have been attacked by an Islamic State member and in Berlin where a girl recanted her accusation of having been raped by an immigrant. The West has a greater responsibility towards these refugees, a responsibility it has clearly shirked, as shown by a recent Europol report which claimed that more than 10,000 migrant children have gone missing. This is simply not good enough. After all, it was the misbegotten invasion of Iraq that directly led to the rise of the Islamic State; Western intervention and invasion in the Middle East has led to a breakdown of society in many places whose immediate and worst victims have been innocent people. The West now has a debt to pay for the lives that have been ruined. Retreating into a fortress from which Muslims are kept out shows moral cowardice and shameless opportunism.