chatzipanagiotou1_ Danil ShamkinNurPhoto via Getty Images_refugee cyprus

Politics

أزمة شرق المتوسط الجديدة

Sep 14, 2020 Hrishabh Sandilya , Kyriaki Chatzipanagiotou, and Sarah Morsheimer

نيقوسيا- لقد أبحرت في وقت سابق من هذا الشهر ستة قوارب تحمل مهاجرين سوريين ولبنانيين من شمال لبنان وحاولت الرسو في قبرص. قد يبدو هذا امرا عاديا ولكن هذا العدد يشكل ستة أضعاف العدد الإجمالي لسفن المهاجرين والتي انطلقت الى قبرص من لبنان خلال السنة الماضية. ان أي قارب سريع يمكن ان يغطي مسافة المائة ميل بحري بين طرابلس الى كاب جريكو وهو نتوء صخري يقع في جنوب شرق الجزيرة خلال ست ساعات ومع حالة الفوضى التي تعيشها الحكومة اللبنانية فإن هذه المياه الهادئة والتي لا يوجد فيها تواجد أمني الى حد كبير تعتبر حلم المهربين.

نظرا لصغر حجم القوارب فإن بضع عشرات من الناس فقط قاموا بالرحلة حتى الان ولكن كان رد فعل القبارصة مريبا من الناحية القانونية . لقد خرقت السلطات القبرصية ميثاق الأمم المتحدة للاجئين لسنة 1951 ومبدأ عدم الإعادة القسرية وذلك من خلال اعتراضها للقوارب في عرض البحر وإعادة "المهاجرين الاقتصاديين " للبنان حيث أدعت تلك السلطات ان لديها اتفاق مع الحكومة اللبنانية.

في واقع الأمر فإن قبرص وبكل بساطة ليست لديها الجاهزية المطلوبة لاستقبال موجة جديدة من اللاجئين فمخيمات اللاجئين فيها والتي تشبه السجون تعاني من الازدحام بالفعل ونظام اللجوء فيها هو عبارة عن غابة من البيروقراطية البيزنطية والقوانين المعقدة للغاية. ان انجاز طلب اللجوء يستغرق حاليا من 3-5 سنوات وبينما حاولت الحكومة مؤخرا ان تخرج من هذه الفوضى من خلال عمل تشريعات، ما تزال هناك مخاوف تتعلق بحقوق اللاجئين والإجراءات القانونية.

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j. von Hettlingen Sep 19, 2020

As Hrishabh Sandilya, Kyriaki Chatzipanagiotou and Sarah Morsheimer highlight the crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean, EU leaders met last month in an effort to resolve the ongoing maritime claims between Greece and Turkey, based on the discovery of gas and oil reserves in the disputed waters. There is fear that rising tensions between the two NATO allies could erupt into a full-scale military confrontation, that might drag regional and international actors into the fray.
Greece’s claims are based on the so-called Seville map, which was commissioned by the European Union in the early 2000s and gives maximal maritime boundaries to every Greek island in the region, no matter how close to Turkey’s borders. Turkey has dismissed the map, claiming it unfairly and unjustly encroaches on its exclusive economic zone. Ankara has been drifting away from the West in recent years as it seeks to cultivate a deeper relationship with Russia.
Turkey might sign a deal with Russia to buy an additional batch of its S-400 missile systems, this would further deteriorate its relations with the other NATO allies, drawing the Trump administration’s ire. Four weeks ago Greece sent naval vessels to the eastern Mediterranean to conduct a joint military exercise with France, Italy and Cyprus, in response to Turkey’s decision to extend its maritime research trip in the area that was accompanied by Turkish naval vessels.
The authors say, amid the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic, the world pays little attention to the humanitarian crisis in the region. Lebanon, the country that hosts the largest number of refugees per capita - around 1.5 million Syrian refugees, some 20,000 refugees of other origins, in addition to the Palestine refugees under UNRWA's mandate - is descending into another domestic crisis, following the devastating blast last month, that killed hundreds and left thousands without homes.
This allows Turkey’s president Erdogan to pursue a “neo-Ottoman project to expand Turkey’s influence in the region, waging proxy wars, claiming gas fields, converting museums into mosques, and threatening Europe with new waves of migrants.” His aggression could spark “another migration crisis, for which European countries are woefully unprepared.” Turkey currently has some 3.6 million Syrian refugees and 330,000 persons from other nationalities that he could use as bargaining chip.
Greece is again at the epicentre of a refugee crisis. Back in 2015 it provided those fleeing wars a refuge. But today the mood is quite hostile. Xenophobic sentiments had led to an outbreak of violence against refugees stranded on its territory over the last four years. "With Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis taking a firm stand and challenging the presence of Turkish surveyor ships in contested waters, Cyprus has been caught in the crossfire.”
The author says, “Cyprus is simply unprepared for a new influx of refugees. Its prison-like migrant camps are already overcrowded, and its asylum system is a thicket of Byzantine bureaucracy and convoluted laws. Processing an asylum application currently takes 3-5 years. And while the government has recently tried to legislate its way out of the mess, concerns about refugee rights and due process remain.”
As winter is approaching, which could “exacerbate the COVID-19 pandemic….it would be wise for Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, and the EU to begin preparing for a potential next wave of refugees from the Levant." The authors say, “preparation….by local, regional, national, and international authorities could mitigate such a crisis.” They believe the SDG Impact Accelerator, which is inspired by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, would be useful, as their own experience in Cyprus shows.
“Beyond basic operational readiness, location-specific humanitarian aid and information campaigns are needed in northern Lebanon, Cyprus, Greece, and across the EU, where the media should cover the issue in ways that evoke public empathy. Cyprus and Greece will need to be able to place their trust in the principle of European solidarity, which requires refugees from Lebanon and the greater Levant to be resettled proportionally in other EU member states. And any arrangement will need Erdoğan’s blessing, given that Turkey controls Northern Cyprus." This sounds promising. But it may just remain rhetoric, given the lack of appetite for actions.
“Between a potential migration crisis and the escalation of regional tensions, the situation in the eastern Mediterranean is more fraught than it has been in years. Should it unravel, Europe would face dire consequences for security on its southeastern flank. The EU must rise to the challenge and find common ground for regional cooperation. The recent fire that destroyed the Moria migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos is a stark reminder of how quickly the current semblance of stability can go up in smoke.”
Althoulgh Brexit has preoccupied EU leaders, they still find room to tackle the crisis, by proposing a series of options for national leaders to deliberate at the next EU summit in late September. The EU has all options are on the table, which includes possible sanctions against Turkey, as well as withdrawing its EU membership bid. But it may not be enough to rein in Erdogan, and to resolve the multilayered crisis in the region.
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Peter Schaeffer Sep 15, 2020

The migrants are just welfare-state opportunists. Send them home. No courts, no heading, no BS. Just immediate repatriation. This will actually work. Once the greedy and selfish realize that their is no reward for faking "refugee" status, they will stop. The Middle-East has many stable countries that can take real "refugees" (if any actually exist). The boat people are just the latest profiteers attempting to exploit what Europe has to offer.
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