Politics

逃离难民危机

Sep 1, 2015 Peter Singer

普林斯顿 ——7月，抵达欧盟边界的移民数量超过100，000人——已经是连续第三个月刷新移民人数记录。仅8月的1个星期，就有21，000名移民抵达希腊。游客抱怨置身难民营中取代了他们计划中的希腊夏日之旅。

当然，难民危机的影响远不止于此。上周，奥地利当局在维也纳附近一辆被遗弃的匈牙利卡车里发现71具腐烂的移民尸体。 2,500多名潜在移民今年葬身地中海，其中大部分试图从北非穿越至意大利。

成功抵达法国的移民都住在加来附近的帐篷里，等待机会搭乘货运列车穿过海峡隧道到英国去。其中有一部分人也会丧命，从火车上摔下来或者被碾死。

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Peter Singer

Writing for PS since 2001
227 Commentaries

Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, is Founder of the nonprofit organization The Life You Can Save. His books include Animal Liberation, Practical Ethics, The Ethics of What We Eat (with Jim Mason), Rethinking Life and Death, The Point of View of the Universe, co-authored with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, The Most Good You Can Do, Famine, Affluence, and Morality, One World Now, Ethics in the Real World, Why Vegan?, and Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction, also with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek. In April 2021, W.W. Norton published his new edition of Apuleius’s The Golden Ass. In 2013, he was named the world's third "most influential contemporary thinker" by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute. He is a co-author (with Shih Chao-Hwei) of the forthcoming The Buddhist and the Ethicist (Shambhala Publications, December 2023).

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Shirley Nicholson Oct 6, 2015

Civil war, where there is widespread fighting with modern weapons, which lasts more than a few months, leads not only to immediate threats to life but also to the destruction of a country's economy and its ability to feed and supply the basic necessities of life for the mass of the people. The people then have no choice but to flee en masse to a country at peace, where there is the possibility of finding help. The distinction between refugee and economic migrant no longer effectively exists.

Once these displaced people reach a country where their basic needs can be met, they should be encouraged to stay put for a while. This should enable families to be documented, possibly reunited and resettled together. The refugee's wishes regarding destination should be noted and adhered to if possible. All countries in the region must then take these people based on an agreed formula, which takes the receiving country's wealth and population density (on habitable land) into account. Nobody should be expected to live in a camp under primitive conditions for more than a year. Remember, many of these people had a good standard of living before the conflict.

But one should be under no illusion that they will be able to go home soon. These conflicts may drag on for years until the parties are exhausted. The resettled children may have no memory of their country of origin, or those memories may be horrendous, and so they may never wish to return. The better they are made welcome, the more loyal they will be as citizens of their new homelands, even if they are not sent to where they originally wished to go.

One cannot prevent mass migration under these circumstances. One can hope to prevent the vast loss of life (tens of millions) which can occur if governments do not mobilise their countries' resources to address the problem.
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kees de vos Sep 21, 2015

In this pretty good article I would just change the last but one alinea; If people could stay in their area it would be the best solution but it is not workable in the middle east region and therefore it is better to look for undeveloped safe countries where it could be easily financed by the richer countries and refugees would think twice to flee knowing that they would be transferred to lesser developed countries (who could benefit from more educated people plus the financial support)
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Valentin Seidler Sep 9, 2015

Accepting refugees from war-torn countries should be a humanitarian act first and therefore is beyond discussion. The fact that European and national laws do little to curb human trafficking is a matter of bad policies, which need to be corrected. Many of Syrian refugees will return home once the fighting stops. So additional efforts should be made here too.
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Magnus Westerstrand Sep 5, 2015

I'm sad to see such a shallow article from Singer. First he seams to agree that no borders if it worked might be the best way then taking a more consequential stand thinking that sending back refugees directly might stop migrants to try to flee to europe with their life at stake.

I have tried to find out how many that dies in refugee camps but without much luck. But without they would be even more stressed and more might die from that.

Add to that the human xenophobic nature that Singer writes about and I am pretty certain that peoples willing to give would be even smaller if the refugees where kept at a safe distance... making even more die. And what is the point in writing this now, it is already to late to change any of this to make it matter now. Even if it was possible. The only thing the article seams to be doing is giving wind to xenophobes trying to make refugees that already is in europe so miserable that they do not want to stay.
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Pavel Mischenko Sep 4, 2015

the best solution to this problem for Europe: send ships with migrants to the United States. States starts the war in the Far East, get migrants
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j. von Hettlingen Sep 3, 2015

Peter Singer is urging European countries not to escape the refugee crisis. Indeed, this influx of migrants, which has forced Europe to confront the greatest humanitarian challenge since World War Two, can't be wished away. It's time for EU leaders to manage, practically and humanely, a crisis of unprecedented dimensions. It also urgently requires leaders to agree on a common European asylum policy and to find the resources to back it up.
The author's proposal may find a sympathetic ear. Instead of "sealing themselves off", he suggests that "affluent countries should be giving much more support to less affluent countries that are supporting large numbers of refugees: Lebanon, Jordan, Ethiopia, and Pakistan are obvious examples". This would allow the displaced to find security in their neighbouring countries, where the costs of support are lower than in Europe. Besides this would discourage them to "attempt hazardous journeys to remote regions and more likely to return home once a conflict is resolved".
Ideally legal channels ought to be set up for refugees to claim asylum without making deadly voyages. Unfortunately they don't always have the patience to wait, as the vetting process is often long and the stress unbearable. They undergo perilous journeys, hoping to create a fait accompli upon arrival, which makes it difficult for the authorities to turn them away.
What also creates a burden is the number of those migrants, who don't qualify for refugee status. Refugees are generally people who have fled a war or have to leave their country because they have been persecuted or fear persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, and/or membership in a particular social group or political opinion. Economic migrants, seeking a better future in Europe, are free riders. They compete with those, who desperately need shelter and protection, for opportunities.
Another problem that needs to be addressed is the coordinated effort to crack down on human trafficking. This "often unscrupulous, and sometimes lethal industry of people smuggling" is highly despicable.
Basically Europe should engage in development policies for Africa, the Balkans and other regions, which see high unemployment and dire economic circumstances, persuading young people to emigrate, because they see it as the only way to escape abject poverty. Yet we have to bear in mind that all this is easier said than done. European leaders will not be able to agree on policies and measures that will alienate their constituents, who want their politicians to focus on domestic grievances.
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Tallal Nawaz Sep 3, 2015

Syrian crisis should culminate with resolving the middle east conflict. Engaging a war in middle east to bring in democracy and remove despotic dictators like Asad, Saadam or Gadafi was never a solution. It was only the beginning of a problem. There was no refugee crisis under these despotic dictators. But these countries had to democratized by machine the of war. Lesson to be learnt is stability is always better than an instability. Fuck democracy. Live and let live.
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John Coulter Sep 3, 2015

Peter, You have overlooked the unsustainable increase in population that has already rendered a number of middle eastern and north African countries incapable of supplying the basic needs of food and water for their citizens. In Yemen, for example, the capital has completley exhausted the aquifer which supplies it with water; Egypt. since 2006, has become a net importer of oil instead of a net exporter with which Mubarek was able to import, subsidise and supplement the insufficient local supply of food.
A necessary supplement to your proposal is to spend a great deal more on foreign aid by rich countries aiming that specifically at family planning, contraception, female education and improvement in the status of women.
John Coulter
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prashanth kamath Sep 2, 2015

Looks like nobody is fixing any accountability on the countries that export refuges. Italy, for example can create a conscript army of their Libyan refugees, train them and invade Libya. Carve out a portion of Libya for the refugees.
It is illogical to say societies like the one in Libya deserve freedom. Any state/ society that export refugees should lose part of its sovereignty. There should be cost for being irresponsible.
With most able bodied individuals among refugees getting conscripted in a sort of liberation army, they would be having at least some purpose in life. This is much better than rotting in refugee camps.
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Velko Simeonov Sep 2, 2015

The most sensible and logical article written on the subject (on this site) to date. Hopefully more people of the author’s caliber will convert to the side of reason and “the possible”.
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Bampha Jaiteh Sep 2, 2015

Very good thoughtful solutions. Regarding the numbers of Syrians in Lebanon and Jordan, what about the other countries in the region such as the Emiratis and Saudi...!
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Michael Public Sep 1, 2015

"Tourists complained that the summer holiday they had planned on a Greek island was now in the midst of a refugee camp." Can't imagine anything worse - dirty people camping next to the beach like that! Somebody should do something. /sarcasm font off
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M M Sep 1, 2015

For the record, many NGOs’, Charities and some US government agencies have been funding many initiatives in these countries but it has not been enough. I just read an article on the web where a guy from Oslo managed to raise over Euro 155,000 from donations received from 89 countries to one Syrian beggar holding his child daughter on the streets of Beirut whose photo had been circulating on social media. There are many initiatives in place, regrettably the crisis in those countries has taken too long and people (migrants/refugees) very simply cannot keep on living in tents / camps for ever.
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Max Isert Sep 1, 2015

Thank you, thank you, Mr. SInger.

Finally some sanity in this debate!

''Instead of simply sealing themselves off, affluent countries should be giving much more support to less affluent countries that are supporting large numbers of refugees: Lebanon, Jordan, Ethiopia, and Pakistan are obvious examples. Refugees living securely in countries that border their own are less likely to attempt hazardous journeys to remote regions and more likely to return home once a conflict is resolved. International support for countries bearing the greatest refugee burden also makes economic sense: it costs Jordan about €3,000 ($3,350) to support one refugee for a year; in Germany, the cost is at least €12,000.''

We need more voices of sanity and common sense like yours.
Thank you, again!
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Abdella Abdou Sep 1, 2015

Very good article. A key aspect of the problem is however is not mentioned. The U.S. the West, and Russia should stop stoking instability in the middle east. Their pursuit of their holy 'national interest' is a major root cause of the problem. I hope Mr. Singer can attempt to sway them pursue some higher human interest in his next article.
- Curtis Carpenter Sep 1, 2015
  
  If we respect the people of the Middle East as we should, don't you think we would have to give them credit for playing at least an important supporting role in their own tragedy?
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M M Sep 1, 2015

You are quite right to mention the Refugees / Migrants crises in Lebanon. Lebanon, unlike any other country, is a classic example. Since 1948, Lebanon has been a host to over half a million Palestinian so-called refugees, most of whom are living in camps by the sea side (prime land), over tunnels that they dag themselves, and giving shelter to the least desired people on this planet. The 1975 Lebanese civil war originated from these same so-called refugee camps and today these same camps are hosts to terrorists and criminals. So, if one is to go by the Lebanese example, building shelters or camps for migrants or refugees, is a very bad idea unless there is a clear plan for repatriation after say a period not exceeding 2 years. Since 2012, Lebanon received over one and half million Syrians which have been evenly spread across the country and living amongst the population and this considering that the total population of Lebanon is only 3.5 million. This has put a lot of pressure on the infrastructure leading to water and electricity shortages and all sort of other social problems (all of these issues are well documented and have been known for quite some time). The conventions you mentioned are no longer fit for purpose, especially when you have the 5 permanent countries on the UN Security Council not talking to one another and are in a near state of war. Migration throughout history has been a global problem caused by humans. The only solution for it is global security but this has not happened in centuries and is not likely to happen in more centuries.
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