European Refugee Crisis

The European migrant crisis or European refugee crisis arose through the rising number of refugees and
migrants coming to the European Union, across the Mediterranean Sea or Southeast Europe, and applying for
asylum. They come from areas such as the Middle East (Syria, Iraq), Africa (Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan,
Gambia), South Asia and Central Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh), and the Western Balkans (Kosovo,
Albania).

How it began
Between the years 2007 and 2011, there was a flow of large number of undocumented migrants from the Middle
East and Africa crossed between Turkey and Greece, leading Greece and the European Border Protection agency
Frontex to upgrade border controls.
The phrase "European migrant crisis" became widely used in April 2015, when five boats carrying almost two
thousand migrants to Europe sank in the Mediterranean Sea, with a combined death toll estimated at more than
1,200 people. Earlier also, In the year, 2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck which involved "more than 360"
deaths, which lead the Italian government to establish Operation Mare Nostrum

Operation Mare Nostrum

Operation Mare Nostrum was a year-long naval and air operation commenced by the Italian government on
October 18, 2013 to tackle the increased immigration to Europe during the second half of 2013 and migratory ship
wreckages off Lampedusa. During the operation at least 150,000 migrants, mainly from Africa and the Middle
East, arrived safely to Europe
The operation was named after Mare Nostrum, the ancient Roman name for the Mediterranean Sea. The European
Commission provided financial support for the operation with 1.8 million from the External Borders Fund. Mare
Nostrum was operated by the Italian Navy and saw ships operating near the coast of Libya.
The operation's search and rescue component is claimed by advocacy groups like the European Council on
Refugees and Exiles to have saved thousands of lives, but the operation was politically unpopular and extremely
costly for just one EU state. The operation ended on 31 October 2014 and was superseded by Frontex's
Operation Triton, which operates a smaller search and rescue capability. Unlike Mare Nostrum, Operation Triton
focused on border protection rather than search and rescue, and operates closer to the Italian coast. The
termination of Mare Nostrum has been criticized as a cause of the increased death rate among migrants to Europe
in the Mediterranean, which increased tenfold between 2014 and 2015. Two major migrant shipwreck disasters
which together killed more than 1000 people within the span of a week in April 2015 led to calls to renew the
operation.

The Role of United Nations: UNHCR

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), also known as the UN
Refugee Agency, is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a
government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third
country. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland and is a member of the United Nations Development Group
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the
United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect
refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of
refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another

State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country. It also has a
mandate to help stateless people.
Since 1950, the agency has helped tens of millions of people restart their lives. Today, a staff of more than 9,300
people in 123 countries continues to help and protect millions of refugees, returnees, internally displaced and
stateless people. (Source: UNHCR.org)

Triggers of the 2015 crisis

Factors cited as immediate triggers or causes of the sudden and massive increase in migrant numbers in the
summer of 2015 along the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Balkan route (Turkey-Greece-Macedonia-SerbiaHungary) include:
In mid-June 2015 the government of Macedonia announced that it was changing its policy on migrants entering
the country illegally. Previously, migrants were forbidden from transiting Macedonia, causing those who chose to
do so to take perilous, clandestine modes of transit, such as walking along railroad tracks at night. Beginning in
June, migrants were given three-day, temporary asylum permits, enabling them to travel by train and road.
The opening of the Macedonia route enabled migrants from the Middle East to take very short, inexpensive
voyages from the coast of Turkey to the Greek Islands, instead of the far longer, more perilous, and far more
expensive voyage from Libya to Italy. According to the Washington Post, in addition to reducing the danger, this
also lowered the cost significantly.
According to the Washington Post, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's public assurance that Germany offered
temporary residency to refugees combined with television footage of Germans welcoming refugees persuaded
large numbers of people to migrate.
The Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad announced increased military conscription, and simultaneously
made it easier for Syrians to obtain passports, leading Middle East policy experts to speculate that he was
implementing a policy to encourage opponents of his regime to leave the country.

Some Solutions to the Refugee crisis

As per Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's foreign minister and Sigmar Gabriel, its minister for economic
affairs and energy, certain points need to be kept in mind before a solutions to the crisis can be envisaged. Most of
all, Humane conditions must prevail throughout the EU wherever refugees are received. For this, we need EU-wide
standards that are complied with in every member state.
A collaborated sustainable effort needed: EU must guarantee a common European code of asylum, so that
asylum status is valid throughout the EU and the conditions for receiving it are stable across member states. It
needs a fair distribution of refugees in Europe. German citizens are helping to receive and integrate refugees into
our society as never before. But this solidarity will only be maintained in the long term if people see that the
refugee crisis is being approached fairly throughout Europe. A state of affairs in which only a handful of member
states shoulder the entire burden - as happens today - is just as unsustainable as a system which forces the
countries on the EU's outer border to take the strain alone. We must therefore reform the Dublin Convention
immediately, and find a way of creating binding and objective refugee quotas which take into account the ability of
all member states to bear them.
Europe also needs a common approach to managing its borders, which cannot be merely restricted to securing its
frontiers. Above all, Europe needs to take up more responsibility for registering and looking after newly arrived
refugees. It must provide immediate assistance to the EU countries that are currently under particular strain.
Germany is the only EU country to have made available emergency funds to improve the situation of refugees on

the Greek islands. The EU and its member states must become more efficient in this area and quickly offer the
countries which first receive refugees practical and financial support.
Europe cannot stand idly by and watch people risk their lives trying to get in. The Mediterranean Sea cannot be a
mass grave for desperate refugees. Europes humanitarian legacy, indeed our European view of humanity, are
hanging in the balance. With this in mind, Germany launched enormous concerted efforts to organise marine
rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea in the spring. But we must consolidate these efforts across Europe,
and equip the EU with the required capacities.
Finally, a comprehensive European asylum, refugee and migration policy also requires new political initiatives to
fight the causes of flight in the countries of the Middle East and Africa. Stabilising failing states and curbing
violence and civil war must go hand in hand with concentrated efforts to achieve economic development and
create genuine economic and social prospects especially for young people in the countries of origin. All of the
international communitys efforts, above all those of the European Union and the United Nations, must be focused
with the utmost intensity on this aim.