Op-Ed Contributor
Let Refugees Fly to Europe
By ALEXANDER BETTS
OXFORD, England — There are no easy solutions to Europe’s refugee crisis. In a world of fragile states and increasing mobility people will continue to come, irrespective of whether they neatly fit the legal definition of a “refugee.” Europe needs a clear strategy on who it wants to protect, and where and how to assess people’s asylum claims.
The European Union’s agreement earlier this week centered on a quota system to relocate 120,000 Syrian, Iraqi and Eritrean refugees across member states — most likely from transit centers in Greece and Italy. The plan has several flaws: It was passed without political consensus, it has no mechanism to ensure that people remain in the countries assigned to take them, and it does not say how those denied asylum will be treated.
The biggest problem, though, is that the plan does nothing to stop people from embarking on perilous journeys to Europe. In order to claim asylum under this plan, refugees would still have to arrive in Europe through clandestine means. This has been the direct cause of tragedy and chaos, with people dying on Europe’s roads and drowning at sea. The greatest strain has been at key border areas from Hungary to the Greek islands.
The way to avoid this would be to provide an alternative, legal means for asylum seekers to travel to Europe through “humanitarian visas.” Small consular outposts could be created outside the European Union, in places like Bodrum in Turkey or Zuwara in Libya. As migratory routes change over time these posts could be relocated. At these transit points people could be quickly screened and those with a plausible asylum claim would be allowed access to Europe. They could then simply fly to Europe or take a scheduled ferry at their own expense.
At the moment, Syrians are paying over 1,000 euros for a short but dangerous crossing from the Turkish coast to Greek islands like Lesbos or Kos, some being rescued by the Greek coast guard. The cost in lives and in resources for the already-stretched Greek state is high. In contrast, a nonstop flight from Bodrum to Frankfurt costs 200 euros.
Humanitarian visas would also undercut the smuggling markets. Since the start of the crisis, Europe has declared a “war on smugglers,” even proposing to use military force against them. However, like the “war on drugs,” such policies are doomed if they only offer supply-side solutions but do nothing to remove the underlying demand of vulnerable people. Enabling refugees to access legal travel routes would immediately reduce the smuggling problem.
There are several ways this policy could be implemented. It could be adopted throughout the European Union, and connected to the Europe-wide quota system. The union could establish outposts at which plausible asylum seekers are identified, in some cases purely on the basis of nationality.
They could then quickly receive a travel document, perhaps linked to a “temporary protection status” in a designated member state. The right to remain could last until they are able to return home or regularize their immigration status in the new host country.
Even if an E.U. agreement could not be reached, there are other options. Visas could be offered unilaterally by countries that have agreed to accept refugees. Indeed, Brazil has already done this by announcing its willingness to provide humanitarian visas, so far taking over 2,000 Syrian refugees through the scheme, all of whom were recognized as refugees upon arrival. Germany and Sweden, which have pledged to take an even greater number, could do the same, and provide screening and visas at strategically located consular outposts.
The idea of refugee travel documents has an historical precedent: the Nansen Passports used by the League of Nations. Following World War I, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the consequences of the Russian Revolution made hundreds of thousands of people stateless and brought refugees to Europe’s borders.
In 1922 the first High Commissioner for Refugees of the League of Nations, Fridjtof Nansen, convened a conference in Geneva at which a group of countries agreed to recognize Nansen passports as legitimate refugee travel documents. Between 1922 and 1942, the scheme was recognized by over 50 countries and enabled 450,000 people, including Assyrian, Armenian and Turkish refugees, safe passage to Europe. In recognition of its work the Nansen International Refugee Office received the Nobel Peace Prize.
There are challenges to issuing refugee travel documents today, but they are surmountable. Governments will understandably worry that allowing legal entry is likely to lead to a “pull factor” and increase the demand to move to Europe. This risk can be addressed in several ways.
First, establishing consular points near Europe’s external border would cater mainly to people who are already almost in the European Union and about to risk a dangerous boat journey. Second, visas would only be given to likely refugees, to whom we already have an internationally recognized legal obligation. Third, while it is possible that more Syrian refugees would choose to seek admission to Europe rather than remain in neighboring countries, a slight increase in numbers is a worthwhile price to pay if it saves lives, cuts costs, alleviates pressure at Europe’s borders and drastically curtails the human-smuggling market.
Humanitarian visas would not be a panacea and they would not completely remove irregular immigration to Europe. However, even if they were only granted to Syrians, that would address the immediate challenge for more than 70 percent of the people arriving on the Greek islands.
Powerful images of people walking long distances across train lines and motorways have created a widespread sense of crisis in Europe. But much of this tragedy and chaos is avoidable. Simple policy decisions by countries that have agreed to accept large numbers of refugees could halt the mass exodus. In the age of the budget airline and modern consular screening capabilities, such perilous journeys are not necessary.
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