A deadly shipwreck in Greek waters highlights its dangers
Not before time, then, a stab has at last been made at completing the job. And, of course, nobody is happy. Europe is a magnet for migrants, being rich and easy to reach by lots of people from war-torn places in Africa and the Middle East. Some migrants who enter on small boats or overland are entitled to asylum because they are fleeing persecution; but well over half of the arrivals are not.
This was manageable when flows were light. But in the 2010s the numbers spiked as a result of the Arab spring, war in Syria and chaos in Afghanistan. Mediterranean countries demanded help from theirneighbours. None was forthcoming, notably because what was really needed was for countries to agree to take in migrants themselves, besides those—numbering more than 1m—who settled in Germany in an intense wave of arrivals in 2015-16.
leaders including Giorgia Meloni of Italy has just been in Tunisia with a promise of financial aid, in the hope of curbing migration if the fragile country collapses. Why, after so many years of acrimony, has an agreement suddenly become possible? Vit Novotny of the Wilfried Martens Centre, a think-tank in Brussels, says it is because thehas gained experience in managing big, emotive crises, such as the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and climate change. In part, lessons have been learned from past failures, such as to give a way out for countries that refuse to take migrants. But the mood around migration has changed too.
Migration is Europe’s Achilles heel. A place that sees itself as a force for good in the world resents having to play bad cop when it comes to keeping people out, as it must. But refusal to face up to the dysfunction of the old system has served nobody well. The agreement between governments still has some way to go before it becomeslaw—by the end of the year, it is hoped. An imperfect system that works will be better than a bad one that doesn’t.
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