One of the most popular topics that is now being discussed at various levels is refugees in Europe. Indeed, the issues surrounding them and the threat they pose to the traditional European way of life have made headlines. But perhaps not everything is as bad as it seems at first glance? Let's study this issue in detail, and at the same time find out how to obtain refugee status in European countries.
Who are refugees?
First of all, let's find out who should be classified as refugees in the broadest sense of the term.
Refugees are people who, due to some extraordinary reasons, have left their permanent place of residence. These reasons can be completely different: war, natural or man-made disaster, political repression, famine, etc.
All refugees can be divided into two large groups: internal and external. Internal migrants are people who are forced to change their place of residence within the state. External, on the contrary, move to other countries. Considering that we will consider the refugees of the East in Europe, we will continue to talk exclusively about external migrants.
Background
Refugees inEurope is not a question of yesterday. It has been brewing for over a decade now. Economically developed Europe has always been presented to residents of third world countries as a kind of paradise. It was believed that, having got here after moving here, it is possible to solve all material problems. Therefore, not only people who really needed asylum sought to European countries, but also those who simply dreamed of a better life. Therefore, the issue of refugees is closely intertwined with the issue of illegal migration.
The flow of refugees to Europe began to flow after the end of World War II. This was facilitated by the absence of military conflicts on the continent, the high standard of living in European countries, as well as the gradual liberalization of laws on immigrants. Over time, this stream became more and more, turning into a cultural, demographic and economic problem for Europe itself.
Causes of the migration crisis
But the real migration crisis broke out only at the beginning of 2015. This was facilitated by the massive collapse of former regimes in the Middle East, which took place in the second decade of the 21st century, which caused chaos in these states, as well as, especially, the civil war in Syria. It is the Syrian refugees in Europe that are currently the main problem for the authorities of the EU countries. In addition, a significant part of the migrants were from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, as active hostilities also took place in these countries.
ExceptIn addition, additional reasons for the influx of refugees into Europe are considered insufficient funding for their camps in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, as well as a significant expansion of the territories controlled by the Islamic State terrorist organization. Also at the same time, hostilities intensified on the territory of Libya, which further aggravated the situation.
The main problem was not so much the influx of refugees, but the unwillingness of European states to cope with the emerging state of affairs. The situation with refugees in Europe was becoming more and more aggravated: there was nowhere to accommodate them, and no additional funds were allocated in the budgets of the EU countries to provide for the settlers. In addition, the European countries could not come to a general agreement on what to do with the refugees. Each state wanted the main burden of providing for the settlers to be shifted to other countries, but not to it.
Directions of refugee movement to Europe
Initially, the main flow of refugees entered Europe by sea - through the Mediterranean Sea from Africa. It was a very dangerous path. In April 2015, there was a series of maritime disasters that claimed more than 1,000 lives with displaced ships that were overloaded. In addition, this route did not allow many people to enter Europe due to the low capacity of sea transport.
But already in May, the refugees discovered a new path for themselves - through the Balkans. It was much safer than the previous one, in addition, it had almost unlimitedthroughput, which significantly increased the influx of immigrants to Europe.
Procedure for accepting refugees
The trouble was that, according to the Schengen agreements, customs control between EU member states was abolished and remained only on the external borders of the European Union. Therefore, once in one of the EU countries, the refugees could actually move freely to other EU states.
According to the Dublin Accords, the responsibility for granting admission to the territory of persons claiming refugee status fell on the first EU state to which they entered. Therefore, before admitting to the territory, the authorities of this state had to study the case in detail in order to determine whether the migrants were really seeking asylum, or were ordinary labor migrants. But in the Middle East, such a situation has developed that the majority of immigrants, indeed, according to European laws, had the right to refugee status. But, in view of their mass character, it was not possible to verify the validity of the entry of each of them. Therefore, there were many cases when migrants entered the EU along with refugees.
The delicacy of the situation also consisted in the fact that, according to the same Dublin agreements, the country that accepted the refugees granted them the right to reside on its territory. But if these people were found on the territory of other EU states, then they were subject to deportation to the first country from which they arrived. Thus, according to the internal legislation of the European Union, the main burden of ensuringsettlers were assigned to the border countries, which, naturally, the latter considered unfair. This fact actually created a split in the EU itself.
The crisis worsens
Refugees to the European continent penetrated from Turkey, through Greece and Macedonia. The last of them is not a member of the EU, and therefore was not bound by the Dublin Accords. Initially, Macedonia tried to keep refugees out of its territory, but they broke through the barriers. After that, the country's government allowed the issuance of three-day visas to migrants, which, without registration, allowed them to cross the territory of Macedonia on their way to the EU countries. This served as a new impetus to the fact that refugees in Europe increased significantly in number. Thus, the Macedonian government opened a valve that allowed the flow of immigrants further to Europe, refusing to take care of their provision.
Refugees first went to other countries of the former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia), and from there to Austria and Hungary. The final destination for most of the refugees were the states with the highest standard of living - the Scandinavian countries, Germany, France and the UK.
Number of migrants
Now let's find out how many refugees there are in Europe. In 2015, which was the peak of the migration of migrants, in Europe there were about 700,000 people claiming refugee status.
What countries do refugees prefer in Europe? Germany hosts about 31% of allimmigrants, Hungary - 13%, Italy - 6%, France - 6%, Sweden - 5%, Austria - 5%, Great Britain - 3%. The highest density of immigrants relative to the permanent population of the countries is in Hungary. Here the number of refugees reaches 0.7% of the total population. The proportion of migrants is high in Germany, Austria and Sweden. Refugees in the countries of Europe listed above account for between 0.2 and 0.3% of the total population.
Problems of the migration crisis
Refugees in Europe have created a number of problems both for the states of Europe individually and for the EU as an organization.
First of all, this:
- problem of additional funding;
- political split within the European Union over the issue of attitudes towards migrants;
- danger of ending the existence of the Schengen area;
- the need to increase the cost of social support for refugees;
- growing contradictions between EU countries;
- competition of immigrants with local residents in the labor market;
- actualization of the issue within individual EU countries, on withdrawal from its membership;
- wave of terrorism.
The last question became especially relevant after a series of terrorist attacks took place in France, Belgium and Germany, in which refugees also took part.
Ways to solve
Despite all the urgency, the problem of refugees is not insurmountable for Europe. With an appropriate approach, this task can be solved, but this requires coordination of actions between all EU countries. ATAt present, we are seeing how all European countries are trying to shift the burden of resolving this issue onto the shoulders of other states.
A radical solution to the problem would be the cessation of hostilities in the countries from which the flow of refugees comes, as well as the improvement of the social and material welfare of the population in these states.
One of the options to overcome the refugee crisis is to prevent them from entering the territory of the EU countries, either by reviewing the legislation with the introduction of more stringent restrictions, or by creating refugee camps in third countries with satisfactory living conditions.
However, many experts believe that if the EU countries correctly distribute the flows of migrants among themselves and establish a clear organization, then even the current influx of refugees will not pose serious problems for them.
Process for obtaining refugee status
Now let's find out how to get refugee status in the EU countries.
In order to get this status, a person must prove that he was persecuted in his homeland on religious, national, racial or social grounds. The most significant reason for granting refugee status is the war in the territory of the displaced person's native state.
To obtain the status, the person applying for it must fill out an asylum application and a questionnaire. Next, fingerprints are taken andmedical board. Then, within a month after writing the application, the migration service conducts an interview with the migrant (interview). On its basis, a decision on asylum is made.
General description of the problem
Certainly, the problem of refugees is one of the most urgent in modern Europe and the world. The solution of this issue with internally displaced persons is located both in the economic and political plane. However, the second factor is even more important. After all, ending the wars in the Middle East will by itself solve the problem of a new massive influx of migrants.
In any case, European countries will be able to solve the problem of refugees only when they develop a unified policy of attitude towards this problem and follow it clearly and unquestioningly.
