A massive surge in the number of refugees in Europe, the Middle East and in the Southeast Asian seas has made an international reassessment of asylum and migration policies more urgent than before. Changing realities of a global refugee crisis require coordinated and forward looking solutions.<\/p>\n
While most of our attention is focused on the flow of migrant boats making a dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe, the UN is warning that there is a massive humanitarian crisis brewing in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, an estimated 25 thousand Bangladeshis and the members of a persecuted Muslim minority from Burma (Myanmar) known as Rohingya have attempted to make a perilous journey to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia in the first three months of this year. This is twice as many in the same period of 2014. Many are stranded in the seas of Southeast Asia as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are increasingly reluctant to receive them.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, leaving desperate refugees adrift in their rickety boats would not be an option for the countries of Europe. Yet, according to the UNHCR, a record 219,000 people crossed the Mediterranean in 2014 in smugglers’ boats and 3,500 of them drowned. This year, so far, some 62,500 people have made the crossing, and at least 1,800 have died.<\/p>\n
Saving lives and rescuing people require naval and aerial patrols along the main smuggling routes and even though there is disagreement about what to do with the refugees after they arrive, or how to prevent them taking to the seas in the first place, nobody, other than those with extreme racist views in Europe would object to the necessity of stepping up search and rescue efforts in order to save lives. In any case, The Geneva Conventions on treatment of refugees require its signatories to consider asylum applications seriously.<\/p>\n
According to the EU statistic agency Eurostat, 185 thousand asylum seekers were granted protection by EU member states last year. This is an increase of nearly 50% compared to 2013.<\/p>\n
This unprecedented wave of migrants to Europe has forced the European Commission to come up with a plan to deal with the flow and to share the burden more equally among member countries. Agreeing to take 20,000 refugees over the next two years, the Commission proposes distribution via a quota system to spread refugees among EU member states. When determining numbers, a country\u2019s population, GDP, unemployment rate and number of asylum claims it receives would be taken into account.<\/p>\n
This mandatory redistribution element of the plan has proved to be the most controversial. It will be presented to the EU leaders at their June summit but Britain has already rejected it, saying it would only encourage more people to make the dangerous sea crossing and risk their lives.<\/p>\n
The UNHCR<\/a> applauded the European Commission proposals, and called it \u201ca great breakthrough in terms of managing refugee flows and migration.”<\/p>\n