EU fails in the refugee issue


No matter which report it issues on Turkey, Amnesty International is always considered a reliable source by EU circles. No one feels a need to conduct any studies or doubts the accuracy of their reports.This time, Amnesty International is rightfully criticizing the EU's missing refugee policy.The record of the EU and its member countries on this issue is terrible. In brief, the EU did not fail only the refugee issue, but also failed humanity.We can give a piece of good news to the circles in the EU that do not favor Turkey's EU membership, even though Turkey already deserves it. If the EU continues disregarding its own merits and setting a bad example for other countries to such a degree, the Turkish public will not be able to conscientiously accept being part of such a union. When the refugee issue is in question, we see that all the people living in Turkey, regardless of whether they are rich, middle class or poor, welcome the helpless people who took refuge in their country. They share their food and shelter with them.So far, no racist organization has emerged in Turkey and organized demonstrations against refugees because the Turkish public does not support such racist movements and does not even allow such demonstrations in their villages, towns, or cities.No matter whether they are Sunni, Shiite or Christian, Syrian refugees who sought asylum in Turkey fleeing the tyranny of Syrian President Bashar Assad have always been welcomed and supported as brothers so far.In İzmir province, where I was nominated as a deputy candidate, I have seen that many Syrian refugees have already started their own business and socialize with Turkish people in the region. In İzmir and all the other regions of Turkey, Turkish people do not count on organizations such as France's National Front, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA) or the Republican People's Party (CHP), which tries to increase its votes by displaying hostile attitudes toward refugees.As a Muslim Turk who is a citizen of the Turkish Republic, I cannot be more proud of my people for the support they provided to the oppressed who took asylum in their country. However, as a dual citizen of Germany and as a European citizen of the EU, I feel shame for the policies of the EU and member countries and for the racist groups who unfortunately settled in the EU public and met support.I have difficulty understanding the European public, which has been indifferently watching the hundreds of refugees who have lost their lives amid the waves of the Mediterranean before the eyes of the entire world. The summer season is approaching, and EU citizens swimming in and sunbathing on Mediterranean shores could come across the body of a refugee at any time, remaining indifferent and abstaining from interrogating their own politicians despite everything that sets such a depressing picture.Of course everything is not fine in the countries where refugees have sought asylum. Some problems arise due to the unplanned participation of refugees in social life.For instance, more than 400,000 refugees are expected to enter Germany this year, which is two times more than last year's number. Germany is one of the leading EU countries taking over the duty of taking in refugees. But is this number really big when compared to the 2 million refugees Turkey welcomed within two years? How can the feeling of hatred against refugees that arose among German citizens be accepted on behalf of humanity given the fact that Germany is much more prosperous and offers more opportunities than Turkey? It is quite unfortunate that German citizens, who enjoy the highest standards in terms of welfare, support racist organizations such as PEGIDA due to the refugees who sought asylum only on a temporary basis.Even in Italy and Spain, where Libyan refugees in particular are populous, racist movements do not have a chance to succeed as in Germany. Amnesty International also underlines the maltreatment Libyan immigrants are subjected to, adding that many refugees are forced to cross the Mediterranean Sea. The same situation is also valid for Syrian refugees.Humanity must not die.If the "happy" people of Europe can be so selfish to demand building barriers between themselves and other regions, then the governments and politicians of both the EU and its member countries have a lot to learn from the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, which they do not favor, and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whom they criticize on all occasions. When a humanitarian approach to the issue of refugees is in question, Turkey values and embraces the EU's merits on its own.Despite that, some suggestions made to resolve the refugee flow to the EU include "increasing the number of battleships" and "trying to decrease the numbers with quota systems," which do not make any sense. Which quota system can help the people who are trying to escape from tyrannies to survive?Will the EU offer quotas to Syria's fascist dictator or the tyrants in Libya on the number of people they are to oppress?The EU can only contribute to the profits human-smugglers gain by sinking their ships that are so-called empty with their battleships. What we expect from the EU is the provision of shelters that are compatible with human dignity to the people fleeing oppressive regimes of the dictators as a result of the EU's poor policies. We also expect the EU to show the "mercilessness" of state of law to their racist citizens who display hostile attitudes to refugees. But what we really expect from the EU is the implementation of correct policies that target to eradicate the reasons for asylum seekers coming if they really do not wish to welcome refugees. Turkey has made many positive suggestions in this regard.We can begin with Syria. We can take the first step by overthrowing Assad's violent regime in Syria, which has become a source of shame for humanity.If the EU really respects its merits, it should accelerate its delayed steps regarding this and make the required contribution for the enemies of humanity to be erased from the scene of world history.