One of the most popular topics that is currently being discussed at various levels is refugees in Europe. Indeed, the issues associated with them, and the threat they pose to the traditional European way of life, have come out on the front pages of newspapers. 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 learn how to get refugee status in European countries.
Who are the refugees?
First of all, let's find out who should be referred to as refugees in the broad sense of this concept.
Refugees are people who, for 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. Internally displaced persons are people who are forced to change their place of residence within the state. External, on the contrary, are moving to other countries. Given that we will consider the refugees of the east in Europe, we will continue to speak exclusively about external immigrants.
Background
Refugees in Europe are not a matter of yesterday. It has been brewing for decades. 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 resolve 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 refugee issue 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, a 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 erupted only at the beginning of 2015. This was facilitated by the massive collapse of former regimes in the Middle East, which occurred in the second decade of the 21st century, which caused chaos in these states, and also, 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 immigrants were immigrants from Iraq, Afghanistan, as well as Libya, since active hostilities also took place in these countries.
In addition, insufficient funding for their camps in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, as well as a significant expansion of territories controlled by the Islamic State terrorist organization, are considered additional reasons for the influx of refugees into Europe. Also at the same time, military operations in Libya intensified, which further exacerbated the situation.
The main problem was not so much the influx of refugees as the unpreparedness of European states to cope with the situation. The situation with refugees in Europe was becoming more and more aggravated: there was nowhere to place them, and no additional funds were allocated in the budgets of the EU countries to provide immigrants. In addition, European countries could not agree on what to do with refugees. Each state wanted the main burden of providing migrants to be levied on other countries, but not on it.
Refugee Movement Directions to Europe
Initially, the main stream of refugees entered Europe by sea - through the Mediterranean Sea from Africa. It was a very dangerous way. In April 2015, a series of marine disasters took place that claimed more than 1000 lives with ships of immigrants that were overloaded. Moreover, this route did not allow many people to enter Europe due to the low capacity of maritime transport.
But already in May, refugees discovered a new path - through the Balkans. It was much safer than the previous one, in addition, it had almost unlimited bandwidth, which significantly increased the influx of immigrants to Europe.
Refugee Admission Procedure
The trouble was that, according to the Schengen agreements, customs control between the EU member states was canceled and remained only at the external borders of the European Union. Therefore, once in one of the EU countries, refugees could virtually freely move to other EU countries.
According to the Dublin Agreements, the responsibility for granting admission to the territory of persons applying for refugee status rested with the first EU country to which they entered. Therefore, before making admission to the territory, the authorities of this state had to study the matter in detail in order to determine whether the immigrants really seek refuge, or are ordinary labor migrants. But in the Middle East, there was such a situation that most immigrants, indeed under European law, were entitled to refugee status. But, due to 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 under the same Dublin agreements, the country that received refugees provided them with the right to reside on its territory. But if these people were found in 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 providing immigrants was borne by the border countries, which, of course, the latter considered unfair. This fact actually created a split in the EU itself.
Aggravation of the crisis
Refugees entered the European continent from the territory of 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 not to let the refugees into its territory, but they broke through the barriers. After that, the government allowed the issuers to issue three-day visas, which without registration allowed them to cross the territory of Macedonia on the way to the EU countries. This served as a new impetus for the fact that refugees in Europe increased significantly in number. Thus, the Macedonian government opened a valve, which allowed the flow of immigrants further to Europe, refusing to take their security upon themselves.
Refugees initially went to other countries of the former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia), and from there - to Austria and Hungary. The final point of arrival for most refugees was the state with the highest standard of living - the Scandinavian countries, Germany, France and the UK.
The number of immigrants
Now let's find out how many refugees are in Europe. In 2015, at the peak of the migration of immigrants, about 700,000 people applying for refugee status were registered in Europe.
Which countries prefer refugees in Europe? Germany hosts about 31% of all immigrants, Hungary - 13%, Italy - 6%, France - 6%, Sweden - 5%, Austria - 5%, Great Britain - 3%. The highest density of immigrants relative to the resident population of the countries is in Hungary. Here the number of refugees reaches 0.7% of the total population. High proportion of immigrants in Germany, Austria and Sweden. Refugees in the European countries listed above account for 0.2 to 0.3% of the total population.
The problems of the migration crisis
Refugees in Europe created a number of problems both for the European states individually and for the EU as an organization.
First of all, this:
- the problem of additional financing;
- a political split within the European Union regarding attitudes towards immigrants;
- the danger of the Schengen zone ceasing to exist;
- 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 countries of the European Union on the withdrawal from its composition;
- wave of terrorism.
The last question became especially relevant after a series of terrorist acts took place in France, Belgium and Germany, in which refugees also took part.
Solutions
Despite its acuteness, the refugee problem is not insurmountable for Europe. With an appropriate approach, this problem can be solved, but this requires coordination between all countries of the European Union. At present, we are observing how all the countries of Europe are trying to relieve the burden of resolving this issue on the shoulders of other states.
A radical solution to the problem would be the cessation of hostilities in the countries where the flow of refugees comes from, as well as the improvement of the social and material security of the population in these states.
One of the options for overcoming the refugee crisis is to prevent them from entering the territory of the EU countries either by revising 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 immigrants among themselves and establish a clear organization, then even the influx of refugees that currently exists will not pose serious problems for them.
Refugee Status Process
Now let's find out how to get refugee status in EU countries.
In order to obtain this status, a person must prove that he was persecuted on religious, national, racial or social grounds in his homeland. The most significant reason for granting refugee status is the war in the territory of the native state of the immigrant.
In order to obtain status, the person applying for it must fill out an asylum application and application form. Next, fingerprints are taken and a medical commission is passed. Then, within a month after writing the application, the migration service conducts an interview with the migrant (interview). Based on it, a decision on asylum is made.
General Description of the Problem
Of course, the refugee problem is one of the most pressing in modern Europe and the world. The solution of this issue with internally displaced persons is located both in the economic and political plane. Moreover, the second factor is even more important. After all, ending the wars in the Middle East will itself solve the problem of a new mass influx of migrants.
In any case, European countries will be able to solve the refugee problem only when they develop a unified policy for dealing with this problem and follow it clearly and implicitly.