Is it just me, or did anyone else notice the hard shift to a more cold-hearted handling of refugees crossing the Mediterranean? In last night's News Hour on PBS, Daryl Grisgraber of Rescue International spoke about a shift in policy for EU nations as they work out a "common cause" solution for dealing with the refugee crisis.
The common cause, unfortunately, might not focus as much on humanitarian and lifesaving activities, as it does on deterrence at the border and creating a secure area.
When asked by Gwen Ifill to define that "deterrence", whether it was like building a fence, she said
Yes, well, in many ways, it’s the same thing, not building a fence, but, for example, not making people think that if they get on a boat that is unsafe and it starts to sink, that they are going to be rescued by someone in those European countries, for example.
Search and rescue missions were very much at the heart of the operation that was going on in the Mediterranean for a lot of last year and some of 2013. The new operation that has taken it over and it’s not as comprehensive geographically and certainly doesn’t have the same amount of funding is much more about deterrence and keeping people away from the borders, trying to avoid having people arrive in the first place. [Trying to stop people from] getting off the boats mostly.
Sounds like a really ugly way to deal with the flood of desperate refugees - reducing funding for rescues, and when people arrive trying to stop refugees from getting off the boats.
Perhaps, Ms Grisgraber's perspective is tainted by years of working for refugees and running into insufficient interest and/or support. But if her description is accurate, the EU is making a hard shift in a direction we're familiar with in the U.S. They're choosing to turn their backs on desperate refugees; let them die trying.
Sadly, after years of dealing with refugees and the problems they brought into the heart of Europe, and the continuing financial crisis in Europe, I can sort of understand why they're doing this. But that doesn't make it any easier to watch.