|2016

WORLD REPORT 2016
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Protecting Refugees also Protects Recipient Countries
The desperate flight of refugees and asylum seekers from unending violence and
abuse in countries such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Eritrea, and their limited
chance to secure adequate work, housing, schooling, and legal status in neighboring
countries, will lead many to attempt to reach Europe one way or another.
The question is whether they arrive in an orderly fashion that permits security
screening, or chaotically through smugglers.
The effect of European policy so far has been to leave refugees with little choice
but to risk their lives at sea for a chance at asylum. With boats arriving helterskelter
at various Greek islands, it is difficult to screen systematically to stop a
would-be terrorist from slipping in. A safer and more humane alternative would
be for the EU to increase refugee resettlement and humanitarian visas from
places of first refuge such as Lebanon or Pakistan.
The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, if adequately supported, could increase
its capacity to screen refugees and refer them to resettlement countries.
With expanded resettlement programs, Europe could signal that its doors will
not shut abruptly, so there is no urgent need for refugees to board rickety boats
to cross the Mediterranean, where some 3,770 drowned in 2015, a third of them
children. More orderly screening would also make Europeans safer.
In addition, greater capacity to process refugees in countries of first asylum
would facilitate resettlement in the countries beyond Europe that should be
doing more—not only traditional recipient countries such as the United States,
Canada, and Australia, but also the Gulf states and Russia.
Not every asylum seeker will choose this more orderly route, nor as a matter of
right should they be required to. Its success will depend in large part on its generosity:
the more that refugees feel it provides a reasonable chance of resettlement
without languishing for years in a camp, and the more they can lead
normal lives while waiting, the less likely they are to embark on a dangerous alternative.
A viable resettlement program would help to reduce the irregular flow
that is overwhelming screeners on Europe’s southern shores.
The asylum seekers who manage to enter Europe via Greece or Italy face similar
chaos if, as most do, they continue to make their way north. The sluggish imple-
mentation of an EU plan for organized relocation combined with the proliferation
of beggar-thy-neighbor fences in countries such as Hungary, Slovenia, and Macedonia
has contributed to the massive, uncontrolled flow of people that is a gift
for those who want to evade law enforcement scrutiny.
Here, too, a more orderly process, with all EU countries living up to their pledges
to accept asylum seekers, would permit more effective screening, while providing
a safer route as an incentive for asylum seekers to participate. It would also
be the first step towards shared responsibility across the EU, which is needed for
the common EU asylum system to function effectively and to avoid overwhelming
individual EU countries. In addition, it could help to replace the current
Dublin Regulation, which imposes responsibility for asylum seekers on first-arrival
countries, which include some of the EU members least capable of managing
them.
Europe is not alone in adopting a counterproductive approach to refugees, especially
those from Syria. In the US, some officials and politicians have been denouncing
Syrian refugees as a security threat even though the handful permitted
into the US have gone through an intensive two-year screening process involving
numerous interviews, background checks by multiple US agencies, and biometric
data. That is hardly an attractive route for would-be terrorists, who are more
apt to enter as students or tourists subject to much lower scrutiny. Of all people
entering the US, refugees are the most heavily vetted.
Yet, 30 governors in the US tried to bar Syrian refugees from being resettled in
their states. The idea was even floated (though broadly rejected) of blocking
Muslim non-citizens from entering the country altogether. Canada, under its new
prime minister, Justin Trudeau, offered a very different initial response: accelerating
the reception of 25,000 Syrian refugees and spreading them to a largely
warm welcome across all 10 provinces. Setting a tone of respect over fear and
distrust, he personally greeted the first planeload of refugees at the airport.
Mass Surveillance Versus Smart Responses to Terrorism
Beyond scapegoating refugees, policymakers in the US and Europe have used
the terrorist threat as an opportunity to seek greater law-enforcement powers, in-
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