The European Union | Report

Chapter 1: Introduction
The European Union, among all the other regions of the world, has perhaps the most
complex and statutory systems to restrict undesired migrants. Since 1993, the interstate borders
have become more relaxed, rather non-existent within the Schengen area for trade and travelling,
with passport control being abolished and single monitory union being established. However, the
external frontier of the territory has become protected and militarized. According to the reports
of the Amnesty International, the EU has spent approximately €2bn for surveillance systems,
fences, patrols on both land and sea between 2007 to 2013 (Trilling, 2018). However, the large
number of international migrants increasing since 2009 has compelled the EU to reconsider its
immigration policies.
Ideally, refuges have the right to cross any international border seeking asylum under the
international law. Hence, they should be exempted from any such border controls. However, the
EU has repeatedly tried to turn down such pleas of asylum seekers to an extensive length, closing
down its borders. Following the Arab uprising since 2011, a vast amount of displaced people has
been trying to enter Europe through Turkey, as well as from North Africa and Central
Mediterranean region. Despite the pressing urgency, the EU maintained their concern for internal
security and resisted the reception. Where more than 3 million people claimed asylum in the EU
countries since 2015, armed with the Dublin regulation, the EU refused to open its borders to the
refugees. The wave of refugees still continued to hit the EU borders in a chaotic and
disorganized manner in an attempt to reach the countries of north-eastern Europe, and led to the
death of thousands of refugees. Subsequently, the Dublin Regulation almost collapsed.

This was not the first time that the EU was facing such dire refugee crisis. Following the
aftermath of the World War II, the European countries involved in the conflict experienced mass
evacuation, expulsion and forced displacement of millions of people. However, the number of
refugees to a single region has not been this magnanimous until the 2015 crisis. According to the
UNHCR report on mass migration, the contemporary history is the witness of the largest forced
displacement, with an unprecedented 70.8 million people across the globe. The UNHCR reports
that one person in every 2 seconds is forcefully displaced as a result of persecution, ethnic,
political or religious conflicts. Among them, 341800 people are political asylum seekers, of
which 30 million are reported to be under 18 years of age (Un.org, 2019).
In the light of this importance pertaining to the refugee issue, the matter has drawn
attention of various experts, including world leaders, policy makers, human rights activists as
well as politicians. Subsequently, the matter of hosting these refugees and providing asylum to
them have become a pressing issue, as a matter of human rights that these people are entitled to.
However, offering resettlement and asylum to them has not been an easy task, for it involves
significant political, economic, legal as well as social aspects of the hosting country. As a clear
example of the claim, EU has faced the severity of the refugee crisis subsequent to the Cold War,
continuing till date. Although, several international laws and policies prescribe different
rehabilitative measures and protection of the fundamental rights of those refugees, many EU
countries have denied to offer asylum mentioning the aforementioned hassles. Overall, the
European response to the crisis have been somewhat of a mixed nature. While some of the
countries completely closed their borders for the asylum seekers, Germany has welcome and
taken the responsibility of a significant amount of refugees.

Among all the EU countries, Germany has taken up more than their fair share of
responsibility regarding the refugees and asylum seekers. The crisis hit Germany following the
civil unrest in Syria around 2015, as hundreds and thousands of Syrian refugees fled to the
European countries for shelter and safety. And Germany held its door open amidst numerous
objections, warnings, even non-cooperation from their EU allies. Subsequently, the country has
implemented rehabilitative frameworks and policies including the aspects of healthcare,
employment and education for the refugees. However, the consequence of this inclusion in the
German population has received a mix response as well. Some say that it has enriched the
German labor market and as a result, boosted the economy. On the other hand, opponents claim
that it took a toll on the German nationalism, the widespread ideology that promotes the unity
and solidarity of native German speakers into making Germany a sovereign nation-state. It is
also propagated through various key political and electoral media that the inclusion of the
refugees into the German population has curbed social and economic opportunity for the native
German citizens, thus turning the national sentiment against the refugees. Nevertheless, it has to
be acknowledged that the inclusion of a substantive amount of German population has its deep
rooted impact on various aspects pertaining to Germany, including economy, society as well as
German national politics.
The most significant observation related to the inclusion claim that the Syrian refugee
crisis has led to the proliferation and strengthening of far right populism in Germany. The
rationale underlying the claim indicates to the xenophobia and insecurity in the German national
sentiment that have provided the grounds to the far right populist party, Alternative for Germany
(AfD) to rise and find support among the common people.