ABOUT MINORS AS REFUGEES - AND EUROPE

Today I want to write about solidarity – or rather about lack of solidarity.

As we all know Greece has at the moment about 50.000 refugees, many of them on some of the Greek islands near the Turkish coast. And more are arriving all the time. The help to Greece from the other EU countries is unfortunately still very small when relocation of these refugees is concerned. There is – despite several initiatives – no agreement on the distribution of the refugees. EU is helping Greece with economic aid.  But it is – in my view – highly regrettable that the solidarity with the Greeks and with the refugees is so low among other EU member states.  The EU Commission will in the near future make a new proposal on how to solve the problem.

Some of the thousands of refugees are minors – under 18 years old. And many of the minors are unaccompanied by parents or others. They are there on their own.  UN’s refugee authorities and UNICEF have for some time made the world aware of this catastrophic situation, also because these minors often live under very unsatisfactory conditions and are often unprotected, though the Greek authorities do what they can.  

Therefore, a number of EU countries ( “The Group of Willing” ) decided in March 2020 to receive about 1.600 of these minors:  Croatia, France (400), Germany (350), Italy, Luxembourg, Ireland and Portugal.  Finland has later joined the group – and Bulgaria and Lithuania seem to be on the way.  Switzerland has – though not an EU member – decided to join too.

The first 12 minors arrived in Luxembourg earlier last week. And yesterday 47 came to Germany. In a few days a group will arrive in Switzerland.  The whole project has been delayed due to the corona crisis. But, of course, it will be implemented, also because the refugee camps are in danger of being hit by the corona. All minors arriving in their new host countries will start with two weeks in isolation.

The young people come mostly from Syria and Afghanistan. And 92 % of all the minors in the camps are boys.

Now to my main point:  Where are all the other EU member states in this project???  It is in my view simply not good enough that most countries do not offer any help. Where is their solidarity?  Their help to the weakest and most vulnerable?   Are they all just silent – or do they have reasons? If yes, which ones?  Where are the politicians, who very often talk about the importance of solidarity?  Where are the media?  Where is the caring part of the general public?

There is still time to get actively on board!