By Thiago d’Leones
A rotten ‘one in, one out’ deal between Germany and Turkey would ‘resettle’ one Syrian refugee in Europe for each returned to Turkey from Greece. This €6 billion ‘solution’ escalates the militarisation of the EU’s borders, using NATO ships under German command.
More than 1.3 million refugees – of which 78% are Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis – applied for EU asylum in 2015. Over 132,000 travelled across the Mediterranean Sea in January and February 2016 alone.
This represents a mere 0.2% of the EU population. But it has sharpened the contradictions between national governments. Nationalists and racists have attempted to cultivate hatred toward refugees, while right-wing governments have tried to counter falling support for their policies by scapegoating these desperate people.
Only through a fight to end capitalism can we stop the wars that provoked such mass migration and end the EU’s brutal treatment of refugees.
