“Fortress Europe” opens for Ukrainian refugees but keeps others out

As Ming Chen has blogged (see also here and here), the general positive responses by European nations to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion contrasts sharply with the treatment of other groups of refugees, such as Syrians just a few years ago. As Renata Brito for the Associated Press reports, “European nations are openly welcoming Ukrainian refugees – a starkly different picture from the way West African and Middle-Eastern refugees were treated in the past. As [European Union (EU)] leaders continue to support Ukrainians, tones of racism and Islamophobia persist.”

The European Union has been called the Fortress Europe.  While allowing for free migration within the member nations, it is committed to keeping migrants from outside the region, such as Africa, from entering Europe.  As analyzed by John Reynolds in the Immigration Article of the Day yesterday, Europe has a long and continuing tradition of enforcing racial borders.

Consider this comment from Renata Brito’s report,

“`These are not the refugees we are used to … these people are Europeans,’ Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov told journalists earlier this week, of the Ukrainians. `These people are intelligent, they are educated people. … This is not the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could have been even terrorists….’” (bold added). What is the Prime Minister saying about the desperate African migrants dying on the Mediterranean Sea?

As reported by Euronews. the EU has “dusted off a 2001 EU directive that had never been used before and is designed to provide immediate assistance and protection to war refugees.

The Temporary Protection Directive circumvents the traditionally overburdened asylum procedure and offers a quick and simplified path to access protection across the EU.

Ukrainian refugees will be given residence permits to stay inside the bloc for at least one year, a period that will be automatically extended for a further year. Member states can then decide to prolong the exceptional measure by one more year if the war continues to ravage the country.”

I am glad that Ukrainian refugees are being provided relief.  I just wish that other similarly situated refugees could be treated humanely as well.

KJ