On September 9, the fire in the refugee camp of Moria on the Greek island of Lesbos, where more than 20,000 migrants were crammed together in inhuman conditions, once again brought Europe face to face with its responsibilities.
Faced with the failure of the Dublin Regulation in the 2015 migration crisis, Europe is trying to find a satisfactory solution for all EU member states, including the countries of Central Europe, which are reluctant to receive migrants.
On September 23, Ursula von der Leyen proposed a new “pact for migration” which imposes “compulsory solidarity”, notably by speeding up the processing of asylum applications in order to relieve the host countries (mainly Greece and Italy). But this measure carries with it the risk of an equally accelerated return of asylum seekers to their countries of origin, in case of refusal.
While this new plan tries to avoid the inhuman treatment suffered by these populations forced to leave, it still fails to resolve the causes that cause it: war, famine… survival in short.
To see our previous weekly editorials on international news, take a look here!
