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Is border security more important than human life?
World Refugee Day 2007
Inter-religious Prayer Vigil “Chemin sans Issue”
Since 1993 at least 8,000 migrants and refugees have died trying
to enter ‘fortress’ Europe; that’s equivalent to three people
every two days. Indiscriminate and inhumane border controls
force desperate people to take even greater risks to flee
extreme poverty, persecution and war.
To commemorate World Refugee Day 2007, JRS Europe, in
partnership with Kerkwerk Multicultureel Samenleven, held an
interreligious prayer vigil to remember those asylum seekers and
migrants who never reached Europe alive. Catholics, Buddhists
and Moslems from around Brussels came together to pay their
respects to those who died while trying to access ‘fortress’
Europe.
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Interreligious prayer vigil,
World Refugee Day 2007
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European policies increasingly restrict entry into Europe.
Border fences are higher and patrols have been intensified. Air
and sea companies are fined for carrying undocumented migrants
and immigration officials are sent to countries of origin to
prevent migrants and refugees from leaving in the first place.
However, these policies do not deter people from trying to enter
Europe. Rather, they force the most vulnerable individuals to
seek more and more dangerous and desperate methods of entry.
Below are two real-life case studies which illustrate the risks
that fleeing refugees are prepared to take.
CASE STUDIES
* Ali, 26 years old from Sudan, is just one of many thousands of
migrants who have taken the treacherous journey to Italy by sea.
He spent one week crossing the desert to reach Libya before
leaving for Italy on a rubber dingy with 16 other people. He was
told the crossing would only take 12 hours: it actually took six
days and five of the immigrants did not survive. Ali lost hope
he would ever make it to Italy. He believed he was going to die.
As Ali’s case illustrates, the tougher the sanctions and
restrictions on entry, the more dangerous and extreme methods of
entry are attempted by increasingly desperate groups of refugees
and migrants. The suffering of those seeking sanctuary in Europe
is masked by the rhetoric of border control. Refugees and
migrants have died in deserts, at borders, crossing the sea and
hidden in truck holds.
* In May 2007, a group of 27 sub-Saharan Africans were found
clinging to the fishing nets of a Maltese fishing boat. They had
been there for three days and nights. The fishing crew had
provided them with water and fruit but feared the consequences
of granting them access to their boat. This is just one example
of how a closed border policy forces individuals to take more
extreme risks and hampers any offer of humanitarian support. A
culture of fear, instilled by the state, forces those directly
in contact with refugees and migrants to provide very little
assistance or help.
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