In the summer of 2015, images of the hundreds of thousands of
refugees arriving on Europe’s shores dominated the front pages of
European newspapers.
Journalists from every major publication were themselves migrating
daily to new flashpoints, border fences or makeshift camps – chasing the
latest scoop or story. Alongside this blanket media coverage came
political urgency.
Heads of state and government met on an almost monthly basis to
discuss the issue. However, as soon as the stories began disappearing
from the front pages so did the political will to do something.
Despite the receding media coverage, the issue has not gone way.
While the numbers arriving in Greece have declined since the middle
of 2015, the numbers arriving across the Mediterranean to Italy have
increased markedly in the last two to three years.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants that have been rescued by the
Italian navy and are now waiting in reception centres or being housed by
local authorities, many of which are stretched to their limits.
Despite
warnings from the Italian government, most EU member state continue to
ignore the situation.
The newly elected president in France, Emmanuel Macron, has refused
to open French ports to migrants and, in Austria, the foreign minister
and defence minister even threatened to send the army to the Italian
border to stop migrants crossing.
We are reaching another tipping point. Earlier this month we called
for an extraordinary European Council summit to discuss migration before
the summer break. National governments replied that this could wait
till the autumn. This is simply not acceptable.
The most frustrating issue is that it does not need to be this way.
We are a continent of 500 million people and one of the richest
regions of the planet – the arrival of a few hundred thousand refugees
and migrants is manageable if we organize ourselves effectively.
Read more: EU needs a lasting solution to the refugee crisis
