Redefining the Crisis

There are currently 60,000 refugees stranded in Greece. They are supposed to either be granted asylum in other European countries or sent back to Turkey, but the process is moving glacially slow. There are residents in Ritsona refugee camp, where I was volunteering, who have been there for nearly 2 years.

Let’s go back and review what has caused this situation. The EU signed a deal with Turkey early last year that attempted to reduce the overwhelming number of refugees crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece by allowing Greece to send back anyone who arrived “irregularly” on the Greek islands after March 20, 2016. In exchange, EU countries would increase resettlement of Syrian refugees residing in Turkey and provide €6 billion to assist with the massive refugee population in Turkey. Afghans, Pakistanis, and other nationalities not deemed entitled to European protection could be sent back to Turkey under another aspect of the deal. Other groups, such as Iraqis, seemingly have a better chance of being granted asylum once in Europe. Breaking down the model in simple terms, it was a one for one where one refugee left Greece for Turkey and then one refugee left Turkey for Europe.

The problem with this deal is that it was built on the premise that Turkey was a good place for refugees to wait for their asylum appeals to be processed. It is not. Refugees are not allowed to legally work in Turkey, forcing them to work for next to nothing “under the table” to even put food on the table. A resident in Ritsona told me that he, his father, and his older brother all worked in Turkey just to make enough to feed the family. He was 14 at the time. Refugees are also discriminated against in Turkey, often in violent ways.

At the same time, European countries started closing their borders with walls, fences, and guards to try to “stem the flow” of refugees. Prior to this, refugees were able to travel freely to the wealthier countries in northern and central Europe and claim asylum there.

Between the EU-Turkey deal and the European border closings, a situation has been created that is a moral regression and in direct violation of the 1951 Refugee Convention which defines the term ‘refugee’ and outlines the rights of the displaced, as well as the legal obligations of the ratifying States to protect them. It defines refugees as people who are outside their country of nationality because they have a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion, and are unwilling to return there for fear of persecution.

My opinion is that this is not a ‘refugee crisis’. It is a crisis in the asylum process and a crisis of humanity. We cannot accept that people are dying because of Assad’s bombs and chemicals in Syria, Taliban violence in Afghanistan, smugglers’ rubber dinghies with fake life jackets in the Aegean Sea, and over-crowded, unsafe camps in Greece. I can’t un-hear the stories that I’ve been told, and I wouldn’t want to. What I can do is help to make a refugee’s day a little better in whatever small way I can.

I will continue to work with and donate to Lighthouse Relief, the NGO that I volunteered with in Greece, and I’m looking into ways to help refugees in San Francisco through mentoring and tutoring.

I’m asking you to please help too by donating to Lighthouse Relief. Lighthouse Relief provides emergency relief to refugees that arrive on the Greek island of Lesvos and essential long-term psychosocial services for residents (my friends) in Ritsona refugee camp in mainland Greece. Every little bit helps.

Thank you!