Ireland can rise above shameful EU response to Afghan refugee crisis

The European Council's statement last Tuesday on the Afghanistan crisis is shocking. Words like "illegal migration" and "unauthorised entries" dominate.

The word “refugee” is only used twice, both times in the context of building capacity in third countries, that is, countries outside the European Union, to offer protection and safety to Afghans.

Of course, Europe cannot absorb all the Afghans who need to flee, but why is it fine for neighbouring countries to have to do so?

In other words, we will pay shedloads of money to keep Afghans out of EU countries. To talk of “illegal migration” in the context of the deadly debacle we have witnessed, not just since the US withdrawal began but in the months and years leading up to it, is shameful.

In fairness to Ireland, as Irish Times Europe Correspondent Naomi O'Leary reported, it was among the countries opposing language like "illegal migration". There is a token nod to our obligations under EU and international law to provide protection for Afghans in need. Nonetheless, the whole approach is about protecting Europe and ensuring the problem stays far away. Of course, Europe cannot absorb all the Afghans who need to flee, but why is it fine for neighbouring countries to have to do so?

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It is not as if this approach has worked in the past. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, it prompted a massive refugee crisis that eventually amounted to some 6 million people, mostly absorbed by Pakistan and Iran. A radical Islamic movement, called Deobandi after its 19th-century place of origin in India, had already established a network of madrassas or Islamic schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Many of the boys and young men in sprawling refugee camps lacked father figures because the mujahideen stayed behind to fight the Soviets. These restless young men found education and security in these madrassas, which became vital sources of recruitment for what later became the Taliban. Meanwhile, back home, cut off from the civilising effect of their families, the mujahideen became increasingly brutal.

By failing to show generosity, we will only repeat the mistakes of history. The council’s statement used some mealy-mouthed language about how the EU “could” provide support for voluntary resettlement, particularly of vulnerable groups like women and children.

Prioritising women and children sounds good but one wonders if it is simply a reaction to what happened in Germany when Angela Merkel opened Germany's borders to Syrian refugees in 2015. It was a genuine gesture of solidarity but the vast majority of those who came were unattached males, many of them young.

Many of them left Syria with the aim of getting their families out but Germany suspended family reunification for two years in 2017.

It is not clear how many refugees were involved in the shocking scenes on New Year’s Eve 2015-2016, but it is clear that there were large, roaming groups of males, many of them foreign, who sexually assaulted scores of women.

Whenever families are severed, the results are never good. Any response that plans to take in refugees should focus primarily on families, either by taking families immediately or by focusing on family reunification. There should first be a focus on minorities most likely to suffer, such as Shi’a and Christians, and on women, but as much as possible in the context of families.

Ireland urgently needs to create a humanitarian admission programme for Afghan refugees and to expedite the long-stay visas already in train

It is true that the United States bears the heaviest weight of responsibility for the Afghans it failed to get out. There are thousands of Afghans who worked with the US, including translators and journalists, and academics at the American University of Afghanistan, all of whom risked their lives daily. They are now exposed to a brutal fate at the hands of the Taliban, while simply to be female in Afghanistan now is to be at risk.

But EU countries do not exactly have clean hands. German, Polish and Italian troops left in June and many of the Afghans who worked with them and other European countries were left behind in similarly perilous situations.

While Ireland’s response to date has been somewhat timid, it has not been disgraceful. It demonstrates some sense to focus at first on helping families of Afghan people already here, which will allegedly result in Ireland taking 500 people. But it is not enough.

Some Irish communities have demonstrated great generosity in welcoming Syrians and other refugees. While he may have been in the news in recent days for accidentally quoting Vladimir Putin approvingly rather than Merkel, in 2018 Pope Francis inspired Nola Leonard from Dunshaughlin to set up a local refugee support programme. Eight or nine people in her community made it possible for a Syrian family to settle there.

With UNHCR assistance, this has grown into the Community Sponsorship Programme, where local groups band together to welcome and provide funding and accommodation for refugees. There are now some 20 such groups in Ireland. It has been enriching for all concerned.

Ireland urgently needs to create a humanitarian admission programme for Afghan refugees and to expedite the long-stay visas already in train. Bother your local TD about it so that politicians know that there are Irish people who are ready and willing to help those forced to flee for their lives. These families and individuals are refugees, not illegal migrants.