What The Paris Attacks Mean For Greece's Refugee
Crisis
Closed borders across
Europe could leave many people stranded in Greece.
HuffPost Greece
By Angeliki Kougiannou
Posted: 11/20/2015 07:12 PM EST
SAKIS MITROLIDIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGESMacedonia's
newly tightened border controls have created a bottleneck
for hundreds on the northern Greek border.
Gunmen, some of whom
detonated suicide vests, left 130 people dead in Paris last Friday. French
officials said two of the suicide bombers had
traveled through Greece in October. That has fueled concerns that some of the
attackers may have reached Europe by hiding among the hundreds of thousands of
refugees fleeing there to escape war and extreme poverty.
While European nations have
rushed to strengthen border checks and
intelligence cooperation since the Paris attacks, far-right politicians have
seized the moment to call for the borders to be closed to refugees and other
migrants. This week, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and
Slovenia stopped admitting anyone not coming from the most
war-torn countries, such as Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq, which has created a
bottleneck on Greece's northern border.
Dimitris Christopoulos,
vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights, spoke to
HuffPost Greece about how the Paris attacks may impact Greece's refugee crisis
and how the Greek government has handled the situation thus far.
ROBERT ATANASOVSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGESMacedonia, Serbia, Croatia and
Slovenia have stopped admitting anyone not coming from the most war-torn
countries.
Let's begin with the Greek
state's absence from the crisis.
If, God forbid, the
earthquake that shook the island of Lefkada a few days ago didn't result in
two people dead but 20, and 1,000 houses had collapsed and 5,000 people
were left homeless, what would the Greek state have done? Would it have
remained inert? Of course not.
So, why doesn't it do something about the
refugees? Because, in the final analysis, [the state] isn't sure it wants
to do something, and what's more, it has also convinced itself that it cannot
either.
Why wouldn't the state want to
find a solution?
I think this goes deeper than problems caused by the financial
crisis. Large parts of the Greek government -- both the central and local
governments -- believe that because these people came here just in order
to leave, our sole obligation toward them is only this: to prevent them
from drowning upon their arrival and to facilitate their departure. If we set
up hospitality structures, some are afraid that they will become a "pull
factor," or encourage people to stay. This belief is shared by both
the right wing and the left wing.
BULENT KILIC/AFP/GETTY IMAGESRefugees continue to
reach the Greek island of Lesbos by sea.
What could the Greek state
actually do? The situation is beyond control.
I do not mean to deny or downplay this fact. On
the contrary, the situation has all the characteristics of an emergency. The
state should, first of all, realize and recognize this. A state of emergency
should be declared in some islands, especially Lesbos. Things cannot go along
with the ordinary procedures and schedules. The army should also help deal with
the refugee crisis -- not only to impose order, but to do what a dismantled
state cannot.
Why doesn't the army show
up? Simply because both the political and the military
leadership know that if they get involved with the refugee issue, they will
have to continue to deal with it for years to come. But what can we do? This is
how the army works in established democracies during times of peace.
Wouldn't that project a
negative image?
In times of peace, the army is not there to wage
war. There are many positive things about bringing in the army during a state
of emergency.
Firstly, the state could prove that, even with all the
difficulties it faces, it can assume responsibility. Secondly, winter is
coming, and we would solve the immediate problem of ensuring these people's
survival. Thirdly, we would take the burden off the shoulders of all the
volunteers. We have replaced the state with volunteers, and I honestly wonder
how much longer they can last. Last but not least, as the refugee crisis
escalates, we will at least have somewhere to accommodate people.
We have replaced the state with
volunteers, and I honestly wonder how much longer they can last.
Greece should also open the border along the Evros river
with Turkey. The border fence can stay, but we should open border
stations for people to cross. This would reduce the dangers that people face
when sailing across the Aegean Sea, because the land crossing is easier and
safer than the sea passage. There should be a possibility of safe passage
into Greece. It would also put pressure on Turkey to do its job, namely, to
check who is in need of protection.
Let's be honest: By the term "refugee
crisis," we mean the islands of the East Aegean and some of the other
islands. The rest of Greece hasn't realized yet what this means. Why should
Lesbos face the problem all on its own?
Do you think Europe's moves to
tighten border controls after the Paris attacks will make the problem worse?
The problem will increase with the closing of the borders, but not
only because of that. It will also get worse because of the war in Syria.
With the military intervention, air raids and the possibility of a ground
invasion in the future, people cannot stay there. A combination of extremely
negative circumstances suggests the refugee crisis will only escalate.
SAKIS MITROLIDIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGESThe Paris attacks have raised
fears of a backlash against refugees.
Who benefits from this rhetoric
equating refugees with terrorists?
It benefits the logic that, in the name of the
war against terrorism, we should shut the borders to refugees and seal off
Europe in general. Will this solve the problem? In the mid-term, perhaps it
will for some countries with land borders. But it will increase the
difficulties for Greece. In the long term, however, it will only make the
problem worse and make it more challenging to deal with.
Do you predict a Europe of
closed borders?
I see more restrictive policies possibly prevailing over the
openness that Germany attempted this summer. It would be a bad development for
Greece if we turn from a transit country into a holding country, bringing all
the discussion about detention centers to the fore again.
A combination of extremely
negative circumstances suggests the refugee crisis will only escalate.
For Europe in general, if such policies prevail,
it will be a vindication of the extreme-right agenda and everything that
entails. In less than a hundred years, there could be another war within Europe
if the extreme right becomes the legitimate political expression of a large
part of the European population. Europe cannot take that. Europe must realize
that if it goes down that road, it will undermine its own existence as a
political structure.
Therefore, in the long term, by helping refugees
we are basically helping ourselves. I think this is something that we should
all realize.
This story originally appeared on HuffPost Greece. It was
translated into English and edited for a global audience.