humiliation?

It may be that, it is worse: an inhumane strategic orientation when it comes to the EU’s understanding and defining of problems.

The dramatic developments in the south of the European Union are obvious – the signals of humans drowning tine sea cannot be overlooked, even if the European Commissions website is not too impressed by the problem. Today (21/42015) presents news under the headlines of

EU acts on illegal fishing
TTIP to boost small enterprises
Commission opens google antitrust proceedings

And the priorities are named as

Jobs, Growth and Investment
Digital Single Market
Energy Union and Climate

Something is leading from the main page to the topic migration – and we read

Objectives

• Ensuring that all EU countries apply asylum rules in the same manner, by fully implementing the common European asylum system (CEAS).

• Enforcing EU laws penalising human traffickers vigorously.

• Protecting our external borders better by increasing the budget of the European border agency Frontex.

• Cooperating more closely with non EU countries to smooth repatriation of irregular migrants.

• Promoting the legal migration of persons with skills needed in Europe, through a review of the ‘Blue Card’ legislation.

And all this is stated:

while the threat for people who are desperately struggle to survive are actually running into a death trap
after just one day ago the walls of the fortress Europe had been strengthened, and we find the outline of what we can expect:

Joint Foreign and Home Affairs Council: Ten point action plan on migration

Ten points

• Reinforce the Joint Operations in the Mediterranean, namely Triton and Poseidon, by increasing the financial resources and the number of assets. We will also extend their operational area, allowing us to intervene further, within the mandate of Frontex;

• A systematic effort to capture and destroy vessels used by the smugglers. The positive results obtained with the Atalanta operation should inspire us to similar operations against smugglers in the Mediterranean;

• EUROPOL, FRONTEX, EASO and EUROJUST will meet regularly and work closely to gather information on smugglers modus operandi, to trace their funds and to assist in their investigation;

• EASO to deploy teams in Italy and Greece for joint processing of asylum applications;

• Member States to ensure fingerprinting of all migrants;

• Consider options for an emergency relocation mechanism;

• A EU wide voluntary pilot project on resettlement, offering a number of places to persons in need of protection;

• Establish a new return programme for rapid return of irregular migrants coordinated by Frontex from frontline Member States;

• Engagement with countries surrounding Libya through a joined effort between the Commission and the EEAS; initiatives in Niger have to be stepped up.

• Deploy Immigration Liaison Officers (ILO) in key third countries, to gather intelligence on migratory flows and strengthen the role of the EU Delegations.

It is a kind of war – and though there is no easy solution at hand, there is surely the need to think more thoroughly in terms of opening borders and minds instead of opening the routes to war.

I wrote a small piece (in German language) on this topic in the book that is currently released:

“Kriege im 21. Jahrhundert.
Neue Herausforderungen der Friedensbewegung”,
herausgegeben von Rudolph Bauer,
mit Beiträgen von der Antikriegskonferenz Berlin2014
Annweiler am Trifels: Sonnenberg Verlag 2015
(= Friedenspolitische Reihe: Bd. 01)
ISBN 978-3-933264-77-0
374 Seiten, Euro 19.80
Bestelllink:
http://sonnenbergverlag.de/index.php?section=buecher&menulinks=buecher&menuauswahl=5