CC BY
18
2017.02.017. BORIS DOLGOV. MIGRATION CRISIS IN EUROPE AND RADICAL ISLAMISM // "Aktualnye problemy Evropy: Nauchnyi zhurnal / RAN INION", Moscow, 2016, № 4: Migration Crisis in Modern Europe and Prospects for its Resolution, P. 83-103.
Keywords: migration crisis, the European Union policy, geopolitical interests of the USA, countries of the Arab Muslim world, right-wing parties, Neo-Ottomanism, radical Islamism.
Boris Dolgov,
PhD (Hist.), senior research assistant, Arabic and Islamic research Centre, Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS
In this article, the author examines the reasons for the migration crisis caused by the policy of the European Union, based on the US geopolitical interests in relation to the Arab Muslim world, as well as the possible consequences of this.
Western Europe is experiencing the most terrible migration crisis over the past few decades. The previous surge of migrants didn't bring much inconvenience to Europe, but refugees of the present-day bring menace of brining Islamic terrorism to the European ground.
The fist mass surge of migrants started in the latter half of the 20 century. With the beginning of the Arab spring the flow of immigrants increased significantly. It was caused by aggravation of socioeconomic problems, fall of living standards, foreign intervention, armed conflicts and terrorist groups activation in the Arab Muslim world. Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya are countries which deliver the main quantity of refugees to Europe. In comparison with the beginning of 2015, the number of refugees in 2016 increased several fold. The biggest number of refugees is concentrated in Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
The EU suffers from the difficulty to integrate the refugees in the society. Within this framework there are worries about
spate of criminal activity and terrorist threat. The Islamic state exercises terror attacks via jihadists sent out in Europe under the guise of mere refugees.
Intervention of the U.S. military and its allies in Afghanistan started after terror attacks of 9/11. Having started the war against Al-Qaeda, the United States carried out an intervention in Afghanistan, the country where the al-Qaeda leader was. Since 2014, militants of the Islamic state have been massively operating in Afghanistan.
In 2003, the United States began intervention in Iraq under the pretext of the existence of nuclear weapons, followed by the overthrow of S. Hussein and the promotion of democracy.These activities lead to disintegration of the country and elimination of government institutions.
In 2011 the leading states of NATO intervened in Libya. Excuse for that aggression was the necessity to overthrow the «bloody dictator regime» and protect civilians. The U.S. achieved toppling of Mr. Kaddafi that brought to collapse of the state and its nationhood.
When opposition protests began in Syria in 2011, the U.S. declared the illegitimacy of seated President Bashar Assad. Since 2011, Islamic movements, whose activities were banned, were actively supported from abroad, encouraging the creation of anti-government armed groups.
Social protests in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain and Yemen come from internal factors, such as the socio-economic crisis, corruption, police despotism, the lack of democratic freedoms. In the presence of internal problems, the main challenges for the Syrian crisis were external factors - support for the opposition of NATO member states and the trace of jihadists in it.
The author being in Syria saw himself mass demonstrations in support of B.Assad whom local citizens considered to be a national leader. There is nothing surprising because the secure peaceful life can be provided only by incumbent authorities which can suppress Islamic groups.
Syrians are forced to leave their country because of impossibility to live there. Foreign coalition in the name of National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces and also Islamic opposition don't have any support in the country.
Syrian crisis took form of a global conflict in which the U.S. and its allies in the region, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey tend to realize their geopolitical interests in the Middle East. The main goal is to topple the government of B. Assad, an ally of Iran and Russia, and that way to place Sunni Islamists in power and promote further expansion of terror «jihad» against enemy countries. For this purpose the U.S. and its allies use sponsored armed Islamic groups setting them up as «a moderate opposition». Rebels of these groups wage a terror war in Syria and commit crimes against humanity.
Radical Islamists eliminated the Syrian civilization heritage, killed hundreds of intellectuals, scientists, religious figures and civilians. Activities of radical Islamic powers became basic ground for leaving of hundreds of thousands refugees. Many of them head for not only Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan but the European countries what provoked the migration crisis by their short-sighted policy in the Middle East.
One more reason for the migrants growth, became functioning of criminal organizations networks involved in delivery of refugees in Europe. Libya is one of the stepping stones for dispatching refugees where according to the UN estimates smugglers earn thousands of millions dollars. In the perception of the International Organisation for Migration illegal trafficking of refugees brings the same income as drug traffic.
As a rule the bulk of illegal immigrants come to Europe by tourist visas or forgery papers, the rest cross the borders without any documents. There are a few routes of delivering, one-through the Mediterranean sea and the second one from Turkey to Greece. The fact is that such routes are extremely dangerous, the number of deaths of migrants every time rises.
The crisis situation with endless influxes of refugees stirs up divisions in the EU. In May 2015 the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker suggested introducing quotas for immigrants receiving for all 28 countries of the EU. Germany, Italy, Austria and Sweden endorsed the idea, countries of Eastern Europe confronted it and France, Spain and Portugal kept a lower profile. At the meeting of the UN Home secretaries in June 2015 it was decided to give up on quotas and in exchange for it voluntarily allocate 40 thousands of refugees.
In September 2015 on grounds of refugees influx Germany the first country of the Schengen zone imposed passport control on the boundaries with Austria. At the meeting for rapprochement of member-states there were obvious fundamental disagreements within the EU. Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary confronted coercive distribution of refugees among the states.
After that The European commission issued a block of propositions concerning migration. Among them: refugee resettlement, creation of receiving points, registration and repatriation of economic migrants and so on. However these and many other propositions leave unrealized because of the dispute among the members of the EU also in view of difficulty for their realization within the Schengen agreement. Many countries take to returning to border control of their national frontiers.
The European short-sighted policy in regards to the Middle East became the reason for migration crisis which brought about a number of negative consequences for the EU. First, an idea of single Europe experiences a crisis because the common European structures demonstrated their incompetence under the conditions of the influx of refugees. The justification for Single Europe Crisis is the referendum in Great Britain regarding leaving the EU. One of the main reasons for it was demonstrated impotence for solving the migration problem and the accompanied difficulties.
Migration crisis in the EU contributes rise of nationalist positions and right-wing parties and movements, demanding policy review as for refugees, adopting stricter laws and others.
The leader of the National front party in France, Marine Le Pen, expresses disquiet concerning the uncontrolled influx of refugees. Former prisoners and persons convicted of terrorism can be found among all these refugees. Marine Le Pen declared that France cannot help all these people from the countries involved in the Arab spring. Lately the National front party gains more popularity in the society.
Public discontent of the policy in the EU sates is evoked by migration crisis along with aggravation of financial and economic crisis. In France it is said that the EU bureaucracy forces on solutions which contradict national interests of the country.
The menace is that people who practice Islamic ideology or reside in extremist groups can reach the EU with other refugees. If there is a large number of Salafi extremist adepts in Europe, there may be a danger of expansion of radical Islamism.
First, Europe turned out to be a victim of its policy in the Middle East broadly acting in the geopolitical interests of the U.S. Secondly, the EU came up with Turkey's political ambitions, the government of which claims serious concessions from Europe in exchange for containment of refugees. At the same time, Neo-Ottoman ambitions of Turkey and geopolitical aims of the U.S. do not correspond to the political and economic interests of the EU.
Author of the abstract - Yu. Androsova
