As a natural corollary of the long-drawn multiple wars in the Middle East, millions of people from the war-ravaged region have been fleeing in search of a safer place to live. While most of them are being said to be Syrians, large numbers of such refugees and economic migrants are also from countries, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan and a few others.
According to two UN population experts, an estimated over 800,000 of such refugees have reached the European shores since January 2016 till early August escaping war, repression, discrimination and unemployment. With adverse reactions from the European countries about the ME refugees, the flow of refugees to Europe has slowed down but has not stopped. Two American and French news agencies have reported in late August that over 70,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean into Italy between January and June 2016. But with routes northward now severely restricted, there is nowhere for them to go.
The sufferings of these hapless refugees have now multiplied as many of them having been lured by the greedy smugglers undertook more dangerous journey, large number of them are now dying. Perhaps they can't blame anyone but themselves and their predicament. However, the sponsors of the M.E. conflicts and the allied countries who are bankrolling for prolongation of these conflicts to advance their own political interests are only paying lip service for the refugees.
With all eyes focused on the plight of the danger being faced by the migrant refugees, a recent revelation by the Lancet Global Health Journal in a research report has largely been overlooked. The Lancet research article has revealed that since the beginning of Arab Spring in 2011, the ongoing ravages of war in the Mediterranean region has effectively shortened the peoples' lifespan and damaged their health almost beyond repair.
CONFLICTS HAVE SHATTERED BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE: The Lancet pointed out that amongst the countries ravaged by this man-made crisis in the region, such as Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Lebanon and Syria - the later is perhaps the hardest hit. During the five-year of the continuing civil war in Syria initiated by the US-led Western alliance and funded by some of oil rich countries, has left over 300,000 people dead and displaced millions since March 2011. As a result of this war ravages, average lifespan in Syria has been reduced by six years. It said, men in Syria typically lived to about 75 and women 80 years, by 2013, the average declined to 69 and 75 years of age respectively. Infant mortality has also been rising in some of the more involved countries.
The lead author of the Lancet study, Ali Mokdad, a Professor at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, said: "Recent conflicts have shattered basic infrastructure in a number of countries" in the region. The wars in the M.E., however, are relentlessly raging with no hope of an end in sight.
Some European leaders have complained that why only the European countries will have to look after the migrant refugees? Countries in other regions should also take responsibility about them. While they are right from their own perspective, but they perhaps are not aware that many other economically less developed emerging countries have already taken care of millions of such refugees. For example, Turkey has been hosting over 2.7 million refugees, mostly Syrians for years. About a million each are also being looked after by Lebanon and Jordan and many other less fortunate countries have also chipped in to help.
Of course, the largest number of refugees wants to move towards Europe because of their natural attraction as being rich countries who can offer the economic migrants a better life which they may not get elsewhere. UN population experts, however, have suggested some justification for the European and other developed countries for accommodating the economic migrants for mutual benefits. They have said that some governments of rich countries are looking to selective immigration to maintain the size of their workforce and in the process, slow down the pace of population ageing.
DEMOGRAPHIC DECLINE AND SOME COUNTRIES WANT MORE BABIES: Two UN population experts, Joseph Chamie and Barry Mirkin, referring to a recent United Nations study, said: "International migration at current levels would be unable to compensate fully for the expected population decline." Quoting the study, they said that between 2015 and 2050, the excess of deaths over births in Europe is projected to be 63 million, whereas the net number of international migrants to Europe is projected at 31 million. This implies an overall decline in Europe's population by about 32 million.
Many countries are experiencing fertility rate below the replacement level of about two berths per women. Population of 48 countries, including Germany, Japan, Russia, and South Korea are projected to be smaller and older by middle of this century, even assuming modest rise in birth rates. Australia and South Korea, for example, are making appeals to women to have one more child. Iran, of all the countries, is considering legislation that would encourage businesses to prioritize the hiring of men with children.
Turkey is another Muslim country encouraging families to give birth to more children. The government already has a programme to provide parents about 300 Turkish lira ($108) for the birth of their first child, 400 lira ($144) for second 600 lira ($215) for the fourth and subsequent child. One consequence of this legislation, however, has been the need for the provision of government financial assistance to needy people with large families. In some Western countries, focus is being given on making employment and family responsibilities 'compatible' for working couples, especially mothers. Other perks are also added to it to increase fertility rate.
Germany, the richest European country that was given the credit in the 1980s and early 1990s along with the US and Japan as the locomotive for the world's economic growth, is also facing similar demographic problem. The country has already accepted over a million asylum seekers during 2015, putting substantial stress on the country's bureaucracy processing claims and testing confidence in German Chancellor Angela Markel's left-right coalition government. The country is expected to take around 300,000 more asylum seekers this year, making it the largest European country coming to the aid of these hapless refugees.
The head of German Federal Office for Migrants and Refugees ((BAMF) Frank-Juregen Weise told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that Germany's healthy economy and improvements to refugee services over the last year meant that the country was well-placed to absorb new arrivals, particularly as their number has dropped off. Some other countries have also chipping in to the efforts but experts tend to believe that more are needed to be done for the suffering humanity.
The UN secretary General's Special Representative for International Migration and Development (SRSG) Peter D Sutherland made an interesting point in an article distributed by Project Syndicate recently. He said: "National and international debates about migration are deeply flawed, owing to their focus on security - and so are the policies that result from them. If municipal authorities - which have proved their willingness and ability to tackle the nuts and bolts of integration in innovative ways - were empowered to play a more active role in crafting immigration policies, everyone would benefit."
sayed.kamaluddin@gmail.com
Mideast war fuels refugee problem, exposes weaknesses of immigration policies
Sayed Kamaluddin | Published: September 10, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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