EU Immigration Crisis Megathread

[Martinus]

I wonder if this will cause Europe to become more interventionist in the future.  Even the densest Euro should be able to see that looking the other way while civil war and instability occur in near by regions can have dramatic negative consequences.

I doubt it. Euros can be very dense.

Besides, judging by historical interventionism done by, say, Belgium, I think I'd rather have them munch on chocolate and be a racist backwater than go into Africa again.

[Josquius]

I wonder if this will cause Europe to become more interventionist in the future.  Even the densest Euro should be able to see that looking the other way while civil war and instability occur in near by regions can have dramatic negative consequences.

Trouble is though that Libya where we did intervene, though better than Syria,  still hasn't ended up particularly great

[Syt]

I wonder if this will cause Europe to become more interventionist in the future.  Even the densest Euro should be able to see that looking the other way while civil war and instability occur in near by regions can have dramatic negative consequences.

Europeans care about what happens to them locally, and give less crap the further away something is, with the biggest drop off coming at the national borders. Beyond that, everything quickly becomes "someone else's problem." Which in a time when crises become increasingly international (economy, refugees, terrorism, extremism, environmental/climate ...) is a bit unfortunate.

[Razgovory]

The US has the luxury of not being particularly affected by what happens in the Mid East.  It seems rather clear that Europe can't make the same boast.  Now, whether you are for settling the refugees or not I think everyone would agree that it would be better if they were safe in their own country.  The only real way to do that is  bring an end to regional conflicts (by force or otherwise), and possibly engaging in peace keeping operations.

When the Syrian civil war started the US chose to stay out (despite Obama's bluff).  This seemed like the wise decision for the US.  Europe did pretty much the same thing.  I wonder if it was the right choice for Europe.

[Syt]

The US has the luxury of not being particularly affected by what happens in the Mid East.  It seems rather clear that Europe can't make the same boast. 

I tend to agree, but many people consider 50 meters beyond their national borders a different, foreign culture that is very different to their own. The Middle East might well be on a different planet for them.

[The Brain]

I think many Europeans would have been happy with the ME staying reasonably quiet under local strongmen. But mission accomplished.

[Queequeg]

The US has the luxury of not being particularly affected by what happens in the Mid East.  It seems rather clear that Europe can't make the same boast. 

I tend to agree, but many people consider 50 meters beyond their national borders a different, foreign culture that is very different to their own. The Middle East might well be on a different planet for them.

Yeah, honestly.  I've been talking to a good friend here.  We've both spent time in the Islamic world, and basically reached the conclusion that a large part of the problem here is that  PC Euros just....don't understand the Islamic world at all.  They have no idea how things work.  Anyone who has been there beyond the Pyramid or a tourist beach in Turkey was not surprised by Cologne. 

[Legbiter]

It's because the Gutmensch brainwashing is very strong.

[Syt]

A live hand grenade was thrown at a refugee home in Germany. Fortunately it turned out to be a dud that was then brought to controlled detonation by the police.

[Syt]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35437873

Migrant crisis: Germany attacks on asylum hostels soar

Five times more attacks were carried out on migrant hostels in Germany last year than in 2014, German police say.

The total for 2015 was 1,005, compared with 199 in 2014, the police report said. Far-right activists are suspected in 90% of the cases.

Last year a record 1.1 million people sought asylum in Germany - many from war-torn Syria. Many local authorities have struggled to house them.

Germany is expanding its list of safe countries, hoping to curb the influx.

The governing coalition plans to declare Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia safe countries of origin, making it easier to send migrants back, said Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel.

Last year Germany did the same for several Balkan nations - including Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Kosovo - to cut the large numbers of migrants claiming asylum. Very few of their applications are granted.

The police say the biggest rise in attacks on migrant hostels last year was registered in the mainly industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

State Interior Minister Ralf Jaeger said "investigators have noticed a marked increase in aggressive language" towards migrants on the internet.

Overnight a hand grenade was thrown at a migrant hostel in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. A security man found the unexploded grenade, in Villingen-Schwenningen.

Most of the thousands of migrants arriving daily on Greek islands hope to get asylum in Germany.

On Thursday 26 migrants drowned off a Greek island after their boat capsized.

The migrants died near the island of Samos, near Turkey. Ten of the victims were children.

In other developments:
- Six bodies were discovered by the Italian navy in a sinking dinghy off the Libyan coast
- The Netherlands proposed sending migrants reaching Greece back to Turkey by ferry
- Sweden said as many as 80,000 people who arrived to the country last year could fail in their requests for asylum and face deportation

Where Europe is failing on migrants
- The 28 member states have not agreed on an EU-wide mechanism for relocating migrants, to ease the burden on Greece and Italy; only small groups have been relocated so far - and several states in Central and Eastern Europe refuse to accept migrants
- The Schengen agreement on freedom of movement is in jeopardy - Hungary fenced off its borders with Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia; meanwhile Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and France have also reimposed border controls
- The Dublin regulation, under which refugees are required to claim asylum in the member state in which they first arrive, is not working effectively; countries are no longer sending back migrants to their first point of entry to the EU
- Thousands of migrants - many of them Syrian war refugees - still arrive daily from Turkey
- Processing of asylum applications is slow and there is a big backlog - so reception centres are overcrowded
- Germany - the main destination for migrants - is rethinking its open-door policy, partly because of outrage over assaults on women in Cologne at New Year

[Valmy]

A live hand grenade was thrown at a refugee home in Germany. Fortunately it turned out to be a dud that was then brought to controlled detonation by the police.

Lovely.

[The Brain]

Sweden has had a gazillion cases of arson at refugee homes. The police are like "Duuuh... are we like supposed to do stuff and shit?". Nothing happens.

[Martinus]

I hate immigrants who rape women. I hate police who lie about immigrant perps. I hate security guards who confiscate immigrants' belongings. And I hate racists and nazis who attack immigrants.

I hate people.

[Martinus]

Sweden has had a gazillion cases of arson at refugee homes. The police are like "Duuuh... are we like supposed to do stuff and shit?". Nothing happens.

Your police seems like a total failure.

[The Brain]

Sweden has had a gazillion cases of arson at refugee homes. The police are like "Duuuh... are we like supposed to do stuff and shit?". Nothing happens.

Your police seems like a total failure.

We have very few police officers compared to normal countries, and they are very poorly led. Maybe not total but yeah.