European Migration Crisis

European Migration Crisis

Steavi Swinson

Northeastern University

Crisis Mapping For Humanitarian Action

A few years ago, the world was finally able to take a peek into a world that not many of us know. This has been an ongoing crisis that hasn’t had any light shed on the matter until about 2015, when news media investigated the possibility of hundreds of thousands of people suddenly moving to the United States. This created a huge uproar across the US and the European Union because nobody knew how to handle, what we know now as, the European Migration Crisis. And while we don’t see too much on the news about it anymore, it doesn’t mean that the situation has ceased to exist, we simply aren’t hearing about it any longer. Regardless, this is an ongoing crisis that we cannot ignore, and should be addressing. The European Migration Crisis began as a crisis, when increasing numbers of people arrived in the European Union, traveling across the Mediterranean Sea or through Southeast Europe. These people are mostly Muslim, but they also include asylum seekers and economic migrants. Since April 2015 the European Union has struggled to manage the crisis. They’re facing difficulties such as: increasing funding for border patrol operations in the Mediterranean, devising plans to fight migrant smuggling, launching Operation Sophia, where Naval Forces were tasked with the aim of neutralizing established refugee smuggling routes in the Mediterranean. In addition to proposing a new quota system, both to relocate asylum seekers among EU states for processing of refugee claims to reduce the burden on countries on the outer borders of the European Union, and to resettle asylum-seekers. Individual countries have attempted to reintroduce border controls, but tensions have emerged between countries willing to allow entry of asylum-seekers for processing of refugee claims and others countries trying to discourage their entry for processing.


According to Eurostat, EU member states received over 1.2 million first-time asylum applications in 2015, and more than double that of the previous year (Eurostat, 1).Tensions in the EU have been rising because of the disproportionate burden faced by some countries; mostly the countries where the majority of migrants have been arriving, such as: Greece, Italy and Hungary(Migrant Crisis, 1). In September, EU ministers voted to relocate 60 thousand refugees across the EU. But for now the plan will only apply to those who are in Italy and Greece because they are receiving such an overwhelming number of people. Another 54 thousand were to be moved from Hungary, but the Hungarian government rejected this plan and will instead receive more migrants from Italy and Greece as part of the relocation arrangement. The UK has opted out of any plans for a quota system but according to Home office figures, 1,000 Syrian refugees were resettled under the vulnerable person relocation scheme in 2015. Prime minister David Cameron has said the UK will accept up to 20,000 refugees from Syria over the next 5 years (Migrant Crisis, 1).


GIS could significantly improve the situation by maintaining the condition of the situation and ensuring safe passageway from country to country for travelers. We could start by identifying migration patterns, by monitoring popular migration routes that people have been using, whether it be by land or sea. Within these routes we could identify vulnerable or dangerous spots. Doing this could assist in identifying where border patrol may need more security, or checkpoints; this could also identify the areas in which people are dying. Furthermore, GIS can also assist in keeping track of death rates. It is possible that the most vulnerable spots on the migration routes are where people are dying. I think the most important thing that needs to be monitored is migration routes, because you can see how people are getting from Country A to Country B. We can detect what countries are most people coming from, and the most popular countries that people are seeking asylum in. Digital Humanitarians and GIS could also contribute in identifying refugee camps, or shelters/facilities, or where to install some, where we can hold refugees and people awaiting results of their asylum applications. They can also assess the amount of people they have, and how much resources and aid they will need to give out to people. Additionally, they can assess the amount of people they have and the capacity of people that other countries can take in. One major challenge we would most likely face is the amount of people who are able to migrate without being detected, but if we can assess the current situation, such as paths and most popular time of year people are traveling, then we should be able to assist in safe passage for travelers to reduce death rates, and long-term, the amount of medical aid we would need to give out. Lastly, we can recognize where embassies and consulates are for refugees and migrants so they have a point of contact in each country.


 By applying GIS to this crisis, we can seek to improve the process by which immigrants go through when migrating or trying to seek asylum. The EU's external border force, Frontex, monitors the different routes migrants use and numbers arriving at Europe's borders and put the figure crossing into Europe in 2015 at more than 1,800,000. The EU should operate vigorous search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean and expand safe and legal channels into the EU. EU states should improve refugee resettlement from countries bordering Syria, countries that are war torn and are known for such disastrous living conditions, and other refugee-producing countries, to reduce the need for dangerous journeys. They could also facilitate integration and allow for screening and a more orderly processing. EU countries should ensure more equitable responsibility sharing for asylum seekers, and enforce common EU standards on reception conditions and asylum procedures (Migrant, 1).


Below we can see some charts and maps that have already been created by analysts who have worked to analyze the situation. Starting with Image A, this map shows an estimated amount of asylum applicants that each country receives. This map specifically shows the year 2015, as this is the year the Europe has seen a huge increase of migrates, hence the crisis. Here you can see that Germany is the country with the highest amount of applicants and this may be because of their “easy” system for counting and distributing people before they make asylum claims. Next, Image B demonstrates the amount of migrants, detected illegally, migrating from Northern Africa or the Middle East, and the paths that we are seeing from continent to continent. Here you can see that Greece and Italy have the highest number of migrants. This can be contributed to the fact that they are the first stop when migrating. They are the closest countries off the sea, from the other countries. The next popular countries to migrate to would be Germany and Hungary. This is most likely why they have come up with a quota system, which you can see in Image D. This chart describes the numbers that each country can take in. These numbers look to be in direct correlation with their population size. For example, smaller countries are taking a much smaller amount of people than larger countries. Because Greece and Italy are initially seeing the most amount of people, they need to migrate them again to the next closest countries. Each country has a cap of how many people they are willing to take and once a country has reached theirs, they have to send them on to the next ones. Image C then goes on to explain the number of deaths that the Mediterranean has seen from migrants. Here we can infer that the summer months are the most popular travel times because this is where we are seeing the most amount of deaths. The last map, Image E, wraps all of the data together. It also depicts migrant routes and asylum applications. But in addition, it shows the country of origin of migrants within each country. Here we can see that Syria, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Albania are the top 5 countries that people are coming from. While Image E, contains all the information from the previous images, you can see that this map is a little overwhelming with multiple charts placed on top of a map. Therefore, the previous charts and maps are more appealing to my target audience.
Unfortunately, the European Migration Crisis isn’t an issue that can be solved overnight. It has been a great challenge to even find temporary solutions. Being displaced used to be a temporary challenge, but in recent years it has become permanent, lasting up to 20 years. It is preferred that refugees who migrate to other countries, eventually return to their home state. But lately, lack of political solutions to conflicts prevents this from happening. These people face difficulties in terms of protection, access to shelter, food, and other basic needs. They also suffer from violence, abuse, exploitation, poverty, lack of social support, and normalizing their status. In April 2016, the European Commission adopted the statement 'Lives in Dignity: from Aid-dependence to Self-reliance. Forced Displacement and Development', outlining a new development-led approach to forced displacement. The EU's objective is to strengthen the resilience and self-reliance of both the displaced and their host communities through a multi-actor approach from the outset of displacement crises. It focuses on working with host governments, at the national and local level, towards the gradual socio-economic inclusion of refugees and internally displace persons. The new approach, applied in practice through joint analysis and programming, aims to harness the productive capacities of refugees and Internally Displaced People by helping them to access education, housing, land, livelihoods and services. In 2016, EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid gave more than €1972 million, or some 87% of its annual budget, to projects helping the forcibly displaced and their host communities in 56 countries. This assists in meeting the most pressing needs of these extremely vulnerable populations, protecting and supporting displaced people during their displacement and when returning to their homes, and increasing the self-reliance of displaced people and reduce their dependency on aid (European Commission, 1).


The European Commission is a political executive arm of the European Union, and they have their own Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) department. They work with over 200 partner organizations to provide humanitarian assistance throughout the world; Image F explains just some of these organizations and agencies that work together to aid in such events. ECHO sends their financial support to organizations that deal with refugees and internally displaced people, and even host countries who take in these people. They directly communication with International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. And while Frontex, may not directly communicate with these organizations, I think it was still necessary to put them up there. Because this agency sends their teams into the field, and they are doing firsthand field work of migration paths, damage assessment, and rescue and response. Some of ECHO’s direct NGO’s are Amnesty International, Migration Policy Group, International Rescue Committee, Etc. And these NGO’s then communication with civil society organizations such as, The European Council on Refugees Council and Exiles (ECRE), and the European Resettlement Network (Turkey). The civil society organizations focus more on communities rather than an entire city.


In conclusion, the results of these charts can be used for future applications in order to anticipate another Migration Crisis. While we’d like to think that the civil wars in the Middle East and Northern Africa and decreasing, or improving, it is very unlikely based on most recent political events. While some people want to seek asylum and receive the help of the government, there are others who wish to get by undetected because of fear of being found. This can be a challenge for us because the amount of people who go undetected, unreported, aren’t caught by border patrol, and don’t apply for asylum; we aren’t seeing these people at all and can’t account for them in our studies. But for now, we can only manage the ones that are detected. This geospatial analysis of the situation could significantly impact and assist operations with Frontex. Based off of this data, they can start search and rescue missions, emergency routes on the sea, preparations, and planning preventive measures. Unfortunately, when the main portion of this situation was occurring, many countries denied access into their land. It is unfortunate to think that when some places are faced with moral challenges, they choose to go with government rule, rather than moral obligations of being a good samaritan. It is a personal opinion that the EU should have stood united instead of divided. All EU countries should have agreed to take in refugees, not just some of them. Granted, the physical size of some countries did not allow it, but that is what the quota system was created for. There are many more opportunities that can be taken from this situation and the results of these findings. From this, it seems that many solutions have been found such as improving the process by which immigrants go through when migrating or trying to seek asylum, institute search and rescue operations, expand safe and legal channels for passage, improve refugee settlement from suffering countries, reducing dangerous journeys, and creating a more orderly process for screening migrants. While these all seem like reasonable answers to our problems, it doesn’t seem like these solutions will come to be anytime soon because every day we face political conflict and difficulties in trust among countries. Most recently this stems from global terrorism and putting our own people at risk when accepting new people. But instituting better screening processes could open doors for looking into other challenges we face such as drug smuggling and global terrorism. There are many paths that this situation could branch out to, to assist. But with lack of communication, understanding, and trust; we will not see peace or prosperity for a long time in that region of the world.

Appendix A

A

B

C

D

E

F

References

European Commission. "Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons - European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations - European Commission." European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. N.p., 07 Aug. 2014. Web.

"Europe's Migration Crisis." Human Rights Watch. N.p., n.d. Web.

Eurostat. "Asylum Quarterly Report." Asylum Quarterly Report - Statistics Explained. N.p., 21 June 2017. Web.

"Migrant Crisis: Migration to Europe Explained in Seven Charts." BBC News. BBC, 04 Mar. 2016. Web.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Mediterranean Crisis 2015 at Six Months: Refugee and Migrant Numbers Highest on Record." UNHCR. N.p., n.d. Web.