The Commentary of The European Union at the Crossroads: the refugee crisis

The Guardian view on the EU and the refugee crisis: stop arguing, and fix it is an editorial by a journal, The Guardian on February 25th, 2016. We have no idea about the author, but actually, this article represents the Journal’s views. The Guardian is a British daily newspaper whose readership is generally on the mainstream left of British political opinion. The journal constantly aims to secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of the Guardian to free from commercial or political interference. We can believe that there is no political purpose or prejudice.

The article describes the current situation of the refugees and the response of the EU, arguing that the refugee crisis can only be solved by close, cool-headed consultation, or would make the problem worse and lead to the more serious fragmentation in Europe. Why the crisis has not been addressed for years? Is the reason that there is not solutions? Of course not.

The refugee crisis in Europe began in the first half of 2015, because a large number of refugees flooding across the border of Europe from North Africa and Mideast where were blighted by war, turmoil, and "Islamic state" rampant activities of extremist groups. Maybe we think, “The EU is a rich bloc of 500 million inhabitants that should be capable of managing the arrival of hundreds of thousands of desperate people”, the reality, however, is the opposite. Many people have died on their way to Europe, the little Syria’s boy died on beach shocked the world, and more people who fled from hell through hardships only to find that they were refused out of Europe's borders.

The article gives a critical view about the European Union’s response to the refugee crisis and argues that this would only intensify the European fragmentation and hurt the national interests. From this article, “Macedonia has started turning back refugees, and Austria is now imposing daily quotas on asylum claims”. According to Daily Mail, “Police in Slovenia have used pepper spray to try to disperse the influx of migrants from Croatia. Hungary blocked the border with Serbia and Croatia with a 4m-high barbed wire fence, even sending a national guard to block the border to stop migrants crossing the border.” (

The EU did dishearten all refugees, Europeans, and the world. This first did hurt the European Union's international image, and is inconsistent with its usual principle of peace and mutual assistance. Second, the government's response did dishearten the people who love peace with a kind heart. Third, that if and how to accept refugees and how to decide the refugee quotas have become a big contradiction that has exacerbated the rift between countries. “Ministers from Austria and nine Balkan countries discussed ways to control the region’s borders and check the identities of people seeking refuge. Greek officials were furious they weren’t invited” “Alexis Tsipras described this as Greece becoming ‘a warehouse of souls’.” The EU must be united, and be aware of that no country can be immune from it. The EU can without British, but how can the world without EU?

So why some countries reject and even fear refugees ’entry? On the one hand, for these developed countries, the immediate result of receiving refugees is an increase in the economic burden. Take Germany for example, as the country that has accepted the largest number of refugees, more than 200000 refugees are stranded in Germany, these refugees’ daily consumption of money and labor cost is equivalent to the consumption of a group army. There is no doubt that would do more damage to the Europe that has struggled to emerge from the economic doldrums. On the other hand, Terrorist attacks make the world stressful, especially in France. The arrival of a large number of refugees will undoubtedly make society more complicated and difficult to manage, the terrorists may be more easily to enter the country and endanger the social security. In addition, the refugees main come from Islamic region. As Muslim, European Christian may reject them. The most prominent example, “Hungary has recently built a border fence, the country's prime minister declared last week that he was defending Europe's Christian world from Muslims.”（

However, avoiding the problem only makes the problem worse, like this article said, “It is unlikely to stem the migration flows in the near future.” Also，“The paradox is that rational solutions to Europe’s refugee crisis have long been laid out”，“What is lacking is not a script, but its implementation”. So, how do it? First, Countries around the world, not just in Europe, should be in the humanitarian spirit to provide humanitarian assistance to these refugees. These refugees are risking their lives to smuggle them to Europe, it is too cruel let them back. Because of geography, it is possible that Europe needs to shoulder more responsibility and actively seek other countries' financial support. However, the most important and essential is to make the end of the war as soon as possible and restore the peace in the Middle East. In order to achieve this, all the countries, especially some great powers, must to give full play to the role of the United Nations in maintaining peace and stability in the region, and cooperate with each other under the direction of the United Nations. This will be a long and difficult process, but the only permanent solution.

Besides the government, what can we ordinary people do? Especially the Europeans. Barcelona gives us good example. Massive march in Barcelona to demand Spanish gov't welcomes refugees is a press agency’s article by a Xinhua’s journalist or editor. This article introduces the demonstration to demand Spanish gov't welcomes refugees in Barcelona. The slogan “Casa Nostra, Casa Vostra" (Our home, Your home) is impressive and touching. A democratic government cannot ignore the voice of tis citizens. As a part of the world, the human being, we should be born for love and speak for love. To believe that peace and love will change the world.

After reading these essays, let me believe that “The EU is a rich bloc of 500 million inhabitants that should be capable of managing the arrival of hundreds of thousands of desperate people”. More importantly, to clearly realize that “it can only happen if it is done collectively and in close, cool-headed consultation – not in frantic, separate moves that only make the problem worse.” In fact, not only in refugees’ crisis, but also no matter what problem, there will only one solution: Just stop arguing, and fix it!

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