Refugee crisis forcing EU and Turkey into closer ties

It is still not a done deal but the draft agreement between Turkey and the European Union aimed at stemming the flow of migrants from the Middle East to Europe is in the pipeline.

It hasn’t been smooth sailing for anybody and all sides have legitimate grievances and concerns.

At the heart of the debate between the two sides is a proposal that EU leaders offer Turkey financial assistance of about 3 billion euros, ease the requirements for Turkish nationals going to Europe, and “re-energise” the country’s membership bid into the EU.

In exchange, Turkey would do its utmost to deter economic migrants from Asia and encourage Syrian refugees not to head to Europe. 

In real terms, it means these refugees and migrants would have to remain in Turkey for the time being. But for how long? If all the concerned parties wait for the conflict in the Middle East to end, it could be a long-term predicament.

About 2.2 million Syrian refugees currently reside in Turkey and the country needs all the help it can get. This past year, tens of thousands of refugees decided to embark on the dangerous journey by sea from Turkey to Europe via Greece. The surge has put Europe in a bind. 

Since then, Turkey has been telling Europeans “Now you know how we feel”. At a recent speaking engagement, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he was not impressed by the Europeans’ change of heart. 

After all, Ankara has been saying all along that Europe’s security and stability is contingent on what happens in Turkey.

“They have accepted this now,” he told an audience in Istanbul. “Okay. But how long have we been shouting and calling?”

As Turkey goes to the polls in two weeks for the second legislative election this year, the president and his allies can’t afford to be seen as selling out to the Europeans, who many Turkish politicians have damned as ungrateful. 

But politicians, especially during election time, will show their true colours and vicious accusations are expected. 

Europe, on the other hand, is trying to put a different spin by saying they need to “re-energise” Turkey’s bid for EU membership as an issue of “prestige and dignity”, not political bribery.

The recent visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said Turkey’s role in solving the crisis was indispensable, was meant to show the respect Ankara has been looking for. 

Moreover, a 3-billion-euro package is a significant chunk of money. It may not resolve the refugee crisis – but it will help give Turkey some breathing space. 

On the issue of EU membership, Turkey can’t afford to act dumb and insensitive to its own behaviour. As Amnesty International put it succinctly, “European leaders’ desperate attempts to enlist Turkey as Europe’s gatekeeper ignores the manifest failures of the Turkish authorities to respect the rights of refugees and migrants.”

Indeed, the EU must not compromise with its principles and standards for short-term gains. 

What’s important is that all parties and stakeholders stay the course – the humanitarian course – and understand that they have a moral obligation to do the right thing. 

Of course, doing the right thing could mean different things to different people. Germany thinks it should revolve around a fair distribution of the refugees among European countries. For countries like Greece and Hungary – the EU countries that served as the entry point for the refugees – it means putting the welfare of their own citizens first. To them, wealthier European nations are not acting fast enough to take in the refugees. 

Over the weekend, Hungary has already put up a barbed-wire fence to keep out the refugees, as the country’s president has vowed to defend the EU border and protect “Christian values”.

It is worth noting the words of UN refugee agency head Antonio Guterres, who has said Europe is being tested over a humanitarian system that it helped to build. “European nations need to shoulder their fair share in responding to the crisis, at home and abroad.”