Drehscheibe Köln-Bonn Airport – Ankunft Flüchtlinge 5. Oktober 2015
The pictures in the recent news show the increasing movement of refugees towards the central and northern European states. One of the questions coming to mind when seeing the pictures of people is why now and not before? What causes these increasing movements of people? What does this mean?
One of the main reasons for this migration is the devastating situation in Syria, Iraq and other states. Also, many refugees have found their forced journey at an end when arriving in Turkey. As the geopolitical bridge between Asia and Europe many have come there seeking safer pastures and hoping to proceed to Europe. There are multiple reasons why Turkish authorities are overwhelmed and incapable of dealing respectfully with the refugees, among them the sheer numbers, no experiences with comparable situations and the pressure of the EU to close the borders and keep people at bay. In spite of the multiplicity of reasons, the result is very obvious. As already explained in the other blogposts on this site, the increasing movement of refugees shows that the system of keeping people in Turkey and other bordering states of the EU, reinforcing borders, adding controls and detaining people for being undocumented has failed. To put it in a nutshell- the policy of the fortress Europe has proved to be ineffective, inhumane and has failed in every aspect of it.
Apart from showing the failure of the existing system, however, the increasing numbers of refugees points to the development of alternative realities as well. In the recent media coverage of the ‘refugee crisis’ and the reactions of other European countries in trying to explain the movements, German politicians and Angela Merkel in particular have been portrayed as welcoming refugees, causing the numbers of those seeking asylum in Europe and in particular in Germany to peak. The estimation that there will be 800 000 refugees asking for asylum in 2015 alone was interpreted as an invitation and Merkel’s statement that there is no limit to political asylum has created an image of the central European state inviting refugees (Rheinische Post, 2015). Especially in combination with the reintroduction of border controls, this painted a rather schizophrenic picture of the countries’ politics, however. When taking a closer look on the actual content of these statements, a different picture is painted. The number of 800 000 refugees was but an estimation, a more realistic one than the previous 450 000 for that, but just an estimation, not meant as an invitation. The often-quoted statement of Merkel, that there is no limit to political asylum is not stating anything new. The right to asylum is one of the constitutional rights the country is built on and there is no limit to it (Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Artikel 16a). So her statement in itself was not revolutionary, she was just stating the facts. What made it powerful was the timing of the statement and the interpretation of many of those who have been in a desperate situation in Turkey, Syria or other countries for years now, without any hope of improvement. For them it was what they needed to hear. Something that would give them just a tiny bit of hope after they had only seen the ugly face of the EU- the face of closed borders, people drowning in the sea and a whole system of detention and deterrence co-financed by the EU.
So, this story is not a story of altruistic German politicians who cause a massive movement of people. It is the story of the many people who, with their movement, reinterpreted reality and thus created a new one. If this shows something, it shows the power and agency of people if they decide to take action or as Armin Nassehi (2015) puts it in the introduction to the new Kursbuch on refugees, the power of the movements of people with its potential to change the self-perception of the organizations of nation states (p. 4). But when taking a closer look, it is even more than the self-perception that is being challenged, it is the whole system itself. In his contribution in the same Kursbuch, Miltiadis Oulios (2015) explains the agency of migrants and its relationship to existing political structures more in detail.
“The right to migration, the right to freedom of movement is being generated even before its actual political institutionalization, by the practice of those, who take those rights without them actually being offered from official sides.” (Oulios, 2015, p. 79)
To come back to the question posed before- why there are so many who are on the move now? In spite of the common interpretation of the media and other European governments, the underlying causes are not only the inviting gestures of Merkel, it is not only the devastating situation in Syria and other countries, it is not only the hopelessness encountered by many in neighboring states such as Turkey or Lebanon- it is the reinterpretation of the given system. It is the agency of those who have been victimized and retained by a system of borders and apartheid. It is the redefinition of what is possible by those who claim the right to the freedom of movement and the right to a safe place or as Oulios (2015) put it “the precarious realization of the utopia of a freedom of movement and settlement for everyone” (p. 83)
In order to change, in order to realize utopia and end this precariousness of those unwilling to accept the inferior position they have been forced into, those who counteract have to join. If the example of the movement of people shows anything, it shows the power of the many, the great potential of like-minded people challenging the status quo and creating an alternative to mainstream politics, the vanguard for a new order of a freedom of movement applying to anyone and anywhere (Oulios, 2015).
What this summer has shown is that there are many willing to demolish the encrusted structures, there are many who see that there is no way the system can sustain itself without losing all its humanity. But, in order to change, we have to join our efforts, share insights and knowledge and use our united force as pressure on political decision makers.
– Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Artikel 16a, http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gg/art_16a.html
– Nassehi, A. (2015), Kursbuch 183: Wohin flüchten?, Editorial (p. 1-4), Hamburg, Murmann Publishers GmbH
– Oulios, M. (2015), Kursbuch 183: Wohin flüchten?, Die Grenzen der Menschlichkeit – Warum Abschiebung keine Zukunft hat (p. 75 – 88), Hamburg, Murmann Publishers GmbH
– Rheinische Post (2015), Interview mit Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel – Grundrecht auf Asyl kennt keine Obergrenze, http://www.rp-online.de/politik/deutschland/angela-merkel-das-grundrecht-auf-asyl-kennt-keine-obergrenze-aid-1.5383275 (accessed 08.10.2015)
– Spiegel online (2015), Flüchtlingsprognose 2015: Bundesregierung rechnet mit bis zu 800.000 Asylbewerbern, http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/fluechtlinge-bundesregierung-rechnet-mit-bis-zu-800-000-in-2015-a-1048910.html (accessed 08.10.2015)