B . TOPIC . Refugees Repopulate ‘ Dying ’ Towns and Rejuvenate Local Economy in Europe ’ s Refugee Crisis ( 2462 )
Observation .
While political discussion in the wake of Europe ’ s 2015-2016 refugee crisis within the European Union centers on border control and the distribution of asylumseekers , locals in southern Italy have taken it into their own hands to welcome refugees into small and otherwise dying towns – a model which may prove both socially and economically viable across Europe in light of the ongoing influx of people fleeing to find refuge in the continent .
Discussion .
Europe is experiencing a refugee crisis . As of March 2016 , over 135,700 people have already reached Europe by sea since the beginning of 2016 , according to United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees ( UNHCR ). This follows International Organization for Migration ( IOM ) estimates of over 1 , 011,700 arrivals by sea and 34,900 by land in 2015 , up from 280,000 total land / sea for 2014 . The majority of refugees seeking asylum in the EU in 2015 came from Syria , Afghanistan , and Iraq , along with other countries in the region experiencing violent conflict , turmoil , and poverty . With the majority of these refugees arriving by sea , Italy and Greece have become de facto initial receptors , as primary routes across the Mediterranean include the voyage from North Africa to Italy as well as from Turkey to Greece .
This large influx of refugees is overwhelming the European Union ( EU )’ s capacity to respond . The majority of countries in the European Union ( 26 states in total ) participate in a passport-free zone known as the Schengen Area , free from internal border controls . In conjunction with Schengen , the EU ’ s Dublin Regulation places primary responsibility for asylum applications on the country where asylum seekers first enter the EU . As such , according to Human Rights Watch , “[ This regulation ] has imposed an unfair burden on countries on the EU ’ s external borders ” ( p . 16 of " Europe ' s Refugee Crisis : An Agenda for Action ," December 2015 ). Italy and Greece , particularly , in the current crisis , have faced a disproportionately high level of migrant arrivals .
Due in part to this uneven distribution , the European Commission Agenda on Migration established a resettlement agreement in which 160,000 asylumseekers will be moved from Italy and Greece to other EU countries . The first group of refugees to be transferred under this agreement was flown from Italy to Sweden in October 2015 . However , “[ b ] y mid-November , over four months after EU countries agreed to a first tranche of 40,000 relocations , only 147 Eritreans , Iraqis , and Syrians had been relocated . Only a handful of countries had made concrete offers to accept relocations in the near future ,” and implementation of this plan has been quite slow ( Human Rights Watch , p . 16 ). Furthermore , this
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