Thousands of pirates are trying to disembark their huge, vicious, cannon-equipped ships on the coast of Lesbos. They are ruthless, inhumane barbarians that will kill our men, rape our women and settle on our lands. They will erase our history and every little piece of our national beings. Therefore, we declare war on these pirates!
We declare war on war refugees. The habitants of Lesbos in Greece stopped the disembarking of refugees from boats, resulting in a death of a child on one of those boats. . Bulgaria sent military to the border with Turkey. The Hungarian prime minister said that Hungary would defend its borders from migrants. In Turkey, children freeze to death. Migrants clash with Greek police in an attempt to save their lives. In Croatia MPs are asking the government to send the troops to the border.
It sounds like a zombie apocalypse at least. The troops, military, police, defence of the borders, shooting, clashes, tear gas, bullets, attacks, deaths… seems like a war. And it is a war. A war against humanity and kindness. The narrative that is being built around the threat from migrants, threat to the European culture, women, land, security is a narrative grounded in extreme prejudice and discrimination.
No one wants to make it their own business. The situation is demanding, challenging and it requires additional investment of time, energy, money, expertise and care, and it’s the easiest to make it someone else’s problem. Why doesn’t Turkey take them in? Because Turkey already took 3.6 million of them in. One sole country took 50% of the refugees in the previous years. Less than 20% of Syrian refugees actually fled to Europe. And what makes an illegal immigrant illegal? Not wanting them in a country? How do border patrols estimate who is an illegal immigrant and who is a refugee?
Some urgent needs need to be addressed. First of all, the Syrian war, but from the current perspective it seems like it’s not going to happen anytime soon. Then, the refugees situation. New logistics, new approaches, new solutions are needed, and the deadline is yesterday. Also, we desperately need to abandon the war rhetoric and create more functional narratives. It is easy to throw the words of hate around. It is easy to make it someone else’s problem. It is hard to run from bombs, freeze, embark the boats, be beaten, fenced away, hungry, tired, desperate, hopeless, hated and dead.
