A ferocious storm of popular outrage provoked by the photograph of Aylan Kurdi, the three-year old Syrian boy who drowned with his brother and mother off the coast of Turkey, appears to have forced a change of thinking amongst some leaders of democratically elected governments in Europe in stepping up to their responsibility in meeting the refugee crisis.
The image proved a tipping point in the ongoing crisis not just because of the individual tragedy it portrays but because it symbolises the plight of thousands of children, the most vulnerable among those making the long journey to safety.
In the United Kingdom, the pressure appears to have pushed Prime Minister David Cameron -- whose government has given refuge to 216 Syrians since March 2014 through the usual asylum process -- to announce in Lisbon that Britain will open its doors to “thousands more”, but only from United Nation refugee camps bordering Syria, and not from those already in Europe. His critics are unlikely to be satisfied: today Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party said that if the UK took 2.4 million refugees it would still only be one for every 266 of the population.
As the European Union prepares for emergency meetings, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres has called the present juncture a “defining moment” for the EU. Terming the influx a “refugee crisis, not only a migration phenomenon,” he has urged the EU and its member states to “be ready, with the consent and in support of the concerned governments – mainly Greece and Hungary, but also Italy – to put in place immediate and adequate emergency reception, assistance and registration capacity….and increase relocation opportunities to as many as 200,000.”
This is a small figure if set against the numbers who are coming in. Altogether, 438,000 refugees had applied for asylum by the end of July in Europe - compared with 571,000 for the whole of last year, according to figures of the UNHCR.
In Hungary, where a train with refugees heading for the Austrian border en-route Germany was stopped 40 km outside the capital Budapest on Thursday, those aboard have refused to disembark from the train. In Budapest itself, stranded refugees who have occupied public places vowed they would “walk to Vienna” if they don’t get transport. Hardline Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is opposed to any mandatory quota system for taking refugees has controversially stated that Muslim refugees threaten to undermine the “Christian roots” of Europe, and calling the crisis “Germany’s problem.”
Meanwhile, the influx from Syria, the Middle East and northern Africa continues, with the crossings taking its toll. A boat carrying 50 is reported to have sunk off the coast of Libya.
