Refugees, Guilt and Entitlement

Some months back, two sets of refugees who were not exactly being welcomed where they landed (or tried to land) was making headlines. Europe started turning its back on the Libyans who were trying to get to Europe to flee poverty or violence in their own countries. Remember that Europe, based on its history of turning its back on the Jews during World War II, has a policy that every refugee has the right to apply for asylum. But that collapses when there is a stampede (over 170,000 refugees in Italy alone in 2014), which is what has been happening over the last year or so. Who will foot the bill? How many should each country absorb? What if those migrants don’t integrate? What about the resentment they create domestically when jobs are so few already?

The other set were the Rohingyas, a Muslim minority fleeing Burma/Myanmar due to violence and lack of even the most basic rights. Around 140,000 have fled since 2012. Malaysia and Indonesia turned their backs on the refugees saying they don’t have the money to absorb so many.

More recently, I read about this Dutch battalion, DutchBat III, that during the Yugoslavia war in 1995 failed to protect an enclave in Bosnia leading to the slaughter of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims by Bosnian Serbs in the worst post-World War II slaughter in Europe. Many Dutch still consider that failure to protect as a “scar”. Dion Van Den Berg quotes a survivor:

“Now we see what happened with Srebrenica. You delivered us into the hands of the killers, the way you delivered the Jews to the Germans in WWII! You did not learn shit in the second world war!”

The heart says absorb or protect such people if you have a chance. The head has to consider economic and political costs and the lives of soldiers. But regardless of the choice a country makes on this matter, I never get why any country should feel guilty about their choice. Sure, individuals can feel guilt, but why countries? And why should refugees feel entitled to anything?

Frankly, I agree with the American stance on such matters: they’ll step in only if there’s something in it for them or (very occasionally) for humanitarian reasons (like the Yugoslavia war where they finally took down Milosevic). And if the rescued shows attitude (like the French after WW II), then the typical American response is:

“If it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking German.”

Jack Nicholson sums my take perfectly in the movie, A Few Good Men, on the entitlement aspect:

“I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to.”