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 ...