Refugee crisis caused by West’s policies: Activist

Press TV has interviewed Jan Oberg, founder of transnational.org in Lund, to discuss the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What is going on in Europe, I guess is the main question? These people, these refugees that have obviously gone through so much, are they going to get into the main part of Europe? Are they going to just be stranded there at [sic] Greece? How do you see this really working itself out?  

Oberg: I see this as absolutely disgraceful and I do not call it a refugee crisis. I call it a crisis management crisis because it is obvious that the economic and other resources in the EU space would permit with better organization, good political will and empathy it would be possible to accommodate 1.2 million refugees who came in last year and they are coming in and continue coming in but we refused to do two things.

We refused …, as a “we” it does not mean “us” but it means the leaders of the European Union to do two things. One is to set up some kind of distribution or sharing plan of the cost and the benefits of these people coming to Europe for as long as they have to be here until they can return safely again and secondly that there is nobody really making the connection between refugees streaming in and the warfare in the Middle East particularly Syria. Just yesterday my own country where I was born – Denmark - decided that it too will be bombing Syria in the future, disgraceful and stupid as it is.

What I am trying to say is what we see at the border now and I think Greece has been harassed enough by the European Union before all of this happened too, is something we will see much more of because all these nationalist thinkers in top of the system are going for building walls instead of bridges. I know lots of opposition exists in Europe among populists and right-wingers and xenophobics and Islamophobics but there has to be a leadership in Europe saying we do not listen to you guys, we are human beings and we take care according to international law and humanity for these people who are suffering.  

Press TV: Do you think the average European understands the connection between the Western interference in countries whether we are talking about  Libya, or we are talking about Syria, or talking about Iraq or so many other countries and what is happening as far as having these people flee their homes to look for a safe haven?

Oberg: I do not think that politicians in general are willing to say yes, we understand and perhaps it is as bad as that they don’t because they keep on bombing but the main problem here is I think there are lots of hands and hearts in Europe including in … Denmark who think that we should take care of human beings because they are human beings, period and because international law tells us to take care of those who seek asylum and have been forced to run. This is basic international law on UN norms.

So basically I would say if we had leadership in Europe and the only one who is a leader at the moment is Angela Merkel and she is pressed from all sides, she is the one who has done the right thing, set the right thing and shown the generosity and humanity that is needed and we will need people to come into Europe economically, it will be good. Many of them are well-educated. They could easily make a job in Europe, not all of them but some of them, and we could utilize them as long as they have to be here in a good sense …, give them a job, let them fend for their children …, that is what we need to do, have a completely different attitude than just seeing everybody as a burden and refusing to see that the so-called burden is caused by ourselves and our policies.  

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk