Ashley Pecoraro

WA: Look for an editorial about refugees or immigration: Revision

The main point of this editorial is that the European Union is trying to slide out of their
agreement for rights for refugees that they had established following the aftermath of World War
II. The European Union is asking Turkey to take back the refugees that came from Ankara and
are now in Greece from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and others in exchange for concessions on visa
requirements for Turks traveling to Europe. The issue with the union trying to initiate forced
return that the deal allows is illegal and will therefore be ineffective.
The European Union banned the collective expulsions of aliens in the European
Convention on Human Rights. Also, in 1951 the United Nations Refugee Convention said that if
refugees are seeking a safe haven, it may be required that they break immigration laws. Cases
smaller, yet similar to these involving Belgium in 2002 and Italy in 2014.
The author, Nils Muiznieks, says that this deal with Turkey will likely not work out
because the Syrian refugees will still try to find other ways to get to Europe. They will take
route no matter how risky it may be for them, because even with the dangers the journeys offer,
they think they will be out of refugee camps or the violence of the Syrian conflict.
In Stop Your Backsliding, Europe, Muiznieks also mentions that the European countries
know about other longer term solutions that are available. He also thinks that first the nations
should unite in trying to start to figure out a political solution to the conflict in Syria. Following
that they should start to find resettlement centers outside of Greece and Italy, but still throughout

Europe. Also, they must return those who claim but do not qualify for refugee protection. Their
third course of action is to increase the European Union support for Greece and Macedonia to
help them with their current humanitarian emergency.
This article, Stop Your Backsliding, Europe, appeals to the use logos. Nils Muiznieks
uses his logic and reason to explain what is going on in Europe with the refugees trying to come
in, and he talks about how they could start to work on the issue. His biggest claim is that all of
the measures will require political leadership, union, and considerable resources.
Muiznieks also says that if each country keeps asking the other for help, it could lead to a
greater political, social, and economic cost. Overall, Europe can not be declining their
fundamental commitments or trying to make this deal with Turkey without trying to work out
long term solutions as well.
The second article I read, Migrant crisis: Migration to Europe explained in seven charts,
was about the facts of Europe and the refugees attempting to come in. The point of this article
that was on BBC News, was to inform Europeans of what was happening in their home
countries, and what the European Union is currently planning to do to deal with the refugees.
Although most migrants are coming from Syria because of the Syrian civil war
destroying their homes, many migrants are trying to get to Europe from other countries as well.
Citizens from Afghanistan and Iraq are attempting to reach safety in Europe because of the
ongoing violence there. Eritrea has migrants going to Europe because of the abuses there, and
Kosovo has many citizens trying to leave because of the poverty there. Most of the migrants are
going to Germany, where they have counted over a million before asylum claims are made.

Hungary is also a popular place for the migrants to try to move to, followed by Austria and
Sweden.
The Middle Eastern migrants are coming by sea and land (almost 95% by sea). The most
common paths are the Eastern Mediterranean path or the Western Balkan path. Many of them
head from Turkey to the Greek islands of Kos, Chios, Lesvos, and Samos by small wooden boats
or flimsy rubber dinghies, making this trip very dangerous.
According to the IOM, close to 4,000 migrants were reported to have died trying to cross
the Mediterranean in the past year. Most have died between North Africa and Italy, and many
have also died in the Aegean Sea crossing from Turkey to Greece. Most of these deaths have
occurred over the summer months, when it is the busiest time for migrants to attempt to make the
journey to safety.
Germany had the most asylum applications in 2015, but Hungary had the highest amount
in proportion to its population. However, Hungary had tried to close its border with Croatia to
try and stop this flow of migrants. Many migrants are applying for asylum, but not many are
being given asylum. Last year, more than a million migrants applied for asylum and the EU
offered asylum to 292,540 refugees. However, the application for asylum is a lengthy procedure,
so many of those who were granted with refugee status may have applied in previous years.
Syria is the main nationality being granted asylum, followed by Eritrea, Iraq, Afghanistan, and
Iran.

The European Union has had growing tensions because of the disproportionate burden
faced by only some countries, especially from Greece, Italy, and Hungary where the majority of
migrants have been arriving. Originally, EU ministers voted to relocate 160,000 refugees
throughout the EU, but now it will only apply to those migrants who are in Italy and Greece.
Another 54,000 were going be moved from Hungary, but now Hungary will be receiving more
migrants from Italy and Greece as a part of the relocation scheme, by Hungarian government
choice. The United Kingdom said they will accept up to 20,000 refugees from Syria over the
next five years.
This second article, Migrant crisis: Migration to Europe explained in seven charts, the
author uses both logos and pathos appeals. Although it is primarily a logos appeal, because they
are discussing the logistics of the Syrian, along with other Middle Easterners, coming into
Europe, I think it also touches on the pathos appeal as well. BBC News included photographs of
scared and suffering refugees, and discussed how dangerous their homelands are and how
dangerous their journey is, which I think is supposed to make Europeans feel better about
allowing them to resettle into their countries.

Stop Your Backsliding, Europe

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/opinion/stop-your-backsliding-europe.html?rref=collection
%2Ftimestopic
%2FImmigration&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=stream&module=stream_u
nit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0.
Migrant crisis: Migration to Europe explained in seven charts
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34131911.