US Imperial Wars Responsible for Refugee Crisis
by Stephen Lendman
Human
floods undertake hazardous journeys to new countries - seeking safe
havens away from war-torn countries, desperate to get there and begin
new lives.
Bipartisan
US imperial policies bear full responsibility - endless wars of
aggression, devastating targeted countries, displacing tens of millions.
Complicit NATO partners and rogue Arab states share guilt.
As
long as conflicts continue, human floods of
desperate people will follow, internally or externally displaced,
enduring enormous hardships, getting pathetically little aid when most
needed.
Washington’s
response to its culpability for the greatest refugee crisis since WW II
is largely dismissive - ignoring its responsibility to help desperate
people, paying lip service in addressing it with token amounts of aid,
disgracefully little for emergency conditions, needing a large-scale
Marshall Plan-type response, America, Canada and European countries
contributing proportionately.
Fortress
Britain wants none of it - partnering in America’s wars, dismissive of
aftermath horrors, granting safe haven to less than 1% of human floods
arriving in Europe daily. Prison awaits others getting in.
Razor
wire greets desperate people in Calais,
France, barbed wire fences in Hungary and other countries, borders
increasingly closed, dismissive of an overwhelming human tragedy - the
direct result of US-led imperial wars.
UN
aid agencies have inadequate resources to cope - overwhelmed by
millions in need they’re increasingly unable to help. UN High
Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said displaced people in
conflict theaters increased fourfold since 2010 - from 11,000 daily to
42,000 in 2014, larger numbers in 2015.
He
explained “a dramatic increase in need, from shelter to water and
sanitation, food, medical assistance and education” with inadequate
resources to cope.
Budgets
can’t keep up with exponentially growing needs, he stressed. “Our
income in 2015 will be around 10% less than in 2014…(W)e are financially
broke…(W)e are failing the basic needs of (desperate) people.”
“The
situation is beyond irreparable. If you look at the number of children
who will see their lives so dramatically impacted by malnutrition and
lack of psychosocial support, you will see this is already happening.”
UNHCR
needs around $20 billion this year to provide vitally needed aid. Its
operating budget has only an inadequate one-third of this amount.
Emergency
Wednesday night refugee crisis talks in Brussels produced disgraceful
results. No common European aid policy was achieved.
European
Council president Donald Tusk warned “(t)he greatest tide of refugees
and migrants is yet to come.” Exponentially increasing numbers are
overwhelmingly refugees and
asylum seekers, not economic migrants as some European officials claim,
dismissive of human beings in need, their countries doing little or
nothing to help.
Multi-billions
of dollars and euros are needed to provide desperately needed aid,
amounts required growing exponentially as human floods increase.
In
response, European leaders meeting in Brussels agreed on providing a
woefully inadequate one billion euros, a small fraction of what’s
needed.
They
intend tougher border controls, hoping draconian measures will
discourage refugees from coming - at the same time agreeing to accept a
woefully inadequate 120,000 apportioned under a quota system, most
economically well-off Western ones accepting the largest numbers,
Eastern ones agreeing to token amounts.
Prior
to Wednesday night’s meeting, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Poland, and Latvia rejected compulsory quotas, calling them illegal,
saying they’ll take their case to the European Court of Justice in
Luxembourg.
On
Wednesday, Poland agreed to accept Brussels’ quota system
conditionally. So did Latvia. Four of 28 EU nations rejected it -
Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Romania.
EU
nations accepting refugees will do so on a voluntary, not mandatory,
basis - each able to decide which ones to take or reject, leaving things
dysfunctional out-of-control, millions of desperate people left in
limbo. Floods heading to Europe daily are increasingly unwanted.
Around
11 million displaced Syrians alone need help, along
with tens of millions of Afghans, Iraqis, Libyans, Yemenis,
Palestinians, Ukrainians and others. The vast majority are imperial war
victims.
Millions
want refuge in Europe, far from war theaters. Millions more will follow
if conflicts continue. They show no signs of ending.
The
greatest human flood to Europe has yet to come - greeted increasingly
with hostile responses, America and European partners failing to address
the disaster they caused, creating greater horrors for desperate people
in need.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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Steve Lendman
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