People fleeing war are refugees and refugees cannot be sent back
"Conflicts from South Sudan to Syria to Afghanistan have sent millions fleeing, seeking the relative safety of Europe’s shores, but that puts new strains on countries and local communities, and threatens to distort our politics". 11th paragraph from beginning
"Conflicts from South Sudan to Syria to Afghanistan have sent millions fleeing, seeking the relative safety of Europe’s shores, but that puts new strains on countries and local communities, and threatens to distort our politics". 11th paragraph from beginning
"Our freedom, our quality of life remains the envy of the world, so much so that parents are willing to walk across deserts, and cross the seas on makeshift rafts, and risk everything in the hope of giving their children the blessings that we -- that you -- enjoy". 26th paragraph from beginning.
"And I think of so many Germans and people across Europe who have welcomed migrants into their homes, because, as one woman in Berlin said, “we needed to do something.” Just that human impulse to help. And I think of the refugee who said, “I want to teach my kids the value of working.” That human impulse to see the next generation have hope". 7th paragraph from end
President Barak Obama's speech in Hannove Messe Fairgrounds Hannover, Germany, yesterday, April 25, 2016. Avalable athttps://www.whitehouse.gov/…/remarks-president-obama-addres…
We ask this:
If the people are 'fleeing' 'conflicts' (11th paragraph from beginning), then are they 'migrants' (7th paragraph from end) or refugees?
We have already made our opinion public, the law says that they are not migrants, but refugees; and therefore can not be sent back.
We also ask, these people are fleeing a war which was started by the leadership of USA and the European Union in the 1990s, should they not be responsible for the refugees? Should Russia also not be responsible for the widows and orphans of the people that they have just killed in Syria with their airstrikes?
But these are not legal questions, they are moral questions. The law is well established, and it dictates:
people fleeing war are refugees and refugees cannot be sent back; period.
The decline of the European moral standard
It shocks us to see that Europe has fallen from its moral high-ground. It is a bad news for all humanity; for Europe, since the end of the WWII, has been the global leader of democracy and all things good. The decline of the European moral standard signals a major shift in the world balance, and this will not come at a lesser price.
It is only the beginning of more things bleak.
