Are we now ending the idea of an open society?
#187
My Dear Friend of Democracy,
There are calls in Germany from the supposed centre of political society to abolish the individual right to asylum. That people can be turned back at the border without their request being examined - pushbacks, in other words.
The large number of refugees makes this step necessary, it is argued.
I cannot judge how much this applies to the current situation in Germany. In principle, I can imagine situations where the wonderful idea of individual asylum rights reaches its limits.
But if we were to end this fundamental right here and now, without replacing it with a new asylum law that is adapted to today's circumstances and helps the suffering of this world, we would be guilty beyond measure.
Because what would happen if we abolished the individual right to asylum and introduced pushbacks?
Not a single refugee would be able to come to Germany legally anymore, as the country is surrounded by "safe third countries", and the state has "successfully" obliged all airlines not to allow refugees to board their planes.
There are people in Germany who would be happy if such a legal situation were enforced.
It would be the end of any willingness to help.
And not just in Germany.
The countries bordering Germany would do the same sooner rather than later because they would have to offer accommodation to all those stranded at the border with Germany.
The chain reaction would end at the European external border. The states there would build a fortress because otherwise, the refugees would only come to their countries.
This is what would happen if Germany closed its borders.
Fortress Europe would be built even more diligently.
And it would become more massive the more national asylum policies become.
That is the fatal thing about national asylum policy in a united Europe: it is ultimately highly restrictive.
Only a European asylum policy can end this race to the bottom. The attempts are timid, and the implementation is inadequate. And the trend of right-wing populism in almost all of Europe is currently driving politics in the opposite direction. National politics is preferred to EU politics.
Some say that the inadequate European asylum rules, or rather their inadequate implementation, made right-wing populism so strong. I am one of them. But chicken-and-egg debates are no help once the damage has been done. Solutions are needed. Abolishing German asylum policy by declaring all neighbouring countries safe countries and closing the borders is not an option. At least not one that helps refugees today. In the medium term, the pressure on other EU states to push for a functioning European solution might increase. Many refugees would not live to see a possible success.
See you in Europe,
Johannes
Thanks for this very appropriate comment!
The emphasis of this current debate in Germany goes to prove the increasing ability of the AFD to set the agenda! This is terrifying! We have come to the point that an SPD chancellor boasts with limiting support to refugees and having increased "repatriations". The CDU/CSU is scared of losing voters to the AFD and now is pushing the current government to satisfy AFD demands.
While it certainly is necessary to discuss how best to control the arrival of new migrants the German need for migration and the opportunities buried in migration has completely disappeared from public debate!
How do we ensure that new arrivals can become responsible and contributing citizens? Who will in the future take the jobs in manufacturing? Who will man the doctoral and care jobs in hospitals? How do we ever want to escape the downward cycle of dying villages in the countryside (less people -> no store -> less people > no post office - less people > no doctor)? Who will clean our streets? What about an immigration law which encourages immigration of urgently needed qualifications? What about increasing the investment in qualification and integration?
So many things to do, but no public debate about it!
The AFD has been successful in shifting public debate and political action from hope and opportunity to hate and doom. We talk about limiting a bedrock of our constitution, the right to asylum, instead of the opportunities available to us through migration.
If I have ever seen a shift of the Overton window, this is it!