Eurasia And Eme Subcommittee on Europe

Challenge to Europe Eurasia And Eme Subcommittee on Europe

The massive and increasing tide of asylum seekers, stateless persons, and displaced people who have been and continue to enter Europe have been an issue of humanitarian concern for several years, but a wave of immigration erupted into a tsunami, when the German Government announced it would ignore the Dublin rules and accept all Syrian refugees that made it to the German border. That announcement opened the gates for a flow of people to move from North Africa, the Middle East, and even Asia to transit through Greece, Turkey, the Balkans, and northward into Europe. While individual stories of tragedy and humanitarian need are compelling, the aggregate number of people on the move is overwhelming. The United Nations announced that 218,000 migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in October of 2015; that is more than was recorded in all of 2014. It is expected that around 1 million asylum seekers of all origins will reach Germany in 2015 alone. Europe has been struggling to assimilate large Muslim populations. Germany and the EU are deeply divided about how to stem the flow of migrants, and what to do with those who have already entered. What we have seen over the past few months is unsustainable, and if not checked, will change the fundamental nature of European countries.