Afghanistan Times
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In quest of a better and secure future, an Afghan family along with their dreams has drowned in the deep waters while trying to reach Europe. This family is not alone that met a tragic end. Hundreds of families have been drowned. They include Afghans and Arabs. A few months back a photo of a three-year old Syrian child, Aylan, who was washed up on a Turkish beach, went viral on media and ignited outcry against what is happening in Syria. Many of the asylum-seeking families take the dangerous road to Europe when their hopes give way at home and don’t see any ray of hope. They are usually well aware of the challenges on the route to Europe, but they don’t hesitate. Sometimes their final journey is tragic. The sufferings of the refugees, from across the most insecure parts of the world, including Afghanistan, reveal the world is a mess. The ill-fated five-member family, that fled Kandahar, in search of a secure and better future, may have thought of the lurking death on the route, yet it must have some hopes, which compelled them on taking the road to Europe. If the government doesn’t take up the issue of illegal migration, many more families will meet the same tragic end. Turkey, as a gateway to Europe, has been flooded by refugees. Macedonia is yet another stop over swarmed by refugees. But can Turkey stem the tide of refugees when European countries to end the 20-year old free-border bond, known as Schengen. Turkey and EU finalized the refugee deal. Europe has been faced with a biggest ever challenge as refugees are streaming in, nearly 5,000 a day. To successfully address the issue of refugee-influx, Europe will have to convince those nations that are responsible for the displacement of millions of people from their respective lands, to stop their proxy wars and interferences. Europe and other leading nations should work concertedly to enable the weaker governments in those parts of the world, which are faced with terrorism and political instability, to develop good governance so that their citizens don’t flee their homelands for safer places. When Turkey and EU struck a deal on refugees, the next day a group of jihadists killed 130 people in Paris. When they came to know that one of the attackers had apparently posed as a Syrian refugee, it unleashed a hill of troubles for asylum seekers in Europe. Governments in EU must not be trapped by sentiments and shouldn’t deny refugees their fundamental rights on the basis of suspicion that there would be potential terrorists among them. The EU must not burn down the entire house to exterminate one louse or punish the million of troubled refugees for a few bad apples. Given the humiliations the refugees come across with on the route, no one will choose it to be a refugee by choice, but the flood of troubles at their respective homelands pushes them on taking this extreme step. Therefore, they need to be treated humanely. Their fundamental rights ensured and protected.
