The question of government responsibility in improving the social status of Syrian refugees in Europe through employment, education and other means of integration
The dawn of the Syrian Civil War in 2011 has incurred an influx of Syrian refugees into various European regions. In fact, approximately four million refugees have fled Syrian borders since 2011 to seek asylum elsewhere, many of which are hoping to find a home inside the European continent. On the 29th of September 2015, the International Organization for Migration announced that a staggering 522,124 refugees had been documented reaching Europe, a large majority of which originated from Syria. As a result, European leaders have been posed with the challenge of sustaining and improving the social status of the incoming Syrian refugees. However, various aspects of European Union legislation, particularly the Dublin regulation, have contributed to the difficult nature of this task. The Dublin regulation states that migrants can only apply for asylum in the European state through which they initially entered. If any asylum seeker relocates to another EU state, they can be deported back to the EU state from which they first entered. This essentially places a huge responsibility on the European countries that comprise the continent’s external borders, as opposed to distributing the burden across all of the EU’s member states. In addition, European nations have had varied responses in their undertaking to accept refugees. EU countries that are economically stable have indicated keener interest in assisting refugees integrate into their respective societies. Other, less economically stable EU countries, however, have appeared quite averse to the idea due to the internal economic instability present within their borders. Nevertheless, the respective governments of the European Union will have to efficiently and coherently collaborate in order to formulate a course of action that can tackle the issue of improving the social status of Syrian refugees through employment, education and other means of integration within their continental borders.
Guiding Questions:
In which European countries has the influx of Syrian refugees been most concentrated?
What financial or economic measures can less economically stable European countries who have experienced a rapid influx of Syrian refugees take to increase their ability to sustain this population growth?
What can the European Union do as a collaborative, intergovernmental organization to ease the burden placed on the European countries which lie on the continent’s external borders?
What can nations outside of Europe do to ease the burden placed on the European Union as a whole?
Which means of integration are of the utmost priority for incoming Syrian Refugees?
What programs can be implemented by European nations to provide incoming Syrian Refugees with sources of employment?
How and in what areas can Syrian Refugees be trained in order to become capable and profitable workers?
What can European Nations do to provide incoming Syrian Refugees with health coverage?
What programs can be implemented to ensure incoming Syrian children are provided with a basic education?
Which organizations outside of the United Nations can aid in this overall process?