The European Union has decided to grant Egypt 7.4 billion euros (in the form of grants and loans) to help stem the flow of refugees from Sudan, Gaza, and other places.
Egypt has agreed to fortify its border with Libya, from where many migrants cross the Mediterranean on their way to Europe. Similar agreements had been signed with Tunisia and Mauritania, with the EU promising funds and other incentives in exchange for better border policing.
Turkey has also previously received generous European aid to deter migration to Europe (around ten billion). Our president will mediate so that Lebanon will also receive billions to guard its borders and prevent the millions waiting to find a place on a rickety boat from leaving, while Lebanon’s ambassador to Cyprus has already sent the message that her country can’t do much.
Despite the billions pouring into some countries (with problematic regimes and economies), migratory flows continue, as do the problems in the region that produce refugees, driving people to gamble with their lives to reach a better world. But this world now treats them as enemies threatening its balance (social, cultural, religious, and economic).
It is clear that Europe’s grants to intermediary countries have not helped solve the migration crisis, and it is possible that the new grants to Egypt or Lebanon will not help either. The billions will disappear without any particular scrutiny; people will always chase the hope for a better life, and those who found gold by selling that hope (the smugglers) will continue to do so by any means necessary. Meanwhile, politicians, who also gain from the existence of the migration crisis, will continue to perpetuate the problem.
The only solution, perhaps a romantic one, is to help people stay in their own countries. Beyond actual war zones, it is clear that many are leaving to find work and better living conditions.
The EU’s billions, which are more or less evaporating, could form the basis for infrastructure that would keep people in their home countries. Buying ships to patrol the seas and push back the rickety boats—because these may be the unpalatable solutions—does not solve the problem. Of course, neither can Cyprus or any country be left to face it alone.
