The member states of the European Union need to remind themselves of their mutual commitments to share in caring for the tens of thousands of unfortunate refugees who manage to make it to the EU from Libya. The member states have a well-defined arrangement under which those rescued at sea and seeking asylum are to be relocated to other EU nations from Italy and Greece, where most of the refugees have landed. But the reality is that this deal has been ignored as resentment over accepting refugees has frightened European governments worried about a populist backlash.
The warmer summer weather has encouraged the refugees in Libya to try their luck with the people smugglers who take a fee and send them out to sea, where many drown in the attempt to get to Europe. In just one day last week, more than 688 people were saved by the flotilla of EU coast guard and navy ships, taking the total for the week to 13,000 people who survived, which does not include the thousands who drowned.
Many more refugees from several failed states in the region are waiting to seek a new future in Europe. The long-term answer lies in peace deals and civil reconstruction in failed countries like Libya, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, and Yemen. But in the meantime, these people need urgent care. This can be offered in the camps in Libya before the refugees are forced to risk their lives to get to safety, but it can also be offered within the European Union, which used to be the byword for decency and humanity given its own trauma of the 1940s.
