With an astounding 12 million people in Syria displaced from their homes in a population that numbered about 23 million before its civil war began in full fledge in 2012, the questions that inevitably arise are: Why isn't the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees more actively involved on the ground in Europe, the destination of hundreds of thousands of exiles; and why aren't European countries being creative enough in employing their considerable immigration expertise?
The need to address the refugee flow will be even greater as Russia's bombing strikes terror in what were relatively secure places in western Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad appears to be focused on eliminating even moderate opponents to his regime, according to refugee experts.
In countries where systems are in place and working — he cited Britain and France — the UN refugee agency is poised to advise on legislation and be critical when laws do not meet accepted humanitarian standards. In France, he said, giving one example, UNHCR representatives "can sit in on an appeal for refugee determination." But this cooperation is possible only when countries have functioning refugee and asylum policies and established practices, which many nations in the world do not. The result is ad hoc reaction, sometimes out of momentary panic. This is evident even on the European continent in the current refugee influx.
He also said that countries like Britain, France and Sweden, for example, have people with wide experience in refugee and humanitarian work who could help organize humane responses and sift through refugees' applications with expertise. This is particularly important now, he said.
Since 1999, the European Union has been working to create a common European asylum system that guarantees, among other provisions, humane treatment, screening for terrorists and better-aligned legislation across the continent, according to the European Commission, which functions as a multinational government, or cabinet, for Europe.
In Washington, the Migration Policy Institute, which tracks and analyzes movements of people worldwide, published a report on Sept. 24 by two global specialists on European responses toward migrants not only from Syria but also from Africa, Asia and elsewhere. The study, by Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, assistant director of the Institute's international program, and Susan Fratzke, a policy analyst and program coordinator for the group, noted an uneven ability within Europe to deal with the recent influx.
At Refugees International, which is also based in Washington, Michel Gabaudan has spent a lot of time on Capitol Hill discussing the European refugee crisis with members of Congress or their staffs. He said he was concerned that some good American instincts are getting in the way of understanding the situation and how the United States should react.
From this educated middle class could have come a future Syria, but as Russian attacks reach the once relatively safe cities where many of them have lived, the latest development only reinforces the sense that the Assad regime, suffering setbacks, is now determined to destroy everyone who may appear to pose a threat.
As an American senator asked Gabaudan: Why does Assad do that? "Dictators are totally abhorrent of the idea that their people can rebel against them," he said he told the senator.
If the Russian intervention is to lead to anything positive, he said, it will be the insistence, as a first condition in internationally supported negotiations, that Assad end the barrel-bombing. These "bombs" are crude, indiscriminate weapons made of oil barrels or other containers filled with flammable fuel, explosives and shrapnel of all kinds. Assad's forces began using them three years ago, often rolled out of helicopters, according to a report by the BBC.