“Fortress Europe has to fall”: a lesson on collective responsibility

By Rory Mcharg on Flickr

Katie Sperring argues that Syria Solidarity’s message for the Greek government speaks more broadly to governments across Europe and international organisations. 

Outside the fortress-like Greek Embassy on the edge of Holland Park, an eclectic mix of 150-200 protestors gathered on Saturday under the banner of Syria Solidarity UK, imploring the Greek government to abandon its hard-line stance on the influx of Syrian refugees crossing its Turkish border. Yet in doing so, they conveyed a broader message about collective responsibility for the safety of migrants and asylum seekers, and even more broadly a message about displaying humanity in our relationships with those from beyond our own borders.  

Since the announcement by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on 27th February that Turkey would open its borders with Europe, Greece has been the principal country to which Syrian refugees have travelled. The Greek government has reportedly blocked nearly 35,000 individuals from entering the country, uncompromisingly employing tear gas and stun grenades against men, women and children, and is preparing to deport the hundreds more that have thus far managed to claim refuge. 

Protestors outside the Embassy condemned these actions as the government’s abridgement of Syrian peoples’ right to claim asylum and seek safety from the continued violence perpetrated against them by the Assad regime. One former Syrian refugee emphasised to me the inhumanity that the government manifests by “closing the door” on refugees and further, the disregard for the safety of such individuals. A leader of the Syria Solidarity UK movement who addressed the crowd decried the Greek government’s violence against asylum seekers and pleaded that they open their borders to asylum seekers, rather than violently denying them entry, before turning to address the British government too, asking them to “be human” and take its own steps to help de escalate the burgeoning crisis on European borders. 

This two-fold plea to the different governments typified what was most striking about this protest and the overarching message of Syria Solidarity. Though overtly this was a protest against the Greek government, the issue that underpinned the mobilisation of these protestors clearly transcended anger towards any single country’s government. Other protestors addressed the crowd to denounce the hostile environment towards migrants in the UK, Trump’s treatment of Mexican immigrants, and the United Nations’ inadequate response to the ongoing refugee crisis. As one protestor put it to me, at the broadest level, “it is about humanity”. It is about the way we treat fellow human beings at times of crisis. More specifically, it is about the use of nations’ borders to eschew the collective responsibility all nations share to assist those whose government threatens their most fundamental rights and whose safety and rights are compromised further by other nations’ refusal to provide them asylum. 

As well as the need for an immediate response by governments to the influx of asylum seekers, protestors articulated the need for governments and international organisations to address the forces compelling citizens to seek asylum and facilitate the long-term recovery of these countries so that asylum seekers are able to return to their homes. One woman, whilst wielding her own painting of the UN’s Security Council depicted with the heads of animals, condemned the United Nations for the absence of intervention to prevent the Assad regime from continuing to perpetuate violence against its people and force them to flee. Again, though overtly this was a condemnation of the situation in Syria, it became evident from my discussion with other protestors that, more broadly, a sentiment prevailed that institutions like the UN are under-utilised when it comes to global governance and holding condemnable regimes accountable. What these protestors see as another instance of the need for collective responsibility is too frequently abdicated by these organisations.  

Of course, a protest situated in London could not refrain from mentioning Brexit. Brexit was cited in discussion of the UK government’s role in this refugee crisis as a political phenomenon that should do nothing to reduce the UK’s share of the collective responsibility with respect to assisting refugees. A young woman implored the protestors to exert as much pressure as possible on politicians to advocate for a long-term arrangement with the EU that enshrines shared responsibility to give asylum to those fleeing from their countries, rejecting the notion that our departure from the EU and the accompanied desire for tighter borders controls should provide any feasible basis for the UK government to justify assuming a smaller role in what Europe must do to assist those seeking asylum. 

Once again, this linked more broadly to a condemnation of the burgeoning negative sentiment of voters towards the movement of people across borders manifested by Brexit, support for Trump’s hardline stance to Mexican immigration, and the election of various right-wing governments across Central Europe on platforms of tightening borders. There was a call to oppose this sentiment by standing “in solidarity with brothers and sisters in all nations”. 

This single protest typified to me the inextricable links between the various global phenomena occurring today and the idea that they are underpinned by a necessarily collective responsibility, of which each government, organisation and even individual has a share. There was a message to be discerned by all that transcended any one issue. 

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