Expert: Lithuania and Poland ineffectively combat illegal migration
Events in the Middle East may cause even greater problems with migrants in the West, and this conflict is actually a threat to Europeans’ interests. In his talk with Alfa Radio, the Director of the Centre for European Integration, political expert Yuri Shevtsov, speculated on whether the refugee crisis will worsen.
“I think it [the crisis] will, since there are many war zones near Europe, and each of these local wars always generates flows of refugees," the expert noted. “As for the Belarusian direction, such a large flow of illegal migrants travelling to the West through the republic has been due to the expensive mechanisms of these people’s containment: previously, they functioned but then Belarus’ neighbours stopped fulfilling the treaties and agreements that were in force. As a result, the flow of refugees rushed towards Belarus as well. That happened because Poland and Lithuania were not actually taking action to prevent migrants from coming, and they allowed organised crime related to human trafficking to enter their territories. Moreover, the methods of combating illegal migration that they demonstrate are ineffective. Nothing works – neither the wall built by Poland, no anything else.”
A logical question arises: will the migration crisis cause an increased risk of terrorism in the European Union? With this in view, Mr. Shevtsov commented, “Of course, it is impossible to avoid this. They need to look for the source of the problem and solve it. Most refugees come to Europe from the countries where hostilities had been artificially unleashed: i.e. Syria and Libya, and also Afghanistan where Americans worked in the same manner. People had to flee from there. At that time, international terrorism was more or less suppressed, but the price was too high. Actually, the solution to the refugee problem is there, in these countries, and it is primarily needed to end the wars there – as far as possible.”
As for the conflict in the Middle East, the expert believes it is serious and will last for long. “The Arab-Israeli conflict is among the main sources of the uneasy atmosphere in the Middle East. There is no solution to it. Do you see what is developing in Gaza? Do you remember what had happened there, before Israel launched its operation? A lot of civilians were killed in Israel. In short, the problem there seems to be unsolvable. On the other hand, it was the West that destroyed several very important countries over the past 10-15 years, which had been a barrier to instability from Africa to Europe. For example, Libya was destroyed, and it is now a corridor for illegal migration. Syria was destroyed. The situation is calmer there now, but still fighting continues in the country. Moreover, the barrier from the authoritarian countries, which existed for many years and restrained exports of instability, for example, from Africa or Afghanistan to the north, is now in cracks. At the same time, the number of problems in the south, especially in Africa, is growing. I think this barrier was destroyed by someone intentionally – to create problems, in particular, to European integration, and to reduce the degree of competitiveness of the European Union at the global level.”
