DEBATES GACINTO informativo sobre os debates no âmbito do Gacint Grupo de Análise da Conjuntura Internacional

No 39 / 2015

Human Rights, Refugees and Migration in Europe

Instituto de Relações Internacionais

Flávia Piovesan, Débora Barenboim, Alberto Pfifer and Peter Jambrek

On October 7th, the Group of Analysis of International

Conjuncture welcomed Professor Peter Jambrek, Slovenian jurist and sociologist, and former Judge at the European Court of Human Rights to debate human rights, refugees and migration in Europe. Dr. Flavia Piovesan, State Attorney and Human Rights specialist, comented Professor Jambrek statments. A l b e r t o Pfeifer, deputy coordinator of Gacint moderate themmeeting that had the presence of our Guest of Honor Ambassador Débora Barenboim, head of the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in São Paulo.The current refugee crisis in the European Union (EU) has been one of the main focuses of worldwide media in the last months. According to Mr. Jambrek, in 2015, about 1 million alien immigrants will enter the Schengen space, most of which seeking asylum or refugee status within the EU, a supranational organization of about 500 million inhabitants. Numerically, it may not be a critical problem, especially if we compare the current situation to the historical immigration flows to countries such as Brazil or the United

States. On the other hand, Europe’s territory is not as vast as those of American countries, and European societies have been cohesive and properly organized for centuries. Unfortunately, there is no open land available to settle all of the newcomers. European societies are integrated, in terms of history and nation-state building. Such a massive number of immigrants entering such well-rounded societies may have significant influence in the social structure of the Union.Refugees from Northern Africa have headed to Europe over the past years, and this trend will probably remain as so. But, in 2015, the number of immigrants towards EU countries increased dramatically. There are several air, sea and land routes through which these immigrants reach EU borders. There are many different causes for

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Peter Jambrek

this recent outburst of immigration numbers, such as the Arab Spring, wars in the Middle East and armed conflicts in Sub Saharan Africa. A large number of immigrants arriving at Schengen border-states are being welcomed by larger economies, like Germany. This may have contributed to the expressive numbers of 2015. It is necessary, however, to discuss what possible reasons does the government of Germany have – and, on that sense, Ms. Angela Merkel particularly, who is quoted by name by many of these refugees – to convey this welcoming message. Ms. Merkel is famous for her pragmatism. The economic explanation is clear: the country is ageing, birth rates are low, and this is a particularly difficult situation to deal with. By welcoming immigrants and depriving the political parties prone to the left of its main banners, Ms. Merkel not only increases her popularity, but also gains supports of different spectrums of voters.There is clearly a wave of anti-refugees behavior, like nationalistic movements. It is a complex issue to approach, since the social background of these refugees reaching European borders is unknown most of the times. If immigrants do not speak any local language, it is unlikely that authorities will be able to gather information concerning

those individuals. It also harms the ones who are actually trying to escape wars: it is impossible to dissociate those who came escaping from armed conflicts from the ones who are coming to Europe only to improve their livelihoods. There are many complex issues that must be dealt with by countries receiving these people, as well as by the governments of those countries from where they depart. Human trafficking is a mechanism that already resembles organized tourist agencies. It is a business in a global scale. This needs to be addressed criminally, with a joint effort by the international community.There are two main topics, which must be considered concerning the issue at hand:

(i) In what way would the EU, as a sui generis organized entity, continue to exist maintaining the Schengen Agreement1; taking into consideration what is happening with the refugees? There is also a need to consider the Dublin Agreement, a responsibility of the Schengen countries to register asylum or refugee seekers on its boarders. If this person illegally continues its route to other countries, though, these countries have the right to send the person back to the entrance locale. These agreements were harmed when countries started to close their borders; and(ii) Sociological and cultural relations within the EU: the idea of the EU as a homogeneous society of nations that peacefully relate to each other has to be assessed now vis-à-vis what may happen when people with completely different cultural and religious background appear in this scenario.

1 The Schengen Agreement allows free circulation (open borders policy) for nationals of its members, many of which are also part of the European Union, although the Schengen agreement also comprises non-EU countries such as Switzerland, for example.

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Flávia Piovesan

those countries. Ms. Piovesan called attention to the need for human rights standards concerning the rights of refugees and duties of States regarding gender issues, elderly people and other minorities regarding these already vulnerable individuals. A recent Eurobarometer research highlighted the increase of intolerance, racial and other types of discriminations, particularly in regards to immigrants. There is a need for a preventive approach: we do not know whether the political situation in the countries will get better or not. In terms of public policies, governments and civil society should discuss how to reinforce the role of the EU in a preventive way. Finally, she highlighted the economic approach to the situation: according to Joseph Nye, in the beginning of the 20th century, Europeans were about 20% of world population. In 2060, they will be about 6%, and incoming people could help minimize the effects of the ageing of the population of the continent.Mr. Jambrek stated that the human rights approach needs to be seen not only through a humanitarian perspective, but from a legal point of view. It is necessary to bear in mind that human rights are aimed at the protection of individuals who are citizens of a particular

There is currently a discussion about the disintegration of the EU. There are states which refuse quotas concerning immigrants; there are others which build barbed wire walls to keep their distance from the newcomers, and others, such as Germany, which seem to be welcoming them. It is relevant to remember that the EU started to be built after the Second World War, as an actual response to a crisis. After the Rome treaty, in 1950s, each major crisis was followed by a new treaty, which strengthened the EU and brought countries closer together. In that sense, there are signs towards tight cooperation between member states concerning the issues that arise from this immigration increase, such as border police collaboration. It is only a matter of whether it will go on or not. Mr. Jambrek believes that giving more power to the EU would help both European countries and refugees, so that Europe could move towards, in one scenario, a kind of “United States of Europe”.

The guest commentator, Dr. Flávia Piovesan, organized her remarks around the situation of refugees in the EU. Ms. Piovesan made five comments about specific situations. The first was about the collective perception of this crisis: considering its peculiar framework, and the EU as a regional actor, how to react to the sharing of the responsibilities to host refugees. The United Nations calculates about 60 million refugees worldwide nowadays. Man originy were able to cross the Mediterranean, but many died trying. Each and every refugee is a reflection of human rights violations. According to the UN, about 86% of the refugees are located in developing countries, which is particularly interesting if we consider the economic prospects of refugees in

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Membros do Gacint ADHEMAR DA COSTA MACHADO FILHOADRIANA SCHOR ADRIANO HENRIQUE REBELO BIAVA AFFONSO CELSO DE OURO PRETO AFFONSO DE ALENCASTRO MASSOTALBERTO PFEIFER ALEXANDRE BARBOSAALEXANDRE RATSUO UEHARA AMÂNCIO JORGE S. NUNES DE OLIVEIRAANGELO DE OLIVEIRA SEGRILLO ANTONIO CARLOS PEREIRA ANTONIO CORRÊA DE LACERDA ANTONIO RUY DE ALMEIDA SILVABORIS FAUSTO CARLOS EDUARDO E CARVALHOCARLOS EDUARDO LINS DA SILVACELSO GRISICELSO LAFER CELSO NUNES AMORIMCHRISTIAN LOHBAUER CLAUDIO GONÇALVES COUTO CORONEL UBIRAJARA NEVESDANIELA CARLA DECARO SCHETTINIDÉCIO ODDONE DEISY VENTURA DEMÉTRIO MAGNOLI FELIPE LOUREIROGELSON FONSECA JUNIOR GERALDO DE FIGUEIREDO FORBES

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OTAVIANO CANUTO PATRÍCIA CAMPOS MELLOPAULO ROBERTO FELDMANPAULO SOTERO PEDRO BOHOMOLETZ DE ABREU DALLARI PEDRO MENDONÇAPETER ROBERT DEMANT PETERSON FERREIRA E SILVAPHILIPPE LAVANCHYRAFAEL DUARTE VILLA RAFAEL SOUZA FONSECARICARDO UBIRACI SENNES ROBERTO ABDENUR ROBERTO RODRIGUES ROBERTO TEIXEIRA DA COSTA RODRIGO TAVARESRONALDO SARDEMBERGROSSANA ROCHA REIS RUBENS ANTÔNIO BARBOSARUY MARTINS ALTENFELDER SILVASAMUEL FELDBERGSÉRGIO ERNESTO ALVES CONFORTOSÉRGIO FAUSTO SÉRGIO SILVA DO AMARALTULLO VIGEVANI VAHAN AGOPYAN VERA THORSTENSEN YI SHIN TANG

Gacint Coordenador Geral Ricardo SennesVice-CoordenadorAlberto Pfifer

DiretorPedro Dallari

Debates Gacint Coordenador ExecutivoAndré Luiz Siciliano

IRI Contato: gacint@usp.brRedação Mariana Chaimovich

ColaboradoresAndré Michelin Daniele GaveVictor TibauCoordenadora de Produção

Patrícia TambourgiFotografiaGabriel Alves B. de Lima

At the end of the day this new crisis may, as the previous ones, trigger a step ahead in terms of deepening Europe’s institutionalization, with the signing of a new treaty to further organize how foreigners have accession to Schengen jurisdiction, that is, to consolidate border controls and enhance cooperation of national authorities, perhaps under a common border police, operating under unified procedures activities and dealing with security related issues at the limits of the European Union, with clear procedures and rights to attributed to deal with visitors and other individuals – or may become a divisive happening, as some suggest, that may corroborate some signs of disintegration of the European process.

State or a foreigner who has suffered a violation within the State, by a State authority. The Court (European or national) which deals with human rights breaches must assess if the measure of the State actually interfered with the rights of such individual. Only then, the proportionality principle (used to determine the proportion of the right vs. the alleged misdoing of a State actor) would come to the floor. When you have thousands of people entering your borders, and they are received by national professionals, there is a necessity to categorize an individual, but there are people who do not speak any language other than their own, or who do not have documents. The whole process is extremely delicate. EU countries are not obliged, by law, to accept the quota system, which divides refugees between the member States, depending on size, population and economic prospects. They have a sovereign right not to. The question remains whether they will open or close their borders.