European response

From Lampedusa to the eastern Aegean, the signs are growing that a big new refugee wave is heading to Europe. 

Europe now knows: It knows that there are rackets on the periphery making millions from the dangerous smuggling of human beings. It knows that there are powers which are using these people as weapons to stir the geopolitical pot. It knows what happened in Evros and what is going on today in the Sahel region of Africa. 

This is why the countries on the front line of Europe’s borders should not be expected to carry the burden on their own. What we need is a European response – not lessons on humanitarianism from a safe distance – and we need it now.