China's c. bank issues 495.8b yuan off reverse repo    European shares climb as EU-US trade deal lifts markets    Indian Embassy to launch cultural festival in Assiut, film fest in Cairo    Egypt, South Africa pledge to deepen development cooperation at G20 meeting    Egypt's PM orders road maintenance review, tougher penalties to curb accidents    Egypt, Novartis explore expanding collaboration in oncology, cardiology    Egyptian aid convoy heads toward Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens    EU, China agree on rare earths, climate but divisions remain on trade, Ukraine    Association of Real Estate Developers seeks urgent meeting over threatened land deallocation on Northwest Coast    Midar partners with Adeer to develop Boulevard project in Mostakbal City with EGP 70bn investment    Iran launches mass deportation of Afghans amid spying allegations    Over 60 million visits recorded under Egypt's Women's Health Initiative since 2019    Culture minister launches national plan to revive film industry, modernise cinematic assets    Thailand, Cambodia clash on new front as tens of thousands flee    Sudan's ambassador to Egypt holds reconstruction talks on with Arab League    UK pay settlements stagnant amid inflation surge    I won't trade my identity to please market: Douzi    Egypt welcomes 25-nation statement urging end to Gaza war    Sisi sends letter to Nigerian president affirming strategic ties    Egypt, Senegal sign pharma MoU to unify regulatory standards    Two militants killed in foiled plot to revive 'Hasm' operations: Interior ministry    Egypt, Somalia discuss closer environmental cooperation    Egypt foils terrorist plot, kills two militants linked to Hasm group    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



My 2015: Europe's super crisis
For our Europe correspondent Bernd Riegert, 2015 was the year of the "super crisis." As he reports, he was shaken by visits to refugee camps, a lack of solidarity among EU members and poor crisis management.
Published in Daily News Egypt on 31 - 12 - 2015

For our Europe correspondent Bernd Riegert, 2015 was the year of the "super crisis." As he reports, he was shaken by visits to refugee camps, a lack of solidarity among EU members and poor crisis management.
It was a nightmare: I saw people in situations this year that I thought could only take place in far-away crisis regions, not right here in the middle of Europe, in the heart of the EU.
I waited with refugees at night outside the entrance to the Channel Tunnel in Calais, and walked through the camps known as "The Jungle." A disgrace for both the UK and France.
I had to report on a group of refugees that suffocated to death in a truck abandoned by people smugglers in Austria. I was on the hot beach in Kos, Greece, where refugees were forced to wait for days to be registered, without being given any water.
I was in a makeshift tent camp for refugees in downtown Brussels. There, in the middle of the European capital, just a few kilometers from the corridors of power of the EU, which held more emergency summits in 2015 than ever before, people are living in mud while waiting to be received by Belgian authorities.
‘Inhumane obstacle course'
I was on the border between Serbia and Croatia, in the village of Tovarnik, where police and officials were completely unprepared to deal with the crowds of people crossing the fields and filling the entire village. The police responded with violence.
In the end, panicking families were herded onto buses. People on the verge of collapse, crying children – everyone had to board the buses that took them to some point along the Hungarian border. Every journalist on the scene was shocked. We handed over some food and bottles of water; there was nothing else we could do.
These were the kind of conditions that I never imagined I might see in a civilized, organized Europe. After a few days, I was back at my desk in Brussels. It was so easy for me to board a plane from Kos or Zagreb and travel across Europe in just a few hours.
The people I met on Kos or in Tovarnik took weeks to travel the same distance, if they even made it to their destination. An inhumane obstacle course on Europe's borders.
EU infighting
At the same time in the EU buildings in Brussels, members states were at each others' throats because they couldn't agree on how to manage the refugee crisis or distribute the asylum seekers across individual states.
The horrors facing these people seem so far away in Brussels; what counts there are national interests. And now, at the year's end, solidarity among members is at an all-time low. All that can be done is to threaten to cut off funds from Brussels to those member states which refuse to accept refugees.
The numerous, overlapping crises this year were simply too much for the EU. In addition to the refugee crisis, there were other problems: the Greek debt crisis, a lack of control at the bloc's external borders, and fear of terror attacks.
The positive image I've always had of Europe has been badly shaken. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said only that these crises will remain, and new ones will come. It's a bleak outlook for Europe in 2016.


Clic here to read the story from its source.