The TRT World Research Centre held a panel in the UK Parliament in London on ‘the humanitarian role of Turkey on the refugee crisis and the road ahead for Europe’.
•Talip Küçükcan, Professor of Sociology at the Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey
•Professor Eiko Thielemann, Associate Professor in Political Science & Public policy, at Department of Government and European Institute of London School of Economics (LSE)
•Shoshana Fine, Visiting Fellow of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and Research Associate for International Studies and Research (CERI)
•Lord Maurice Glasman, Chair
The event marked World Refugee Day and provided an opportunity to discuss the refugee crisis and the underlying socioeconomic pressures and challenges that lie ahead for Europe.
The panel discussed the Turkish experience, some of the lessons learned, and what can Europe do to tackle the refugee crisis. Each of the panel speakers addressed the issue from different aspects and perspectives.
Professor Eiko Thielemann addressed the issue from a European perspective by stating that “refugees in Europe would be worse without EU protection policies.” He also added how “Europe needs fairer responsibility sharing when it comes to the protection of refugees and that the EU needs to move away from burden-sharing towards responsibility sharing on refugee protection.”
Shoshana Fine, on the other hand, discussed the Dublin regulation and the externalization of European borders and open migration policies. According to her “Dublin and externalization are about delegation and not cooperation. The probability of migrants dying as they cross the Mediterranean is increasing this is a consequence of border security and yet the World’s refugee population is increasing but decreasing in Europe, this is an effect of externalization.”
Lastly, Professor Talip Kucukcan discussed Turkey’s refugee policy. Prof Kucukcan explained how “Turkey’s refugee policy is an exemplary one that is open to forcibly displaced persons and to people who fled persecution, ethnic sectarian conflicts.” Prof Kucukcan concluded that the international community needs to have better cooperation to address current challenges regarding refugees. In this context, Turkey sets a good example in managing the refugee crisis.”
The panel then opened the floor to a Q&A session to audience members present. The panel was concluded with Lord Glasman’s summarizing and concluding remarks of the discussion.
