Refugee Policy

An interview with migration expert Amr Taha. He is heading the office of International Organization of Migration in Egypt. In the interview, he talks about Egypt as a host country of migrants and refugees, as well as a point of departure for migrants heading to Europe.

Opening remarks on the occasion of the "EU Quo Vadis?" Conference of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Berlin on May 26th, 2016 titled "Crossing Boundaries in European Asylum and Refugee Policy".

Thousands of Syrians have sought shelter in Lebanon. But having such a precarious status there and no legal recognition many feel their best option is to try entering the EU via the Mediterranean.

Turkey is hosting some 2.7 million Syrian refugees. Only one tenth are in camps and the rest spread around urban areas. Local cultural and religious affinity with them has kept social friction low.

The EU needs a proper strategy that allows migrants a legal form of access. The current situation of the camps in and around the EU is unacceptable. The issue of clarifying immigration regulations for the EU must not be put off any longer.

Whilst the refugee crisis has dominated debates in Germany since 2015, it plays a subordinate role in France where the war on Islamist terrorism and tackling the problem with military intervention.

Czech society is polarised by attitudes to refugees. This is absurd given that fact that only 1,156 have applied for asylum in a country of ten million people. Xenophobia and hysteria drive the debate.