Hamburg – ESI at conference on Forced Migration in Global Perspective

Gerald Knaus. Photo: GIGA

ESI's Gerald Knaus was invited to speak at an event on forced migration organised by the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg.

He argued that nobody who reaches Europe should be pushed into a situation where they are likely to be tortured or killed. Nobody must be left to drown. No European society can embrace racist theories. When Viktor Orban referred in February 2018 to London as an example of a city where European civilisation has already been defeated, he alluded to the racist stories of those who worry about a Muslim mayor or about cities with big non-White, non-Christian populations. Pragmatism can never mean indulging such politics or accepting the idea of borders to be closed "at whatever price". For political and humanitarian reasons, we need to reduce irregular arrivals. The only way to reduce the loss of lives is to combine sea rescues with efforts so that fewer people get into boats. The humane way to achieve this is to make clear that anyone not in need of international protection will be returned to their countries of origin within weeks of arrival. We should also offer countries of origin mobility and quotas for regular migration.

• ESI proposal: The right refugee policy for Europe (Sanchez Plan) (11 August 2018)
• Gesine Schwan und Gerald Knaus, "Neue EU-Flüchtlingspolitik - Kontrolle und Empathie" ("New EU Refugee Policy - Control and Empathy") (28 June 2018)
• Refugees Deeply, John Dalhuisen Gerald Knaus, How Italy Can Combine Migration Control With Human Rights (13 March 2018)
• ESI paper: "Amsterdam in the Mediterranean" – How a Dutch-style asylum system can help resolve the Mediterranean refugee crisis (26 January 2018) – ​also available in Italian: "Amsterdam nel Mediterraneo"
• ESI proposals for the refugee crises in the Central Mediterranean and the Aegean: www.esiweb.org/refugees

Photo: GIGA

In the morning before leaving for Hamburg, Gerald gave an interview to Deutsche Welle on ESI's proposals for migration policy. The interview is also available in English: Gerald Knaus: "There is no right to migrate.", Spanish: La entrevista - Gerald Knaus: "No existe el derecho a la migración", and Polish: Ekspert ds. migracji: "Nie ma prawa do migracji". It was aired on 9 December.