Unrelenting refugee crisis

The flow of asylum-seekers from war-devastated Muslim countries to European shores continues despite the freezing cold and life threatening conditions at sea. At least 44 people, among them 17 children, drowned on Friday as two boats carrying them to Greece sank in the Aegean Sea. Behind these cold statistics are familiar humans like a pregnant mother and her two small children, a teenaged boy, and several other families who lost near and dear ones. More than 700 lives have been lost while crossing the Aegean. According to the International Organisation for Migration, the death toll for the current month alone has reached 162. Yet the flow of refugees, mostly fleeing conflicts - created by direct or indirect Western military interventions in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan -continues.
These war-weary people are heading not only to Europe, hundreds of thousands of Syrians and others escaping IS brutalities in Iraqi lands under its control have taken shelter in neighbouring countries. There they face desperate conditions because the wealthy nations have not fulfilled their pledges of financial support with the result that the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has been complaining of a funding gap, which a few months ago was reported to be as big as $3.47 billion. The UN and other organisations engaged in humanitarian work have been unable to meet even basic survival needs of the refugees, which is why so many people, especially well-educated professionals, have been risking their lives for a better future in Europe where they hope to find jobs and lead productive lives. But Europe has now started building walls to keep them out.
So far, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been more welcoming than the other EU governments. There too, public opinion is turning against large influx of Muslims. Not many agree with the Chancellor that "we will manage." While Hungary and Serbia have sealed their borders, erecting barbed-wire fences, others have been expressing fears that refugees would adversely impact the EU project. Accusing Germany of encouraging refugee inflows, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is urging tighter border controls, also arguing that so many unwanted foreigners will make it impossible to maintain the passport-free movement of EU member countries citizens under the Schengen system. Some of these concerns may be understandable. But France and Britain - both reluctant to accept their share of the refugee quotas - which have eagerly been backing the insurgency in Syria must not forget that the refugee crisis is a consequence of their own actions. And, of course, that applies even more to the US which has been leading military misadventures in the Muslim world, causing relentless conflict and chaos. They must now deal with the outcome of their own policies with their professed "ethical values" and respond to the humanitarian challenge in a humane fashion. While efforts are on to end the conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan as well as to defeat the so-called IS in both Iraq and Syria, the US and the EU need to offer at least temporary asylum to those seeking a secure existence. Since all refugees are required to get themselves registered upon entering European borders it should not be so difficult to have them return once peace is restored in their home countries.