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Lessons from Kosovo for the refugee crisis (Koha)

By   /  28/09/2015  /  No Comments

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Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj writes in his opinion piece that the current leaders of the European Union are finding it difficult to make big decisions when it comes to, what they are calling, the biggest refugee crisis in the history of the European Union. “The only person up to the task is German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said she would welcome all those in need of shelter. Others are either lining up around her and the calls for a comprehensive European response to the crisis, or are lining up against her, criticizing and blaming her that she is further deteriorating the problem arguing that her statements have served as an additional motive for even more Syrians, Iraqis and others to head toward the EU”. Drawing a parallel to the refugee crisis during the 1999 conflict in Kosovo, Palokaj writes, “the wave of Kosovar refugees was stopped only after the end of the war in 1999. The majority of people who fled Kosovo did so only because of the war. This was why most of them decided to stay in Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro, as they were confident that NATO would win, Milosevic’s regime would lose and they would be able to return to their homes. Their hopes did not let them go far away from their homes. They however lost this hope 15 years later and this is why they now want to leave as much as those who are fleeing war. This is a lesson that the international community must take into account when handling the refugee crisis from Syria … A lesson from the case of Kosovo is that only a firm intervention to end a conflict can stop a large wave of refugees. The Kosovo example also shows that a lot of work needs to be done in post-conflict countries to create normal living conditions so that several years later people won’t flee again because their hopes have died away and they want to flee the reality of their country and not out of fear”.

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  • Published: 9 years ago on 28/09/2015
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  • Last Modified: September 28, 2015 @ 2:19 pm
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