E.U. Refugee Crisis
Brexit has influenced the refugee crisis in Europe due to the differences that develop in the national interests. Since World War II, European integration has influenced countries to increase their cross-border activities. The U.K. exit has challenged these activities to E.U., which has given Britain the power for independent thought and action (Wettbewerb, 2013). Boarders will exist, which will result in the creation of refugees in different countries. Borders created through Brexit will get used to creating immigration policies according to national interests. The E.U. allowed its citizens to travel, work, and live in any E.U. country without encountering challenges in getting formal documents. Schengen cooperation gets affected by Brexit as citizens will not freely cross Britain borders without border checks (Rawlinson et al., 2020). Business individuals will require more travel documents to access Britain’s markets, hence less cooperation in other member states.
Slovakia, Greece, and Hungary were against the E.U. scheme for spreading asylum seekers around all its member states. According to Tobler’s law, near countries should bear more burden than distant countries. Slovakia, Greece, and Hungary have national sovereignty to determine whether they can accommodate refugees who have not entered their countries as their first choice to seek asylum (Rankin, 2017). However, the countries have agreed to social and economic integration, which include sharing the refugee burden. Sweden, Denmark, and Germany are closer to the countries where asylum seekers originate from and get more affected by the huge number of asylum seekers on their shores. The responses given by these countries are related to nationalism and their need to control their population. The E.U. scheme has more benefits to these countries since they will have less economic and social burdens.
Migration policies between the United States and E.U. are different in the way they address the refugees. The E.U. does not provide restrictions to the asylum seekers (White, 2018). On the other hand, the U.S. has a zero-tolerance policy on undocumented migrants, especially those closing the American’s southern border. E.U.’s concerns on immigrants are based on the population, while U.S. policies are rooted in immigrants’ background.
References
Rankin, J. (2017). E.U. Court dismisses complaints by Hungary and Slovakia over refugee quotas. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/06/eu-court-dismisses-complaints-by-hungary-and-slovakia-over-refugees
Rawlinson, K., Topping, A., Murphy, S., Henley, J., Murray, J., Freedland, J., & Rawlinson, K. Brexit day: end of an era as the United Kingdom leaves E.U.–as it happened. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/jan/31/brexit-day-britain-prepares-leave-eu-live-news-updates?page
Wettbewerb. (2013). Europe – A borderless society? – Youthreporter. Youthreporter.eu. https://www.youthreporter.eu/en/beitrag/europe-a-borderless-society.9840/#.X1EktnkzbIV.
White, J. (2018). The facts behind the US-Mexico border crisis. Independent.co.uk. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/border-immigrants-facts-trump-us-mexico-children-families-separate-a8406831.html.