The Migration Crisis In The EU: Between 9/11 and Climate Cha

[Oscar]

The Migration Crisis In The EU: Between 9/11 And Climate Change

[ http://www.socialeurope.eu/2015/09/the- ... te-change/ ]

by David Held on 10 September 2015 Social Europe

In the wake of the mounting migration crisis in Europe, Global Policy Journal General Editor David Held unpicks the reasons behind the upsurge in people crossing the Mediterranean and offers policy responses that suggest the need for a universal constitutional order. . . . .

EXCERPT: Concluding Remarks

The growing crisis of migration, as Pierre Hassner once wrote, ‘like the problem of genocide, or of the environment, or of nuclear proliferation, can be handled only by going beyond the monopoly of states toward a more universal perspective, such as that of human rights, or a more global one, such as that of a collective interest of the planet’. As Hassner recognised, the question is whether ‘an effective synthesis of the global and the local, the universal and the particular’ remains within the sphere of the possible.

Stepping stones to a universal constitutional order, linking the global and the local, are, I have argued elsewhere, already in place, set down by some of the most important achievements of international law and institution building in the 20th century. These developments generate a conception of rightful authority tied to human rights and democratic values. In this perspective, political power is legitimate, if, and only if, it upholds these standards. Moreover, the link between territory, sovereignty, and rightful authority, is, in principle, broken since rightful authority can be exercised in many spheres and many levels – local, subnational, national and supranational. Accordingly, citizenship can be envisaged, as it already is in the EU, as equal membership in the diverse, overlapping political communities, which uphold common civic political values and standards. Citizenship, accordingly, is not built on exclusive membership in a single community, but on a set of principles and legal arrangements which link people together in diverse communities which significantly affect them.

Stepping stones, yes. But it remains another big step to extend these principles and arrangements to the stateless. Short term extensions policies in the EU could include: centrally funded reception centres; coordinated legal routes through which migrants can travel to seek refuge; robust asylum quotas for all member states; tackling human trafficking; and providing direct aid to refugee camps in the Middle East which are currently home to millions of displaced people. Short-term working visas and limited working passes are also among options to ease the crises of the stateless while offering universal hospitality in an era of overlapping communities of fate.

Even if this were granted (and we are a long way from this happening), the problem would only be stemmed – not resolved. Only when people live securely in a world where sustainable development is promoted in all regions, where severe inequalities between countries are tempered and reduced, and where a universal constitutional order guarantees the rights of all peoples, could this begin to be envisaged. Cosmopolitan ideals, but still, far from realities.

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David Held is Master of University College and Professor of Politics and International Relations at Durham University.