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DEFENDERS
15
not been unison. Slovakia declared that it would
only take in Christians; reasoning that due to its
very low Muslim population, Muslim migrants
would not be able to fit in the Slovak society.
Hungary barb-wired its borders in an attempt to
prevent the refugees entering the country. In the
last week of August a grim discovery shocked and
angered some EU leaders. A refrigerated truck
abandoned on a freeway in Austria contained the
lifeless bodies of 71 refugees.
The Root Cause
When the protests, initially peaceful, began in
Libya, following the protests inTunisia, expectedly
the Qaddafi regime used excessive force to quash
the protests. Gradually, the situation spun out of
control and a civil war began. Leading the way,
France urged the UN Security Council to do
something about the death of innocent civilians,
and eventually a resolution was issued that created
a no fly zone over Libyan airspace.
Soon on the pretext of this resolution, the French
air force started bombing Qaddafi’s troops which
led to the topplng of the regime. All the various
tribes and factions and armed groups who fought
against Qaddafi could not reach an agreement on
how and by Whow the country should be run.
When the unrests began in Syria, Russia, a
close ally of the country, who was furious over
the events in Libya, was resolute to not let the
Libyan mistake happen again and subsequently
vetoed numerous Security Council resolutions.
The western countries and some Syrian
neighbouring countries took the matters in their
own hands and began arming and training rebels
in Syria, the so-called Syria Free Army. But it
did not take long for extremist groups like ISIS
and the Al-Nusra Front to enter the fight, and the
regional countries and the west began to choose
and pick who to supply. And the conflict which
at first could have easily been avoided through
regional cooperation, turned into a bloody
devastating war.
Conclusion
What is happening in Europe today is the
fruition of disastrous polices of the United States,
its regional allies and the European Union. It is
high time that all the bickering and finger pointing
are stopped and the international community
especially the instigators, got together and found a
quick, sensible and lasting solution for the region’s
problems.
It should also be reminded to the EU countries
that despite all the sanctions and even the 8
year enforced Iraq-Iran war, Iran successfully
played host to almost 3,000,000 Afghan and
Iraqi refugees, providing them with food, shelter,
health services and safety.
Therefore it should not be too difficult for the
EU with all its available facilities to take in these
refugees, even if it is for a temporary basis until
the region becomes stable again.
It should also be reminded to the EU
countries that despite all the sanctions
and even the 8 year enforced Iraq-Iran
war, Iran successfully played host to
almost 3,000,000 Afghan and Iraqi
refugees, providing them with food,
shelter, health services and safety