Tents in football fields: that is not Europe

“Pushing back boats from piers, setting fire to refugee camps, or turning a blind eye to poor and helpless people: that is not Europe” said President Juncker addressing the European Parliament Plenary during his State of the Union speech. I couldn’t agree more. Installing tents in football fields expecting that this could be a shelter for people who fled war and terror: that is not Europe, either. The refugee crisis is putting into test the very qualities of our continent and let’s face it, our response has not been adequate so far. The main reason for that is the illusion that this is a crisis that it’s going to end at some point. But the truth is that the issue is here to stay.

Large scale migration towards and within Europe is the new norm for four reasons. First, climate change and drought reshape the environment in which people live in and trigger their search for alternatives. The economic osmosis of the recent years is changing the living conditions in many countries pushing more and more people to move in search of better quality of life. The internal market only accelerates these mobility trends within the EU. Imponderables such as emerging warzones generate refugee waves like the most recent one from Syria. Finally, demographics set another major challenge for European communities regarding working opportunities and insurance systems, increasing thus (labour) mobility. The sooner we will understand this reality the better we can reap the benefits and face the bottlenecks. There is no time to lose from developing adequate solutions multilaterally.

EU leaders have recently agreed upon the European Commission Action Plan that will relocate asylum seekers among member states. This may only be the first link in the chain of responses to the issue. The EU institutions should set the framework for a long-term approach that will prepare European countries and local actors to deal with a new reality rather than with an emergency at the present. This long-term approach should recognize the housing and integration needs and facilitate measures which have been affected by austerity measures in almost all European countries. On the other hand EU shall offer coordination. The “hotspots” that have already been announced may be also used to inform the countries of destination of the refugees about the profile of the people who will be arriving. In this way, national authorities along with municipalities and housing associations can provide the optimal housing solutions tailored to the needs of single persons, young people, families with children etc.

Thinking out of the box can unlock solutions and generate additional housing capacity adapted to the group of recognized refugees.. Transformation of empty public buildings, for instance, can be a good start. That is already happening, for example in Nijmegen, Netherlands where the municipality and the social housing corporations offered housing to 100 Eritreans in former student apartments. This is a way to overcome the cuts in public spending for affordable and strike the balance with the constantly increasing demand. We know that waiting lists for a social home are growing in most EU countries and the influx of additional people in need is testing the resilience of the structures in place. 

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