While political leaders in Europe are focusing on destroying smugglers’ boats and reinforcing migration control policies in response to the Mediterranean crisis, Professor Alexander Betts argues that in their search for easy solutions:

'European politicians are taking the easy option of failing to understand the wider world of which Europe is a part'.

Writing in The Guardian this weekend, he states:

'The problem is far broader than a border control issue; it goes to the heart of the way in which we collectively protect and assist refugees and displaced populations. The global refugee regime, based on the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, creates an obligation on states to protect and assist refugees who reach their territory, yet around the world its core principles are under threat… In both the global north and south, the right of refugees to seek asylum is being eroded'.

He highlights that solutions to the current crisis must be based in a “reaffirmation of the need to uphold asylum and refugee protection, and to see these as a shared global responsibility'.

Read the article.

Professor Betts has been interviewed and written extensively about the crisis over the past week:

• The Conversation (blog)
• CNN's Amanpour (video)
• NPR's Here & Now (radio)
• BBC World News (video)
• BBC World News Business Edition (video)
• BBC World Service Newsday (section 14.05-20.15) (radio)
• BBC 5 Live Drive (section 1.10.45-1.16.00) (radio)