Instead of helplessly facing refugees at borders, European and other world powers must form a common army to tackle the terrorist organisations, writes SK GUPTA
The unabated Civil War-like situation in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan has led to the inflow of migrants in large numbers to European countries through the Mediterranean sea. The migration problem has escalated to such an extent that EU countries have been forced to discuss and fix their capacity to provide asylum to migrants. Since the beginning of this year, almost six lakh migrants have sought asylum; they have, in fact, now started claiming their right to move to the countries of their choice.
The problem is grave and is bound to create financial as well as law and order problems, and will put additional load on the infrastructure of European countries on a massive scale.
Further, due to the existence of jihadis in West Asia, Hungary has been blunt in refusing refuge to migrants and has sealed its border with Croatia and Serbia to defy their entry. Thousands of migrants headed for Western Europe were stranded in fog and cold in Croatia and Serbia, and the new migrant route through Slovenia has significantly prolonged their week-long journey.
The irony is that the neighbours of victims of West Asia, the Arabian countries, have been indifferent to their plight.
European countries have mostly been receptive to providing refuge, especially after the death of Alan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian boy of Kurdish ethnic background whose image made global headlines after he drowned in the Mediterranean Sea.
US air strikes in Syria were insufficient to crush the terrorists till the emergence of Russian onslaught on jihadis, which may give some effective results. Still, barring the US, France, Britain and Russia, the entire world, including UN, is watching this menace helplessly as jihadi activities intensify in the affected areas.
For a permanent solution, they should force the initiators of this problem, the Shia-Sunni power centres of Iran and Saudi Arabia respectively, to mend their ways and stop fighting so that West Asians are not forced to take refuge in other countries.
The role of Russia, which is strengthening the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against two-pronged attacks from ISIS and Al Qaeda, is praiseworthy. Around 600 to 700 ISIS jihadis have been killed in the past 20 days. Recently, the US also claimed that Al Qaeda commander Sanafi al-Nasr had been killed in its air strikes.
lebanon’s Shia outfit Hezbollah and Iran have also deployed ground forces in Syria to help the Government forces’ onslaught on jihadis, which has led Syria to regain its lost territories of Aleppo etc from ISIS.
Though the US is also engaged in eliminating ISIS, it is said to be simultaneously training Al Qaeda terrorists against Syrian President to dethrone him. Earlier, the UK also tried to help rebel forces against Assad, deteriorating the situation in Syria.
Migrant problem might escalate soon because of inflow from African countries owing to the onslaught of an ISIS offshoot, Boko Haram, at one end and from Turkey at other end as its Kurdish minority population is facing discrimination from its own Government. Not long ago, a suicide bomb attack on Kurds’ silent protest march claimed 104 lives, and this may take a vital turn in the near future by forcing the Kurds to take refuge in EU.
Though Turkey has already given shelter to two to three million migrants, it is not happy with EU for not aiding it enough to meet the expenditure. The latest visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Turkey, where she said a 3 billion Euros aid package is in discussion, may ease the grievances of Turkey.
The root cause of the problems in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan is the sectarian conflict of interests between Shias and Sunnis, and the colonial legacy, which do not let them resolve their issues amicably. Contrarily, they are strengthening their respective terrorist organisations ISIS and Al Qaeda on one side, and Hezbollah and Houthis on the other.
Sectarian violence persists to this day from Pakistan to Yemen and is a major element of friction throughout the Middle East. Tension between communities intensified during power struggles, such as the Bahraini uprising, the Iraq War, and most recently the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars.
let us understand their internal status in detail. The formation of the self-styled ISIS and its advancement in Syria and Northern Iraq has been because of the fact that it is a Sunni jihadi group in addition to Al Qaeda, which was already in existence there. Both sides are fighting against Assad as he belongs to a minority Alawite sect of Shias, which is being supported by Shia terrorist organisation Hezbollah.
Around 2.5 lakh innocent people have been killed there and around 4.5 million people have either taken or are on the verge of taking refuge in other countries, including Europe, in the past four years.
In Iraq, the Sunni minority had allegiance with ISIS to oppose the majority Shia community, which has resulted in forcible occupation of its two major cities Mosul and Ramadi by ISIS and mass rape of Yazidi women. This has resulted in the killing of at least one million people in the last decade.
In the recent past also, who can forget a long war between Iraq of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, and Iran, a Shia country, which started in 1980 and ended in 1988, leading to a massive bloodshedIJ
In Yemen, Houthis, a Shia terrorist group, is fighting a fierce battle with the Sunni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is supported by Sunni majority country Saudi Arabia, which is conducting unabated daily air raids on Houthis, killing thousands of people, including children and women.
In Afghanistan too, the Shia-Sunni strife has mainly been a function of puritanical Taliban’s clashes with Shia Afghans, primarily the Hazara ethnic group.
The present migrant crisis needs a permanent solution, which may be achieved by restoring peace and stability in Syria by creating a highly protected safe zone by world powers wherein Syrians may stay safely. Continuance of migration may change the demography of Western countries and induction of jihadi elements in the form of refugees may take place not only in the West but might endanger the peace of other countries too.
At this stage, instead of facing West Asian refugees helplessly at their borders, the European and other world powers must unite to form an army at the ground level, aided with air cover to cope with the onslaught of Shia and Sunni terrorist organisations.
The UN should act swiftly in regard to PM Narendra Modi’s call for identifying and fighting with terrorism with full might or every country shall keep fighting the monster in its individual capacity.
Recent Russian air strikes on ISIS establishments and deployment of ground forces by lebanon outfit Hezbollah in Syria may diminish the onslaught of ISIS and Al Qaeda there.
However, the recent support of Russia to Assad and further allegiance of Iraq and Iran to Russia may pave the way for another confrontation and Cold War between Russia and the US in the long run. Instead, the US, EU and Russia must fight together against Shia-Sunni jihadis to ease the situation in West Asia.
The writer is Ex General Manager, BHEl