News & Comment

Europe’s Dirty Secret

News:

Greece’s Aegean Isles have become de facto detention facilities – a dumping ground for nearly 14,000 stranded souls, unable to move until permits are processed and fearful of what lies ahead.

“Anything could happen because everything is hanging by a thread,” says Makis Mylonas, a policy adviser at the town hall. “Chios, Samos, Lesvos, Kos, Leros were sacrificed in the name of Europe’s fixation to keep immigrants out,” he claims, listing the isles that continue to bear the brunt of the flows. (Guardian Newspaper, 28/4/2017)

Comment:

The report entitled “Europe’s Dirty Secret” highlights the plight of refugees who have made it to Europe and are waiting asylum processing.

One refugee is quoted, “You could say geography brought me here,” said the Nigerian, a broad smile momentarily dousing his otherwise dour demeanor. “But it was not supposed to keep me prisoner.”

Reading about the appalling conditions and treatment of refugees so regularly, it is best to say that this is beyond just a secret but truly indicative of the legacy of the Western Capitalist disaster that is playing with human lives all over the world.

Creating havoc in lands far away for geopolitical gains and resources started with overt colonial ambitions in the 1700’s and 1800’s and today it is no different. The only difference is that those whom have been afflicted are turning up on Europe’s door step and so it is getting quite uncomfortable. Strict immigration policies and rise of the far right and so on are a direct response to this phenomenon.

Western Capitalism’s view of the human being has created a world where the ones that are oppressed, bombed and poor are seen as the burden and not the victim. The policies of the Western governments are responsible for the influx of refugees and now those same governments are playing with lives again. Processing people in an asylum system that is lengthy and uncertain; meanwhile the places of refuge are unsafe, unhygienic and offer little sanctuary.

Islam has a unique view of how to treat people. If one lives or seeks sanctuary in Dar al Islam, one is treated as a citizen with full rights, regardless of religion or race. All citizens must be given basic rights and the state has to provide shelter, education, etc. Also, Islam’s foreign policy is based on spreading the mercy of Islam with its system, not bombing cities to obliteration or stripping countries of their resources and getting surprised if people then leave!

The world’s oppressed have nowhere to go today to secure their rights and cannot be guaranteed safety, acceptable living standards and basic rights in their own lands. Just as it all seems to be closing in, we live in the hope of the promise of Allah (swt):

﴿وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ﴾

“But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.” [Al Ankaboot: 3]

The ugly face of Capitalism is exposed again and again and its replacement by a fair and just system, the Islamic Caliphate on the method of the Prophethood, is the most pressing need of our time.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by

Nazia Rehman