Hamburg – ESI at conference on Forced Migration in Global Perspective

6 December 2018
Gerald Knaus. Photo: GIGA
Gerald Knaus. Photo: GIGA

ESI's Gerald Knaus was invited to speak at an event on forced migration organised by the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg.

He argued that nobody who reaches Europe should be pushed into a situation where they are likely to be tortured or killed. Nobody must be left to drown. No European society can embrace racist theories. When Viktor Orban referred in February 2018 to London as an example of a city where European civilisation has already been defeated, he alluded to the racist stories of those who worry about a Muslim mayor or about cities with big non-White, non-Christian populations. Pragmatism can never mean indulging such politics or accepting the idea of borders to be closed "at whatever price". For political and humanitarian reasons, we need to reduce irregular arrivals. The only way to reduce the loss of lives is to combine sea rescues with efforts so that fewer people get into boats. The humane way to achieve this is to make clear that anyone not in need of international protection will be returned to their countries of origin within weeks of arrival. We should also offer countries of origin mobility and quotas for regular migration.

Knaus. Photo: GIGA
Photo: GIGA

In the morning before leaving for Hamburg, Gerald gave an interview to Deutsche Welle on ESI's proposals for migration policy. The interview is also available in English: Gerald Knaus: "There is no right to migrate.", Spanish: La entrevista - Gerald Knaus: "No existe el derecho a la migración", and Polish: Ekspert ds. migracji: "Nie ma prawa do migracji". It was aired on 9 December.

Gerald Knaus: "Es gibt kein Recht auf Migration". Video: Deutsche Welle