Translated "Avante" article by Jorge Cadima, Member of the International Department

"Refugees, once again"

The refugee crisis, begun long ago and much has been said. It has been widely mentioned, and what currently struck the media’s attention was just the fact the crisis had reached Europe. For those countries, devastated by imperialist wars, and their neighbours, the crisis exists for many years. Since World War II, there are many more refugees than ever ( stated by the UN), owing to the fact that every year the list of devastated countries by the USA, NATO and the European Union powers war and plunder policies, grows.

According to the UNHCR Statistical Yearbook 2010, the UN agency for the refugees (non-Palestinian), had round 34 million refugees and displaced (in or outside their country of origin), at the end of the year. Of the about 10.5 million external refugees, 80% were sheltered by developing countries and, therefore, the media ignored the tragedy. The two main refugee origin countries were Afghanistan , a victim of the USA invasion, in 2001, having 3 million refugees in the exterior, and Iraq, a victim of Bush, Blair and Durão Barroso war, in 2003 ( whose support to this war ought to have resulted in his nomination as president of the European Commission), with 1.7million. During that time, Syria was the third greatest host country, after Pakistan and Iran, sheltering more than a million refugees. Libya, a country according to the UN Programme for Development ( UNDP) reports, held the highest Africa Human Development Index, hosted at that time,, thousands of African workers amid its economy. Meanwhile, Syria and Libya were destroyed by the NATO , USA and EU wars. Libya became the greatest open door of access for African refugees seeking Europe, by crossing the Mediterranean, where frequently they found death. And therefore, Syria, reduced to wreckage by bands, at the service of the self-proclaimed “Friends of Syria”, became, according to the UNHCR Statistical Yearbook, 2013, the second largest country of refugee origin, with numbers similar to Afghanistan, both with 2.5million. During that year, developing countries carried on to host the great majority of refugees: 86% of the total, according to the UNHCR. And the Western media remained silent.

Currently, the Syrian refugees drama, who reach Europe, is highly mentioned. But who decided to intervene militarily in Syria? One ought not to forget headlines such as :” An insurgent army which alleges to hold 15 000men , is being monitored from Turkey[a NATO member] in order to confront president Assad” ( in The Telegraph, 2011.11.03); “ The CIA is accused of helping to send weapons for the Syrian opposition” (in New York Times, 2012.06.21); “ German spy ship helps Syrian rebels” (in Deutsche Welle, 2012.08.20); or “ Gulf states pay Free Syrian Army salaries” (in ABC news, 2012.04.01). And one ought to pay attention on what might be hidden behind the sudden media interest on refugees. Cameron, the British prime-minister, wants “ a military intervention in order to resolve the Syrian crisis” and an ex – Archbishop of Canterbury ( the Church of England spiritual leader) defends “air attacks and other type of military assistance in order to create safe enclaves and “shelters within Syria” (in The Telegraph, 2015.09.05). In other words, more war is expected to manage with the debris provoked by their wars ( or, at least to keep them away from Her Majesty’s lands). And King Salman of Saudi Arabia, one of the fundamentalist bands greatest sponsors, that have destroyed Syria, met Nobel Prize Obama, to hear that” the Pentagon is ultimating an armament agreement with Saudi Arabia of a thousand million dollars, to provide weapons for the war effort against [???] the Islamic State and Yemen (in New York Times, 2015.09.04). Pyromaniacs do not take a leave.

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