Migrants in a frozen Europe and which way to go

By Simon Mone

The migration story continues, and does not seem to end any time soon. Only because with each day that passes, we unveil one episode after another in this migration fairy-tale. The last four years have been dominated by mass exodus of people from troubled countries to mainly Europe.

It has been widely publicised that once they arrive, they occupy squalid conditions, not befitting humanity. Despite many attempts to try and provide solutions, it has been not easy. And many migrants have been left stranded. With the freezing winter temperatures in Europe, you can imagine the conditions migrants find themselves in. Continuously shut out to destitute lives.

And European countries don't seem to offer satisfactory. Therefore, thousands of homeless migrants find themselves relegated to freezing conditions, in shelters that are not designed to withstand winter temperatures. This has definitely worsened an already unbearable situation for men, women and children who thought that they were safe seeking refuge in Europe.

Migrants occupy buildings without windows, no beds, no heating facilities, no water, and no toilets. They sleep on floors, and resort to bonfires to keep them warm. For this group of migrants, the situation calls for very urgent humanitarian attention. Unless these conditions are improved, we can expect especially migrant kids to experience hell in the next few winter months,

Efforts aimed at stopping the inflow of migrants towards Europe including the less-than-favourable deal between EU and Turkey have not attained the much-needed result. This problem continues. And nobody knows where the solution is going to come from. So today, people are severely lacking appropriate assistance and this is endangering their lives.

There is no doubt that the happenings are among the most inhumane sufferings caused by reluctance of some authorities at getting a once-for-all solution. It could easily be seen as a means to deter migrants who are seeking safety and protection in Europe. To make it even sickening, authorities have continued to restrict humanitarian assistance from going to needy people.

The aim seems to be to stop humanitarian assistance from reaching needy people so that they are forced to return to their troubled origins. So migrants have to go hungry and without warm clothing to protect them from the cold. They are thus left to stare at death.

This failure of authorities has left many needy people in dilemma. And this continues to expose the already vulnerable people to even more suffering. And probably we will see scores of people dying of hypothermia as has already been reported. They are clearly paying the price of our negligence, even when it is within our means to support needy people. Despite all the pledges of support that have been made in recent years, the promises have not been completely fulfilled. This is outrageous.

No measures seem to be in place to ensure that refugees and migrants get accommodated in decent shelters. And the destitute men, women and children are resigned to living in makeshift tents. The overcrowded camps together with the lack of winter preparedness could give rise to a completely new health and safety emergency altogether for those stranded migrants.

Many more migrants are at risk of freezing to death if immediate a workable solution is not found. But despite the conditions, migrants still continue to arrive. And even though with attempts to deter, deport and detain them, they continue to knock on the doors for assistance. But given the terrible conditions to which the migrants subjected, there is need for practical solutions. This solution is to open up, welcome migrants and give them decent living conditions.

The writer is a civil engineer