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David Miliband Condemns ‘Mean-Minded’ European Response to Migrant Crisis

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David Miliband, the British former foreign secretary and current head of humanitarian relief organization the International Rescue Committee, has called the European response to the migrant crisis unfolding on the continent’s shores “short-sighted and mean-minded.”

Europe is struggling to handle an influx of migrants and refugees from the Middle East and West Africa, displaced people in the hundreds of thousands fleeing unrest or poverty in the hope of resettling in more stable countries across the Mediterranean. But governments across Europe are stymied as to how to deal with what has become an unfolding humanitarian crisis. European leaders cannot agree who should bear the largest burden of the many thousands of refugees who have arrived on the continent in 2015. The U.N.’s High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, on Friday called it Europe’s “moment of truth.”

But Miliband, whose organization provides support for refugees in 40 countries and resettles thousands of refugees in 22 U.S. cities on Friday told TIME that leaders in Europe could be doing more to help. “The European response has been pretty feeble,” he said, “and I think European leaders are now trying to make up for lost time.”

Below is a lightly edited transcript of TIME’s telephone conversation with Miliband:

TIME: How would you describe the current crisis?

David Miliband: I think this is a human crisis and a political crisis. It’s human crisis because the war in Syria, and to a lesser extent the continuing wars in Afghanistan and in the Congo, and the pressure on the neighboring states to those wars, has produced a flow of people the like of which Europe hasn’t seen really in the post-second World War period.

The scale of human misery is dramatically shown by the lengths people are willing to go to escape from these war torn countries. The estimates are that over 300,000 refugees are already in Europe and significant numbers are already planning their route into Europe, so in the first instance it’s a human crisis but it’s also a political crisis because Europe has been unable to respond in a unified and effective way.

Over the last two or three years, Europe, as TIME has reported, has been focussed on the the Greek euro crisis, and focussed on the Ukraine crisis with Russia, and it has not been focussed on this looming refugee crisis. It’s been a big issue in Italy and in Greece, which are the main recipient countries, but it’s been ignored by the rest of Europe.

See the Children Caught in Europe's Refugee Crisis

Hungary Migrants refugees children
Syrian refugee Raed Alabdou, 24, holds his one-month old daughter Roa'a, while he and his wife hide in a field not to be seen by Hungarian policemen, after they crossed the Serbian-Hungarian border near Roszke, southern Hungary, on Sept. 11, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP
Hungary Migrants refugees children
Bara'ah Alhammadi, 10, a Syrian refugee, is carried on the back of her father as they make their way along a railway track after they crossed the Serbian-Hungarian border near Roszke, on Sept. 11, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP
Hungary Migrants refugees children
A man carrying his daughter on his shoulder walks on a railway toward a makeshift camp for asylum seekers in Roszke, on Sept. 10, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP
Hungary Migrants refugees children
Syrian refugee Hussein Sbaih, 18, center, carries his cousin Saifuallah, 7, whose legs are broken, after they crossed the Serbian-Hungarian border near Roszke, on Sept. 11, 2015.Muhammed Muheisen—AP
Hungary Migrants refugees children
Syrian refugee child Zaid Hussein, 4, is held by his mother while sitting inside their tent at a makeshift camp for asylum seekers in Roszke, on Sept. 11, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP
Hungary Migrants refugees children
Iraqi refugee Umm Fadil tends to her crying son Ahmad, 41 days, while resting by a railway track after they crossed the Serbian-Hungarian border near Roszke, on Sept. 11, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP
Hungary Migrants refugees children
Syrian refugee child Jana Makkiyeh, 3, whose family comes from Damascus, Syria, holds a teddy bear while standing near her family's tent at a makeshift camp for asylum seekers in Roszke, on Sept. 10, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP
Hungary Migrants refugees children
A Syrian refugee child looks out of a bus that will take him and his family to the center for asylum seekers near Roszke, on Sept. 11, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP

How would you grade the European response so far?

I think the European response has been short-sighted and mean-minded with honorable exceptions. Notably Germany, but also Sweden, and also Italy and Greece. Most of Europe has wanted to pretend this is someone else’s problem. In fact, the Hungarian Prime Minister said today this is a German problem. Where as in truth, it’s originally a Syrian problem and is now a global problem with repercussions not just in Europe but elsewhere. And so the European response has been pretty feeble, and I think European leaders are now trying to make up for lost time.

What should they be doing?

I think three things are absolutely vital. One, Europe has to find a way to share out the refugees who do arrive in Europe. Point number two, Europe needs proper registration and processing of people, so that the majority who are refugees fleeing war torn countries with a well founded fear of persecution are separated from those who are economic immigrants seeking a better life who don’t have the same rights as refugees. And thirdly, Europe needs to up its game in terms of supporting the countries that are neighboring Syria, notably Lebanon and Jordan, but also Turkey and Iraq, because one of the reasons there is an explosion now is because those neighboring states to Syria have finally found themselves unable to cope with the 4.5 million refugees who have poured out of Syria over the last four years.

[One of the biggest misconceptions about the crisis] is that countries like the U.S. or European countries are bearing an undue share of the burden. Where as in fact, 86% of the world’s refugees are in developing poor countries. And so if you think about the Syria crisis, the vast bulk of the refugees are in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq. I mean, Lebanon has got 1.6 million refugees and a population of 4.5 million. Jordan, a country of 6.5 million people, has got at least 700,000 refugees. Turkey has nearly 2 million refugees; it’s a much bigger country obviously, 80 million people. The greatest burden is borne by relatively lower income countries in the developing world.

Is there more the U.S. can do?

The U.S. has historically been a leader in refugee resettlement. The overall numbers are that about 150,000 people a year are currently being resettled through the U.N. and other agencies and the U.S. has traditionally taken 70,000. Obviously this year the number of refugees resettled is many much higher, but the U.S. number of Syrian refugees is only 1,434 over the four years of the conflict.

Last week, the State Department said it would increase that number to between 5,000 and 8,000 over the next year, but that still leaves the U.S. lagging far behind countries like Germany, and we have been calling for some time, and now 14 Senators are sponsoring a resolution in the U.S. Congress, that the U.S. should take 65,000 refugees by the end of next year, the end of 2016, not least because there are successful Syrian-American communities in Detroit and in California who are ready to welcome those people.

Why do you think this surge is happening now?

There’s a very straightforward reason, which we’ve been warning about for the last year, which is the situation in the neighboring states of Syria has become close to intolerable. Lebanon, with the 1.6 million refugees, Jordan with 700,000, the strains and stresses on those societies have become very great indeed; on healthcare, on water, on education. I mean, there are 350,000 Syrian kids in Lebanon not getting education. These societies that have been hit by these massive refugee flows are buckling under the strain, and that’s essentially the first reason why you’ve got this upsurge. The second reason is obviously that the conflict in Syria is metastasizing and involving ISIS in a whole new way, and that’s created an environment of terror for a lot of people.

Should the West be doing more in Syria? The British Prime Minister David Cameron has suggested a more active role.

As long as U.N. peacekeeping in Africa is underfunded and undermanned, as long as the Syrian crisis is left to a single U.N. official to try to resolve rather than having the political and diplomatic muscle of the U.S. and other members of the Security Council, then we’ll only be dealing with the symptoms of the problem rather than just the problems at the source. David Cameron is right to say we need a much greater effort both on the political side and on the humanitarian side in the Syria crisis, and it’s important that all relevant countries are part of that.

What has the International Rescue Committee done so far?

We are working from Lebanon to Lesvos. We are an international humanitarian organization which obviously is focused mainly on war zones and neighboring states to conflict. And so we are working inside Syria, delivering healthcare and some education and some economic support for civilians caught up in the fighting. We’re working in the four neighboring states of Syria delivering health, education, protection for women from violence.

But over the last four months, we’ve sent an emergency team to Lesvos, which is one of the main Greek islands that are receiving refugees, and we’re working with partners on three other Islands that together constitute about two-thirds of the total refugee flow into Europe now. And there, we’re offering very basic water and sanitation, toilets, sleeping bags, information, some protection of kids, and really we are there to give people a chance once they’ve made it onto the shores of Europe on these Greek islands.

When we first went to Lesvos there were 200 people coming a day, now it was 4,000 a day last weekend. You’ll have probably seen reports about increasing tension on these islands because many of the refugees arriving who are intending to move on to mainland Europe can’t get off the island because of blockages because the ferries are already full of tourists and others, because these are mainly tourists islands. And so we’re trying to work to provide some protection and some dignity in those situations, and we’re able to offer a ground level view, both from within Greece but also from within the Middle East.

These Photos Show the Massive Scale of Europe’s Migrant Crisis

Greece Migrants
Syrian and Afghan refugees warm themselves and dry their clothes around a fire after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, early on Oct. 7, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP
migrant refugee greece
A migrant who recently arrived across the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey, watching a ferry in the port of Mytilene, Lesbos island, Greece, on Oct. 5, 2015.Zoltan Balogh—EPA
refugees migrants Lesbos Greek islands
An Afghan wades to the shore after arriving in an overloaded rubber dinghy on the coast near Skala Sikaminias, Lesbos island, Greece, Oct. 1, 2015. Filip Singer—EPA
Syrian refugees Lesbos Greece
Syrian refugees are covered with life blankets upon arriving to the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, on Sept. 28, 2015. Aris Messinis—AFP/Getty Images
migrants refugees Lesbos
Migrants and refugees arrive on Sykamia beach, west of the port of Mytilene, on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, on Sept. 22, 2015. Iakovos Hatzistavrou—AFP/Getty Images
Croatia Migrants
Migrants and refugees board a train by climbing through the windows as they try to avoid a police barrier at the station in Tovarnik, Croatia, on Sept. 20, 2015. Manu Brabo—AP
Croatia Migrants
A Syrian refugee boy cries while he and his family try to board a train at the station in Tovarnik, Croatia, on Sept. 20, 2015.Manu Brabo—AP
migrants hungary serbia border clash
A migrant holds his child during a clash with Hungarian riot police at the Horgos border crossing in Serbia, on Sept. 16, 2015.Sergey Ponomarev—The New York Times/Redux
migrants serbia
Migrants sleep on a highway in front of a barrier at the border with Hungary near the village of Horgos, Serbia, on Sept. 16, 2015. Marko Djurica—Reuters
Hungary Serbia border
A wagon equipped with razor wire is placed at the border between Hungary and Serbia in Roszke, some 10 miles southeast from Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 14, 2015, to close the gap of the temporary border fence at the Horgos-Szeged railway line. Balazs Mohai—EPA
refugees migrants Lesbos
A refugee reacts from exhaustion while swimming towards the shore after a dinghy carrying Syrian and Afghan refugees before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos, on Sept. 13, 2015. Alkis Konstantinidis—Reuters
refugees migrants Hungary
Syrian people sleep inside a greenhouse at a makeshift camp for asylum seekers near Roszke, southern Hungary, on Sept. 13, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP
Hungary Migrants refugees children
Syrian refugee Raed Alabdou, 24, holds his one-month old daughter Roa'a, while he and his wife hide in a field not to be seen by Hungarian policemen, after they crossed the Serbian-Hungarian border near Roszke, southern Hungary, on Sept. 11, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP
refugees migrants macedonia
Migrants and refugees beg Macedonian police to allow passage to cross the border from Greece into Macedonia during a rainstorm, near the Greek village of Idomeni, on Sept. 10, 2015. Yannis Behrakis—Reuters
refugees migrants Morahalom Hungary
Migrants run over a motorway from a collection point that had been set up to transport people to camps in Morahalom, Hungary, on Sept. 9, 2015.Dan Kitwood—Getty Images
syrian refugee migrant hungary
A young Syrian man from Damascus tries to evade the Hungarian police by sneaking through a forest close to the Serbian border in Morahalom, Hungary, on Sept. 8, 2015. Dan Kitwood—Getty Images
refugees migrants Serbia
Migrants cross into Hungary as they walk over railroad tracks at the Serbian border with Hungary in Horgas, Serbia, on Sept. 7, 2015.Dan Kitwood— Getty Images
refugee migrant Lesbos
A refugee from Syria prays after arriving on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos aboard an inflatable dinghy across the Aegean Sea from Turkey, on Sept. 7, 2015. Angelos Tzortzinis—AFP/Getty Images
syrian refugees migrants greek coast guard
A migrant scrambles to climb back aboard a rubber dinghy full of his fellow Syrians as they try to cross from Turkey to the Greek islands on their way to claim asylum in the European Union, late on Sept. 6, 2015.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
syrian refugees migrants greek coast guard
A Syrian migrant aboard a flimsy rubber motorboat hands his one-month-old baby to Greek coast guards, who have arrived to rescue the boat full of migrants from dangerous waters near the border between Greece and Turkey, early on Sept. 7, 2015.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
Greece Migrants
A young Syrian boy is wrapped with a thermal blanket as he arrives with others at the coast on a dinghy after crossing from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos, Greece, on Sept. 7, 2015.Petros Giannakouris—AP
Greece Migrants
Refugees and migrants wait to cross the border from the northern Greek village of Idomeni to southern Macedonia, on Sept. 7, 2015. Giannis Papanikos—AP
Migrants walk along rail tracks as they arrive to a collection point in the village of Roszke, Hungary
Migrants walk along rail tracks as they arrive to a collection point in the village of Roszke, Hungary, on Sept. 6, 2015.Marko Djurica—Reuters
migrant refugees train macedonia
Migrant families ride a train from Gevgelija to the Serbian border in Macedonia, on Sept. 4, 2015.Dan Kitwood—Getty Images
Italy Migrants refugees
Migrants crowd the bridge of the Norwegian Siem Pilot ship sailing along the Mediterranean sea, on Sept. 2, 2015. Gregorio Borgia—AP
Aylan Kurdi boy drowned
A Turkish gendarme carries the body of Alan Kurdi, 3, who drowned along with his brother Galip, 5, and their mother, in a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos, in the coastal town of Bodrum, Turkey, on Sept. 2, 2015.Reuters
Migrant crisis
Dozens of refugee families, mostly from Syria, camped near the Keleti train station in Budapest, Hungary on Sept. 2, 2015.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
Migrant crisis
A Syrian migrant bids farewell to the Hungarian volunteers who welcomed him upon his arrival in the European Union in Szeged, Hungary on Aug. 30, 2015.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
refugees migrants Hungarian-Serbian border
A father of a migrants family is arrested by the local police near the village of Roszke on the Hungarian-Serbian border on Aug. 28, 2015.Attila Kisbender—AFP/Getty Images
Syrian migrants cross under a fence as they enter Hungary at the border with Serbia, near Roszke
Syrian migrants cross under a fence as they enter Hungary at the border with Serbia, near Roszke, on Aug. 27, 2015. Bernadett Szabo—Reuters
Hungary border fence migrants refugees
Hungarian soldiers install a wire fence at the border between Hungary and Serbia near Hercegszanto, 115 miles southeast from Budapest, on Aug. 25, 2015. Tamas Soki—EPA
syrian migrant refugee girl greece
A little girl from Syria looks out of a bus as the ferry she arrived in is reflected in the bus window at the port of Piraeus, Greece, on Aug. 25, 2015. Petros Giannakouris—AP
Macedonian police clash with refugees at blocked border
Children cry as migrants waiting on the Greek side of the border break through a cordon of Macedonian special police forces to cross into Macedonia, near the southern city of Gevgelija, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Aug. 21, 2015.Georgi Licovski—EPA
Calais migrants
Gendarmerie attempt to prevent people from entering the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, Calais, France on July 30, 2015.Rob Stothard—Getty Images
Kos Migrants Greece
Life vests and a deflated dinghy are seen on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, following the arrival of Afghan immigrants, on May 30, 2015.Yannis Behrakis—Reuters

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