At the dinner table at home in Germany, we often discuss the plight my cousin in Syria faces. We talk about how my dad eventually convinced him not to hire a trafficker to sneak him out of his war-torn homeland and into neighbouring Turkey. We try to figure out a way to get my cousin out without having him risk his life along the way. The injustice of the migration system that criminalizes people’s attempts to seek refuge makes me sick. But this is not the only thing wrong with the recent European debate on the refugee crisis. It is surprising how the European and international media and political elites are celebrating German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her “humanitarian turn” in the refugee crisis, putting her on a pedestal as Europe’s conscience on the refugee crisis. The fact of the matter is that the recent change in Merkel’s migration and asylum policy isn’t half as progressive or humanitarian as commentators and enthusiasts are painting it. In fact, it is a selective opening driven by economic considerations and a demographic pressure for immigration at least as much as by concerns about…
