Addressing Massive Outflows Across the Mediterranean

Aljazeera:"UN urges countries to save boat refugees amid record number of drownings"
URL: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/12/10/unhcr-asylum-europe.html

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees placed estimates for asylum seekers at nearly 400,000 so far this year with more than half of these crossing the Mediterranean into Europe. This recent phenomenon is especially noteworthy given that estimates for this year have exceeded the previous historic peak of 70,000 by a factor of three.

With reported deaths for refugees in the Mediterranean posted at over 4,000 and with deaths continuing to rise, the Euro-zone is facing a unique challenge in controlling inflows of immigrants. States on the Mediterranean, seeking to mitigate inflows of asylum seekers are being forced to weigh the tradeoffs of providing to relief to desperate refugees: the possibility of encouraging greater immigration and the moral costs of allowing vulnerable populations to perish in the Mediterranean.

States within the Euro-zone need to arrive at a consensus on how to address the underlying causes of current immigration flows. By placing a heightened foreign policy emphasis at stabilizing surrounding regions, these states may be able to stem the outflows of these refugees. Additionally, if states within Europe can create a unified system under which refugees can receive asylum that can distribute the allocation of immigrants across states, it may mitigate negative effects incurred by the states as a whole.