Europe has voiced deep concerns over the displaced people in Lebanon and Gaza due to Israeli airstrikes, leading to a migration crisis in the Middle East.
The Freedom Party’s victory in the Austrian general elections coincides with intensified Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, leading to over a million people being displaced from their homes, including a substantial number of Syrian refugees who had fled to Lebanon nearly a decade ago to escape the war in their country.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati reported that the strikes have significantly impacted the already vulnerable refugee population.
This displacement includes thousands of Syrians returning to their homeland along with an increasing number of Lebanese, only to find a country still ravaged by war.
Earlier this month, a United Nations inquiry committee warned of “new waves of hostility” in Syria, a report by The Spectator magazine highlighted.
The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East is expected to instill fear across Europe.
Last weekend, foreign ministers from the UK, France, and Germany called for a ceasefire, emphasizing that a diplomatic solution is the sole path to restoring security and stability for the people of Lebanon and Israel.
A decade ago, the Syrian war peaked, and by the end of 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced that humanitarian aid was reaching a breaking point.
This situation worsened in 2015 when Germany responded by opening its borders, resulting in approximately 1.3 million refugees and migrants flowing into Europe, creating ongoing instability.
The report underscores that migration and security concerns were central to the Austrian elections, where voters endorsed Herbert Kickl’s right-wing Freedom Party’s goal to turn Austria into a “fortress” after a decade of mass migration.
Since 2015, Austria has ranked third, after Hungary and Sweden, in terms of per capita asylum requests, with public resentment growing steadily.
An estimated 240,000 illegal migrants have entered Austria since the People’s Party’s electoral victory in 2020, despite intensive government campaigns in 2022 to deter migrants.
This issue has dominated EU politics unprecedentedly, ignoring voter anger at their own risk.
Leaders like Rishi Sunak, Emmanuel Macron, and Olaf Scholz have seen their authority wane over the past two years as they sat idly by while their borders were breached.
Europe now faces a new refugee and migrant crisis from the Middle East. This time, no European leader is likely to emulate Angela Merkel’s 2015 open-door policy, but there is a noticeable increase in people arriving illegally, either through the Balkans or across the Mediterranean.
The report concludes by reflecting on Merkel’s historic open-door moment in August 2015, which time has shown to be a significant misstep. Europe may need to follow Austria’s lead in fortifying itself against further instability.
