Reframing solidarity in Europe: Frontex, frontiers, and the fallacy of refugee quota
Authors: Kayvan Bozorgmehr, Katharina Wahedi
Journal: The Lancet Public Health (2016)

Above all, the refugee crisis is "a crisis of solidarity". This statement from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon1Ban Ki MoonA crisis of solidarity: the secretary-general of the United Nations calls for the global community to tackle challenges sparked by the movements of more than 285 million refugees and migrants. Handelsblatt Global.https://global.handelsblatt.com/opinion/a-crisis-of-solidarity-518274Date: May 13, 2016Google Scholar denounces the fundamental failure of the international community to respond to the existential needs of millions of displaced people in an interdependent world. Frenk and colleagues2Frenk J Gomez-Dantes O Moon S From sovereignty to solidarity: a renewed concept of global health for an era of complex interdependence.Lancet. 2014; 383: 94-97Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (110) Google Scholar call for a shift from sovereignty to solidarity was prognostic for the challenges that the European Union (EU) would face in 2015: the deficient European asylum system based on national sovereignty collectively failed to address the health and humanitarian needs of refugees3Roberts B Murphy A McKee M Europe's collective failure to address the refugee crisis.Public Health Reviews. 2016; 37: 1-5Crossref Scopus (16) Google Scholar in one of the most developed regions of the world. Solidarity, however, is a diffuse concept. The classic sociological coined by Durkheim4Fararo TJ Doreian P The theory of solidarity: an agenda of problems.in: Doreian P Fararo TJ The problem of solidarity: theories and models. Routledge, New York1998: 1-32Google Scholar describes an apolitical concept of the interdependence of individuals in modern societies. Solidarity in this sense does not naturally lead to aspired public health outcomes concurring with norms and values such as equity and human rights. The EU's collective response to the 2008 financial crisis, for example, imposed austerity measures at the cost of the weakest members of affected societies. The response to a challenge of interdependence shifted from sovereignty to collective action, but collided with public health goals: public services became dysfunctional leading to detrimental effects on population health.5Karanikolos M Mladovsky P Cylus J et al.Financial crisis, austerity and health in Europe.Lancet. 2013; 381: 1323-1331Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (971) Google Scholar Hechter's theory6Hechter M Principles of group solidarity. University of California Press, Berkley, Los Angeles1988Google Scholar of group solidarity recognises this: solidarity might denote the actions of a group that pursue a goal mainly to produce and consume a jointly produced private good. The EU response to the refugee crisis is a case in point. On October 6, 2016, as part of the European Agenda on Migration,7European CommissionCommunication on a European Agenda on Migration. Report no. COM(2015)240. European Commission; May 13, Brussels2015Google Scholar the European Commission launched the European Border and Coast Guard Agency,8FrontexEuropean Border and Coast Guard Agency launches today.http://frontex%20europa%20eu/news/european-border-and-coast-guard-agency-launches-today-CHIYApGoogle Scholar which builds on Frontex and expands its mandate (eg, to deploy border guards, perform forced return-operations, access European or national databases, and operate in non-EU countries).9FrontexThe European Border and Coast Guard.http://frontex%20europa%20eu/pressroom/hot-topics/the-european-border-and-coast-guard-VgCU9NGoogle Scholar The creation of this agency is a historic development because sovereign EU nation-states have established a supranational agency for border control with an extensive mandate, aiming for "shared responsibility and solidarity among the Member states".8FrontexEuropean Border and Coast Guard Agency launches today.http://frontex%20europa%20eu/news/european-border-and-coast-guard-agency-launches-today-CHIYApGoogle Scholar Intensifying border control, increasing securitisation,10Smith J Daynes L Borders and migration: an issue of global health importance.Lancet Glob Health. 2016; 4: e85-e86Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (14) Google Scholar and limiting the freedom of movement for citizens from non-EU states produces the exclusive (private) good of the freedom of movement within the EU and is framed as solidarity—but should be considered solidarity in security. This type of solidarity, however, has detrimental health consequences.11Fazel M Karunakara U Newnham EA Detention, denial, and death: migration hazards for refugee children.Lancet Glob Health. 2016; 2: e313-e314Summary Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (34) Google Scholar The European Agenda on Migration further aims to foster "solidarity and shared responsibility" to produce the public good of granting asylum by relocating asylum-seekers within the EU on the basis of an objectively defined quota.7European CommissionCommunication on a European Agenda on Migration. Report no. COM(2015)240. European Commission; May 13, Brussels2015Google Scholar This aim is honourable, but the policy instruments are flawed: enforced relocation conflicts with the freedom of movement, neglects that refugees have agency, and will not necessarily lead to more balanced contributions of member states because health and humanitarian needs do not follow "units" of refugees mechanistically.12Bozorgmehr K Szecsenyi J Stock C Razum O Europe's response to the refugee crisis: why relocation quotas will fail to achieve 'fairness' from a health perspective.Eur J Pub Health. 2016; 26: 5-6Crossref PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar Moraga and Rapoport13Moraga JF-H Rapoport H Tradable Refugee-Admission Quotas (TRAQs), the Syrian crisis and the new European agenda on migration.IZA Journal of European Labor Studies. 2015; 4: 1Google Scholar have suggested market mechanisms could achieve more equal contributions: tradable refugee admission quotas (TRAQs) intend to create incentives for the individual EU countries to provide refuge to those in need,13Moraga JF-H Rapoport H Tradable Refugee-Admission Quotas (TRAQs), the Syrian crisis and the new European agenda on migration.IZA Journal of European Labor Studies. 2015; 4: 1Google Scholar and a matching mechanism would consider the preferences of refugees and host countries. Although this approach is more preferable than enforced relocation, it is based on the same fallacy: TRAQs assume that underlying health and social needs are constant in all refugees, neglecting substantial differences by refugees' individual constitution. Preferences of citizens in EU countries towards asylum-seekers are biased towards better educated, victimised, non-Muslim refugees,14Bansak K Hainmueller J Hangartner D How economic, humanitarian, and religious concerns shape European attitudes towards asylum seekers.Science. 2016; 354: 217-221Crossref PubMed Scopus (302) Google Scholar and markets based on such preferences could give rise to discriminatory cherry-picking. To solve the solidarity crisis in the EU would mean to develop sustainable policy responses that go beyond the production of private goods for the EU. Instead, policies should aim to produce global public goods with politically feasible instruments and without infringing human rights. This aim requires a reframing of solidarity: from solidarity in security and solidarity by enforced or market-based relocation towards a rights-based global solidarity, fostering and advocating the use of transnational social protection instruments to address today's challenges of interdependence.15Razum O Kaasch A Bozorgmehr K From the primacy of safe passage for refugees to a global social policy.Int J Public Health. 2016; 61: 523-524Crossref PubMed Scopus (7) Google Scholar An example for such an instrument would be the establishment of an EU-wide mechanism to pool financial resources from all member states. It could build on existing institutions such as the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund16Thielemann E Williams R Boswell C What system of burden sharing between Member States for the reception of asylum seekers? Final report for the Directorate General for Internal Policies, Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs, Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. Report no: IP/C/LIBE/IC/2008–049. European Parliament, Brussels2010Google Scholar and would recompense receiving countries on the basis of the social and health needs of hosted refugees.12Bozorgmehr K Szecsenyi J Stock C Razum O Europe's response to the refugee crisis: why relocation quotas will fail to achieve 'fairness' from a health perspective.Eur J Pub Health. 2016; 26: 5-6Crossref PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar Such a policy would be feasible and in line with EU countries' preferences to enhance solidarity in reception of refugees.16Thielemann E Williams R Boswell C What system of burden sharing between Member States for the reception of asylum seekers? Final report for the Directorate General for Internal Policies, Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs, Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. Report no: IP/C/LIBE/IC/2008–049. European Parliament, Brussels2010Google Scholar On a global scale, such mechanisms could be embedded in the proposed global fund for health based on a legal framework of universal rights and duties to ensure social protection for the millions of forcibly displaced persons. Health professionals in all countries witness and acknowledge the effect of restrictive and protectionist policies on the health of refugees worldwide, and thus have the utmost responsibility to postulate and advocate global solidarity. We declare no competing interests.