“Welcome to Europe?”. A collage I've recently finished. The cut-out headlines translate to: “Last rescue before the immersion”, addressing the countless deaths of refugees on the Mediterranean sea in the last couple of years and the impact it can have on Europe's identity. Made from a picture and headline of an article in the German newspaper Weserkurier on the topic of food-saving and various facial features collected from various different magazines. Held together by glue and acrylic paint on a map of the Mediterranean Sea that I teared out of an '08-atlas I found in a 'for free' box in my neighborhood. When I started this collage, I didn't know it would turn out as something addressing my feelings towards Europe and the refugee crisis. And writing down its “meaning” would be just as messy as the collage itself. But I couldn't help choosing this topic while looking at the map in front of me.
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| Close-ups down below. |
The Mediterranean Sea has been "just another sea" for most, at least for me, but it is filled with meaning and significance now. It has become a place of hope for so many refugees trying to escape destruction, death and manipulation, while too often, they've been met with ignorance and been refused help. In 2017, the United Nations agency of migration called the Mediterranean the “world's deadliest border” due to the fact that more than 33.000 migrants have died at sea trying to reach European shoes since the year 2000 (source: usnews.com). In 2016, more than 5000 refugees went missing or died at sea (source: Operational Portal - Refugee Situations). But as worrying these statistics are, they are part of the problem. No human being should become a statistic. Because statistics, when put into the wrong hands (and heads), can make it possible to justify fear, hatred and violence. The words written (quiet spontaneously) on the map, let's call it 'Europe's dialogue'*, signal how worries and stereotypes have clouded Europe's ethical and moral ground. If it even had one to begin with, that is.
- *Reads as follows: [DE] "Herzlich Willkommen in Europa, wir nehmen euch gern auf. Du bist Doktor, Spezialist? Benutze den V.I.P. Eingang! Und plötzlich ist dein Können nichts mehr wert, aber arbeite trotzdem. Du bist es nicht? Naja, dann bist du sicherlich ein Dealer, Vergewaltiger, Extremist. Keine Chance auf die Steigerung des Bruttosozialprodukts, du bist zu viel, ihr seid alle zu viel, wir haben doch keinen Platz dafür, keinen Platz für die Menschlichkeit, Europa läuft schon über mit dir. Dafür dass dein Boot am überlaufen ist, können wir doch auch nichts, oder? Europa ist kein Schwimmlehrer, nein. / Aber warum seht ihr denn nicht, dass der Mensch zählt und nicht seine Wirtschaftskraft? Wenn das so weiter geht, gibt es bald mehr tote Menschen als Fische in den Ozeanen. Europa, willst du das wirklich?"
- [ENG] "Welcome in Europe, we'd love to take you in. You're a doctor, specialist? Use the V.I.P entrance! And then your skills loose all their worth, but work anyway. You're not? Well, then you' surely are a drug dealer, rapist, extremist. No chance for the increase of the gross national product, you are too much, all of you are too much, we don't have any space for this, no space for humaneness, Europe is spilling over with you. It isn't our fault that your boat is running over too, isn't it? Europe is no swimming teacher, no. / But why can't you see, that it is the human that counts, not their economic strength? If things continue as they are, there will be more dead humans than dead fish in the sea. Europe, is that what you want?"
As a European, I still don't know what the European Union stands for apart from being a political and economical amalgamation of states. And I'm pretty sure that I am not the only one who feels this way. On the one hand, in articles and conversations about the situation, the “usefulness” of refugees as a new workforce is often being stressed as a “justification” to “save” them – yet another sign of Europe's savior-complex. On the other hand, racist politicians like to stereotype all refugees as criminals and terrorists who take up too many resources and space and therefore shouldn't even touch the ground. But a third group of people, which I count myself a part of, refuse to reduce refugees to their workforce or stereotypes. We (should) refuse to pick and choose them like good or bad vegetables from a box (in reference to the metaphor in the collage). We (should) want the people who come here to be save, alive and well – and ultimately welcome them as Europeans. They can't and shouldn't stay “refugees” forever. They should be allowed to become a part of the "us". If there even is one to begin with, that is.
Consequently, this is a crucial time in the formation of the identity of the European Union, apart from just being a construct that started forming in the 1950s. The EU has been trying to be more than that for a long time, but it is not succeeding. I refuse to identify with a political construct that refuses to help those in need. Where is your heart, Europe? And do you even want to have one? The blood on your shores, frankly, it does not look good on you. Welcome them, or i'll never welcome you, Europe.
Articles on how each of us can help:
- huckmag.com/perspectives/activism-2/refugee-crisis-can-help/
- globalcitizen.org/en/content/how-to-help-syrian-refugees-5th-anniversary-crisis/
Thank you for stopping by, sincerely
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