India's Major General Harsha Kakar argues that Europe ‘has realised its mistake’ in allowing refugees to live in safety and security, because it is ‘experiencing demographic changes, internal threats and ‘its culture is changing from within’. He says India ‘must learn the lessons’ of Europe’s ‘folly’.
While there is no denying that Kakar is deliberately interpreting EU policy to suit his own anti-refugee (and, it must be said based on this issue, anti-Muslim) position, it is not the first time that we have had cause to mention that the acts of wealthy states in one part of the world have enormous impacts in others.
Just as the UK and Denmark’s stance against allowing Syrian refugees to enter their states then encouraged Poland, Austria, Hungary and others to refuse to accept refugees, which in turn strengthened the far-Right in Germany and has seen German mainstream politicians running increasingly-scared of openness to refugee resettlement, so the EU’s overall approach in recent months is offering an ‘excuse’ for India to refuse refugees.
India could indeed learn from Europe’s mistakes on refugees. But not in the way Kakar suggests.