Middle East 4 ChangeA left-wing refugee policy for the European Union
Gabi Zimmer
Links International
Speech given by Gabi Zimmer, chair of GUE/NGL, in Athens at the International Conference “Alliance For Democracy – Against Austerity in Europe”, 18-20 March 2016:
Thesis 1: Century of Refugees
The 21st century will be the Century of Refugees.
Today, 91 percent of the migrants arriving in Greece are war refugees from countries like Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
Due to civil wars and climate catastrophes many more people will be forced to leave their homes worldwide.
Many of them will come to the EU.
UN estimates range from 50 to 350 million displaced people until 2050 worldwide.
The German government estimates that until 2020 3.6 million migrants will come to settle in Germany, that is 500.000 each year.
The worldwide movement of refugees has just started.
Our world will change, our societies will change.
The big metropolitan areas will be multicultural, the “white Europeans” a minority among others.
The rage of the angry and frustrated white man will not change this.
We must learn to live together in open, democratic, tolerant, secular and socially fair societies.
We must simply accept this.