The concern of security is on the minds of government leaders throughout Europe as thousands of migrants continue to enter the country with no signs of stopping in the immediate future. “The Hungarian government has taken the steps… to protect the internal European freedoms and the security of the citizens of Hungary and Europe” said Zoltan Kovacs, a Hungarian government spokesman. Hungary has chosen to close its borders with Croatia and Serbia in order to control the flow of migrants into the country. Other countries such as Germany have put up temporary border controls in order to ensure safety for civilians and order among the migrants seeking asylum.
While individual countries have taken actions to protect their citizens, the UN Security Council has also taken initiative to protect European nations from dangerous situations regarding the migration crisis. The UN Security council has authorized States to inspect vessels in the seas off the shore of Libya if there was any suspicion that the vessel was smuggling migrants across the Mediterranean Sea and into Europe. When Member States voted on the resolution they had not only the safety of their own nations in mind but also the safety and survival of the migrants. “We must not allow callous people-smugglers to profit from despair” said a representative from the United Kingdom. Providing individual security to the migrants will hopefully lessen the number of deaths that have occurred when attempting to escape war in conflict in their home countries.
As undocumented migrants are entering Europe the concern for security of the European citizens increases. Until all migrants are documented the EU does not know who is in Europe, why they are there, or how long they intend to stay. With so many migrants it is impossible to know what their real intentions for leaving their country and entering Europe are. While it may be assumed that they are fleeing conflict, there is always the possibility that some migrants may actually be affiliated with a terrorist organization such as ISIS. The possibility of that there may be terrorists’ entering as migrants into Europe is a huge national security threat. If terrorist groups have personnel posing as migrants it poses a security threat to European civilians and to migrants entering Europe living in refugee camps. Another security concern of European nations is food security. Given the large numbers of refugees in an in between phase living in refugee camps there is a high demand for food and shelter. Some European nations may be concerned that with the increasing number of refugees that they may not be able to provide enough individual means of security for the refugees and their own citizens.
While Syria is a non-nuclear state given that they signed the Treaty on The Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1968 and ratified it in 1969 there may be reasons to be concerned about nuclear security as a result of the civil war that is occurring. The government under Assad has received military assistance from Russia and the Assad Regime has been known to have chemical weapons during the war. Since Europe does not have any nuclear capabilities the use of deterrence as a method of security is not an option. Given that Europe is relatively close to the conflict in Syrian and definitely involved, in the sense that they are accepting migrants into their country, there is a lot of stress on their national security system to ensure the safety of their citizens and migrants.
Another factor to consider is – will security be compromised if ISIS gains access to chemical weapons? It is highly unlikely that ISIS could build a nuclear bomb given the cost, quantity of materials and time. However, the extremist group could possibly over time acquire enough radioactive materials that they could attack civilian populations.
So as the war continues and Europe continues to provide refuge for migrants escaping war there is a lot to consider in terms of security. Some countries in Europe appear to be taking a a realist perspective on security, such as how Hungary has put up fences to secure their territory as a defense mechanism and to deter migrants from entering. Other countries in Europe may take a more liberal view showing more concerned with security in terms of food security and economic security as the number of refugees entering their countries increases. However overall I think that there is a concern for national security given the extreme number of migrants that are entering Europe and the involvement of terrorist organizations in the conflict that is driving people to flee their home countries.
The European Migration Crisis 