“[Putin] sows disarray by driving refugees into Europe through reckless bombing of civilians in Syria.” Apparently, James B. Foley in a Time article is blaming Russia for Europe’s migrant problems. Now that is laughable.
Yes, Russia was bombing Syria. Yes, the bombing started in September 2015. Yes, a tightening of migrant controls started, in Germany, the same month, September 2015. Unfortunately for Time, the Russian bombing didn’t start until September 30, 2015, which could not have contributed to the migrant controls of September 2015. Oh, and don’t overlook the fact that the story Time links to, to illustrate its point, does not say that Russian bombing increased the exodus.
I agree with the article when it says that Putin is trying to weaken NATO, and strengthen Russia’s world position. However, to blame the migrant crisis on Russia is going too far, because the migrants have been causing issues well before Russia started its bombing. You can see that with the below image, which has data only up to June 2015.
Yes, there are things that are driving refugees from Syria, but the migrants aren’t only coming from Syria. They are coming from various countries from three continents, Africa, Asia, and even Europe. (Yes, not all Europeans are equal.)
Given the various groups of migrants, it can be argued that the migrant crisis has been caused by Europe’s own policies, nothing more. If you let people stay, and give them food and money, at a level higher than they are used you, there is an extremely good chance that more migrants will enter. It’s the rational thing to do.
In the end, can we blame Putin? Of course we can, but it doesn’t make it accurate. Unfortunately for us, we have a history of lying about events to get into wars. (The Vietnam War and the Spanish American War are just two examples.)
Foley’s article does itself no favors by using bad information. There are many valid points about Putin’s aggression, and they can be seen in the article, but when a false fact, based on a bad assumption, is used it makes it hard to accept the conclusions of the writer.
Migrant Crisis image by Maximilian Dörrbecker (Chumwa) – Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 – no changes made.
Photo by Global Panorama – Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 – no changes made.