The idea that it would be impossible for Europe to receive a few million refugees is ridiculous in the eyes of Noam Chomsky, famous linguist and political activist. Even better, Europe needs immigrants to get its economy going.
By Laurens Peek
Chomsky is well known for his critical opinion and can truly be regarded as a thought leader for a range of subjects. In an interview with political scientist C. J. Polychroniou he spoke of the European integration project.
On a larger time-scale Chomsky thinks of the crisis in Europe as a direct result of the policies and military interventions that the United States and Europe have been carrying out in the Middle East in the last decades. The fact that “EU governance has almost completely broken down,” Chomsky says, “that is in substantial part the result of Western crimes.”
‘We need immigrants’
Chomsky has no doubt whether European countries can receive so many refugees. He compares Germany, a rich western country that received approximately one million refugees on a population of eighty million to Lebanon, a poor country that now has a population consisting of 25% Syrians. He furthermore states that Germany desperately needs immigrant to sustain its aging society in the future.
Chomsky also states that the European unification and integration has been a major achievement, as it helped to overcome national hostilities and towards erosion of borders. The suspension of the Schengen agreement poses a threat to these European achievements. Chomsky states that it would be a shame if the agreement would collapse due to a “perceived threat that should not be difficult to manage in a humane way.”
Thus, Chomsky thinks that Europe should not tighten its borders, accept as many refugees as possible and work towards well-orchestrated cooperation to successfully and efficiently carry out its asylum procedures.