Waiting for a clear path forward. (AFP Photo/Nikolay Doychinov)
“I’m not a smuggler,” says Abu Khaled. “But I can take you to Europe, for a price.”
Abu Khaled is part of a network operating in Izmir, a city on the western coast of Turkey. He speaks over the phone to Abdul, a Syrian refugee in Istanbul inquiring about passage to Europe.
Dr. George Joseph, the representative for Caritas Sweden, an international NGO campaigning for migrant rights, says there has to be a legal way to allow civilians to escape persecution. And though there has been discussion to provide humanitarian visas or remove visa restrictions for victims of war, there has been no political desire to endorse either proposal.
“Can you imagine if 27 or 28 states took 3,000 or 4,000 people?” said Dr. Joseph. “This isn’t some fancy dream, it can be a reality if there is a political will, but we can’t wait any longer. We have to do it now.”
