The European Union and 'concentration camps': Is Turkey involved too?

Europe, which once celebrated the tearing down of walls, is now scrambling to build new ones to the chants of "Send them back." Moreover, this time the barbed wire is not just being strung around borders. It is also being woven around law, human rights, and human dignity.

What happened?

This: The European Parliament in Strasbourg approved regulations that significantly tighten migration and deportation rules. 418 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted in favor, while 218 voted against. The regulation, adopted following long-standing pressure in Brussels and many European capitals to toughen migration policies, paves the way for the establishment of return centers outside the European Union and the transfer of individuals whose asylum claims have been rejected to these centers. The scene after the vote, where far-right MEPs celebrated the decision with applause and "Send them back" slogans, contrasted with the "Shame on you" reactions rising from the "left benches," creating a tableau in the European Parliament that will not be forgotten for a long time.

The regulation, which has been harshly criticized by human rights organizations, is seen as the beginning of a new and controversial era in Europe's migration policy.

These "Send them back" chants rising in front of the European Parliament podium were certainly not ordinary political slogans. We witnessed a breaking point that will be etched into the memory of 21st-century Europe.

That scene of shame, accompanied by the applause of far-right MEPs, was also interpreted in many European newspapers and by human rights advocates as a symbol of Europe reckoning with its own values.

The "Shame on you" cries rising from the side that did not want to be a partner to this shame emerged as an objection to Europe being dragged toward an increasingly harsh, exclusionary, and security-oriented path.

This adopted regulation does not only concern migrants. The ugly decision, which drags human dignity through the mud, also tells us what kind of future Europe is heading toward.

NOT "RETURN CENTERS" BUT "LEGAL BLACK HOLES"

On one side, there are return centers, expanded detention practices, tougher deportation mechanisms, and structures that human rights organizations define as "legal black holes." On the other side are the principles of the rule of law, human rights, and human dignity that Europe has held up as an example to the world for decades. With this vote, all of them have been rendered void.

Today, deep cracks have formed even within the European Union on this issue.

While countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, and Greece take a stance in favor of tougher measures, France and Spain are expressing serious concerns. The images from the European Parliament also reveal that this division is no longer technical, but has reached an ideological and even moral dimension.

WHO WILL PROTECT THE DEPORTED, AND HOW?

There are many questions that need to be asked, but let us share the most urgent ones here.

Under what conditions will the people sent outside Europe's borders live?

By whom will their rights be protected?

And who will monitor the human rights violations that may occur in these centers?

This is precisely why human rights organizations are sounding the alarm. The International Rescue Committee and numerous rights groups warn that Europe is beginning to create zones outside its own borders that are beyond oversight.

NOT WITHOUT REACTION, BUT...

Reactions to the decision in Germany were also harsh. Influential German journalist Marc Raschke, who has also published books such as "Demokratie am Limit" (Has Democracy Reached Its Limits?), evaluated the vote in the European Parliament in a post on his social media account with the following words:

"The CDU/CSU has once again stood on the same side as the far-right in the European Parliament and voted for so-called 'Return Hubs.' This is a softened term used for 'concentration camps' where people will be locked up in third countries and where asylum and human rights cannot be monitored. A dark day for Europe. And another breaking point for the CDU/CSU."

Raschke's harsh expressions are seen as the sharpest reflection of the growing debate in Germany regarding the point migration policies have reached.

Meanwhile, the following very harsh remarks made in the German Bundestag by Timon Dzienus, an MP for Alliance 90/The Greens, directed at the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) MPs, also climbed to the top of social media:

"I am disgusted by you. I am disgusted by everything you do, by what you say, by your behavior, by your shouting and screaming here, by the slogans you chant. I am truly just disgusted by you.

What do you mean? You don't want to be suspected of being NS (National Socialism/Nazi)? Well, what do you keep saying?

For example, Höcke, who speaks of 'tempered cruelty' and wants to deport twenty million people. It is also Höcke who says he finds it wrong that Hitler is portrayed as absolute evil.

Or Stefan Keuter, who occasionally comes to his office with a Hitler salute.

Or Helferich, who describes himself as the 'friendly face of National Socialism.' These are your people saying these things. You are the ones saying these things.

And then you don't want to be suspected of being Nazis.

Well, why do you constantly make statements that evoke Nazi praise?

You don't want to be placed in the right-wing corner. Well, why do you run to that corner every day?

You don't want to be called brown (the color of the Nazis). Well, why do you cover yourselves in brown from head to toe?

You are the ones doing this. You do it every day.

And you know what?

I am truly just disgusted by you, and I have to say this here today.

This has reached an unbearable point.

I am disgusted by everything you do, by what you say, by your behavior, by your shouting and screaming from there, by the slogans you chant.

And my voice will not be silent until you are out of the German Bundestag.

I will be in the anti-fascist struggle for the rest of my life.

Always.

Until my last breath.

I promise you this."

THE AMERICAN MODEL (ICE) AND "CONCENTRATION CAMPS" IN TURKEY

The debate over "ICE-style practices," which more than 70 organizations have drawn attention to, is fueling fears that Europe is not only following the controversial model in America but may even take it further in some areas.

What is happening concerns Turkey closely.

Turkey, which hosts millions of refugees, has been used as Europe's de facto buffer zone for years. Europe's further externalization of its borders and the transfer of responsibility to third countries increases the risk that migration pressure will intensify in countries outside Europe. Moreover, considering the economic, social, and humanitarian ties between Turkey and Germany, the effects of any shock in Europe will not be felt only in Brussels or Berlin.

Therefore, approaching the issue solely in terms of "migration policy" would be to underestimate the darkness looming before us. Because the real issue is whether Europe is eroding its own democratic foundation while trying to manage its fears.

We know that at the end of periods when freedoms are pruned in the name of "security," entire societies pay the price. The slogans chanted in the European Parliament may have lasted only a few seconds. But that dark "mentality" revealed by those slogans will determine Europe's coming years.

Europe is opening the door today to a harsher, more polarized, and more restless era guided by fears.

The vote in the European Parliament has been recorded as a historic decision regarding what kind of future the continent has chosen.

There is one more thing on the record...

The path to authoritarianism has been opened once again under the pretext of "security."

And this time, or once again, the price is being paid by migrants, that is, by "humans."

IŞIN ERTÜRK - STUTTGART