How to address causes of migration

Work in solidarity with the Global South

KLAUS TÖPFER The flow of refugees around the world proves that ‘sustainable development’ is the new term for peace. The measures we take to promote economic development and eliminate extreme poverty must be designed to ensure that these benefits do not come at the expense of societal stability and the health of our environment.

After all, prosperity that is built on environmental destruction is not true prosperity, but at most a kind of short-term alleviation of tragedy, as former UN General Secretary Kofi Annan has observed. Annan is right: “There will be no peace if this attack on nature continues, but there will be greater poverty.”

The fight against the underlying causes of refugee crises must therefore be tied to measures in industrialised countries to prevent the costs of their own prosperity from being passed on to future generations and the environment. This includes a climate policy aimed at achieving a CO₂-neutral economy and society by the middle of this century. It includes a lifestyle that is no longer so energy- and resource-intensive. It includes an agricultural sector in developing countries that is not robbed of its future potential by highly subsidised imports from developed countries.

The underlying causes of refugee crises must also be eliminated through forward-thinking diplomacy, through the establishment of reliable state structures, and above all through massive investments in education and training. In Germany too, there are enormous opportunities for a proactive peace policy – through domestic action and cooperation in solidarity with developing countries, and by offering environmentally and socially sustainable technologies.

Improve dialogue between religions

HEINRICH BEDFORD-STROHM Religion has power. For example, it is good to have the religious imagery and vocabulary of the Biblical reports of Jesus’ death and resurrection to help us deal with pain and grief, and to teach us that death does not have the final word. And yet, there are many people nowadays who do not perceive religion as an exclusively positive force. They point out the conflicts that have arisen between religions around the world throughout history. In their search for ways to eliminate the root causes of refugee crises, the primary question for these people is how different religions can live together in peace.

I must admit that this focus does not appeal to me, as it implicitly assumes that religions are the main reason for the world’s unrest. This analysis is at least as short-sighted as any other that would ascribe everything to a single cause. After all, there are also social factors at work in almost every ‘religious’ conflict.

Still, it is undeniable that dialogue between religions is an important factor for peaceful coexistence. In this regard, the first thing we must acknowledge is that different religions with their different conceptions of God cannot always be easily reconciled. The idea that God appeared on Earth in the form of a man who died on the cross is completely unacceptable to Muslims.

Differences between religions must therefore be acknowledged and discussed openly. Our goal must not be to level out all the differences, but to learn to deal with those differences by listening to each other rather than disparaging each other. Where trust can grow based on respectful interactions like these, religions can work together on what originally defined them: their ability to be a force for peace, grounded in a sense of brotherhood and love for one’s fellow man.

Question the global distribution of wealth

HARALD WELZER The growing number of refugees whose presence has been placing the EU under extreme pressure since the summer of 2015 has revealed a truth that would have otherwise remained hidden: The complete fossil energy supply of the rich societies depends on countries that are highly unstable politically and in which proxy wars are fought whenever crises arise, that can barely be brought under control, if at all. We then hear a lot about the "causes of refugee crises" in political debates, but we do not hear the question that summarises the age-old lie of Western civilisation as a whole: "How did our oil get under their sand?"

It has suddenly become clear that the comfortably isolated existence of the industrialised countries, which relies on importing raw materials and exporting various problems, can only continue undisturbed as long as the costs of this comfort are not paid by those who cause them. Perhaps we have now arrived at a historic point at which the illusion of a global growth economy that claims to pursue both environment and human-rights goals is finally revealed as precisely that – an illusion.