Europe is not to blame for the migrant crisis

John Lannon (Irish Examiner Letters, March 22) says the EU should have an open-borders policy and that Europe is to blame for the migrant crisis.

Sometimes, one has to wonder at the logic of some people. International treaty commitments made generations back about refugees are redundant in 2016. We are no longer talking about a few dissidents leaving the Soviet Union, or a few people running the Berlin Wall every month. Today, according to the UN, 60m people are refugees, many of whom would like to come to Europe. An open-door policy would overrun Europe, and its social services and economy would be overwhelmed, its society and culture ended. A great many of those coming into Europe over the past year or so are not even refugees from war zones; many are coming from countries at peace, such as Morocco, Algeria, Iran, Pakistan, etc. To call these people refugees is an abuse of the word.

It is absurd to blame Europe for the turmoil in the Middle East. The war in Iraq was started by the Bush and Blair administrations, against most European governments’ wishes and public opinion. The war in Syria has had nothing to do with Europe; if you want to blame outsiders for stirring up that conflict, blame Saudi Arabia and Turkey, Iran and Russia, but not Europe. The deeper roots of Middle East chaos, such as the 1400-year-old divide between Sunni and Shia Islam, the corruption and tyranny in the region, and the chronic problem of overpopulation, all have absolutely nothing to do with Europe.