Zombies. Flickr/Lindsey Turner. Some rights reserved.In his book Zombie Politics and Culture in the Age of Casino Capitalism[1] the US American public intellectual Henry Giroux examines the emergence of the culture of sadism, cruelty, disposability, and death in America. His metaphor, the Zombie, is a pertinent one: dead but not quite, the Zombie does not make autonomous decisions but is driven by higher powers. He or she nevertheless wreaks considerable havoc, kills, terrorises and disposes of bodies with ease. The Zombie derives its power from the anxieties of the common man and woman.
A Zombie deal
At first sight, the 'refugee deal' between Turkey seems to have little in common with Zombies. The Zombie derives its power from the anxieties of the common man and woman. The ostensible intentions of its authors (the initial 'Merkel Samsom' plan, which formed the basis of the deal reached was authored by the European Stability Initiative) are commendable and simple: to stop the suffering of Syrian refugees. The plan promises a win-win for all parties involved: the EU will be able to revive Schengen and resettle refugees in an orderly manner. Turkey's burden in hosting refugees will be eased and its citizens will benefit from visa-free travel to the European Union. And the refugees will be spared the terrors of crossing the Aegean in unseaworthy plastic boats and facing death. To achieve this, all refugees crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands will be returned after a three-day process to Turkey, which is now declared a safe country. In exchange for the refugee returned, another refugee who has not attempted the crossing will be accepted into a willing European host country.
Straightforward as this deal sounds, it is a fantasy scenario. There is no institutional capacity on the Greek islands that could process refugees' applications in such a short time, while keeping within the confines of international refugee law. There are no willing European host countries apart, maybe, from Germany. And finally, Turkey is not a safe third country. It is a country deeply implicated in the Syrian War and it wages a campaign of extermination against Kurdish separatists that has led to the death of several hundred civilians and the forced displacement of tens of thousands in only a few months. There are no willing European host countries apart, maybe, from Germany. And Turkey is not a safe third country.
