Μετανάστες δια θαλάσσης, τότε και τώρα

Ένα καΐκι φθάνει στην προβλήτα του Καλαί. 1803, Joseph Mallord William Turner. NATIONAL GALLERY

Την 1η Αυγούστου 1686, στις οκτώ το πρωί, ένα μικρό πλοίο αγκυροβόλησε έξω από την ακτή του Ντόβερ. Μεταξύ εκείνων που σύρθηκαν στην παραλία ήταν ένας 26χρονος Καλβινιστής Γάλλος από το Calais, ο Ισαάκ Μινέ (Isaac Minet). Ο Minet είχε τελικά καταφέρει να αφήσει την πατρίδα του μαζί με την 65χρονη μητέρα του, Σουζάν, την μικρότερη αδελφή του Ελισάβετ, και 15 άλλους άνδρες, γυναίκες και παιδιά. Στην περιοχή του Calais, η ανάρρηση του Λουδοβίκου του 14ου, του πιο Καθολικού μονάρχη, στον θρόνο της Γαλλίας προανήγγειλε την αύξηση της κρατικής δίωξης εναντίον της προτεσταντικής μειονότητας.

South Sudan’s Peace Deal Never Stood a Chance

In the middle of a hot, clear day on Aug. 21, roughly 2,000 people packed around the John Garang Mausoleum in downtown Juba to shout down the latest deal to end South Sudan’s nearly two-year-long war. Organized by the government, it was an event for true believers, those somehow insulated from the economic ravages of the war: young boys and girls in school uniform, men in suits, and women in colorful dresses. As a DJ sang over pre-recorded music blaring on massive speakers, praising South Sudan and its president, Salva Kiir, participants held large signs written in English declaring “one army, not two” and “no regime change through violence.”

Britain's Status as a Trading Nation Ties It to Europe

At some point in the next two years, British voters will decide whether to remain a part of the European Union. This will be the first time Britons have been consulted on the subject since 1975, when 67 percent voted to stay in. If it does decide to leave, the United Kingdom will become the first country to leave the European Union since it was created as the European Community in 1957. The repercussions would be felt not just in Britain, but also across the Continent and indeed across the world. To predict the eventual result of the vote, it is first important to understand the factors that have kept the United Kingdom in the union this long.

Europe’s refugee crisis: Chronicle of a death foretold

The forces driving refugees towards the EU will not disappear in the foreseeable future. Europe needs a comprehensive long-term strategy to improve the political and security situation in its neighbourhood. And whatever else it does, it needs to take urgent steps to accommodate and integrate refugees already in Europe. The European Commission is on the right track and the member-states should follow its lead.

The response of European leaders to the scale and urgency of the refugee crisis has been inadequate. Stronger fences have not stopped migrants at Calais from regularly disrupting train services to the UK; or those in Serbia from walking along train tracks into Hungary. People still climb on board rickety boats along the Turkish and Libyan coasts. Germany’s interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, has suggested that the Schengen agreement could be suspended, allowing EU member-states to reimpose border controls between them – but that would only leave even greater numbers of refugees stuck in ‘frontline’ EU states like Greece.