Send them to the moon! A polemic on refugee crisis solutions

Hardly a day goes by without a panicky reminder of the so-called global refugee crisis. Whether it is the UNHCR statistics on the rising numbers of forcibly displaced people crossing borders or internally displaced people coupled with shrinking numbers of resettlement places, or the images of drowned, suffocated or dehydrated bodies in a desert, fears of losing control over mass people movements are everywhere, but particularly powerful in the Global North. Right-wing populists and the media like to add fuel to the flames and predict invasion-like scenarios of large uncivilised hordes who either come to steal our jobs or dredge our welfare system or both at the same time. Fantasies of mighty shielding devices, such as Trump’s border wall between the USA and Mexico, and ever more robust deterrence mechanisms on sea, land and in the air are turned into action and materialise in many different corners of the world. Stopping refugees in their home countries or at least some place else before they reach the Global North, is a priority task for many politicians. While the EU has managed to pay off Turkey to keep 3 million refugees at bay, for now, other holes in fortress Europe are exploited. Meanwhile Australia’s active and de-activated politicians tour the world to promote their three-component success model: off-shore detention, forced returns of asylum seeker boats and ample ignorance of international law.