Since the start of the war in the Syria in 2011, there has been an influx of refugees fleeing Syrian to seek asylum in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. However, the influx of refugees has reached an alarming level with the situation reaching a crisis level. Today, it is estimated that the number of refugees who have crossed the Syrian border into Turkey is 3.5 million (Fargues & Fandrich 3). The camps in Turkey are already overwhelmed and crowded, and it is estimated that 50% of these refugees cannot stay in the camps. Due to the crisis, many of the refugees are seeking asylum elsewhere hence crossing the island of Greece to the EU. In response, the EU has crafted a deal with Turkey aimed at curbing illegal migration of refugees into EU. In the deal, the EU offers to settle one single Syrian refugee in exchange for a refugee prevented from crossing the Island of Greece into the EU and returning them to Turkey (Fargues & Fandrich 3). This decision by EU is unethical considering Stuart Mill’s Utilitarian Ethics.
Proponents of Utilitarian ethics, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stuart Mill contend that to achieve a morally good result, an action should aim to achieve the highest utility (Mill 43). Utility in the context of utilitarianism is a measure of well-being. The highest utility is the optimal balance between good and evil. According to utilitarian ethics, a moral action should also consider the whole society as opposed to an individual (Mill 43) hence, under utilitarian ethics, an individual should make a decision on what is right or wrong considering the impacts of such a decision on the whole society. In a nutshell, Utilitarianism attempts to achieve the greatest possible well-being of society, but such decisions which lead to that well-being are made at individual levels (Mill 43).
Viewing the EU-Turkey deal from the prism of utilitarian ethics, the decision to devise measures that restrict or rather hinder the movement of Syrian refugee into the EU is immoral. First of all, this decision does not satisfy the utilitarian ethical bar because it does not aim to achieve utility for the whole society. The EU seems to be holding the principles of ethical egoism that contend that the decision or what is morally right or wrong should be based in pursuance of individual interests. The EU has enough resources to take care of the refugees moving to seek asylum in its member states. This is evidenced by the EU’s offer to give Turkey, under the Facility for Refugee Program in Turkey, € 3 billion to be used to handle the refugee crisis.
References
Fargues, Philippe, and Christine Fandrich. "The European Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis: What Next?" (2012).
Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianism. ReadHowYouWant. com, 2006.
