Arab societies should take primary responsibility for the rapid descent into chaos and the obscene violence unleashed against civilians across Arab lands. Equally, the West is not primarily responsible for civil war and lawlessness in the Horn of Africa.

But it was our choice to wash our hands of Syria’s civil war from the start, and Libya’s chaos within a year of Gaddafi’s downfall has not left us immune from the negative consequences of those conflicts.

Our response is a classic case of seeking to cure a brain tumour with aspirin.

Europe is understandably focused on both the political question of what immigration policy is best — including how to share the burden among member states — and the practical question of how to manage and fund the current crisis.

So far, Europe has decided to strengthen search and rescue operations at sea and try to disrupt the networks of human smugglers who profiteer from the traffic. 

There is no dispute that the socio-economic and cultural cost of such numbers of arrivals on Europe, at a time of sluggish economic growth, high unemployment and rising social tensions across the continent, may be too high to sustain. It is also understandable that many resources are devoted to saving human lives and to target those who profiteer from this staggering scale of human suffering.

But this course of action may offer temporary solutions to a problem that will continue to fester. Europe should also work with its transatlantic allies to explore how the West can help bring an end to the tragic and chaotic circumstances of these countries.

An end to Syria’s war would stem the flow of refugees and, in time, create the conditions for many of them to return home. A restoration of order under a functioning central government in Libya would also empower state institutions and functions currently lacking there — border control, combating smuggling — that are indispensable in tackling the scourge of human traffickers.
This is not a call for the West to launch a new military adventure in the Middle East and North Africa. But it is foolish to think that anything short of decisive support to Syrian rebels to defeat Assad is going to help us persuade Syrians to stay home.

Four years of Western inaction in Syria have contributed to this crisis. So has our precipitous and ill-conceived intervention in Libya, followed by an equally precipitous exit from its chaotic scene.

Restoring order, decency and, in time, prosperity to those countries seems a much better long-term policy than bickering about patrolling boats and immigration quotas.