The Invisible Railroad for Syrian refugees

MILAN, Italy – Ahmad Khalil knew his family’s days in Syria were numbered when security forces and militia cordoned off his neighborhood in the Damascus suburb Rif Dimashq in April 2013. He says the massacre began shortly after.

“The attack was atrocious. We saw knives and cleavers and witnessed killings by the Syrian regime and militia,” said Khalil. “That’s when I decided we had to flee Syria as soon as possible, by any means necessary.” 

In Syria, Khalil owned a store selling dental supplies and equipment. He fled the violence on foot with his wife and three children, now six, 10, and 14, expecting to die at the hands of Syrian security forces at any moment. Days later, Khalil and his family made it to safety in Egypt. His journey, however, had just begun.

The conflict in Syria has displaced 6.5 million people internally and caused another 3 million to flee the country entirely. While the majority of those refugees end up in border countries like Turkey and Jordan, an increasing number of Syrians are fleeing to Europe. Since the fighting began in 2011, 150,000 have applied for asylum there. After spending two years in Egypt hoping the situation in Syria would improve and they could return home, Khalil and his family joined that number.

For Syrian refugees, getting to Europe alive is anything but certain. One of the most popular routes is across the Mediterranean Sea from Libya, where smugglers have operated with impunity since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. The soaring demand means smugglers are using less-seaworthy vessels, and piling in more migrants than ever. Over 20,000 migrants have died attempting the crossing since 1998, and this year is on track to be the deadliest ever – at least 1,750 migrants have already lost their lives. Security services estimate 1 million more migrants are gathering to make the attempt this summer.

Last year, Italy spent 114 million euros on the “Mare Nostrum” naval operation, which rescued more than 100,000 migrants in 2014. The project was discontinued in October and replaced with a European operation that has about a third of the funding. Last year, 170,000 migrants arrived on Italian shores and the country is expected to receive another 200,000 this year.

Like most Syrian refugees, Khalil doesn’t want to stay in Italy, which has one of the worst welfare systems in the EU.

“I don’t have the financial ability to sustain my family in Italy,” said Khalil. “Tuition is expensive and so is the cost of living.”

Italy also doesn't want all the refugees to stay. But according to EU law, a country that first receives a migrant must fingerprint them and file the application for asylum. Often, Italian authorities are more than happy to turn a blind eye to the incoming refugees, hoping they head to another country. Khalil and his family were able to leave the welcome center without being fingerprinted. Others aren’t so lucky. In the last few months, the EU has stepped up pressure on the Italian government to live up to its legal obligations after other countries have complained about its permissive approach. Refugees that are fingerprinted can be denied asylum in other countries and deported back to Italy.