Austin Goble, 2nd Period

Current Event: Redefining urban citizenship

when migrants and refugees are the norm
by Gabriele Booth
This years major United Nations conference on urbanization is
approaching, and a significant topic of this discussion will be this: with the
world seeing record levels of displacement, how will some cities continue to
hold this large amount of refugees? Over 20 other international events were
held in big cities recently on this subject, and they will conclude in an Urban
Thinkers Campus this week in Mannheim, Germany. These events are calling
to give more power to the mayor in making decisions about allowing
migrants into their cities. After all, mayors do have the most direct contact
with their citizens and understand their needs. But overlapping themes
between all of these events are that the concepts of common good and
justice must be enforced in all cities. Many leaders believe it is necessary to
reaffirm that cities at their best are open, and this openness makes them
cradles of civilization. The conception of openness in Europe is not
universally accepted, but with this ongoing migrant crisis, many European
countries may need to rethink their urban citizenship policies. But with
11,000 people migrating to Mannheim alone (Mannheim is a city of 330,000
people), and over a million migrating to Germany, there is a grave need to
adopt new policies of openness.

Austin Goble, 2nd Period

I think that since Europe is home to some of the biggest world powers,
it should feel a sense of responsibility and obligation to taking in most of
these displaced refugees. The fact that most countries are not completely
open to refugees is surprising, but as displacement levels skyrocket, they
should strongly consider and apply new policies of openness. As Mannheim
Mayor Peter Kurz stated, A large number of todays refugees will be the
citizens of tomorrow. The success of the integration of these people is crucial
for the social and economic future of our city. Openness of a city is key to
making that city vigorous, diverse, and accessible. However, taking in that
many refugees is no easy feat. For example, the city of Mannheim must
quickly figure out how to provide 12,000 people with shelter, registration,
clothing, medical care, and language instruction. But doing this for the
refugees is only what is right. Some of the refugees from the Middle East
spoke of what caused them to flee to Europe at the Urban Thinkers Campus,
and some talked of how the Taliban killed their neighbors. These people
narrowly escaped the grasps of those terrorists, but now have a newfound
social freedom in Europe. Making a country open and giving refugees urban
citizenship is the only just thing to do right now to provide a safe haven for
people fleeing from conflict in their home countries, in a time where
displacement levels are at an all-time high.