November 10, 2014

Berlin Wall anniversary: Is commemoration enough?

located:	Germany
editor:	Vanessa Ellingham

Last night in Berlin hundreds of thousands turned out to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a moving, symbolic tribute covering today's front pages around the world.

25 years ago similar images of crowds in Berlin made the front pages of international newspapers. The Berlin Wall had fallen, taking with it the Iron Curtain. Freedom at last for millions of Eastern Europeans, oppressed for decades by totalitarianism in all its ugly forms.

As founding member of Human Rights Watch Jeri Laber puts it, "those of us who were privileged to work with the dissident human rights defenders in Eastern Europe remember the high hopes we all had for these new democracies."

"Having experienced totalitarian control over every aspect of their lives, the new government leaders would surely take care to protect freedom of speech, religion, press, and assembly, and the protection of minorities and dissident voices within their societies."

She says, and I would agree, that 2014 is a good time to take stock. Gorbachev actually said the same thing this weekend - but with different reasoning.

What do Russia's advances in Ukraine this year mean for the world order? What about Romania and Bulgaria, where democracy struggles to exist against former communist leaders who stole back power as soon as the revolutions began?

What about the rest of Europe, which maintains a border many times longer than the Berlin Wall, keeping out desperate asylum seekers begging to be let in? Erecting a fence to keep people out certainly compares with building a wall to keep them in.

Conservative estimates say at least 30,000 people have died in the Mediterranean Sea fleeing conflict, violence and discrimination for a chance at a better life in Europe.

The leaders of Europe marked this special week in Europe's history - which not only commemorates the fall of the Berlin Wall but also the Night of Broken Glass - by agreeing on a new immigration initiative which will halt search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean, further weakening our ability to help some of the most desperate people in our world today.

Commemorating meaningful steps in human history must be extended to ensuring we are also continuing to honour the principles of the brave souls we gather to celebrate. Let's rededicate ourselves to their spirit.