The consequences of our actions eventually knock on the door. In Europe, this knock is taking the form of hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants amassed on its borders. The migration crisis of recent months, unprecedented since the end of World War II, is in part a consequence of the actions (and omissions) in Europe in recent years. The current situation would not have been possible without the conflicts in Ukraine, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen in which Europe has been involved to a greater or lesser degree.

With respect to Ukraine, Europe spurred social protests that ended the corrupt pro-Russian government. However, when Putin responded by invading Crimea and encouraging an insurgency in the eastern provinces, Europe did not respond adequately to the needs of the new Ukrainian government it had helped create. As a result, Ukraine has been at the mercy of Russian aggression and immersed in a ruinous conflict with pro-Russian insurgents.

In the case of the Arab countries, which are the real core of the migration problem currently facing Europe, Western irresponsibility in the current crisis is found in having fomented the Arab Spring. In the "model" case of Yemen, European and US diplomatic mediation led to ousting the country's strongman, resulting in a power vacuum and civil war. In Libya, Europe intervened directly with an air campaign and a naval blockade that helped overthrow Gaddafi. However, once the dictator was deposed, Europe and the United States left the scene. When civil war broke out in Libya, Europe did not decisively support the side facing the Islamists, prolonging the conflict for years. Something similar has happened in the case of Syria, where Europe and the USA supported protests against the Assad regime, but when riots turned into civil war, support for dissidents never materialized. In desperation, many Syrian rebels saw no other choice than to throw themselves at the will of the Islamist insurgency, while the moderate sector was strangled by a lack of external support.

In Iraq, the situation began to stabilize thanks to massive US military and civilian presence that Bush ordered at the end of his presidency. But when Obama decided to withdraw all troops in 2011, before the situation had stabilized completely, the country quickly descended into sectarian conflict that, until then, they had managed to avoid. Afghanistan is on the same track. Political decisions in Europe and the United States that ignore on-the-ground needs and situation continue to promote the withdrawal of troops, coupled with increasing activity from the Taliban insurgency.

The protraction of these conflicts and their metastases has led the affected populations to start a mass exodus. That being said, the West is not entirely responsible for the current situation.

How many Gulf countries have offered to host Syrian refugees? The answer is none. Europe's reticence when providing asylum to thousands of refugees and the dysfunctional response of various EU members with respect to the arrival of immigrants should not obscure another more striking and shocking fact: the passivity of Muslim countries, especially Persian Gulf monarchies, in helping to alleviate the refugees' plight. This fact is more shocking when considering these countries' wealth, their geographical proximity to Syria and their responsibility in the conflict (it is worth remembering that the Gulf countries finance and deliver weapons to various militias).

With the exception of some neighboring countries, particularly Lebanon, where refugees make up a quarter of the country's total population, Jordan and Turkey, no other Muslim country in the region has opened its borders to refugees or allocated a significant amount of money to assisting them.

When it comes to helping alleviate the hardship of their fellow Muslims (whether Palestinians, Iraqis, Syrians, Yemenis or Afghans), the pattern is always the same: indifference and closed borders. As long as the Gulf countries' solidarity ignores the refugees, this drama will persist. And as long as Europe encourages political change abroad and then does not decisively support the creation of strong institutions in the countries involved, this tragedy will continue.