U2 frontman Bono condemned the idea of a “national border” as the best way to protect one’s country from Islamic terror.
“I don’t see a body of water wide enough or a wall high enough to keep these problems from our doors,” the Irish rocker said before world leaders Friday at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
“The frontier of national interest is no longer the national border,” Bono said. “You may not be interested in the trouble on a far-off street or across the Mediterranean on the other side of the globe, but let me assure you, that trouble is interested in you. Our fate is a shared fate. But which fate will it be?”
A longtime humanitarian activist, Bono urged world leaders to promote investments in development and education in third world countries like Nigeria. He warned that the Islamic terror group Boko Haram could push the African country into a “humanitarian crisis” like the one we see in Syria.
“We need to help African leaders make sure that their young people find work, or they’ll find trouble,” Bono said. “From where I stand, if Nigeria fails, Africa fails. If Africa fails, Europe fails. And if Europe fails, well, then the world has a very, very big problem. We need to help African leaders make sure that their young people find work, or they’ll find trouble”:
Bono was standing in Germany — a country currently facing its own humanitarian crisis after opening the doors to an unlimited number of migrants in 2015. To combat the refugee crisis in her country, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has set aside tens of million of taxpayer dollars for a fund that will pay migrants to withdraw their asylum applications and leave Germany voluntarily.
Bono acknowledged that a “strong military” is necessary to secure freedom, but he added, “In an uncertain world, a strong military is essential, but the best bulwark against violent extremism is hope and opportunity,” he said.
“We need a plan to make sure all girls can go to school. On hundred thirty million girls around the world don’t,” Bono explained. “For every extra year a girl goes to school, her income goes up 12 percent. Some studies even suggest that more education can reduce a country’s risk of conflict by 20 percent.”
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson.