For years, European politicians stoked fears about an imaginary migration threat. But in 2015, that political rhetoric violently collided with reality. As the fallout of the Arab Spring pushed hundreds of thousands of people to flee conflict in countries like Syria and Libya, they arrived at a continent whose systems were designed to fail.

But how did a predictable humanitarian emergency become the breaking point for European politics? Why did leaders respond to people seeking safety by militarizing borders, normalizing extreme measures like pushbacks, and paying off neighboring autocrats to act as gatekeepers?

In Episode 02, Tarek Megerisi takes a closer look at the year that fractured the European Union and permanently altered its moral compass.

By unpacking the chaos of 2015, Tarek uncovers a chilling turning point: how migration was fully weaponized into a national security threat, leading Europe to sacrifice its own laws and human rights in a desperate, impossible bid for total border control.