UNHCR - http://popstats.unhcr.org/en/asylum_seekers_monthly
NPR - http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/09/08/438539779/the-migrant-crisis-by-the-numbers
The Economist - http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/09/economist-explains-4
"Lies, damned lies & statistics" - No one seems to really know who originally said this. I would add to the three "& the Tabloid press". At the moment all our less generous instincts seem to be fuelled by inaccurate or totally dishonest zenophobia generated by the right wing of politics & the press.
The simplest solution, it seems to me, is to try to really imagine yourself & your family in the situation in Syria, Afghanistan or Eritrea for example. If you can do that & deny these people aid I think you have lost all sense of humanity.
People from these 3 countries arriving in boats by the Eastern Mediterranean route, (Turkey to Greece), or the Central Mediterranean route, (Africa to Italy), are fleeing from war & persecution. There has been an 83% increase in refugees in the first half of 2015 & that is set to double in the second half. Deaths at sea are at record levels. Would you risk this if you had any other option?
The situation is complicated by Economic migrants from the Balkans using the Balkan route. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34173252
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/08/28/europes-economic-migrant-problem-balkans-poverty-germany/
I don't know enough about that to comment, but I would say that if I were brave enough or desperate enough, in the face of poverty & discrimination, to do what they do in order to give my family a better chance in life I would do it.
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