Why Do People Migrate? Part 1: Facts

Europe, and Greece in particular, is facing a humanitarian emergency as the number of migrants and refugees arriving on its shores has increased dramatically. Authorities and agencies on the ground are struggling to respond effectively. Migrants and refugees coming to Greece are coming to a country struggling with an economic crisis, as a result of which the Greek authorities are not able to expand or scale up their services to meet the demand posed by the influx of refugees. With over 1000 of new arrivals daily, and with migration figures set to rise in the coming months there is a distinct lack of capacity on the ground to respond to the current situation. Obviously Greece cannot manage this situation alone.... Closing the borders and trapping asylum seekers in Greece is an unconscionable and short-sighted non-solution. The EU has to establish a mechanism to distribute refugees arriving in Greece to other European countries. EU leaders have to forge new rules for managing asylum claims following the breakdown of the current system. The chaos of recent months shows what happens when politicians fail to take a pan-European approach to what is clearly a pan-European problem. The plan would require a big chunk of cash and a lot of testy negotiations. But it is in every country’s interest to help—because all of them would be worse off if the EU lapses into a xenophobic free-for-all.