I suggest you read the article again, it specifically explains that the issue is not about the 350,000 and about the far larger overall migration which is happening. Further it notes that the Syrian refugees are moving because of war but that is only a tiny part of the overall migration.
Sorry NS, the examples of refugees referred to are those entering Europe via the Mediterranean. Look for instance, at the first paragraph. Not only does it use these refugees as the opening gambit, the author also makes a pretty daft claim - that sailors on the Bulwark were expecting the "world’s hungry, wretched and destitute". We all know that this kind of person would never be found on boats despatched by people smugglers -
because they are the destitute, and not those who can pay the smugglers. The next example is of the little boy found dead on the Turkish beach - who was dressed tidily and probably relatively expensively. The third is of the Nigerian woman who had paid $1200 for the journey.
Nelson then goes on to say that the Great Migration is a result of the 'collapse of global poverty'. Is this really true? How many people have sought to move from the Middle East to Europe since the war in Syria started?
According to the UNHCR, in a 2014 report - "Syrian Refugees in Europe: What Europe can do to Ensure Protection and Solidarity",
Europe is shouldering only a small part of the Syrian refugee problem. Just four per cent of Syrian refugees have sought asylum in Europe.
Since the conflict began in March 2011, some 123,600 Syrians have sought asylum in Europe, not including Turkey. There are over 2.9 million refugees in countries immediately neighbouring Syria.
I believe that that total number is nearer 4 million now, and the number of asylum claims to Europe nearer 250K.
As such, I believe that this article is both incorrect in many of its assumptions, and also incorrect in its suggestion that 'the Great Migration' has suddenly started. It's been going on for 4 years now (as far as Syria is concerned) and for far longer for other parts of the Middle East, let alone other parts of the world. Ironically, Nelson seems to approach contradicting the bulk of the article when he starts talking about the civil war in Yemen only then to compound the earlier error by suggesting that 'the Great Migration' is a 21st Century phenomenon. It has been going on since the 2nd World War, but has been hidden to a degree because it has often been within countries, and into neighbouring countries - but also visible through boat people travelling thousands of miles to Australia. Just because it has recently started to involve Europe doesn't mean that its new.
