Thousands of people are waiting at the border between Belarus and Poland, hoping to enter the European Union. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has flown them in from crisis areas like Iraq and Syria in retaliation for sanctions against his country. Top politicians in Berlin and Brussels are...
Since the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan in August, debates in Germany have flared up whether the country should grant access to more Afghan refugees. In the run-up to the general election in September, German politicians faced a dilemma. How should they address this contentious issue among...
In 2015, the European refugee crisis awoke Germans from a long and comforting slumber that Angela Merkel had lulled them into with her political style. The term “asymmetric demobilization” came to be known as a way of describing the German chancellor’s shrewd strategy of sitting on the fence...
On June 20, we celebrated World Refugee Day. This was an opportune time for us all to pay attention to the challenge of forced displacement today. Strikingly, the world is facing the largest forced displacement crisis since World War II, with nearly 80 million people having fled their countries...
World Refugee Day should be an observance of communities that have opened their hearts and cities to those in need. While I have often expressed my thoughts about the Syrian, Palestinian and Iraqi refugees in Lebanon, even including the burdens carried by Jordan and Palestine, it is only a...
An island on Lake Kivu provides a sanctuary from war in the region. It only takes one hour to reach the island of Idjwi by speedboat that sails between two of the main cities in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) South Kivu region, Goma and Bukavu. The lush green landscapes and relaxed,...
Yazidi refugees reveal tragic and inspirational stories of surviving ethnic cleansing by the Islamic State. The Yazidi people are an ethno-religious group with aspects of their religion entailing a mixture of Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism. They...
Germany and Mexico must remain vigilant to prevent public perceptions from negatively impacting their asylum, refugee and migration policies. Germany is facing the most important immigration crisis in its history since World War II. The recent attacks that took place on three consecutive days in...
Germany took in over a million refugees just a year ago. Today, it has the capacity but lacks the refugees. In 2015, nearly 1.1 million refugees arrived in Germany. This immense wave of immigrants took German authorities by surprise. Since the capacities of the initial reception centers were...
The people who suffer the most at the hands of our monsters are the ones we do not care to see, says Maria Khwaja. It is 3:50AM in Amman, Jordan. The call to prayer echoes across the city. I have just finished suhoor, the morning Ramadan meal. We are meant to be 30 minutes from the Syrian border...
Just think for a moment: Why are refugees headed for Europe and beyond? “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, / The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere / The ceremony of innocence is drowned; / The best lack all conviction, while the worst...
Having fled oppression and death in Iraq and Syria, a young man reflects on life in America and its divisive election campaign. Ten years ago, my father and I had breakfast together before he left for work and I headed to school. I kissed him goodbye. I never saw him again. I was born and...
The EU’s fragile deal with Turkey wakes up old ghosts of the past, causes widespread rebellion and might turn out to be illegal. This week, the European Union (EU) and Turkey announced a deal to tackle what the BBC calls “the migrant crisis” and Al Jazeera terms “the refugee crisis.”...
As long as global inequality exists, mass migration will continue to be fueled by war and economic woes. For the past 12 months, headlines over refugees and capsized boats have dominated the news agenda. The first month of 2016 was the deadliest January to date, counting casualties in the...
Europe’s new border policy that bars entry of economic migrants is unfair for those seeking a better life. It is not a solution for resolving the “migrant crisis.” When Chris Roberts and his teenage daughter Josie volunteered to spend their holiday break in Greece to help Syrian refugees...
