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The European Migrant Crisis : Understanding A Historical Anomaly

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Katie Gillis
Kazue Takamura
November 16, 2015
The European Migrant Crisis: Understanding a Historical Anomaly

The influx of Syrian refugees to Europe in the past year has sparked what is being called the ‘European Migrant Crisis’ and has drawn attention and the concern of the international community. In spite of the majority of Syrian refugees remaining in the region (in either Turkey, Lebanon or Jordan) the arrival of over 700,000 refugees in Europe has tested the limitations of political infrastructure in the face of development and human rights issues. In this paper I will argue that the historical, geographic, political, cultural, social and economic differences between the Middle East and Europe are main causes for the failures of the international community to uphold the 1951 U.N. Charter on Refugees. I believe that the fundamental ideological division between Syria and the West causes the insecurity accompanying the admittance of large numbers of Syrians (or other people of Middle Eastern origin) into Europe. This, coupled with the purely logistical challenges of moving people through the continent, dispersing refugees and distributing resources appropriately, is one of the main factors hindering the smooth integration of Syrian refugees. The ability of the international community to adequately address the needs of refugees (and particularly those whose lives have been torn apart by the Syrian civil war) should be an international priority, particularly due to the

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