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SuebinPark
Mr.Taylor
WorldGeographyPeriod3
13March2016
TheEuropeanImmigrationCrisis
TheEuropeanimmigrationcrisisreferstotherecent,massiveinfluxofimmigrants,
predominantlyofMiddleEasternnationality,enteringEuropeinefforttomovetoamorestable
country.Thesepeople,fromcountriessuchasSyria,AfghanistanandIraq,areattemptingto
escapethewarfareandterrorismthatmakelivingverydifficultforregularcitizens.Boarding
flimsyraftsorovercrowdedboats(someofwhichcapsize,killinghundredsofpeople),these
refugeescrosstheMediterranean,landingonthecoastsandislandsofItalyandGreece.A
numberalsocrossthelong,gruelinglandroutebyfoot.Thoughtheyareallowedtomakeasylum
requeststotheirchosencountry,resultscantakeweeksormonthstobereturned.Duringthis
periodoflimbo,immigrantshavenochoicebuttoeitherattemptmovingfurthernorth,orsettle
intoramshacklerefugeecamps,madeoftentsorplywoodandhousinghundredsofhungry,cold,
anddisillusionedpeople.Fortheseimmigrants,thepromisedhomehasturnedouttobeamyth,
instead,enduringperhapsevenpoorerqualityoflivingthanwhattheyleft.
Theissuefortherefugeesiseasilyapparent,howeverthenegativeaffectsonthe
countriesburdenedwiththestreamofimmigrantsisnotasquicklyseen.Countriessuchas
GermanyandGreece,overburdenedwithasylumrequestsandboatlandingsofnewrefugees,
respectively,arefeelingtheimmediatenegativeaffects.Mostinfrastructuresofindividual
Europeancountriesarenotpreparedforthesudden(andexponentiallyincreasing)numbersof

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peopleneedingassistanceandassimilationintoalreadypopulatedcities.Effortstoshutborders
andsendpeoplebackhavebeenmade,aswellasmovestoreducesizesofrefugeecamps.
However,desperatepeoplearecontinuingtotakedangerousseatrips,andatgreaternumbers
thaneverbefore.Mosteffortsatstemmingtheflowareonlycontributingtoadangerously
pressurizedbottleneckinthealreadyineffectivesystem.
Tosuchacomplexandmultifacetedissueasthis,thereisnoeasyanswer,howeveritis
clearthatthecurrentapproachtothecrisisisfarfromsuccessful.IfEuropeistocontinuetheir
currentstrategies,thesituationwouldworsen,andquickly.Tryingtostemtheflowfromsofar
downthestreamisaboutasineffectualasstrategiesgo.However,simplysolvingtherootofthe
problemisperhapsinfinitelymorecomplicatedthanclosingborders.Thisisbecausethecrisisis
notaselfcontainedissue,butrathertheresultofmultiple,equallypressingissues,suchas
economic/incomedisparity,terrorism,andwar.Effortsmustbemadetoaddressthereasonsto
whytheimmigrantsaresodesperatetoescapetheirhomes:oncechangesaremadeinthese
areas,changesintheimmigrationcrisiswillalsobegintooccur.Reducinginvolvementin
foreignwars,andtheinvestmentindevelopinggovernmentsandeconomiestouchthesurfaceof
whatcanbedonetoimprovesuchsituations.Inaddition,allfirstworldcountriesshouldshare
theburdenofimmigrants,inbothprovidingasylumandofferingaidetopeoplestilltrappedin
camps.Therefore,thefewcountriescurrentlystrugglingundertheweightofallimmigrantswill
besomewhatrelievedoftheirduty.
Theimmigrationcrisisisadifficult,butimmediatehumanitarianissue,threateningthe
wellbeingofthousandsofinnocentpeople,andmanysimilarlyunpreparedcountries.Theaction
takencurrently,mainlyattemptstodiscourageandblockasylumentries,isineffectual,and

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effortsshouldinsteadbefocusedonthereasonsfortheirimmigration,andsendingaidetopeople
stuckinmassive,derelictrefugeecamps.TheEuropeanimmigrationcrisisisaresultofmany
worldissues,withthepeoplethataredirectlyaffectedasdesperaterefugees.Withsuchan
extensivelyrootedproblem,itisimpossibletohaveasingle,clearanswer.Wemustinstead
attempttomakepragmaticdecisions,consideringtheimmediatewellbeingofrefugees,butalso
thefutureofallcountriesinquestion.