Friday, September 11, 2015

3:15 PM

The Global Refugee Crisis, Region by Region

By PATRICK BOEHLER and SERGIO PEÇANHA        UPDATED August 26, 2015

A look at hot spots in what the United Nations says has

become the worst migration crisis since World War II.

BALKANS

Tens of thousands of migrants and refugees are working their way north through the Balkans.

PASSAGEWAY

Masses of migrants and refugees, many from Syria, Afghanistan and Kosovo, have been overwhelming border authorities in several Balkan countries as they try to reach Western Europe. The migrants travel in groups of just a few to dozens, moving north by bus, train, taxi or van. Serbian news media reported that some 70 buses of migrants entered the capital, Belgrade, on Sunday. Migrants in Macedonia told reporters that they were especially eager to move after Hungary said it planned to complete a fence along its 109-mile border with Serbia by Monday. PUBLISHED AUG. 26

MIDDLE EAST

Syria’s neighbors have been making it harder for migrants to cross into their territories.

TAXING THE NEIGHBORS

Years of violence in Iraq and Syria have stretched the capacities of neighboring countries to accommodate the displaced. In Jordan, unemployment has almost doubled since 2011 in areas with high concentrations of refugees, according to a recent International Labor Organization study. Lebanon began to require visas from Syrians in January. Refugees now make up about 20 percent of Lebanon’s population. In March, Turkey announced it would close the two remaining border gates with Syria. UPDATED AUGUST 26

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Thousands of Bangladeshis and Rohingya, an ethnic minority from Myanmar, have fled from poverty and persecution.

FLEEING BY SEA

Indonesia and Malaysia, countries that in the past have quietly taken in many refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar, first reacted to the new rise in migrants by vowing to send back smugglers’ boats. Facing public pressure, they reversed their stance in mid-May, saying they would provide shelter to migrants still at sea. An absence of landings and a paucity of sightings suggest that the flow has subsided. UPDATED JULY

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

The European Union wants to stop smugglers near the African coast. European governments are divided over the fates of those who reach shore

DIVISION OVER HOW TO RESPOND

In May, European leaders said they would form a naval force based in Italy to combat people-smuggling. The European Commission also appealed to the bloc’s member states to accept quotas of migrants to relieve the burden on southern states, like Italy and Greece, which are the main landing points. Poverty and war in places like Libya, South Sudan, Eritrea and Nigeria are driving migrants to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea. UPDATED JULY 1

EASTERN EUROPE

Fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists has severely damaged Ukraine’s industrial belt.

CRIPPLED ECONOMY

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have fled to Russia. But European Union countries, like Poland, Germany and Italy, which are among the top destinations for asylum seekers, have rejected most applications from Ukrainians. Less than a third of the $316 million needed in 2015 for the United Nations’ humanitarian response has been raised so far. The conflict was particularly damaging to Ukraine’s economy, which is expected to shrink 9 percent by the end of the year. UPDATED JULY 1

Boehler, Patrick, and Sergio PeÇanha. "The Global Refugee Crisis, Region by Region." 

The New York Times. The New York Times, 08 June 2015. Web. 11 Sept. 2015.

This article outlines some of the struggles facing countries in Europe. A lot of countries in that area are struggling in such a way that is causing many of their population to flee. This is causing problems with surrounding countries, because they don’t have enough resources and space to accommodate all of these refugees. This article does not have a very strong bias. If I had to mention a bias, I would say the author is more biased towards the refugees, however most of the information presented are just facts that do not  appear to have any opinion behind them. This whole situation is complicated. The refugees have nowhere to go if their countries' neighbors won't let them in, but if the countries admit the refugees, it could be bad for their economy or have other ramifications. There is no obvious solution to this problem, and some government officials have some hard decisions to make.