Send Them Peace

Here are some facts if you had no idea.

Included at this link is a PDF Summary of current migrations that will open in a new page on your browser, and that you can read, download and save. 

The %'age of migrants who are children is increasing.

In June 2015, 1 in 10 migrant was a child. By October 2015, 1 in 3 refugees and migrants was a child. 

This report concerns primarily arrivals by sea: mostly into Greece and also Italy.

And for the European Union ...

Will this mean a significant further stress applied to the economy of individual countries (like Greece) that were floundering? The European Central Bank's decisions and policy-making will not likely pass unaffected. A reason for further divisiveness within the EU? A strenghtening of the political right, finding easily, new adherents to its "harsh reality" politics that recent pre-elections in France highlited?

Can one imagine and hope for, a unifying turn for the E.U. towards humanitarianism, as the flow of refugees continues?

Clearly, ...

Migration does not take place risk free :

And "camping out" for a while, isn't always ideal, disease or risk-free, varying greatly from one welcoming country to the next ...

French Refugee Camp

(now involved in a humanitarian rights violation suit against France)

Calais, France

Turkish, Syrian Refugee Camp

Turkish camp for Syrian refugees

German refugee camps

Germany - sleeping area at induction center.

Dresden, Germany camp

Dresden, Germany

Templehof Airfield in Berlin

All arrivals of course, take place amid mixed shouts of welcome and protest in recipient countries.

How about closer to home? ...

Are conditions different/ better/ worse for migrants who decided to relocate closer to home. Here is a report from Beirut, Lebanon.

Homo sapiens has been migrating for millions of years ...

Below are the origins of refugees in more recent times. If one's country has never been a source of refugees, does that contribute to a greater difficulty in receiving refugees?

Here is a map of countries on the "receiving end" :

Here is a summary of where, since 2000, refugees have gone to and come from.

And since Syria is currently topical ...

The numbers shown are from June, 2012, so have since markedly increased as seen below :

These data are from the Humanitarian Information Unit of the U.S. Dept. of State. 

Notice the change in many figures from June 12, 2012 to Aug. 27, 2015, here is one example : Internally displace persons - increased from 300,000 to 7.6 million.

Recent increases in bombings promise to drive this figure higher.

Here is a summary article, which includes contact information for those trying to create a unified response in Europe, to this migration challenge.

So migrations are not a new phenomenon for humans.

One leaves one's home because it just isn't home any more. An apparently innate characteristic of humans seems to be an insistence for feeling free "at home," with certain liberties and a minimum level of security. Personal liberty for self and family is a powerful driver. Migration and rate of migration becomes a gauge for defining when a country has lost these qualities.

And here, two links to useful resources on the topics of human migrations, and immigration control up to current times, the latter source also available at Amazon.com, from $US 21.86, though both are free online.