A way for EU to cope with refugees
Re Clashes erupt as police stem tide of migrants, Aug. 22 The tide of displaced persons seeking to relocate in Europe has reached a crisis. Last year 219,000 crossed the Mediterranean, and at least 3,500 died. During July alone, 50,000 arrived on various Greek islands.
Most refugees and economic migrants from the Middle East and Africa hope to settle eventually in Germany, Scandinavia or the U.K., where benefits are perceived to be better than in the nearly bankrupt southern European countries. Some 800,000 are expected to arrive in Germany this year.
Nowhere have I read how these people will be housed. Unlike in the tent cities in Turkey and Lebanon, as the cold weather season approaches, these unfortunate people will require fully winterized housing in the north, and heating costs will obviously be greater than if they remained in the south.
Would it not make sense for agencies of the European Union and the United Nations to agree to transfer larger sums of money to the governments of Greece, Italy and Spain so as to encourage as many of these migrants as possible to remain in those countries?
Creation of new housing, schools, hospitals, roads, etc., would provide badly needed employment to previous residents of these countries, as well as to many of the migrants. After all, it is the economies of these southern European countries that need stimulation, not those of Germany and Scandinavia. Dr. Charles S. Shaver, Ottawa Here’s the dictionary definition of the noun refugee: One who flees, especially to another country, seeking refuge from war, political oppression, religious persecution or a natural disaster.
Why do the media, including the Star, continue to call the people fleeing wartorn areas and arriving on European shores migrants as opposed to refugees? Aquil Ali, Toronto