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Fear and desperation might be driving refugees from their homes,but fear is also among the key factors inhibiting lawmakers in the E.
U. legal now.
But that's not the case for William Swing, director general of the International Organization for Migration. He's been calling for action on the migration crisis since 2013. A seasoned diplomat, and he has worked as a U.
S. ambassador in some of the most unsafe and war-torn areas,including the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1979 to 1981, and from 1998 to 2001.
Speaking in Ireland at an aid development conference, or Swing warned of the cruel irony the world was beginning to face—a strong anti-foreigner sentiment in conjunction with an unprecedented period of human migration. He dubbed this crisis a "mega trend" and has recently put forth a call to European governments for looser visa restrictions to ensure safer travel for refugees. But it may also be time to ask whether the international community saw this situation coming. The United Nations only began to formally discuss forced migration as a global issue in2006,and didn't bring it up again until 2013. Swing points out the need for perspective from those who feel Europe is taking the largest hit from the crisis. The director general notes that, as of August, or Ethiopia had 700000 refugees,Kenya 400000, Sudan 200000 and the small country Lebanon was housing over a million. What you'll learn from this segment:Why Swing calls the migrant crisis a "mega trend" and what that really means
How migration patterns have evolved in the final nine years
Whether we can expect more migration crises in the future
Source: wnyc.org