Canadian journalist Doug Saunders observed recently that the wave of human trafficking now troubling southern Europe is almost entirely composed of migrants, not refugees. Since the turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa is simultaneously creating large numbers of refugees, it is dangerously easy to confuse them.
By modern definitions – as Saunders notes – refugees are people escaping violence or persecution. Migrants generally have greater means and a chosen destination. Distance travelled isn’t definitional, though most refugees simply can’t move very far on their own. That’s one reason – cynical but logical – why the Turks want a …read more
Source: Ottawa Citizen
