Refugee Crisis In Europe - The Tipping Point
FRONTLINE|October 2, 2015
As refugees from strife-torn West Asian and north African countries flow to Europe, pressure from the public forces European governments to adopt a more humane response to them.
Parvathi Menon
Refugee Crisis In Europe - The Tipping Point

Much like the photograph of a naked little girl fleeing napalm bombs in Mylai coalesced anti-Vietnam war sentiment across the world into a mighty force, it was an image that proved to be the tipping point in the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe, described as the biggest movement of people in the continent since the Second World War. In this case, it was a photograph of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, his lifeless body alone and lying face down on a vast beach in Turkey. Aylan, along with his five-year-old brother and mother drowned when their unstable dinghy capsized during the perilous crossing from Turkey to the island of Kos in Greece, a landing point for refugees fleeing to Europe.

The image propelled an outpouring of popular support for the refugee cause, seen in concrete community action and solidarity towards the influx of refugees and also in the popular pressure on governments to respond to the crisis in a responsible and humane fashion.

Aylan and his family are part of a mounting tally of individuals and family groups who have perished while making the crossing over the Mediterranean to Europe, seen as the promised land of peace and opportunity. The stories that get published or broadcast in the media on the steady toll of deaths appear not to have deterred those who are fleeing war and economic instability in their region. For the refugees from Syria, West Asia and northern Africa, the constant fear of annihilation in their own countries outweighs the risks of travel.

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ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

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