Educated and multilingual Syrian refugees will mean a better Ireland

The unfolding refugee crisis is become the biggest humanitarian tragedy in Europe since the Yugoslav wars.

Today the omnipotent prevalence of social media means we can see the tragedy as it happens on our smart phones, computers and TV’s in an explosion of images, videos and soundbites. It is impossible not to feel emotional when presented with these images of despair and destitution. Half sunken boats with terrified people clinging to anything that floats to stay alive. Horrifically, this image is often surpassed by the tragic scenes of dead children washed up on the beaches of southern European holiday resorts.

European leaders are still struggling to decide how to deal with the refugees much to the consternation of Germany which has pledged to take in an admirable 800,000 people. That is 1% of its entire population. In spite of this offer the Hungarian authorities have sought to prevent those people leaving for Germany, even tricking them into a train journey to Germany that was actually heading to a camp! How did they even think that this was the correct thing to do? As a result, tens of thousands of refugees are walking to the Austrian frontier where they are being welcomed by cheering Austrians ready to offer food and comfort.