Migration — an eternal crisis: How long more can we look away?

MIGRATION has shaped our world and is reshaping it today.

Because of climate change, poverty, regional or religious conflict, and dangerous population growth, it will continue to do so. Migration is perpetual. Only the number of people trying to reach a better place to build a new life — for their children, at least — varies from decade to decade. Migration might be the ultimate expression of human desperation. It is the realisation that no matter how cold and unwelcoming the destination across the sea may be, or how dangerous the journey, it is a far better option than the nightmare being endured. That simple truth is the unstoppable momentum behind the exodus from Africa, Asia, and Central America that is challenging Europe and America on so many levels.

Migration is the bogeyman argument used by those straddling the fault line between right-wing extremism and the xenophobic politics that is far closer to the heart of Britain’s ‘Leave’ campaign than it is comfortable to acknowledge.