Guardian: Why the refugee crisis is only now getting so bad, 4 years into the Syrian civil war

[pampango]

Syrian refugee crisis: why has it become so bad?
After years of refugees struggling to make their way out of danger, Europe is finally realising the scale of the crisis. We look at why it has taken so long

Firstly, the war is not getting any better. That has the dual effect of prompting more Syrians to leave their country and causing Syrians in exile in Turkey to give up hope of returning home.

Secondly, Turkey is not a country for people to stay in for the long term. It has been more receptive than most, taking in about 2 million Syrian refugees. But Syrians do not have the right to work there legally, so it is not a place to settle. Additionally, the recent electoral setbacks for the AKP, the party perceived as being most in favour of helping Syrian refugees, has made many Syrians nervous about Turkey’s political future.

Thirdly, UN bodies working with millions of refugees in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon are complaining that they are running out of money, making camp conditions harsher than in the past and life more untenable for Syrians who live on their own but still depend on UN subsidies. The knock-on effect is that the UN has been unable to provide as much financial support to Syrian refugees in the Middle East during the past year, and so many have opted for Europe as a result.

A fourth point is that people have finally saved up enough money. It is expensive to pay for your family to cross to Greece and then work your way up through Europe. Depending on how many smugglers you use, every individual might spend about $3,000 (£1,970) to get to Germany. It takes time to get that kind of cash – and maybe we are now seeing the result of several years of penny-pinching. ... there is now a known route. People have long trekked through the Balkans to the EU, but Syrians were not previously among them. That changed late last summer, when the first few Syrians found the Balkan route to Europe.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/04/syrian-refugee-crisis-why-has-it-become-so-bad

[KittyWampus]

1. How is this not getting more attention on DU. Europe may be facing a crisis-

absorbing so many refugees will cause far-right politicians to gain traction and social safety nets and liberal policies to fray.

[End Of The Road]

2. +1

Thousands of refugees are currently walking 110 miles from Budapest to the Austrian border while most of GD is obsessed with a stupid county clerk in Kentucky. A sign of who/what we've become?

[closeupready]

3. The county clerk topic is this week's rape culture/circumcision/mass shooting/police brutality.

That's been GD for years now. Faddish and fickle.

[eissa]

4. Why isn't more pressure placed on Saudi and the Gulf countries?

Given their role in creating the chaos in Syria, you would think they would shoulder some of the responsibility of taking in some of their brethren. Lebanon and Jordan -- countries with far less resources -- have taken in the bulk of the refugees, while Saudi and the Gulf have accepted ZERO. Pathetic.