The flow of people heading for Europe from Syria and other war-torn places as well as North Africa and further afield has set off an unprecedented crisis on the continent. The influx is not just causing headaches in Brussels, but also anxiety among swathes of the EU population who fear the long-term consequences of migration.
In a letter to The Economist, Willem Oosterveld argues that to assuage some of these fears, it is important that policy-makers and pundits distinguish more clearly between refugees and migrants in policy discussions: “People who have gone through hardship to rescue themselves and their children ought to be able to count on getting the support that they are entitled to. Full stop. How Europe deals with economic migrants is an altogether different matter.”
The full letter can be read here.
Photo credit: Mstyslav Chernov / CC
