Refugees

It seems like a lot of anger in the world is directed at refugees, and right-wing governments are gaining popularity everywhere campaigning on a platform of limiting immigration.  I don't remember immigration being this big a deal any time in my life.

Made me wonder, are there more refugees now than ever before?  Turns out the answer to that is a resounding yes.

Quote :

The U.N.'s refugee agency reports that the number of displaced people is at its highest ever -- surpassing even post-World War II numbers, when the world was struggling to come to terms with the most devastating event in history.  The total at the end of 2015 reached 65.3 million -- or one out of every 113 people on Earth, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The number represents a 5.8 million increase on the year before.  A little under 1% of the earth's population is either "an asylum-seeker, internally displaced or a refugee" according to the UNHCR report, which was released Monday.

Where are they coming from?

• Syria, 4.9 million refugees
  
• Afghanistan, 2.7 million refugees
  
• Lake Chad basin, 2.2 million refugees
  
• South Sudan, 1.1 million refugees
  
• Somalia, 1 million refugees
  

Notice any commonalities in this list?

• They're black (or Arabic)
  
• They're muslim
  
• They're poor
  

Not quite sure where I'm going with this.  Just thought it was an angle I haven't heard in the news when discussing the refugee crisis. People are fleeing failed Islamic states in record numbers, looking for refuge even in non-muslim countries. The "refugee crisis" could be reframed as an Islamic exodus, a purification crisis, a home-made disaster of expelling people or making life so miserable they flee. Where are the oil-rich Islamic states in this? How many refugees has Saudi Arabia taken, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, UAE, Egypt, etc.

Quote :

The focus of the criticisms has been on the Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the UAE). The international community has questioned the GCC countries’ contribution to resolving the Syrian refugee crisis in countless social media posts and discussions.

According to a 2014 report entitled “Left Out In The Cold“ by human rights organization Amnesty International, the GCC had not officially resettled a single Syrian refugee since the crisis began in 2011.

Source