In The News

Erdogan to Release Migrants if EU Blocks Membership Talks

Caroline Mortimer November 30, 2016
Members of the European Parliament voted for a temporary pause in negotiations on Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union due to worries about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's heavy-handed response to July’s coup. Specific concerns include treatment of political dissidents and potential restoration of the death penalty, which is banned by the EU. “The talks were part of a wide-ranging...

Razing of Calais ‘Jungle’ Camp Relocates Migrant Crisis

Noemie Bisserbe and Stacy Meichtry November 1, 2016
France razed a large refugee encampment in Calais, a French town on the English Channel. The official refugee center and surrounding area known as the “Jungle” provided a temporary home for up to 10,000 migrants. Conditions were appalling, and French authorities evacuated the camp, relocating occupants to shelters throughout the country, but thousands may have fled, hoping to find a way to travel...

Study: Borders in Europe Would Cost Up to $3.3 Billion a Year

Valentina Pop October 19, 2016
A study by the RAND Europe think tank shows that to restore borders across Europe would cost the continent more than $3 billion yearly, a number calculated using the cost of restoring physical borders, administrative costs, and losses from trade and travel. As Europe has drawn millions of refugees from Syria and other war-torn areas, some countries in the Schengen zone – the border-free area...

North-South Divide in Nigeria Is Hiding a Humanitarian Crisis

Emmanuel Akinwotu September 21, 2016
Boko Haram has terrorized northeastern Nigeria for seven years, leaving almost 2 million people displaced and many communities impoverished. The country of 180 million is ethnically diverse. The humanitarian crisis that also stretches into Chad, Niger and Cameroon has prompted outrage around the globe. The crisis is less urgent for journalists and government leaders of Nigeria, largely based in...

A Problem for Merkel and Germany

Sebastian Fischer September 7, 2016
State parliament elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were widely regarded as a referendum on immigration. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union lost to a right-wing populist party. Alternative for Germany, formed in 2013, initially opposed the euro and eurozone bailouts, later shifting focus to target immigration, refugees and Islam. Merkel’s position as chancellor...

How the Refugee Crisis Became Invisible

Yiannis Baboulias August 26, 2016
Problems that go unresolved for months on end become the new normal, and the media spotlight can fade. Refugees continue to flee fighting and violence in Syria and other countries. Total numbers may be down, with Turkey stemming migrant flows, but infrastructure is strained. Refugees are in limbo – stuck in temporary camps not intended for years on end. “Inside the camps, reports of overcrowding...

The Change Luck City: Dhaka’s Climate Refugees

Nellie Le Beau and Hugh Tuckfield August 12, 2016
As many as a half million people flee their homes in Bangladesh each year because of the “devastating effects of climate change – floods, salinization of land, destructive super cyclones, and reduced agricultural yields,” explain Nellie Le Beau and Hugh Tuckfield in an essay with photographs for the Diplomat. “Displaced primarily from Bangladesh’s southern and eastern regions, these are climate...