“I love Europe, but we are still struggling with that kind of development. First of all, we don't have a smart conversation about the difference between an immigrant and a refugee. A refugee can't go back. An immigrant is someone - I chose to move to America. And I also have the option of saying hey, didn't work out, I can move back. That's a completely different story than someone who is locked in.” FirstsKindStillsI CanDifferentStoriesAmericaMovingDifferencesStruggleDevelopmentConversationSmartEuropeWork OutHeyImmigrantsLockedRefugee Author:Marcus Samuelsson
“There's evidence that one of the Paris attackers may have entered Europe posing as a refugee.” MayEvidenceEuropeParisRefugeePosing Author:Audie Cornish
“I believe that the majority of people in Europe want to demonstrate solidarity with the refugees.” PeopleWantBelieveI BelieveEuropeMajoritySolidarityRefugee Author:Martin Schulz
“We all have to accept accusations that we ignored the refugee crisis for far too long. The first time that I referred to the Mediterranean Sea as Europe's cemetery was in October 2013, when hundreds of people drowned off Lampedusa. Italians, Maltese, Greeks and Spaniards have been pleading for help for years. But nobody cared.” PeopleYearsFirstsLongHas BeensHelpingAcceptingSeaFirst TimeEuropeCrisisGreekIgnoredRefugeeOctoberCemeteryAccusationPleadingNobody CaresRefugee CrisisSpaniardsMediterranean Sea Author:Martin Schulz
“As the refugee crisis unfolds across Europe, another is looming in our backyard. The number of children crossing the southwest border unaccompanied has quietly surged more than a year after President [Barack] Obama referred to the problem as a quote "urgent humanitarian situation."” YearsChildrenProblemPresidentNumbersSituationEuropeCrisisHumanitarianBarackBordersRefugeeUrgentCrossingsPresident Barack ObamaBackyardsRefugee CrisisLooming Author:Joy-Ann Reid
“I'm not particularly optimistic, but I hope that the lack of alternatives will lead to it. I would like to remind you of the fact that before May 2015 there was no overall European agenda on immigration. Nothing, zero. It wasn't until after yet another tragedy in the Mediterranean that, in response to an Italian initiative, (Europe) began thinking about setting policies for the registration of refugees, their distribution or their deportation.” ThinkingMayFactsPolicyEuropeTragedyResponseImmigrationSettingOptimisticSettingsAlternativesAgendasZeroItalianInitiativeRefugeeDistributionDeportationRegistration Author:Paolo Gentiloni
“The route for the refugees currently goes through Greece and the Balkans or through Italy; if there were a crisis in north-eastern Europe, Poland might just as well be affected. In this case we are dealing with mechanisms that we do not control. We need to change that.” IfsNeedsWellsMightCasesEuropeCrisisAffectedMechanismRoutesRefugeeEasternGreeceNeed A ChangePolandEastern EuropeBalkans Author:Paolo Gentiloni
“We are not perfect. But we have doubtlessly fulfilled our obligations to the EU to a greater degree than the EU has its obligations to Italy, when it comes to the relocation or repatriation of refugees that are in our country. Italy does its homework better than the rest of Europe. Instead of the 160,000 migrants that were to be distributed across Europe, we are currently at 300.” DoeCountryPerfectGreaterDegreesEuropeObligationOur CountryFulfilledRefugeeHomeworkNot PerfectMigrants Author:Paolo Gentiloni
“Like Trump`s presidential bid, the Brexit campaign has been driven largely by fears of cultural penetration, immigrant invasion, and the genuine crisis of Middle East refugees dying to get into Europe, all channeled into a kind of inward-turning form of ethno-nationalism.” KindHas BeensFormMiddleDyingTrumpEuropeCrisisEastDrivenCampaignsGenuinePresidentialNationalismImmigrantsMiddle EastInwardRefugeeInvasionPenetration Author:Chris Hayes
“US opposition to Russia and China has entailed sanctions against Russia, and Russia in turn has made counter-sanctions against Europe. So Europe is essentially sacrificing its opportunities for trade and investment in order to remain part of NATO. It is also agreeing to bomb Syria and the Near East, creating a wave of refugees that it doesn't know what to do with.” KnowsMadeOrderTurnsOpportunitySacrificeCreatingEuropeTradeInvestmentWaveChinaEastRussiaBombsOppositionSyriaRefugeeSanctionsNato Author:Michael Hudson
“It's amazing that Europe says, "What are we going to do with these refugees?" It's as if it doesn't realize that being part of NATO and bombing these countries forces them to choose to live by fleeing, or to stay and get bombed.” IfsCountryForceRealizingEuropeLive ByRefugeeBombingNatoFleeing Author:Michael Hudson
“Europe is creating the flight of refugees that's tearing it apart politically, and leading rightwing nationalist parties to gain power to withdraw from the Eurozone.” PartyCreatingGainsEuropeFlightRefugeeEurozone Author:Michael Hudson
“Without the Turkey agreement, tens of thousands of refugees would still be stuck in Greece. The Commission presented proposals for securing Europe's external borders early on, but they languished in the Council for months. As you can see, the Commission isn't asleep. Oftentimes it has to wake up the others.” StillsMonthsEuropeWake UpStuckBordersAgreementRefugeeCouncilTurkeysGreeceProposal Author:Jean-Claude Juncker
“Since it took up office, the Commission which I lead has pursued a clear policy: we need less interference from Brussels when it comes to the things that Member States can deal with better on their own. That is why we no longer regulate oil cans or showerheads, but concentrate instead on what we can do better together rather than alone - such as tackling the refugee crisis or securing our external borders. Only in that way can we make people feel that Europe makes a tangible difference.” PeopleWayNeedsFeelsStatesTogetherCan DoDifferencesDealsClearPolicyMembersOfficeEuropeCrisisOilBordersRefugeePursuedTangibleInterferenceTacklingRefugee CrisisBrusselsBetter Together Author:Jean-Claude Juncker
“I think the refugee problem is Europe is vastly worse than we have in the United States.” ThinkingStatesProblemUnitedUnited StatesEuropeRefugee Author:Michael Leiter
“Bashar Assad is a major cause of the refugees which are now flooding Europe and causing such consternation in the United States.” StatesCausesUnitedUnited StatesMajorsEuropeRefugeeAssadFloodingConsternation Author:John McCain
“A pioneer in this genre [ writing about the refugee crisis] : the book A Seventh Man, by the great John Berger, decades ago evoked the lives of migrant workers in Europe.” MenWritingBookEuropeCrisisWorkersDecadesGenreRefugeePioneersMigrantsRefugee CrisisMigrant Workers Author:Adam Hochschild
“At any rate, those problems [ non-proliferation regime for weapons of mass destruction ] would not be so acute, with numerous terror attacks and victims of those attacks in many areas of the world - in Europe and in the United States. We also never would have had such an urgent problem with refugees, I have no doubt about it.” WorldStatesProblemUnitedUnited StatesDoubtWeaponsMassEuropeAreasDestructionVictimRateTerrorNo DoubtRegimesRefugeeUrgentWeapons Of Mass DestructionMass DestructionProliferationTerror Attacks Author:Vladimir Putin
“I want to thank the Greek people publicly for their humanitarian response to the crisis of so many migrants and refugees seeking safety in Europe. Greeks, especially on the islands, have shown extraordinary compassion and they've rightly earned the admiration of the world.” PeopleWorldWantCompassionEuropeCrisisSafetyResponseExtraordinarySeekingHumanitarianGreekIslandsAdmirationRefugeeMigrants Author:Barack Obama
“If the threat is jihadism - and it is - and the threat is the destruction of Syria so that all of these refugees are swamping into Europe and changing the whole character and politics of Europe, this is the time to unite to find a way out.” IfsWayWholeCharacterEuropeDestructionThreatSyriaRefugee Author:John F. Kerry
“The dream of Europe is a region of freedom and peace, of security, law, democracy, tolerance and mutual respect. If you look into the faces of the refugees you will see this dream. These are people who are fleeing from war, hate, violence and unjust systems.” PeopleIfsLooksWarDreamFacesLawHateDemocracyViolenceSecurityEuropeToleranceRegionsMutualUnjustRefugeeFleeingMutual RespectFreedom And Peace Author:Martin Schulz
“Just as that little opening in the Iron Curtain that Hungary created caused a flood of people out, and ultimately the beginning of the end of communism in Europe, if you could get refugee flows coming out of North Korea, while there'd be a very difficult humanitarian problem in the short run, both for China and South Korea, in the long run it would lead to reunification.” PeopleIfsLittlesLongEndsProblemRunningDifficultEuropeFlowSouthChinaHumanitarianOpeningCommunismIronComing OutLong RunsFloodRefugeeCurtainsKoreaNorth KoreaHungarySouth KoreaIron CurtainReunification Author:John Bolton
“Hopefully, whether it's energy or child vaccines, the case of the many benefits helping countries so that they are stable, so these refugee problems that have been troubling for Europe - a little less so for the U.S. but, even so, a lot of controversy there - these things are why the future's going to be better than the past. People really do look to the United States, so we'll be there making the case.” PeopleLooksChildrenLittlesHas BeensCountryStatesHelpingProblemPastEnergyUnitedCasesUnited StatesBenefitsEuropeHopefullyStableRefugeeControversyVaccines Author:Bill Gates
“We are not only talking about waves of refugees coming to Greece, to Italy, and elsewhere. Destabilizing the Balkans means Lebanonization, and that means destabilizing all of Europe.” MeanTalkingEuropeWaveElsewhereRefugeeGreeceBalkans Author:Fatos Nano
“It was a heavenly summer, the summer in which France fell and the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk. Leaves were never such an intense and iridescent green; sunlight glinted on flower-studded meadows as the Germans encircled the Maginot Line and overran not only France but Belgium and Holland. Birdsong filled the air in the lull between bursts of gunfire and accompanied the fleeing refugees who blocked the roads. It was as though the weather was preparing a glorious requiem for the death of Europe.” ForceLinesAirFlowerSummerBirdEuropeGreenFilledBritishIntenseWeatherFranceGloriousHeavenlySunlightPreparingRefugeeMeadowsBelgiumBlockedFleeingHollandLullsBirdsongRequiemIridescentDunkirk Author:Eva Ibbotson