What Refugees Bring When They Run for Their Lives

Big picture: most refugees going across the Mediterranean are Syrian, male (like 72% male!), young, and poor.[0] Like unless they have families that they're hoping to have evacuated (why didn't they bring them over in the first place?), we're talking about a recipe for complete stupidity. Language barriers exist, education barriers exist; I don't know how the Europeans intend to get all of these refugee adults up to economic snuff at the same grade of Europeans who were trained in the ways of the West from birth.

This is going to be a demographic shock to countries with more balanced gender ratios, and in the case of Europe, upside-down aging pyramids. Men without solid economic recourse and lack of cultural integration are going to resort to crime. They will upset the local sex market through strong male competition for women (rape town!). Politics in Europe will never be the same as the majority of the young do not carry any of the previous generation's values.

I'm really open to being proved wrong, I really am. But I'm not counting on it.

[0] http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/regional.php

As a child of refugees and having hung around quite a lot of immigrants, I think the biggest impediment to building a new life is the idea that you're going back. I hear this story all the time, from some kid whose parents insist they learn the old language and act like people from the old country, because in just a few years they'll be moving back there. Of course the "kid" will be in his 20s, having grown up in prosperous Scandinavia.

At the same time, you piss off the natives if you act like you are not sincerely trying to integrate. I don't think it happens a lot, but every time you hear a story about some foreigner taking advantage of the system, it makes it harder for all of them. Eg a friend of mine was translating for some newcomers from some Russian-speaking country. They were basically shopping for a free house, discussing whether they could get a better place, and openly planning their next trip home to old country, from which they were ostensibly fleeing.

The smartest thing to do as an immigrant is to immediately learn the language and try to find something to do. Get new friends who are local, and don't long for the old country.

Having millions of people living in temporary camps is a waste of millions of lives.

Now I do think there's a lot of pressure on the border countries, since they're taking a disproportionate amount of people. What should be done is once the UN decides a country is a war zone, everyone from there should be able to enter a lottery to be resettled elsewhere. They have to make a commitment to learn the new language, and not to come back for a long time.

> Politics in Europe will never be the same as the majority of the young do not carry any of the previous generation's values.

First reaction: boo-hoo. More reasonable reaction: the Eurozone's population is about 330 millions right now, are they really expecting 100millions+ refugee? Yes, right now the refugees are concentrating in just a few countries, but that's because of the EU's attitude and passing-the-ball solution so far. The area as a whole CAN take on the refugees.

The same argument on the scale can easily apply to most of your other objections really. But the most important point is as simple as this: it's a very shitty situation all around, but does the anti-refugee camp have any proposed solution besides "tough shit, they are not my problems"? I mean, I can see people being selfish, and that itself is not a problem, but let's just call a spade a spade? EU citizens are all within their own rights for vote for their Trump-equivalent and build a wall around EU.