[hewhowhineth]

"More than half of those fleeing to Europe from the Middle East and Africa are economic migrants and not asylum seekers fleeing the horrors of war in Iraq or Syria, according to first vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans.

Quoting what he said were new, unpublished, figures from the EU border agency, Frontex, Mr Timmermans said: “More than half of the people now coming to Europe come from countries where you can assume they have no reason whatsoever to ask for refugee status … more than half, 60 percent.”

Those 60 percent were predominantly from north Africa, mainly Moroccans or Tunisians who were leaving their own countries for “economic reasons” and attempting to travel to Europe through Turkey, the former Netherlands foreign minister told the Dutch national broadcaster, NOS."

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/most-fleeing-to...

[madaxe_again]

Yes, but do consider that "economic reasons" can include "militias keep burning my crops, it is too unstable to make a living".

You can draw the line wherever you like, just remember that one day someone may draw a line that affects you, and you may not like it.

Me, I'm some kind of idiot that believes in being good to your fellow man.

[dogma1138]

No, unless you think that every south american who crosses into the US some is somehow deserving of a refugee status.

The refugee status is a very specific legal term and it comes with allot of requirements both on the person seeking refuge (different from seeking asylum, asylum seekers are not the same thing as refugees) and the country taking them in, a refugee is responsible to contact the authorities and register in the first safe country which is signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the "safe" part is a critical issue here, this is about not being shot and have to duck bombs not about financial opportunity and quality of life.

The migrants coming into Europe are not refugees as they've crossed multiple countries which while unpleasant are not currently in conflict, countries which are signatory to the UN convention and in which the UN operates refugee centers. Once they skip those countries and continue moving to greener grounds legally they are defined as migrants not refugees.

Now asylum seekers are a completely different legal group, they are individuals that are not considered as refugees and they can seek asylum in any country the wish however the rules regarding asylum vary considerably and they are not uniformly protected by the 1951 convention on refugees.

Refugees are people escaping natural or man made disasters that while do not target them individually, no longer allow them to reside safely in their original homes, asylum seekers are running from very specific human made threats due often to their political, social, racial or religious background.