United Nations, New York. With over 6 million African migrants headed for the EU this summer, it becomes clear that either Western governments wake up to the need for secure borders, or become so overwhelmed their nations simply collapse into chaos.
World migration experts say a record number of people in the world were forced to flee their homes in 2016 due to conflicts, persecution, or economic miseries, the United Nations (UN) says. The UN refugee agency said in its latest annual report that nearly 65.6 million people around the world were displaced either internally or externally last year.
A leaked secret report from the German security authorities has revealed that almost six million migrants from countries around the Mediterranean want to enter Europe.
The record number showed an increase of 300,000, compared to 2015, according to the agency.The announcement comes ahead of the publication of the Global Trends Report due on June 20, which is World Refugee Day.
The report, which was obtained by German tabloid Bild, claims that there are at least 5.95 million migrants in countries around the Mediterranean who are seeking to enter Europe. In Turkey alone, the report estimates there to be 2.93 million migrants who have set their sights on the benefits of being an asylum seeker in a western European country like Germany OE24 reports.
Children and teens reportedly make up more than half of the refugee population. Unaccompanied or separated children, mainly from Syria and Afghanistan, filed some 75,000 applications in 70 countries in 2016.
In 2015, as the refugee influx to the European Union countries from Syria, Afghanistan, and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa was at its peak, the EU leadership decided to divide the asylum seekers landing on the bloc in Greece and Italy among its members.
Libya, according to the report, is presently home to 1.2 million migrants who want to get to Europe. Last year a record-breaking number of migrants crossed the sea to Europe with most of them arriving in Italy. The Italian government has vowed to crack down on illegal migration this year, but the country has seen little slowdown in the number of migrants arriving so far.
The scheme faced resistance from some states, especially in Eastern Europe, which complained that taking in refugees would expose them to serious security and economic risks. Eventually, Germany agreed to take the highest number themselves.
Many United Nations analysts see Western economic policies and American politico-military interventions as being behind the worldwide refugee crisis.