Germany's Refugee Detectives

theatlantic.com

16 points·rglovejoy··4 comments

It is completely naive to think that refugees in Europe are anything other than economic refugees. Look at the data, non-European refugees are overwhelmingly working-age males: http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/08/02/4-asylum-seeker-demograp...

I'm not discounting the struggle in Syria, but it seems fairly obvious that the opportunists well outweigh those who truly need asylum. In a real crisis the refugee population would be age and gender agnostic within a reasonable margin.

What’s so great about this article is the nuance. It doesn’t deny the existence of economic refugees, nor the reality of war refugees. It also grapples with the morality of even making such a distinction: why should someone in danger of torture have more rights than someone in danger of starvation? Your comment is sorely lacking such nuance, and making indefensible claims.

As for your supposed data: sending able-bodied men ahead, while women and children remain in refugee camps along the way (or die) is independent of the reason for leaving their respective countries.

And the many refugee camps all the way from Syria to Germany, in Turkey, Greece, and Hungary, are quite obviously proof that many Syrians fled.

I'm arguing the cat-and-mouse game described in the article as a fundamentally flawed approach. The system is set up in favor of the opportunists.

If your goal is truly humanitarian you must be proactive. Yes, many Syrians fled due to immediate danger. Are those the ones making it to BAMF headquarters? Arguably not.

Or the trip is very dangerous, and the refugees are counting on regulations that make it easier for a family member to migrate, to bring their family in the safe way.

Plus, most syrians I've met told me that the reason why they left was because they were facing conscription. That's male-only.

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