Reading Assignment (400 words)

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The Great Migration Rarely in modern history have so many been so desperate to flee. Now their brave, and tragic, journeys are reshapi ng Eur ope and the world

Refugees wait in Nickelsdorf, Austria, on the Hungarian border, a major entry point for migrants from the Middle East

PHO T O GR A PHS BY M A SSI MO V I TA L I F OR T I M E

The Great Migration Rarely in modern history have so many been so desperate to flee. Now their brave, and tragic, journeys are reshapi ng Eur ope and the world By Karl Vick

W H

A T

I T

S A

Y S

A B

O U

T T

H E

W O

R L

NORWAY

ALGERIA TUNISIA

MOROCCO

ITALY

GERMANY

U.K.

FRANCE

SPAIN

R E P O R T I N G B Y N A I N A

B A J E K A L , C L E O B R O C K -

A B R A H A M A N D TA R A J O H N

S O U R C E S : E U R O S TAT; I O M ;

I M A P ; F R O N T E X ; U N H C R ;

N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C . M A P

B Y H E AT H E R J O N E S F O R T I M E

P a c i f i

O ce

a n

N o r t h S e

TunisAlgiers

Rabat

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that in recent years, roughly every 9th person gets a new address. But Americans tend not to venture far—2 out of 3 moves end in the same county; only 16% cross a state line. And just 3% leave the country, a prospect of disloca- tion that leaves many mortified and, at some primal level relevant to Europe’s migrant crisis, unsettles even the worldliest. Why else do seasoned travelers ask, “Can someone meet me at the airport?”

Airports are not scary. They are purposely bland, simple to navigate, reassuringly similar. What’s scary is the uncertainty embedded in any journey, a vague foreboding that informed the theory of a flat earth, which merely assumed the horizon was exactly what it appears to be: a precipice. Beyond lay a void like the one at the pit of the stomach when you find yourself in a place where you know no one, darkness is gathering and nothing is like back home.

So when Syrians began emerging from the Aegean Sea this summer, scrambling for footing on the sub- merged stones that form the doorstep of Europe, the sight produced what 220,000 deaths had not: a surge of fellow feeling. But then few Westerners have actu- ally seen war, and almost no one has witnessed the kind of violence that is emptying Syria, a confound- ing conflict involving some 7,000 armed groups. The Middle East more than ever seems an excellent place to leave behind, even if it means entering the realm of the migrant.

It’s a crowded realm. More than 600,000 people have entered Europe so far this year, cascading in at a rate—sometimes 10,000 a day—that underprepared, overwhelmed governments quickly declared a crisis. And yet the Syrians—along with the Iraqis and Af- ghans in the same rubber dinghies—are only the most visible flotsam in a wider and scarcely less insistent stream of human beings, an almost tidal flow that has been running for decades from poorer countries to richer. It leads from Latin America to the U.S. , from Burma toward refuge in Malaysia and in most of the

Americans think of themselves as a mobile people, pulling up stakes for new jobs, moving often. HALF

of all refugees are children

The U.S. plans to take in

100,000 refugees in 2017,

up from 70,000 a year currently

If this populaton were

a country, it would be the world’s 24th largest

Number of migrants who

have died in the Mediterranean this

year trying to reach Europe

1 IN 122 people is now either a refugee, an internally

displaced person or seeking asylum

3,000

SARDINIA

CORSICA

Calais

Malaga

IRELAND

DENMARK

SWITZ.

PORTUGAL

RUSSIA

KOSOVO

GREECE

AFGHANISTAN

IRAN

EGYPT

SAUDI ARABIA

TURKEY

JORDAN

HUNGARY

ROMANIA

BULGARIA

AUSTRIA

UKRAINE

POLAND

LIBYA

SWEDEN

TOP 5 COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN, JANUARY–JUNE 2015:

Syria, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Albania and Iraq

ROUTES INTO THE E.U.:

Central Mediterranean routes East African routes Eastern Mediterranean routes

Western Mediterranean routes Western Balkans routes

M e d i t e r r a n e a n S

e a

B l a c k S e a C a s p i a n

S e a

B a l t i c

S e a

Athens

Istanbul

Sofia

Trieste

Rome

Tripoli Baghdad

Cairo

Berlin

Stockholm

42,500 Average number

of people displaced

each day in 2014

630,000 Number of illegal border crossings

into Europe so far this year

Wave After Wave. Europe is facing the largest number of refugees since WW II. These are their journeys.

Turkey now hosts the world’s

largest refugee population

1.9 MILLION

Number of Syrian refugees in Turkey

25% of Lebanon’s

population are now Syrian refugees

Libya’s migrant-

smuggling business generated

$170 million in 2014 for sea crossings

alone

SYRIA

IRAQ

ALBANIA

MALTA CRETE

SICILY

CYPRUS

ISRAEL

LEBANON

Lesbos

Bodrum

Homs

Benghazi

SLOVAKIA

BOSNIA/ HERZ.

MACED.

CZECH REPUBLIC

Alexandria

5 Time Month XX, 201542

Austrian police and army personnel in Nickelsdorf organize groups of migrants as they prepare to be loaded onto buses to take them further into Europe

643

rest of the world—Africa, the Middle East, much of Asia—toward the European Union. “It’s not going to stop,” says Behzad Yaghmaian, a professor of political economy at Ramapo College of New Jersey, who wrote Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West. “Because of globalization, you have awareness of life elsewhere in the world. That’s crucial now. So you move.”

Do you have a signal? When the travelers climb out of a boat on a Greek is- land, many raise their arms—first in thanks, and then, a second time, to take a selfie. The images of relief and joy are then uploaded from the smartphone that made the crossing swaddled in plastic bags and rubber bands. “My whole life’s on my phone” is no exaggera- tion here. In refugee camps, the U.N. distributes local SIM cards for phones and solar generators to charge them. The migrants make their way to new lives by GPS coordinates posted on Facebook or WhatsApp by those who have gone before. Glowing posts on social networks—which border crossing is open, what smug- gler can be trusted—are the constellations that guided the travelers to Europe this summer, first in a trickle and soon a torrent. The largest movement of refu- gees since the end of World War II appeared first in groups of 20 or 30, then in hundreds, trudging down rail beds, emerging from cornfields, and crowding the shoulders of freeways.

If it sounds a little like a zombie movie, the associa- tion was not lost on many Europeans, watching from the comfort of their homes. The Periscope application streams video live from wherever someone is holding up a camera phone, and allows viewers to type in com- ments as they watch. Those comments appear over the live video: action and reaction all on one screen. On Sept. 2, photojournalist Patrick Witty streamed images of inflatable boats coming ashore on Lesbos, and as the exuberant Middle Easterners climbed out, the comments began as gushes:

“God bless” “Welcome” “The kids are all okay? OMG.” Then: “The invasion of Europe.” “All Arabs are maggots.” “Stop the hate talk or I’ll report you.” Before long the back and forth filled the screen,

blocking out the people climbing out of boats. The same will likely happen in person where the migrants

finally end up—provided the E.U. decides where that is. Right-wing parties that promote nativism and xe- nophobia were already on the rise in France, Greece and other E.U. nations well before the latest surge of migrants. Sitting governments in Hungary, the Czech Republic and, more quietly, many of the other 28 E.U. members warn the new arrivals will compete with res- idents for jobs, government benefits and, ultimately, the identity of Europe. Most migrants are Muslim, so the baggage includes security concerns as well.

“There is definitely a battle of values, with compas- sion on one side and fear on the other,” says António Guterres, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. But as the E.U. argues where to put the million-plus expected by year’s end, he points out that the 1 million Syrians in Lebanon account for a quarter of that tiny country’s population. The more than 600,000 in Eu- rope so far this year boost the continent’s population by less than 1%. “It’s clear,” he tells TIME, “that Eu- rope has to get its act together.”

How it happened What do refugees look like? In Africa, they’re easy to spot. Find a war, proceed to the nearest international border, and they’re the people just beyond it, huddled under the standard blue tarps issued by the United

Nations. Lacking the means to set off anywhere else, they wait to return home. A map of refugee flows in Africa looks like a chart of central Pacific currents— whorls describing a huge circle.

In Europe, Syrians wade ashore in blue jeans. One’s a pediatrician. Another made music videos. All count as refugees, because they are fleeing war or persecu- tion, the legal definition settled on in 1951 by most of the world amid the postwar debris. The idea was protection, and the good of it could be seen aboard a Greek coast-guard vessel in the early hours of Sept. 7, moments after 40 people were lifted from a rubber boat. Mohamad Balhas, 26, was explaining first why he had been arrested by the Syrian police who tor- tured him in custody: “Because we don’t love that bas- tard Bashar.” He was instantly hushed by a friend— a reflexive reaction in a police state. Then a second friend remembered where they were. “No, it’s okay,” he said. “You can say it now.” The three looked at each other for a long moment, then broke out laughing.

In relative terms, it can actually be good to be a refugee. At least it’s better than being a “migrant,” a legal status afforded no special protection under inter- national law, and a label applied to some 240 million people across the globe who have crossed borders, often seeking work. They are Indians building soccer

1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2014

Internally displaced person (IDP) Someone who, out of fear for personal safety, left his or her home but not the country. In 2014, an estimated 30,000 people became IDPs every day.

Syrian civil war drives worldwide

displacement to record high

Afghans return home

Over the past quarter-century, the number of displaced people has reached a staggering high

The language we use to describe the millions of people on the move reflects distinctions in their legal status

Global dislocationDefining differences

Migrant The umbrella term for people who have left their country of origin. This includes everyone from international students to workers entering countries illegally in search of a better life.

Refugee Refugee status is granted to people who have fled their home country because of war or because they have suffered (or feared) persecution. Under international law, refugees cannot be returned home against their will.

Asylum seeker Any person who is applying for protection in another country. In Europe the country is obliged to house, feed and protect asylum seekers while weighing the application, which might take years to decide. If granted, asylum assures the right to live, work and access health care in the country. A denial may be appealed once; if denied again, the person may be deported to his or her country of origin.

Stateless Someone who does not have a nationality recognized by any country because of discrimination, redrawing of borders or gaps in nationality laws. There are about 10 million stateless people worldwide.

Rwandan genocide scatters

2.2 million

Internally displaced Refugees

In millions

stadiums in Qatar, Eritreans cleaning restaurants in Israel and Senegalese selling knockoff designer hand- bags on the streets of Rome. They long entered Eu- rope in a steady trickle, at least until the Arab Spring changed things. The mass uprisings of 2011 toppled governments, but when no new order took their place, the combination of miserable populations and vanish- ing border controls made Libya, for instance, a point of embarkation so frenetic it called to mind Dunkirk.

“My plan was to be a learned man, to have a bet- ter future,” says Adeyinka, a Nigerian who spent 19 hours bobbing in a boat with 100 other migrants be- fore being rescued by Italian authorities. Adeyinka’s brother was among the 3,000 migrants killed trying to make the same crossing, a death toll that prompted Europe to crack down on smugglers, and Syrians to search for an alternate route.

They found it close at hand, in Turkey, where some 1.9 million Syrians had already taken refuge. The is- lands of Greece lie as close as three miles (5 km) off Turkey’s western shores, and Syrians began making the crossing earlier this year, then moved north to- ward the wealthier E.U. nations in the north central Schengen zone where borders are open. They crossed Macedonia and Serbia, then into Hungary, then into Germany, where on Aug. 25, the Federal Office of Mi-

gration and Refugees posted a tweet heard round the world: Syrians who could make it to Germany could apply for asylum there. The news arrived just when refugee life grew dramatically harder back in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Aid agencies abruptly cut assis- tance in August, citing “donor fatigue,” leaving 4 mil- lion Syrians to feed themselves on $14 a month. At the same time, inside Syria, press gangs sharpened their search for young men to serve in Assad’s army.

The result was a refugee flow that soon resembled a map from World War II: wide arrows swooping from the Middle East into the “soft underbelly” of Europe. And once again, the objective was Berlin.

The search for home Germany’s role in the crisis is a redemption story. It is, after all, Europe’s dark 20th century history that deepens the anguish in the images emerging from the current migration—desperate civilians facing armed guards across barbed wire, families being separated in the scramble to board trains to a destination they do not know. But this time the journey is one of hope. “I know how the refugee feels,” says Hamidullah Arman, an Afghan who received asylum in Berlin. “But Ger- many is a lovely country. It’s doing a lot.”

One thing Germany is doing, however, is sorting

GERMANY

HUNGARYITALY

SWEDEN

GREECE

FRANCE

CROATIA

KEY TO CHART

256,890

207,370

75,255

101,795

6,295

69,320

43,540

22,605

71,740

38,785

29,210

119,820

71,445

17,505

Most European countries saw far more applications for asylum than they could process from July 2014 to July 2015:

The difference here likely

reflects the size of a country’s

backlog and the time it takes to process claims

A year of asylum

Most asylum seekers in Hungary likely left before their cases were decided

Sweden’s acceptance rate is approximately 75%

Germany rejects most applications

from Kosovo but takes over 80% of all Syrians, Iraqis

and Eritreans

The U.K. processed its backlog of claims faster than its neighbors

G R A P H I C R E P O R T I N G

B Y N A I N A B A J E K A L A N D

TA R A J O H N ; S O U R C E S :

E U R O S TAT; T H E E U R O P E A N

C O M M I S S I O N ; U N H C R

Acceptances

Decisions

Applications

U.K.

31,695

14,410

38,250

525

184 250

3,340

9,200

8,980

refugees from mere migrants, a process that the U.N.’s Guterres calls inherently unfair. The reality is that refugees are now generated by more than just war. “There are a number of megatrends overlapping each other and affecting each other,” he says, naming cli- mate change, water scarcity and overpopulation as examples. “And the truth is, these factors are creat- ing more and more situations where life is unsustain- able for people in some communities, forcing them to move. They are forced to flee, but they are not covered by the legal status of the ’51 convention. There is a protection gap.”

In human terms, that means perhaps half the peo- ple climbing off trains in Leipzig will in a few weeks be quietly placed on flights back to Tirana or Karachi, their applications for asylum quickly closed. And even those likeliest to be offered new lives in Europe face excruciating delays. “There are people like me who come here and are totally lost,” says Muhammad Haj Ali, 26, a Syrian waiting since Nov. 2014 for asylum approval in Germany. “After a while, you stop missing anyone or anything. You’re breathing, the days con- tinue, but that’s it. I don’t have hope anymore. The truth is, when you have hope, you hurt.”

Yet people seem unable to help themselves. In a worldwide poll, Gallup determined that 13% of Earth’s residents would like to move to another country— perhaps 700 million people. The No. 1 destination would be the U.S. , which might swell by 150 million if its borders came down.

Compare that with the number of additional refugees—15,000 next year, to bring a sum total of 85,000 for 2016—the Obama Administration has vowed to accept next year, and the limits of compas- sion, coupled with wariness of Muslims, comes into remorseless focus, even in an immigrant nation. “The U.S. has been really bad,” says Yaghmaian, who him- self emigrated from Iran, after years in Turkey, and gathered a lesson in his travels. He remembers visiting Istanbul apartments shared by 40 migrants, all wait- ing to push westward. But that memory is balanced by the knowledge that his own brother, who has a green card for America, “the greatest country in the world,” chooses to live in Iran, having left once already.

“Home is valuable,” Yaghmaian says. “Home is pre- cious. The smell of home matters a lot.” Leaving it is hard, even for those who know where their journey will end. —With reporting by naina bajekal/ berlin, Simon ShuSter/leroS, ViVienne Walt/ meSSina and patrick Witty/leSboS 

The Ferry Dusika Hallenstadion, an indoor arena in Vienna, is one

of many buildings being used as a temporary shelter for migrants