There is a refugee crisis happening right now. Not a migrant crisis, for that would imply that the Syrians fleeing their bombed out, war-torn country are doing so because they'd like a change of scenery. These people are running for their lives, from people, native and foreign who kill indiscriminately. Millions of people have already fled their homeland in the hope of finding a life without violence, without danger, without war. So they flee to Europe, the closest neighbour who just so happens to be capable of aiding the refugees until their country is safe again. Despite the relative ease of doing so, there is still an astounding amount of xenophobia regarding this issue. If it were not for the ignorance of the vocal minority, the refugees would not be as harassed and abused as they have been. The media is also guilty of this, but is capable of changing it's opinion on matter far too easily. Racists and xenophobes shout about why letting other human beings into their precious countries would be so terrible, but fortunately, a lot of this is not true. So, what are the refugees are running from? What is the media's role? How bad is the xenophobia in Europe? And what are the apparent "dangers" of admitting refugees?.
Firstly, why are so many people fleeing Syria? You may have heard of the Arab Spring before, but if you haven't, it was a surge in 2012 of anti-dictatorship movements in the Arab states around the Mediterranean. Such as in Libya, the deposition of Colonel Gaddafi. Well Syria's resident dictator, Bashar Hafez al-Assad, decided he rather liked being hated by everyone and rolled out his military in full force to deal any who opposed him. Unfortunately Islamic State decided it was a good time to launch its attack on a Syria crippled by civil war. They did so well, and they fought so fanatically, that many al-Assad forces straight up surrendered or ran away. As such, they gained so much territory, they were able to call themselves ISIS, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
