The End of Mirage
Afghanistan/Switzerland   www.zalmai.com

According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, the number of people forcibly displaced at the beginning of 2016 had risen to nearly 60 million – the largest number of refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people since World War II. Unprecedented numbers of migrants and asylum seekers travelled by land and sea to European shores in 2015. By mid-November, over 800,000 had reached Italy and Greece, with relatively small numbers arriving in Spain and Malta. 84% of these people originate from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, and Iraq—all countries experiencing conflict, widespread violence and insecurity, or highly repressive governments. This should be understood broadly as a refugee crisis.

Leaving everything behind, fleeing the war, the violence, the destruction on the road of hope where they have to cross borders, without knowing where those borders end, to find some sense of security. They have crossed mountains, rivers in the cold of winter. As soon as they arrive on European soil they feel a sense of relief; but it’s where the humiliation and misunderstanding start.

As the EU’s broken asylum system does not works, a new humanitarian disaster situation is developing in Europe that needs urgent attention.