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In the Balance: The Longest Journey: Europe's Migration Crisis

The Longest Journey: Europe's Migration Crisis

11/07/2015

BBC World Service - In the Balance, The Longest Journey: Europe's Migration Crisis

Thousands of illegal migrants arrive on the shores of southern Europe, determined to stay

Thousands of illegal migrants are arriving in southern Europe, determined to stay. So what happens now? What will they do? Where will they go? And how can Europe share the load?

Nearly two thousand migrants have died in the Mediterranean Sea in 2015, trying to get to the European Union. Many of them are fleeing miserable conditions - wars, persecution and poverty - left behind in countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea. But the southern states of the EU such as Greece and Italy where migrants arrive, do not have the resources to cope with the swelling numbers. So what should they do? Send them back? Pass them along? In the Balance looks at the push and pull factors driving this vast movement of people and considers the solutions available to the people and the countries affected. Presenter Ed Butler talks to former Italian Foreign Minister and EU Commissioner Emma Bonino, one-time head of the Africa Development Bank Mthuli Ncube and Alexander Casella, author of Breaking the Rules, a book about his time working with the UN’s refugee agency. PHOTO: Migrants gather in Ventimiglia, Italy, hoping to cross into France (CREDIT: Patrick Aventurier/Getty Images)

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