IS EUROPE THE NEW AFRICA? NUMBERS SAY NO.
Every day thousands of people decide to escape from their country because of wars, ethnic or religious persecutions, poverty and famine. They head out on long terrible journeys through deserts and sometimes even crossing the sea, with the hope of reaching a place that offer them a lot of opportunities to make a new start. Someone can’t afford this long trip and stay within the borders of their native country: they are called “internally displaced people”.
REFUGEE CRISIS
People arriving in Italy are not all refugees. That means that they are not all escaping from dangerous situations. They are considered migrants who travel in search of job or better conditions.
Once they have arrived in Europe, they are divided into two categories. To refugees can be granted asylum and protection. Some families save money in order to give their sons the opportunity to come to Europe with the hope of creating a new life.
ARE THEY ALL REALLY COMING TO EUROPE?
Europeans think that people who are looking for protection are all coming to the EU, but it is not true. In fact, many of them don’t even leave their own country, because of different factors. For example, they are afraid from facing the long difficult journey or they can’t afford it. These are internal displaced people: they stay within the borders of their native country, waiting for the improvement of the conditions in their homeland.
In recent years, the level of displacement has highly increased. There are 65.6 million people around the world who have been forced to escape from home. Among them there are nearly 22.5 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18.
There are also 10 million stateless people who have been denied a nationality and access to basic rights such as education, healthcare, employment and freedom of movement.
In the world there are about 20 people who are forcibly displaced every minute as a result of conflict or persecution.
SOMEBODY SUCCEED IN COMING TO EUROPE…
People depart from the northern African coasts of Libya and get on unsafe vessels, such as rafts and boats, which carry more people than they should. These vessels often haven’t enough fuel to reach Italian coasts and sometimes they have a puncture and people on board drown because they can’t swim.
The Coast Guard takes action on saving these people bringing them to refugees’ camps on the mainland where they receive their first checks .
Some of the refugees are coming to Italy don't really want to stay here. Italian people don’t agree. They reckon refugees like an "invasion" and that they love to stay here. Sometimes Italy is only the start point for them to reach other countries.
The first time asylum applicants in the EU decreased by -26 % in the end of 2017 compared with the end of 2016. Overall, the number of people seeking asylum from non-EU countries in the EU during the end of 2017 was 154. 000. The highest number of first time asylum applicants in the end of 2017 was registered in Germany, with 46. 000 first time applicants, or 30 % of all applicants in the EU Member States. Other countries include France (25 700, or 17%), Italy (23 000, or 15%), Greece (15 300, or 10%) and the United Kingdom (9 000, or 6%).
The trends of asylum applicants vary from country to country in the end of 2017. Germany (with -31 300 less applicants) was the country with the largest decrease of first time applicants, followed by Italy (-14 800 less applicants). On the contrary, in France and in Spain the number of asylum applicants has increased in the end of 2017 compared with the end of 2016.
Compared with the population of every Member State, the highest rate of registered first time applicants during the end of 2017 was recorded in Cyprus and Greece, followed by Luxembourg and Malta.
