Friday’s Food for Thought: Mapping Refugees

So far in 2015, more than 340,000 refugees have fled their homes to escape conflicts in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia and seek safety in Europe. With this crisis comes debate over why some countries welcome refugees while others turn them away.

The Washington Post published a map to help illustrate how demographics play a role in which countries welcome or deny refugees. According to the article, Germany is accepting thousands of refugees, partially because the country is experiencing rapid population decline and needs young, skilled workers. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom and France are only authorizing a limited number of refugees, citing already rising populations. As of yesterday, President Obama had directed his administration to accept at least 10,000 refugees in fiscal year 2016.

The Migrants’ Files, a consortium of journalists from 15 European countries, documented 29,000 refugee deaths from 2000 to 2015 in an interactive map, reports Ars Technica. Using Migrants’ Files data, the animated heat map shows a time-lapse of migrant deaths since 2000 as well as hotspots of where they commonly occur.

An anonymous, 34-year-old man and his family documented their two-month journey from Northern Syria to Germany using only smartphone maps, reports the International Rescue Committee. The man recorded his family’s journey on this map, noting with pinpoints obstacles his family encountered while traveling through each country. Read his full story here.

Photo Credit: Rilos