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Refugees have nothing to lose

The United Nations says around 264,500 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year.

Europe has a tough call to make as it in the grip of a refugee crisis. It must beef up coastal security while working with countries in Africa to arrest human smugglers on their shores before they set out with human cargo. Some refugees could be terrorists in the garb of asylum seekers and countries in the continent are right to be worried about the exodus. Economic incentives for Africa and more patrols are a solution to the problem, but this is easier said than done when civil strife or war continues in Syria, Libya, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan.
In the single biggest rescue operation, more than 2,000 refugees were rescued off the coast of Libya on Saturday. The United Nations says around 264,500 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year. Mainland Greece and Italy remain a major transit point and many migrants travel up through the Balkans, hoping to reach northern Europe.
An immediate reason for this mass exodus from Asia and Africa is civil unrest and lack of economic opportunities back home. The largest migrant group by nationality in 2015 is Syrians, followed by Afghans, Eritreans, Libyans Nigerians and Somalis fleeing poverty and human rights abuses.
But the million-dollar question is how many people can the continent take in? Germany, which is quite generous to asylum-seekers, is expecting 800,000 applications this year. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, in the wake of worst refugee crisis since World War II, has warned that this influx could lead to collapse of passport-free travel between European states.
As Europe decides and despotic regimes drive them out, refugees know they have nothing to lose because they have already lost what they call home.