Millions Are Fleeing The Unrest And Wars Of The Middle East

Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing Islamic State militants in Sinjar, walk towards the Syrian border (Reuters)

Patrick Kingsley, The Guardian/Observer: Arab spring prompts biggest migrant wave since second world war

WNU Editor: The numbers are staggering .... 16.7 million refugees worldwide .... a further 33.3 million people are “internally displaced” within their own war-torn countries .... and a good number of these people are in North Africa and the Middle East. Most of these refugees have their eyes on Europe, but Europe has its own problems, and are not prepared (or willing) to accept millions ... if not tens of millions .... of refugees where significant numbers have shown an unwillingness to assimilate into the societies that they fled to.

I must also disagree with Patrick Kingsley's title for his post .... it is not the Arab Spring that brought about this wave of refugees .... it is violent radical Islam, sectarian divisions between Sunni - Shiite communities, the "cleansing" of ethnic and religious minorities, and the reaction of authoritarian governments that has brought about this humanitarian crisis.