The refugee problem is getting bigger globally

In this past year, civil war, political instability and religious persecution have pushed more than 11 million people out of their home countries. That's equivalent to all of Belgium being displaced. Add this to the refugee population from previous years, and the number goes well beyond 50 million (the figure at the end of 2013) — more than the population of the entire European Union. While there is nothing new about large-scale human movement in a situation of duress, geo-political developments of the past few years have exacerbated the pressures of migration, and to the extent that it has become a point of international concern. In 2014, the UN reported that the world was facing its worst refugee crisis since World War II. This year, the situation has only worsened. First, the number of Syrian refugees, who now make up for the largest chunk of global refugees, has increased manifold. The civil war in Syria shows no signs of abatement, forget reaching a resolution.

As deadly fighting rages across the country, every day thousands of Syrians cross the border into Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey. Second, the civil war in Libya, another product of the 2011 Arab uprising, has gone from bad to worse. Consequently, thousands of Libyans are now making a perilous journey by boat across the Mediterranean, to reach Greece and Italy. They are usually joined by refugees from other troubled African nations like Nigeria and South Sudan. Third, the continued persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar has meant that, across the world from the Mediterranean, thousands more are undertaking an equally dangerous boat journey from the Bay of Bengal to Malaysia and Indonesia, and in some cases, even going as far south as Australia. Fourth, hundreds of Ukrainians have also fled to Russia while others have sought safe havens in Europe, following Moscow's control of the Crimean Province. And finally, there are the thousands of refugees still struggling from ‘previous conflicts' such as the Afghans and the Palestinians.

The immediate concern is the wellbeing of the refugees themselves. Of the millions trying to make their way to safety, many perish along the way — some drown at sea, others get hit by enemy bullets and many others die from hunger and disease. Those that make it, don't have it easy either. The refugee camps are worse than slums and that’s just the beginning of a new fight altogether. In the medium term, large refugee populations posit a major challenge to the host nations as well. Unemployment rates in Jordan, for example, are rising and many are questioning how much of ‘refugee weight' the Turkish economy will be able to take. The EU leadership is still conflicted over how to deal with the hundreds of refugees that wash ashore every day. In the long term, there are questions of social integration and changing demographics, that India, for example, is facing in its porous border States of West Bengal and in the North-East