Last week I had the opportunity to visit a refugee center in Berlin. This was just the day before the attacks in Paris, which have suddenly cast the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe in a new light.
In this video report, I offer a snapshot of one refugee center and some of the broader trends it highlights. For the global development community, the refugee crisis in Europe raises a number of issues, among them that it took an influx of refugees to places such as Berlin in order to raise global consciousness about a crisis that was already well underway for years in places such as Beirut.
And if the underlying issues — including a changing climate — that are causing a record number of people to flee their homes are going to persist or get worse, what should the international community do to respond? Cutting back on food and financial support for refugees in the region is what we have done of late, because the money simply hasn’t been there.
About the author
Raj Kumarraj_devex
Raj Kumar is the President and Editor-in-Chief at Devex, the media platform for the global development community. He is a media leader and former humanitarian council chair for the World Economic Forum and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. His work has led him to more than 50 countries, where he has had the honor to meet many of the aid workers and development professionals who make up the Devex community. He is the author of the book "The Business of Changing the World," a go-to primer on the ideas, people, and technology disrupting the aid industry.
