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Comment by lllllll | Hacker News Reader

I believe refugees are mostly people in need that don't deserve the situation they find themselves in and should be given asylum in countries which are stable and at peace.

However, my impression is that they mostly request asylum in Western countries (EU, Australia, USA, UK, Canada...). Assuming my impression is right (correct me otherwise!). Why is it like that?

In the case of Muslim refugees, why don't they apply for asylum to Muslim countries, particularly those unbelievably oil-rich countries ( or even some more stable ones like Morocco for example), instead of some poor countries in the West such as Greece/Italy/Spain?

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Most refugees from Syria have ended up in camps in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, not Western countries. Life in these camps is not especially good compared to asylum in Western countries with infrastructure for accepting migrants such as Germany; however, getting asylum in these countries is more difficult.

As for Greece, the migrants who end up there probably weren't looking at Greece as a final destination, but as a stepping stone for better destinations in Europe.

>> Life in these camps is not especially good compared to asylum in Western countries

That's exactly one of my concerns here. Why doesn't for example Jordan just let them assimilate in their society, as fellow Arabs, and instead it just keeps them in camps? Of course not just Jordan, but also other more resourceful Arab/Muslim (mostly Sunni Muslim) countries such as UAE, Qatar, etc.

Wouldn't it be easier for these already traumatized refugees to integrate in Moroccan, Tunisian, Egyptian, Jordanian, Saudi Arabian, UAE-ian(?)...societies? Isn't there a "brotherhood" thing between Arabs (maybe even between Muslims? or just Sunni Muslims?)?

You're picking on the wrong country here: Jordan is the only country in the Middle East that has pretty much entirely naturalized its Palestinian refugees, who (depending on where you draw the line) make up over half the population. The vast majority of the people living in refugee camps are Jordanian citizens, and the "camps" have long since turned into permanent (if often crappy) housing.

As for why the rest don't, one answer is that the other countries don't have to, so they don't give a fuck; and even more cynically, by keeping the festering sore open, they can deflect public attention from their various problems and instead blame Israel for it all.

That's true, though I was talking about Syrian refugees.

I picked Jordan because it's just a neighbouring Arab country, plus mostly Sunni Muslim, just like Syria, and unlike Lebanon. And of course the Palestinian refugee issue is another topic entirely.

I don't know about oil-rich countries, but Lebanon has allowed over 1 million Syrian refugees in. I don't think it has to do with Muslims only, it's an Arab issue.

Thanks for your reply. It seems that Lebanon is indeed trying to address the refugee problem and not just by setting up refugee camps[0]. Great!

[0]: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/03/lebanon-formal-refugee...

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