Anyway, if you leave a country because you know it is vulnerable to political unrest and

[Monty91]

everything could turn to **** in the years ahead, even if it is safe at the time you leave, does it not still count as "escaping war"?

Should there not be a distinct category to describe people who take pre-emptive measures to leave their safe and peaceful but deteriorating homeland for a better life that lacks the cynical connotations of 'economic migrants'?

[Chief Arrowhead]

By middle east dictatorial standards, the Syrians who played by the rules of Assad had it pretty good. They didn't have the motive to leave. Those that did found a rather strong system of deterrence.

Those methods of deterrence are severely weakened and even those on the "good side" are getting killed by happenstance. Those are powerful motivations to leave.

A person is only willing to put his family on a boat where sinking means death if it is more dangerous on land.

If Obama was smart, which he is not, he would appear magnanimous by taking all the Syrians/Agfhans, Iraqis, etc. that we want.. which would be the stable and educated. So, we have right of first refusal. We'll leave the riff-raff behind.

Then we set them up in Detroit. Problem solved.

[Ashberto]

You could easily get to a point where, say, a Londoner could seek asylum abroad during The Troubles, as there is a conflict within his country and bomb attacks in the capital.

But thanks for your article. :thumbup: It led to an interesting discussion, even if it was butchered beyond recognition by forces beyond your control.

Where did the 1996 date come from, btw?

[Monty91]

returned to visit Kosovo aged 14, which, if we are to believe the Indy's figures, would have been in 1999 - the year the war ended.

I guess it's possible that they wanted to return home to see their extended family still in Kosovo, except that we know they were also vulnerable to being chucked out of Switzerland at this time. Would they really have risked stepping outside country's borders while they were fighting to stay?

[Ashberto]

[Classic Jorge]

I mean, not the utter mess that Bush did - two occupations, the clean up from the largest financial crisis since the depression and a massive budget deficit - but I know which of the two would be bemoaned more.