Icelanders offer their homes, help for Syrian refugees

[OMG!WTF!]

Yes, avoiding war for sure. It might also be that the boats are dangerous and women/children are being protected from that. The mass of people not from Syria is pretty alarming though.

[peter12]

People may also be exploiting a situation. As I have stated before, the refugees are already safe in the camps provided for them in Turkey.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Interesting...

http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/regional.php

72% men. 13% women? 51% Syrian. What's with all the guys?

These migrants largely aren't leaving places they are being forced out of. They are leaving stagnant economic situations in places like refugee camps in Turkey. So the wife and kids stay behind while the men go look for economic opportunities in the West. The man then sends for his family.

You're talking about societies where women get married very young. Although this is starting to change. The biggest change is that women are no longer having 8+ children in Syria. This number has fallen dramatically to around 3.

You've also got to take into account polygamy. In these awful situations, you tend to see a spike in polygamy as women are married off to anyone with the economic means to take care of them. This leaves a surplus of young men.

[Johnny199r]

Article on all the dishonest people from other countries posing as Syrians hoping to gain asylum. Very eye opening article on how difficult of a job Germany has...

http://http://news.nationalpost.com/...yrian-refugees

[FlamesAddiction]

Things getting ugly in Finland:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/refugee...-kkk-1.3243195

[peter12]

But...but... I thought Europeans were so tolerant?!

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by peter12

But...but... I thought Europeans were so tolerant?!

I just think it is overwhelming a lot of the smaller countries.

Tension is also taking over in German. There were a couple of fights that broke out among refugees recently involving hundreds of people. One where an 11 year old boy allegedly pulled a knife on a 7 year old girl, and another where one man apparently "mistreated" his Koran.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I just think it is overwhelming a lot of the smaller countries.

Tension is also taking over in German. There were a couple of fights that broke out among refugees recently involving hundreds of people. One where an 11 year old boy allegedly pulled a knife on a 7 year old girl, and another where one man apparently "mistreated" his Koran.

The attitude towards diversity and immigration varies substantially from country to country in Europe. Places like Finland have very few visible minorities. Having them take in 10s of thousands of Syrians would be a huge change for them.

[polak]

Originally Posted by peter12

But...but... I thought Europeans were so tolerant?!

lol wut?

From my experience Europeans who actually live in Europe are a lot less tolerant than North Americans (minus the American South). Racism and Homophobia are A-OK outside of Western Europe.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by polak

lol wut?

From my experience Europeans who actually live in Europe are a lot less tolerant than North Americans (minus the American South). Racism and Homophobia are A-OK outside of Western Europe.

Western Europe is the only part that counts, the rest are just hillbillies.

[polak]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Western Europe is the only part that counts, the rest are just hillbillies.

lol you might be trying to rile me up but tolerance wise? I totally agree. Most of them are backwards as hell. Even my own family says things that make me cringe.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by blankall

The attitude towards diversity and immigration varies substantially from country to country in Europe. Places like Finland have very few visible minorities. Having them take in 10s of thousands of Syrians would be a huge change for them.

It's nationalism and it is strong in Europe. There is an attitude in many European countries where people think; "Hey, my ancestors have been spilling their blood to build this country for centuries. We don't want outsiders taking it".

Some nations in Europe have a very strong attachment to land and history that most Canadians can't relate to. Unless you are an aboriginal, we are all either relatively recent descendants from immigrants, or actual immigrants. There is less attachment to who suffered for what.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by polak

lol wut?

From my experience Europeans who actually live in Europe are a lot less tolerant than North Americans (minus the American South). Racism and Homophobia are A-OK outside of Western Europe.

If you look at the political parties running (and often winning seats) in many European countries in both West and Eastern Europe, it's pretty shocking what going on. Parties like the Golden Dawn party in Greece would in no way be acceptable here, but get about 10% of the vote in Greece.