The Great Migration of 2015.

Abstract

In this issue of Pediatric Annals, Dr. Leslie Caldarelli, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, has gathered an interesting and informative set of articles that explore common symptoms in neonatology with rare diagnoses. As I write this column, an unparalleled (in modern times) massive migration of Syrians, Libyans, Afghanis, and Eritreans to Europe is occurring across treacherous waters and long distances over land. The route of this mass movement of more than 500,000 migrants (according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) over the past few months has been to Greece or Turkey, often by flimsy boat or raft, through Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, and Hungary by foot, train, or other means, leading to remarkable scenes at the Budapest train station and at several international border crossings. From there it has been mainly on to Germany and France. This has been termed “a truly biblical migration,” one which at the time of this writing has not yet seen a coherent global or even European response.1 The image of the drowned 3-year-old Syrian boy, Aylan, whose body washed up on a beach in Turkey, perhaps more than anything has riveted the world’s attention on the fate of the refugees and has highlighted the issue of responsibility.2 It has also emphasized the critical need for many countries (in Europe and elsewhere) to assist in creating solutions to the many problems related to such mass movement of men, women, and children. One attempt to limit the flow of migrants at their source is a pledge by the European Union to provide an additional 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to support Syrian refugees in camps to remain in the Middle East.3 Remarkably, it has been Germany and its leader Angela Merkel that has assumed the most forthright stance to deal with this migrant crisis. Now expecting 800,000 new migrants this year, Germany will exceed its previous record of 440,000 asylum seekers after the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1992, which triggered violent xenophobic riots in Germany at that time. Today ordinary Germans seem to have stepped up to welcome the latest migrants, and the government has committed $6.6 billion in aid and hired 3,000 additional federal police.4 France and Britain have also shown leadership. This has occurred despite the recent rise of right wing parties with strong anti-immigrant positions in many European countries. Interestingly, many European leaders view the large influx of migrants as an economic opportunity. In Germany the population is aging, deaths have outnumbered births, and the population had been expected to decline by at least 10% over the next 40 to 50 years.4 The German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere recently stated, “We are a country of immigration. We need young people. We need immigrants. All of you know that because we have too few children.”4 Today’s response to this crisis stands in stark contrast to past crises when, for example, in May 1939, just prior to World War II, the United States, Cuba, and other countries refused to allow 930 Jewish refugees from Europe to disembark from the Hamburg America Line’s cruiser, The St. Louis, which then returned its passengers to Antwerp, Belgium, with many subsequently dying in the Holocaust.5,6 Lacking in today’s crisis is any positive response from a number of countries that are implicated in directly contributing to the mass of refugees by feeding arms and money into the long conflict in Syria and more recent ones in Yemen, Libya, and elsewhere. Where Pediatric Annals Editor-in-Chief Stanford T. Shulman, MD, is the Virginia H. Rogers Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Former Long-Time Chief of the Division of Infectious Disease at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. An avid stamp collector, Dr. Shulman chooses relevant stamps from his personal collection to accompany his column each month. Address correspondence to Stanford T. Shulman, MD, via email: pedann@Healio.com. doi: 10.3928/00904481-20151012-01