In 2015 started a historically unprecedented emigration of tens of millions of people from, mostly, the Middle East, Africa and South Asia to Europe using the war in Syria as an excuse. Suddenly, because of a war in Syria, literally tens of millions of people from all over the place, sometimes from almost the other side of the globe, started flooding into Europe as "refugees". In just a few months since the start of the war by some estimates at least 90% of the people entering Europe as "refugees" were not from Syria at all. Some countries, like Germany, took these "refugees" literally by the millions. No exaggeration.
Now the war in Ukraine has caused a second flood of refugees into Europe. Since the war has only been going on for a month or two the majority of the refugees are actually from Ukraine, but current estimates are that about a third of the "refugees" are not from Ukraine at all, many of them being from as far as Somalia.
The sheer amount of alleged "refugees" flooding into Europe is unprecedented in human history. Never before have so many people moved so far in so little time as "refugees" because of a random war in some random country.
It also highlights a peculiarity in the modern western mentality when it comes to refugees.
You see, in most if not all countries that are receiving these refugees (both the genuine ones and the ones just pretending) they are not actually treated as refugees. They are treated as immigrants. There is a very widespread mentality among the governments and general population that these people are coming to the country to stay.
This is not what a "refugee" should be. A "refugee" is someone who temporarily moves to another country in order to escape a life-threatening crisis like a war or a huge natural catastrophe, with the intent to go back to their original country once the situation has been solved and there is no danger anymore. A refugee status is always primarily temporary: The receiving country allows people from the dangerous area to temporarily take residence until the situation is resolved and the refugees can go back.
It's in essence no different from having a friend stay over for a few days eg. because that friend's home is being renovated or otherwise is temporarily unlivable. You don't take that friend to your home with the intent of him moving in permanently. It's always something temporary.
But this is something that the west, at large, seems to have completely forgotten. Being a "refugee" is no longer considered a temporary status. A status where the person is temporarily given residence until he or she can go back, with the expectation that he or she is going to go back. It's not supposed to be a permanent arrangement (unless very special circumstances).
The mentality has changed. In the modern west, being a "refugee" is not even thought of as a temporary arrangement. It's considered as a shortcut to immigration, essentially. Governments and people no longer even expect all those millions of people to go back to their country of origin. It's not something that even comes up in any discussion. It's a given that the "refugees" are assumed to stay forever. Any politician who reminds the government that being a refugee is only a temporary status and that refugees are expected to eventually go back to their own country is summarily ignored and dismissed.
After all, how many of the literally tens of millions of so-called "Syrian refugees" have gone back to their own country?
In principle almost all of them should have by now. In practice almost none of them have. And, sadly, no country even expects them to.
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