Europe Flooded with Waves of Migrants

Roughly 56 million people in the world, mostly from Africa and the Middle East, have left their lands and set sail for Europe. The European Union is struggling to find a solution, with the migrants taking advantage of Europe's asylum systems.  Without political incentives on dealing with the humanitarian catastrophe, the governments of the Union struggle to cope with the epidemic.

In 2004, a secret deal between Italy's Prime Minister Berlusconi and Libya's Qaddafi was struck in order to prevent migrants from leaving the Libyan coast. In 2010, right before Qaddafi was removed from power, he revealed that he tried to get the Italians to pay him  ₤5 billion a year in exchange for his services. He made the demands known in a press conference in Rome with Berlusconi, and said that without his cooperation Europe would become "another Africa." Qaddafi went on to say that "Tomorrow, Europe might no longer be European and even black as there are millions who want to come in." Italy declined, but did pledge  ₤5 billion in investments. However, with Qaddafi's fall from power marked the end of the arrangement, and the packed boats headed to Italy have yet to stop since.






Source Bloomberg Businessweek