Blame the Rich World for the Global Refugee Crisis

The United Nations reported last week that the number of refugees worldwide is at its highest level in more than a decade. From around 10 million in 2004, the number climbed to move than 14 million last year. That's putting a considerable burden on a few—overwhelmingly poor—host countries, one that may last decades. The report suggests more than half of the world’s refugees are under the age of 18, which means many will be well into middle age before they exit refugee status. War and political upheaval may create refugees, but it's time to acknowledge that the global system for dealing with the problem is broken—and that's in no small part because the industrialized world does so little to help fix it.

The surge in numbers is largely the result of the ongoing conflict in Syria, which alone has generated 32.9 million refugees. Along with Afghanistan and Somalia, the country is the origin of more than half of the world’s refugee population. The majority of those who have fled their home countries are hosted by a few developing countries. Kenya, Jordan, Ethiopia, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Turkey are each home to more than half a million refugees and, collectively, to more than half the world’s refugee population.