slide 4

In a conversation, Gutierrez explains that the spike in the number of refugees is due to decreased international support and lack of hope in their home countries. He argues that it's unfair to ask how many migrants Europe can accept, but rather how we can fulfill our international duties. Gutierrez suggests that with proper management and distribution, the ratio of migrants to inhabitants can be maintained at 1:2000. The conversation begins when Giussani asks Gutierrez his opening question, why has the number of refugees spiked in the last six months, where he refers to the reported number of one million migrants entering Europe in 2015. Antonia explains that Syrian residents are migrating because hope has diminished throughout the country and that they don't have hope that they'll be able to return to their homes. At this point he reports that 87% of Syrians in Jordan, as well as 93% in Lebanon, live below the national poverty line. Gutierrez goes on to explain that the trigger to the spike in migration is that the international support has decreased and that 30% of food support to Syrian refugees has been cut. So many Syrians are completely dependent on international support because they are not allowed to work. This topic was followed by Giussani asking Gutierrez how many migrants Europe could accept, which is when Gutierrez really begins to exercise his thesis, stating that this is a question with no answer because refugees have the right to be protected. He explains that it's unfair to ask how many people Europe can take, rather than asking how we can organize ourselves to fulfill our international duties, which is when he also mentions international law. He goes on to explain that Europeans saw hundreds of thousands of refugees on television migrating from border to border and that they were under the impression that their villages would be invaded, so they were scared. Giussani then begins explaining that there are villages in Germany with 300 inhabitants compared to 1,000 refugees and asks Gutierrez what his position on this is. Gutierrez expresses that with the proper management and distribution, the ratio will consistently be one migrant to 2,000 inhabitants.