Refugees: what are we learning from the current crisis?

What are we learning from the refugee crisis?  It’s not a new story, but it makes the news when something exceptionally distressing happens: the little boy who drowned, the abandoned lorry where everyone perished, overfull boats, razor wire, long overland walks.  Migrants have been welcomed to Europe with flowers and sweets, but also implicated in the Paris attacks.  Occasionally it hits a raw historical nerve – valuables confiscated from migrants on arrival.

So what is all this telling us?  Is it saying as much about us as it is about the situations these people are fleeing?  What is our response?  I’m co-running a workshop next week – your suggestions and ideas are welcome.