What's led to the refugee crisis in Europe? US intervention has been blamed for stirring unrest in middle eastern and north african countries, where the bulk of migrants and refugees arriving on European shores come from. There are also voices in the media that say Europe has brought the crisis onto itself as a result of following US policies.
The US War in Afghanistan and Iraq, military intervention in Libya and Syria. The result, regions lacking stable governance, and people without homes.
Take Libya as an example, in 2015 alone, about 200 thousand refugees flooded into Europe.
Worse than military intervention is the chaos left behind when foreign forces pull out. US president Barack Obama acknowledged this in a TV interview this April. When asked what he deemed the biggest mistake during his term, the president talked about Libya.
"Probably failing to plan the day after. When I was thinking it's the right thing to intervene in Libya."
The turmoil in west Asia and north Africa has sent migrants and refugees in droves into Europe. While Europe is deeply troubled by how to handle the influx, on the other side of the Atlantic, the US seems far away from the predicament. Of the four million refugees from Syria, the US has taken in 4 thousand. Though Obama has promised to take in 10 thousand more this year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has pinned blame for the refugee crisis on US and European foreign policy.
"First, it's the policy of the United States. Europe blindly follows the same policy because of its obligation as allies. And they have to bear the consequence alone. I'm surprised to see now the US media dealing blows to Europe, saying they treat the refugees too harshly. The US won't shoulder the consequence of the refugee influx, but Europe, after following US policy, must bear it," Putin said.
Meanwhile the refugee crisis has left Europe divided, countries within the European Union block differ vastly on taking in refugees. Some have closed border areas and imposed harsh restrictions on immigration. While others criticize these moves.
