OUPBlog, Andreas Schloenhardt – “In 2015, more people fled from persecution, war, human rights violations, discrimination, and other hardship than at any other time since World War II. UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, estimates that worldwide more than 60 million people, or one in every 122, have been forced to flee their homes. The vast majority of them have been displaced in countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq and sought refuge in neighbouring countries including Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan. As the conflicts in their home countries continue, or indeed worsen, many of them lose hope that they can return any time soon. The fact that international organisations such as UNHCR and IOM, the International Organisation of Migration, are given insufficient means to assist and accommodate the large number of displaced persons in refugee camps contributes to the desire of many people to seek protection elsewhere. Frequently, they use the assistance of migrant smugglers who, in the absence of legal avenues of migration, offer ways to cross international borders that would otherwise be insurmountable.”