There are many cases in the history of refugees when the immigrants have created thriving communities and have enriched the countries that have received them. Among them are the Armenians, the Jews, the Vietnamese and the Ugandans, reports womennet.am, writes The Economist.

According to the authors of the article, it is deeply wrong to view migration as simply a burden. It is necessary to stop creating barriers and manage the risks and pressure so that migration helps improve the lives of both the immigrants and the countries having received them.

As far as Syrian refugees are concerned, according to the authors, helping them is the moral duty of not only Europe, but also the whole world. “The United States of America, Western countries and especially the rich monarchies of the Gulf need to receive more Syrians, just like they received Indonesian refugees in the 1970s and 1980s,” as stated in the article.

There are also other problems. Besides the flow of refugees, there is also a huge flow of economic migrants. According to the article, the main problem is that Europe needs migrants. There are very few workers in Europe to pay for European citizens’ pensions and provide services that citizens want to be provided with.

Overall, according to the authors of the article, Europe shut an eye on the Syrian war for a very long time, but two political forces managed to make Europe open its doors. One of them is the conscience that awakened after the showing of a photo of a Syrian child who had drowned, and the second was the courage of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who suggested that her people set aside their fear of immigrants and be compassionate with those in need.