FOR weeks now, images of desperate migrants trying to cross the English Channel from the French port city of Calais have been flashing across British television screens. The reaction has ranged from demands to keep them out at all costs to calls for compassion. And yet, despite the hysteria being generated by the media, there are actually only 2-3,000 asylum seekers in the Calais ‘Jungle’, as their encampment is widely known as. These small numbers did not prevent the British prime minister from referring to these homeless men, women and children as a ‘swarm’ waiting to reach his country’s shores.

Although the ‘Jungle’ has been an eyesore for several years, one reason this festering issue is in the news these days is that a series of strikes by French ferry workers has blocked the Euro tunnel. This has caused trains, cars and lorries to halt, giving migrants an opportunity to enter them and make it to their Promised Land. On both sides of the tunnel, hundreds of trucks and cars have been stopped in traffic jams that extend for miles, raising tempers and causing reporters and camera teams to focus on the migrants.

But why are these desperate souls risking their lives to enter Britain? Right-wing British politicians insist that it is because their country is a soft touch where asylum seekers and other immigrants are given all sorts of welfare benefits to the detriment of locals. This perception is shared by a growing section of the population.

And yet, compared with the wave of migrants entering Europe, the numbers in the ‘Jungle’ pale into insignificance. So far this year, nearly 200,000 illegal economic migrants as well as asylum seekers have entered Europe through Turkey, Libya and other jumping off points.

Several Greek islands are just off the Turkish coast in the Aegean Sea, and thousands of people are crossing the short distance to make it into the EU. Once registered on Lesbos or one of the other islands, they are taken to the Greek mainland from where they move westwards towards France, Germany, Scandinavia and the UK. Hungary is building a wall to block their advance across its soil.

Hundreds of migrants have drowned while crossing to Italy from Libya in rickety fishing boats, but many thousands more have made it. Despite the thousands of dollars they each have to pay unscrupulous people traffickers, and the enormous risks they take, they keep coming.

So what produces this degree of desperation? Warfare, grinding poverty and a breakdown in law and order are some of the conditions that compel these refugees. As more and more countries fall — or are pushed — into chaos, their citizens flee to the West where they can dream of a better and safer life.

In terms of the proportion of the national population who have crossed into Europe, or are waiting for an opportunity to do so, Eritreans top the list. Although the country’s war with Ethiopia is long over, a harsh one-party dictatorship reminiscent of North Korea has been in power for over two decades. Young men are forcibly inducted into the army, paid the equivalent of $25 a month, and made to do hard labour for indefinite periods. So clearly, they have every incentive to flee.

But it would be good to remember that the long and bloody war with Ethiopia that led to the present government seizing power was caused by Emperor Haile Salassie’s annexation of Eritrea in 1962. The two countries were colonised by Italy, and later merged when Italy was evicted by the British in 1941. Thus, the current situation in Eritrea can be traced back to a redrawing of boundaries by European colonial powers. This is also true for many other conflict zones from Kashmir to Syria.

The fact that Libya is the launching pad for thousands is no coincidence: ever since Nato helped rebels to overthrow and then kill Qadhafi, the country has descended into an ungoverned disaster area. Given the power vacuum, all kinds of criminals are thriving, ranging from gunrunners who have pillaged Libyan arsenals to people smugglers making fortunes from the misery of others.

The ongoing fragmentation of Syria can be traced back to the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent eruption of extremist groups there. Once a fiercely secular state under Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party, today Iraq has become a cockpit for sectarian conflict between Shia and Sunni groups. This poison infected the popular uprising against Bashar al-Assad almost as soon it broke out, and is now a leading factor in pushing Syrian and Iraqi refugee to Europe.

So when European states mull over how to tackle the wave of migrants that is pouring over their borders, they need to accept their own responsibility in creating this mess. However, most people are unlikely to turn to history books when faced with what David Cameron has described as a ‘swarm’ of migrants.

The fact is that in political terms, compassion is not a vote-winner. Across Europe, increasing migration is viewed as a threat, not an economic benefit. According to a recent Ipsos poll, nearly half the people in advanced economies believe that ‘immigration is causing their countries to change in ways they don’t like’. As many as 84 per cent in Turkey, 65pc in Italy and 59pc in Russia believe this to be true.

In recent years, we have seen right-wing parties of various hues from racist to nationalist grow in size and popularity across Europe. In the UK and France, leaders like Farage of Ukip and Marine Le Pen of the National Front have cashed in on the growing anti-immigrant sentiment.

These problems will only grow as conflicts multiply.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2015

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