EP 864 Global Refugee Crisis Has Particular Impact in Europe

 As a window into the refugee crisis which has landed with particular impact on the European shores, journalist and author Jeanne Carstensen focuses her new book on a tragedy dating back to October 28, 2015.  At the height of the biggest refugee crisis since WWII, a dangerously overloaded old wooden boat set sail from Turkey.  The smugglers had promised the passengers ‘a very safe’ journey to the nearby Greek island of Lesvos, but soon the boat swayed from side to side, broke apart, tossing hundreds of men, women, and children into roiling seas, resulting in the largest loss of life in the crisis in the Aegean that year.  Thus begins the compelling story that is the basis of her book, “A Greek Tragedy: One Day, A Deadly Shipwreck, and the Human Cost of the Refugee Crisis.”  Our conversation delves into the refugee crisis from all angles and brings the story forward to this day as we continue to see so many people, a significant number from war-torn and climate ravaged parts of the Middle East, struggling to find new homes because of their displacement.  Spoiler alert: it is not a particularly welcoming moment for refugees and America is playing a role in that.

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