The refugee crisis is a portent

The images were searing. The body of a drowned 3-year-old washing up on a Turkish beach. At least 200 more drowned when their boat sank off the coast of Libya. An abandoned truck in eastern Austria wherein 71 people suffocated, their bodies so badly decomposed in the heat that authorities at first couldn't tell how many there were. There have been similar images all year. According to the U.N. Refugee Agency, an estimated 300,000 people have fled across the Mediterranean this year, with at least 2,500 dying. Calais long has been a center of migrant camps, and this summer it became the source of nightly disruptions to the international Eurostar train service. In 12 months, 15 people from the camps died trying to sneak onto trains or lorries passing through the Channel Tunnel.

The political leadership has been sharply mixed. Hungary's openly bigoted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is, not unexpectedly, inflammatory and cruel. Slovakia's government is little better. Britain's despicable Prime Minister David Cameron, who cut funds for Mediterranean search and rescue missions, first took a stand against admitting more refugees before relenting a little, agreeing to allow a relatively pathetic few. The big surprise has been Germany's Angela Merkel. Fresh off squeezing the life out of the Greek economy, she has been surprisingly compassionate and brave.

The European people also have shown great nobility. From Vienna came one of the most beautiful images, when the riot police called out to monitor a 20,000 strong protest in support of the refugees respectfully removed their helmets as the procession passed. Munich greeted refugees with applause, sweets and toys. Its mayor acknowledged the difficulty of accepting 10,000 people in one weekend alone, but said his top priority wasn't to worry about the numbers, but to try to accommodate them and make them feel safe. The German media have been supportive of what they see as a transformative moment akin to reunification, and the German business community welcomes the economic opportunity. Sweden began granting residency to refugees from Syria two years ago, and Denmark this week temporarily closed both roads and train services, overwhelmed by the number of people trying to pass through to its welcoming neighbor.

No one can ignore the crisis anymore. Europe is scrambling to find answers, with refugee quotas to be distributed according to various nations' capacities. The world is watching. But the cause of the horror is largely being ignored. It's a classic case of treating the symptoms. People are fleeing wars and droughts in the Middle East and Africa, and even amidst the best of the best intentions, the source of the crisis is rarely part of the conversation. It will get worse. What's happening now in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa is only the beginning. It is a portent. And if the world's political and economic leaders don't awaken to that fact, they will remain unprepared as the crisis morphs into crises, and the entire world is overwhelmed.

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