Nobody could have been left untouched by the picture of a little boy's body being carried from the beach of a Turkish holiday resort after his family failed in an attempt to escape war-torn Syria for Europe. It encapsulated the reality and the tragedy of the world's worst migrant crisis since World War II. The overwhelming number of refugees has left Europe struggling for a solution. But this catastrophe is bigger than that continent. No country can stand aside if it wants to be recognised as a fully participating member of the international community, and that includes New Zealand.
The Government seems to want to portray the Syrian exodus not as an emergency but as business as usual in a world replete with refugees. The Prime Minister's response yesterday was to indicate a review of the country's refugee quota, scheduled for next year, could be fast-tracked. He did not acknowledge it has been under pressure for some time to increase the annual intake from a paltry 750.
That has been the quota since 1987. Since then, the country's population has increased substantially, as has its economy. Both surely make taking 1000 to 1500 refugees eminently manageable. But the Government has seemed unconcerned that, on a per capita basis, New Zealand is rated 87th in the world for refugee resettlement. Indeed, John Key has been most exercised by the prospect of boatloads of Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans washing up on our shores. More than once, he has painted a picture of boat people lurking just over the horizon. That is highly unlikely given the ocean they would have to traverse.
Europe, meanwhile, has an increasingly difficult catastrophe on its hands. In Greece alone, 23,000 refugees have arrived in the past week. That is up 50 per cent on the previous week. At its worst, the desperation of these people has been illustrated by the 71 found suffocated in a lorry outside Vienna.
