The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the first war of such magnitude in the heart of the European continent since the Second World War. It provides us with some lessons on the massive departure of civilian populations and the question of refugees.
We used to think that the exoduses only concerned the countries of the South, the rare political refugees from the North coming mainly from Russia, which is the most restrictive in terms of freedoms among the countries of the North.
Of course, there was the war in the Balkans at the end of the last century, but it has faded from memory, even if it caused a greater wave of refugees than that which followed the occupation of Iraq, in 2003.
In Europe and the Middle East, the spirits have been marked in recent years by the crisis of the Syrian exodus, with approximately 7 million refugees in the world.
In South America, it is rather the Venezuelan exodus that has marked the spirits, with 6 million refugees, a figure close to that of the Syrians, who did not flee the war but simply socio-economic difficulties.
These figures, however, remain modest in comparison with those of the Second World War, when there were between 40 and 60 million refugees. It was then the greatest war in all history. And it is to be hoped that it will remain so. Because a new world war, with modern weapons, would result in the destruction of humanity.
As for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it caused the departure of nearly 7 mill
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Source of the article
Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London)“Arab Jerusalem” is one of the pan-Arab daily newspapers published in London. However, unlike his colleagues Al-Hayat et Asharq Al-Awsat, it is not owned by Saudi capital.
It covers the Palestinian issue extensively. With its sometimes deliberately virulent tone, Al-Quds Al-Arabi undoubtedly sticks more to the feeling of what is agreed to call the “Arab street” than many of his colleagues. It was the only pan-Arab daily to defend Saddam Hussein’s regime.
The website offers the full content of the paper version in formats HTML et PDF, supplemented by despatches. There is also access to the archives which allows you to consult almost all the issues published since 1998 and to download the articles in the format PDF.
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