European countries continue to quarrel and blame each other for the migrant crisis in East-Central Europe, which has now spun out of control.

Hungary is blaming Croatia and Serbia for not properly registering the migrants and simply sending them on to the Northern EU countries.

In essence, both the fault and solution lie in the people. These countries are highly democratic, and have been so for decades, and they should be fully capable of providing shelter and sanctuary for refugees who have traveled this tedious journey.

Hungary has reported that they are determined to document all incoming migrants, although Austrian officials claim that this has not been the case, according to BBC.

CNN stated on Sunday that Germany claims they will be expecting 1 million asylum applications this year alone. Britain has agreed to take in 20,000 migrants, and France has agreed to receive tens of thousands as well. If the countries come to an organized agreement, Switzerland will take 1,500.  Eastern European countries, however, have not yet committed to a specific amount.

It would be interesting to find out what the countries will do with the rest of the migrants, seeing as there are more migrants than the countries are taking in. Will countries end up forcing migrants out of their borders, or will the leaders find ways of making more room for the helpless newcomers?

This is undoubtedly the largest migrant influx since World War II, and nearly 475,000 have crossed by boat into Italy and Greece to then make their way up to the more preferred EU countries, CNN reports.

Marina Tolmacheva, WSU professor of History, president Emerita of the American University of Kuwait and former Director of the WSU Asia Program said that the current wave of refugees is the middle class of the Middle East.

“These people are well educated, hardworking, talented. They will be a good addition to the labor force of those countries,” she said.

It is interesting to note how often the media blames immigrants for stealing jobs, yet if they are qualified and are willing to work for their due, why should this be an issue?

Concerning the countries that continue to squabble on these matters, Tolmacheva said that one reason why Serbia and Hungary are blaming each other is because they are culturally different, and that has a cumulative effect.

“There is also resentment from the public of the poorer countries toward the refugees who will be getting something out of nothing,” she said.

Truly, in countries such as Germany and Sweden, refugees get a large amount of benefits, and living conditions are much better than that of Hungary and Serbia.

“Hungary is much more monocultural. Serbia is much more adaptive, and may be more receptive to the continuing flow of refugees,” Tolmacheva said.

The public is responding differently. Several countries, including the UK, Iceland and Germany, have begun social network movements with hashtags such as #letthemin and #refugeeswelcome.

In Germany, some football stadiums were filled with signs saying “Refugees Welcome.” The same could be seen on the streets of EU countries.

It is heartwarming and encouraging to know that even the roughest of citizens are ready to support a struggling people.

Tolmacheva added that “Enthusiasts will use social media to bring to light new information, as well as herald successes to supporters.  Those who oppose it will use social media to issue warnings to the public, and of course, use religion as a dividing element.”

On the opposite spectrum, some radical groups have openly protested against the incoming migrants, and have gone to the extent of burning down free refugee sanctuaries.

Religion, as has often been the case, plays a vital role in hindering or advancing social movements.

“The issue here is that most people in social media don’t’ know Arabic, and things can get masked in translation.”

Despite Arabic being the fourth most spoken language in the world, it is true that the majority of Europeans do not speak it, which could potentially be a big problem.

As Tolmacheva finished, “It’s not a matter of policy, it’s a matter of psychology.”

The majority of the public supports the migrants, and across Europe homes are opening up to the migrants. It is the paperwork and bureaucracy halting the progress of resettlement, and the governments should focus on finding a more organized and efficient way to solve this crisis. It will truly take the leadership of these countries to figure this all out in a responsible, organized manner.

Bogdan Mynka is a freshman Music Major from Kharkiv, Ukraine. HE can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of the Office of Student Media.