I. What do you know about the European Refugee Crisis? What about Syria?
a) Where is Syria located?
b) When did the Arab Spring take place?
II. Can you join these sentece halves together?
1. Al-Assad
2. ISIS
3. A third of the Syrian people
4. Over 4 million Syrians
5. The vast majority of Syrians reside now in
6. Zero Syrian refugees have been accepted by
a) the Arab states of the Persian Gulf (Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman…).
b) is the name of the family leading Syria as quasi-dictators since the 1960s.
c) have fled the country.
d) is a militaristic jihadist group which wants to build a totalitarian Islamic caliphate.
e) camps in the neighbouring countries (Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt).
f) have been displaced within Syria.
III. Watch the beginning of this video to check your answers.
IV. What do you know about the migration routes into Europe?
1. What are the deadly risks of migrating by sea?
2. How many miles are migrants walking from Istanbul into Greece and then from Greece to Hungary?
3. Why do migrants want to get to Germany?
4. How much do some pay to be smuggled by car?
V. Watch this video and check your answers.
VI. Read this article (Migrant Misery a Gold Rush for Some in Turkey) and answer the questions below.
1. What is the “raft economy”?
2. Why are the streets in Izmir, Turkey, full of tour buses and taxis?
3. How much does a raft cost?
4. How many people can a raft hold? So, what’s its capacity?
5. How much money do children have to pay to get on a raft?
6. Check the meaning of these words in bold in the text (so, same context) and write sentences with them.
a) Izmir is a hub for migrants.
b) It is a boomtown for residents.
c) “Insurance offices” have sprung up.
d) Turkey says it is doing all that it can to stem illegal activity.
e) The smugglers earn a total of nearly $60,000 for each trip.
f) About half of the money goes for bribes and commissions.