This month we focus on the ongoing and rapidly escalating refugee crisis. This incredibly complex issue is no longer—and never really was—a Middle Eastern or a European problem. It is a global crisis that concerns everyone, especially those who work in the disaster field. After all, crises such as civil conflicts, natural disasters, and climate change overlap and don’t recognize national boundaries. The interconnected nature of these three issues is especially visible in the Fertile Crescent and Horn of Africa, the two regions that have generated the majority of refugees currently seeking asylum in Europe.

In Syria, the immediate cause of the conflict, which began in 2011 and eventually spilled into neighboring countries, was a regime change, however, religious, sociopolitical, and environmental factors also served as a trigger.