How Berlin Is Responding to the Refugee Crisis

While I was on a grad school fellowship in Berlin in 2016, I wrote this paper about the logistical response to the refugee crisis.

Policymakers in the European Union are facing an unprecedented migration challenge, as a massive wave of asylum-seekers have been continuously fleeing their home countries over the past year and a half in hope of a better future in Europe. The sustained flow of new arrivals has proven to be more than some governments were equipped to handle, and the challenge of processing and resettling asylum seekers has led some to dub this the “migrant crisis.” EU governments are trying to answer the immediate humanitarian questions of how to feed and shelter these refugees.

In this paper, I look at the logistical challenges faced by European Union governments and other organizations in accommodating the wave of new arrivals. I will focus specifically on the situation in Berlin.