Icy reception

MOST teenagers only have to worry about acne, homework and heartache. Kasra, a 17-year-old boy from Afghanistan, faces more weighty problems. During the journey from his homeland to Europe, cutting through the mountains of Iran, Kasra says he “saw death many times” and at least one rape. Even in a transit camp in Croatia, he does not feel safe: he is unsure how other refugees or asylum-seekers would treat him if they knew that he was gay. “You are so lucky to live in Europe,” he says. He wants to go to Germany and become a make-up artist.

During the onset of winter the number of migrants making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean normally drops. This year has been different. In October 2014, 23,000 people made the crossing; this October it was over 220,000—higher than the total for all of last year. Although numbers fell at the start of November, they are still around ten times higher than in 2014 (see chart). Yet as temperatures drop and migrants continue to stream in, Europe’s response has been hopelessly inadequate. After the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13th, it may get even worse.