This is what started me thinking ...

Early last year I went to a meeting when asylum seekers from
Afghanistan, Eritrea and Zimbabwe described the fear which
drove them from their homelands, the desperation of their
journey to reach the UK and the uncertainty with which they
face the future. Ordinary, everyday, young men, whose lives
had been turned upside-down through conflict and war.
Their stories left me feeling sad, angry and confused.
Alongside their descriptions of people being bombed out of
their homes and images of desperate refugees drowning in
the Mediterranean, came the knowledge that the influx of
refugees and asylum seekers to the West will increase as those
fleeing war and terror will be joined by those fleeing starvation
in countries where climate change has brought drought.
Above all, this experience left me with renewed determination
to understand the foundations on which our 21st Century
globalised world is built. It feels as if those foundations are no
longer serving us very well. Perhaps these young men are the
victims and their plight is a symptom. Then I ask myself, what
is the cause? And, most importantly, where is the hope?