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Europe's refugee crisis is moving from newsprint to the pages of children's books, as writers try to help parents help their kids understand an often disturbing drama shaping their world.

Distressing images of African migrants being plucked from heaving seas or the coffin-strewn aftermath of major sinkings have become a regular feature of television news bulletins since the crisis began spiralling out of control four years ago.

It is an unavoidable part of a new generation's digital landscape and parents across Europe are having to find ways to enable their offspring to make sense of it.

That's what writers and illustrators are for and the treatment of the issue was a prominent theme at this week's Bologna Children's Book Fair, the biggest of its kind in Europe.

Author Antonio Ferrara was promoting his new book, "Casa Lampedusa", a tale set on the Italian island on the frontline of the crisis.

Antonio Ferrara with another of his books. Photo: Miguel Medina/AFP

"There is a word of eastern origin, 'abracadabra', that we think was invented for children playing at magic. In reality, it means, "by speaking, I create," Ferrara told AFPTV.

"For me as an author, that means that something that does not exist, like trust in others or the desire to welcome foreigners, can be created, if a story is well-told."

Historical context

Ferrara's book is told through the eyes of a 13-year-old boy who sees the islanders' lives transformed by the waves of humanity being washed up, sometimes literally, on their shores.

"The book begins with something that Bono, the U2 singer, said he had heard a migrant say: 'I'm not dangerous, I am in danger'.

READ ALSO: Italy's overcrowded migrant centres leave children vulnerable: Council of Europe

"The challenge is to touch children's hearts before speaking to their minds and to get there you have to get away from what they see on the news and engage them in a fictional story that is founded in fact."

French publisher Actes Sud addresses the same subject with a new non-fiction book, "Planete Migrants", by writer Sophie Lamoureux and illustrator Amelie Fontaine.

Photo: Miguel Medina/AFP

The book, which won an award in Bologna, seeks to place in a historical context the contemporary arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants in Europe from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

"We show that it (mass migration) is not a new thing, and that people leaving their homes are doing so for political reasons, because of climate change or wars," said publisher Thierry Magnier.

Playing God

"It is not an easy subject and our approach is to treat young readers as an intelligent audience that can be told things without them being embellished or diluted."

Also being promoted in Bologna was the Italian translation of "The Optician of Lampedusa", a story by BBC journalist Emma-Jane Kirby that emerged from her award-winning reporting from Lampedusa.

READ ALSO: The Local speaks to the doctor who has met every migrant off the boat at Lampedusa

The book tells the traumatic experience of Carmine Menna, an optician on the island who saved some of the survivors and witnessed many more perish in one of the deadliest sinkings, in October 2013, while out on a boat trip with his wife and friends.

Alerted by screams they first thought were seagulls, the couple and their crew hauled 47 people to safety. But 368 others perished, including a new mother with her baby still attached to her by its umbilical cord.

The book tells the story of the disaster through the eyes of the optician, describing how he is compelled to make life-or-death decisions about which desperately outstretched arm to clutch, then watch as others are engulfed by the waves.

It is a challenging read, but reviewers have acclaimed its value to readers of all ages.

It "goes beyond the voyeurism of 24-hour news to identify something timeless and troubling," Britain's Guardian newspaper said in its review. "Kirby challenges us to do more than cry."

By Franck Iovene and Angus MacKinnon

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How a new wave of children's books is tackling the migrant crisis ... - The Local Italy

In 2015, Angela Merkels government accepted more than one million refugees into Germany. She consulted neither her European partners nor her own citizens.Her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party consequently suffered a string ofhumiliating lossesin state elections in 2016, while the Alternative fr Deutschland (AfD) made strong gains. CapX writes about these developments in its articleWill the migrant crisis sink Merkel?

In September 2017, Germans go to the polls in federal elections and the issue of migration, and of Merkels response to it, is likely to be the single most important issue. Dissatisfaction with the policies of the Chancellor, and in particular her open-border policy, has polarised German society and German politics.Currently, the grand coalition parties the centre-right CDU and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) hold 80 per cent of the seats in the Bundestag, with the Greens and the Left Party holding the rest.But the anti-immigration, UKIP-style Alternative fr Deutschland (AfD) have proven adept at motivating non-voters as well as poaching voters from the CDU in addition to the SPD and even the Left Party, and will surely strengthen their position in September as will the free-market Free Democrats (FDP).AfDs success in regional elections has intensified anger with Merkel within the CSU in particular. German conservatives must now deal with a rising force to their right, just as the SPD has seen its electoral results depressed with the emergence of the Left party. AfDs support in the polls is thelowest since the start of the refugee crisis.Merkel has therefore been pushed by her partys right wing to put repatriation right at the top of the political agenda. Germany is now speeding up its asylum process. This means tougher rules allowing police to detain people deemed to be a threat, and the establishment of centres close to airports to house rejected applicants.

Yet recent figures showed that a total of 556,499 failed asylum seekers have stayed on in the country, with four in five residing in the country for more than six years, thus granting them extra rights. An investigation by Die Welt found that although asylum is granted for a period of three years under the Geneva Convention, nearly all German migrants granted asylum are allowed to stay indefinitely. Despite an attempt to tighten up residency permits last year, leave to stay is granted much more quickly in Germany than in other EU states.According to the German economic research institute Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft, Merkels migrant policy will cost 50 billionin 2016 and 2017 alone, while the Mannheim-based ZEW has found that the costs will escalate to nearly 400 billion over the next 20 years assuming, optimistically, that most of these refugees eventually find work.

But the migrant crisis is not the only problem that has Germans grumbling. Despite positive growth figures and a vast trade surplus, polls show that 70 per cent of Germans believe that inequality is excessive. Data show that Germany is a highly polarised society, with the bottom 40 per cent of households having the same or lower real income as 25 years ago.Although full-time, permanent employment has increased, so has the number of precarious, part-time jobs. Germany has a two-speed economy, with a widening gap between successful, export-oriented sectors on the one hand, and domestic, services-based sectors on the other. Levels of social mobility and equality of opportunity are also poor.

There is also Germanys crumbling infrastructure, which is now starting to have a serious impact on GDP. Most of the money going in is being used not to build new roads or bridges, but just topatch up the old stuff. And Germanys economic model has also taken a damaging reputational hit, with the Deutsche Bank and Volkswagen scandals the most high-profile examples.

Merkel is not only under pressure domestically, but also within Europe. She has always kept her focus on German interests. This played out in the Greek debt crisis, when Merkel did thebare minimum just enough to prevent a meltdown, but far too little to put an end to the Greek or the broader euro crisis.

Under such circumstances, it is hardly surprising that Martin Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament, has returned to Germany to run against Merkel or that he is doing so well in the polls. One shows his SPD at 31 per cent, within 2 per cent of his rival. Other polls show the parties neck-and-neck at 32 per cent.

There will be many issues, over the coming months, which could change that equation in either direction. Europe will be reshaped by the outcome of the French elections, the Brexit negotiations, diplomatic tensions with Russia. Then there are the verbal threats made by Donald Trump over security and trade.But above all as in the UK, US, Netherlands and France it will be immigration which dominates the agenda in September: its economic and cultural costs, and the security worries it provokes.Back in March, Merkelappealed for calmamid a row over planned campaign rallies by Turkish ministers in Germany, which triggered accusations by President Erdogan that Germany was engaged in Nazi practices and threats to start an insurrection in Germany.Despite broad support from her European neighbours, critics accused Merkel of failing to stand up to Erdogan for fear of endangering the deal with Turkey which keeps more Syrian migrants from arriving at Germanys borders a classic case of damned if she does, damned if she doesnt.If she wants to win a fourth term in September, Chancellor Merkel has many problems to solve. But the migrant crisis will surely be the most difficult.

Read more:
Will the migrant crisis sink Merkel? - vestnik kavkaza

Both countries have ignored EU proposals to relocate 160,000 migrants and the rest of the bloc is set to take action to ensure they share the burden.

Poland has ignored criticism from the European Commission over its handling of the migrant crisis and last week Beata Szydlo, the countrys prime minister, criticised EU plans for a two-speed Europe which would allow more powerful members to develop faster than their poorer neighbours.

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Meanwhile, Hungary has pushed back against the centralisation of powers in Brussels and eurosceptic leader Viktor Orban called for the countrys borders to be closed during the height of the 2015 migrant crisis.

The two countries will now have to decide if they are willing to maintain their anti-migrant rhetoric if it puts their EU membership under threat, a diplomatic source told the Times.

The source said: They will have to make a choice: are they in the European system or not? You cannot blackmail the EU, unity has a price.

REUTERS

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A migrant taunts Hungarian riot police as they fire tear gas and water cannon on the Serbian side of the border, near Roszke

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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is expected to look into the legality of the migrant quotas with a judgment, widely expected to be in favour of them, due before the end of the year.

The source added: We are confident that the ECJ will confirm validation, then they [Poland and Hungary] must abide by the decision.

If they dont then they will face consequences, both financial and political.

No more opt-outs, there is no more one foot in and one foot out.

We are going to be very tough on this.

GETTY

The EUs migrant quotas have been widely criticised for being ineffective, with some eastern European members including Slovakia and the Czech Republic waiting for disputes between the EU, Hungary and Poland to be resolved before accepting their share of migrants.

Germany, France and Italy have called for a permanent system of quotas to replace the emergency measures currently in place, which would include fines and penalties for failing to comply.

Read more here:
EU ULTIMATUM: Brussels tells Poland & Hungary to 'accept more migrants or LEAVE the bloc' - Express.co.uk

Image: iStockphoto/Harvepino

Analytics firm SAS wants to use crowdsourcing and data to solve global humanitarian challenges. Its new app GatherIQ, announced at the SAS Global Forum 2017 in Orlando, FL, puts analytics in the hands of the public to address world problems, starting with the migrant crisis.

Thousands of migrants go missing or die on their journey each year, with an estimated 63,000 victims between 2000 and 2016, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Here's how the app can help: First, users read about the issue. Then, the app asks questions about the migrant crisis that the IOM needs assistance analyzing. Using data visualizations and information from the IOM's Missing Migrants Project (including demographics, migrant routes, and locations), users can see patterns and trends take shape. Then, users can post any insights they gain to the GatherIQ community, to share observations and work as a team to validate one another's results, according to the app's website.

Users can also easily share their insights on social media platforms to both bring attention to the crisis and draw others to the GatherIQ effort. "IOM will harness the power of the crowd to better understand what is really happening to these migrants and how the organization can help them," a press release stated.

SEE: Why one business is investing in immigrant entrepreneurs to help create 100,000 jobs for Americans

"The migrant crisis continues unabated. By better understanding the risks facing these people, we can do more to protect them," said IOM spokesperson Leonard Doyle in a press release. "The more people we have analyzing the data and contributing to solutions, the more likely we are to save lives."

SAS plans to use GatherIQ to collaborate with more nonprofit organizations to help them gain new insights from their data, and to encourage citizens to use analytics to help solve global problems, according to the press release.

"We want the public to help us in our mission to improve the world with analytics and data," said I-Sah Hsieh, SAS global manager for international development, in the press release. "You don't have to be a data scientist. Just have a curious mind and a desire to help humanity."

GatherIQ also allows users to integrate data visualization and analysis into research projects and educational coursework, to better help individuals gain needed tech skills for future jobs, the release stated.

SEE: Life, disrupted: Dispatches from a refugee crisis in the digital age (CNET)

"We encourage teachers, professors and students to integrate this project into their learning and research," said Hsieh in the release. "Today's students want to make a difference in the world. With GatherIQ, they also gain data analysis experience that will help fill the looming data skills gap."

This effort is not the first collaboration between SAS and IOM, the release noted: After Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in 2013, SAS analyzed data from IOM shelters to target relief efforts and identify the most critical health problems facing the area. The company also worked with IOM after the 2015 Nepal earthquake, analyzing global trade data to identify sources for tin roofing to protect citizens during the impending monsoon season.

GatherIQ is available for download in Apple's App Store, and will soon be available on Android and as a web app.

1. At SAS Global Forum 2017, SAS unveiled a new app called GatherIQ that combines data and crowdsourcing to help solve global humanitarian problems, starting with the migrant crisis.

2. GatherIQ allows users to analyze data from the International Organization for Migration to identify patterns and trends, and post insights on a community page to help the IOM learn new information.

3. SAS said it plans to use GatherIQ to collaborate with more nonprofits to help them gain new insights from their data, and to encourage citizens to to use analytics to help solve global problems, according to the press release.

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SAS crowdsourcing app seeks to solve the migrant crisis while teaching data science skills - TechRepublic

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Italys interior ministry said the 60 tribal leaders notably the Tuareg of the southwest, the Toubou of the southeast, and the Arab tribe of Awlad Suleiman had reached the 12-point deal after 72 hours of secret talks in Rome.

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A representative from Libyas UN-backed Government of National Accord, which is based in Tripoli and controls western Libya, was also present.

A Libyan border patrol unit will be operational to monitor Libyas southern border of 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles), Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti told Italys La Stampa newspaper, one of several Italian media outlets reporting on the deal Sunday.

Securing Libyas southern border means securing Europes southern border, Minniti said.

Southern Libya is criss-crossed by smuggling routes for people, drugs and weapons. Since the 2011 uprising that ousted Moamer Kadhafi, a mosaic of tribal and ethnic forces is fighting for control of illicit trade and oil fields in the region.

Tuaregs control the border with southern Algeria, while further east, the Toubou operate along the borders with Chad and Sudan.

Arab tribes in the region have supported the authorities in western Libya, but they also maintain ties with a rival administration that holds sway in the east and regularly clash with the Toubou.

Fayez al-Sarraj, chief of the fragile GNA, has struggled to impose the governments authority, despite its backing by many political and military leaders.

The accord, whose details have not yet been released, is the latest in a series of deals European countries have sought to reduce migration from Libya, which has increased sharply in recent months.

The deal aims to combat an economy based on illicit drugs, which causes hundreds of deaths in the Mediterranean, thousands of desperate people looking for a better life, a populist push (in Europe) and a jihadist threat in the desert, according to the text of the agreement, quoted in the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

It also calls for job training programmes to keep young people from criminal activities.

Some 24,200 people have been rescued from the Mediterranean and registered at Italian ports so far this year, according to the Interior Ministry.

As part of an earlier agreement with the European Union, about 90 members of the Libyan coastguard are currently completing training under the EU, and Italy is preparing to return 10 coastguard boats to Libya that it seized in 2011. They are expected to be operational by the end of April or in early May.

In March, interior ministers from several EU and North African countries reached a deal with the GNA to stem flow of migrant and human smuggling, which included pledges of money, coastguard training and equipment for Libya.

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Italy Brokers Deal Between Dozens of Rival Libyan Tribes To Stem Migrant Crisis - Breitbart News