There’s no perfect answer to the migrant crisis – and we must face that | Jeffrey Sachs

To block the refugees would fail - but to open Europe's doors without limit is reckless. Finding a solution means addressing root causes in migrants' countries

There are no easy answers to Europe's migration crisis. Perhaps that fact alone - the reality that all options are insufficient - could be the basis to build a consensus out of the bitter divisions that now grip the continent. The answer to the crisis in the longer term will depend less on migration policy and much more on smarter ways to avoid such crises in the first place.

Those brave politicians who welcome the refugees, like German chancellor Angela Merkel, take a stand of basic human decency. People are fleeing for their lives from terror and war. To deny them asylum would violate the most basic standards of compassion. For you were strangers in a strange land, God reminds the Israelites in setting forth the principles of social justice.

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