If you look in the news for information about refugees, you will see all kinds of sad pictures. You will see little children in rickety boats. You will see widows walking miles in search of safety. Because of the uproar in the Middle East right now, life has become very hard for the people in these pictures. But most of the movers actually aren’t helpless women and children. In fact, if you saw ten movers stashed into a boat, seven of them would be men. You might think: So what? Who cares if the movers are men or women?

The number of men moving into Europe gives us a big clue. Usually, when men—especially young men—relocate, they are not running for their lives. They are usually looking for a place where they can make more money. Do you remember the word for a person who does that? That’s right: migrant, not refugee.

In many places around the world, people make very little money—less than one or two dollars a day! It is no surprise that people from these places would want to move away. If there was a safe, wealthy country nearby, wouldn’t you want to go there too?

But no matter where you migrate, there are rules you have to follow. That seems like a pain, but it’s actually fair and good. Each country has laws and procedures for how to get in. This process usually isn’t quick. And if you really need more money, it can seem to take forever! That’s why many people right now are not following the rules at all. Instead, they are being smuggled into rich countries.

If you live in the United States, that might not sound like a big deal. Compared to Europe, the United States is huge! Every state is almost like a single European country. European countries just don’t have enough room to take in thousands of people. And if migrants are breaking the law and getting in faster, what will happen to the refugees? The refugees are the neediest people of all—the people from the very sad pictures. If migrants take up their spots in rich countries by breaking the law, they will have nowhere to go!