Stop confusing "migrants" with refugees

The distinction between "migrant" and "refugee" is complex: neither politics nor people are ever motivated by just one thing. In general, though the former are looking for something: a better life, a less oppressive government, perhaps; whereas the latter are running away.

Sometimes, where oppression becomes intolerable, the two collide. But in the current crisis, it is very clear: most refugees are running away from death and serious injury.

To misrepresent such people as "migrants", which is what the BBC continues to do, is to actively skew debate along lines set down by a right-wing and callous government. Tediously predictable from some tabloids: disgraceful when done by the BBC.

Especially a BBC that has, supposedly in the interests of accuracy, decided to prefix all mention of the ISIS state with the phrase "so-called".

It is time for the BBC to record what is happening in Europe accurately.