People are fleeing largely from Syria, but also from other countries like Pakistan for instance. Some of them are in poverty, devastated by war and they see the risk of escalation of the civil war. Others are in much better economic shape and they find that it is a time when Europe is likely to accept them. The problem is that Europe was completely unprepared for the waves of migrants, but there was nothing unexpected. There were previous signals coming from Africa, and of course the routes through Turkey and Southern Europe have been attractive and proved to be workable before for refugees, as well as for those who financially gain from passing refugees through other territories.