More than 200,000 people of Haitian descent are facing deportation in the Dominican Republic. The deportation is certainly in violation of international law, but in a sense that is irrelevant. It is yet another example, along with the Rohingas and others, of the growing effects of climate change, scarce resources, and too many mouths to feed. Large populations are on the move, often discriminated against and trying to improve their lives, but meeting hostility and resistance. Europe and the United States are not alone in wondering how to stem the tide. There are an estimated 10 million stateless refugees in the world, and the number is going to grow remorselessly.

The Epicurean instinct is to try to offer security and more pleasant lives to the refugees. But this clashes with the natural human desire to sustain one’s national culture, one’s job and one’s way of life in the face of the migration of poor, unskilled people.

Politicians don’t seem to have civilised answers. What would you do?