Why do Muslims seek refuge in the non-Muslim West?

The question is a crucial one since it is one of the main political subjects in Europe, which is about to stage a number of national elections.

It is the unwritten question in the ongoing debate between Turkey and Germany over Turkish politicians' desire to address communities from Turkey in Germany (and other countries with Turkish residents like France, Austria and the Netherlands) over the April 16 referendum about a possible shift to an executive presidential model as sought by President Tayyip Erdoğan. This is because it involves an agreement between Turkey and the European Union over the control of the refugee flux that has been amplified by the Syrian civil war.

The EU, as the world's richest economic region with 28 countries and the house of some of most advanced democracies on earth, is trying to cope with a total of 2.3 million refugees. The number of refugees in Turkey, mostly from Syria, is around 3.5 million.

As difficulties about security and economy increase, more people in Turkey say they would like to live in another country (more than 27 percent according to a MetroPoll survey) - but not as refugees. They just want to live a more easygoing and prosperous life.

In the case of refugees, they are after security, justice and basic needs. A crushing majority of them are from Muslim countries such as Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco, Mali, Somalia and others.

Those running for their lives are Muslims but they are not seeking shelter in other Muslim countries, except for Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, where the political systems are not based on religious law. They turn their eyes to predominantly non-Muslim, mostly Christian societies in the West.

Why is that so?

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