"Europe is declaring war on smugglers" the EU's top migration official said last month. As the Mediterranean fills with boats and the bodies of migrants from Africa and the Arab world, it is inopportune language like this underlines how grave a situation we find ourselves in and how far away a humane solution seems.

The thawing -- or re-humanizing -- of Ahmedu as we got to know each other was a testament to the power of the human spirit. Yet, to too many in the West a young man like Ahmedu represents an Islamic threat in which Muslims are hell-bent on re-conquering parts of Europe to impose an Islamic caliphate. As for the argument that immigrants simply mean more recruits for terrorists, not once did Ahmedu mention words like sharia or jihad. But for the right-wing movements growing exponentially across Europe, this would not matter.