Patrick Stewart and other celebs point out 2 words people keep confusing about the refugee crisis.
'Words matter.'
The rush of people streaming out of the Middle East and into Europe is often referred to as a "migrant crisis"...
Syrian refugees near the Croatian boarder. Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images.
...which can be very misleading as many of the so-called "migrants" are actually "refugees."
An asylum-seeker on a train in Macedonia. Photo by Armend Nimani/Getty Images.
Both migrants and refugees are coming to Europe, but there's actually a pretty big difference between the two.
Craig Ferguson. All GIFs via United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees/YouTube.
Perhaps most importantly, migrants can return home if they want to. A refugee on the other hand?
It's critical to recognize that the millions of refugees crossing Europe's borders are fleeing for their very survival.
According to some estimates, over 300,000 men and women have already lost their lives in Syria's brutal civil war. Those who have left are fleeing torture, imprisonment, bombed out homes, and army service where they've been forced to kill their own countrymen.
Those of us lucky enough to reside in rich, secure countries have the luxury of debating how many asylum-seekers we feel like letting in the door. But those asylum-seekers don't have the luxury of deciding whether or not to knock.
They can't go back, and they have nowhere else to go — which is why we need to welcome them into our communities and help them start new lives.
And we need to help them now.
And the migrants coming to Europe might not need help as urgently, but that doesn't mean we should send them back either.
A raft of refugees and migrants drifting near the Greek island of Lesbos. Photo by Aris Messinis/Getty Images.
Many are running from countries were poverty is rampant and employment is scarce. If you were born somewhere, through no fault of your own, with few good jobs and fewer prospects, it makes sense to want to a move to a country, like the United States or many in Europe, where those things are abundant.
Others are seeking to reunite with family who have already made the move. If you've been living apart from your husband, or son, or wife, or daughter for years, even decades, it makes even more sense that you would move heaven and earth to try to join them.
It's a different situation, which is going to require different policy solutions. But there's nothing wrong with wanting a better life in a country where living that life is more possible.
Bottom line: It's important that when we're talking about refugees, we say "refugees" and when we're talking about migrants, we say "migrants."
Their needs are different and helping them requires different approaches.
But though their circumstances aren't the same, it's critical to treat all people who seek a safe, secure future for themselves and their families with respect and dignity.
You can watch the full video, where Patrick Stewart joins Craig Ferguson, Kristin Davis, Neil Gaiman, and others in calling on countries around the world to help seek justice for both groups:
A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons
An office kitchen.via 
An angry man eating spaghetti.via 
Gif of baby being baptized
Woman gives toddler a bath Canva
An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
- YouTube youtube.com
Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.