Because they're not as strong and brave as you are.
They are not refugees. Just people looking for social entitlements that Europe is giving out. Secondly, these "refugees" are mostly military aged men between 18-30 years old who can make the trip.
They are mostly cowards abandoning their families and countries for free welfare in Europe.
It's a disgrace.
The history knows so many refugee crises, I won't even start listing the biggest ones. No, it is just that the number of wars nowadays is small, compared to the old times, thanks to international regulations we've developed. WHEN there are wars, people fight. People are fighting in Syria right now as we speak, in fact. Not everyone is fighting, because not everyone has had a military training, not everyone believes that there is a side they would want to fight for, and not everybody even wants to fight, as opposed to just living their life. It's always been like this. For one person that "had balls" in the past, there were hundreds that sit at home or fled.
Personally, I am split here. It really depends on the circumstances. For the country of my birth, I wouldn't lift a finger fighting; in fact, under certain circumstances, I might even be willing to fight against it (if I wasn't such a pacifist that is; in reality, I doubt I will ever fight anyone violently). However, if the country I'm living in right now gets attacked, say, by North Koreans and my help will be needed - I will, at least, support the war effort by volunteering in a hospital or something like that. Because this country, unlike the one I lived in the past, actually aligns with my values worth defending.
The reason they are fleeing instead of fighting is because there are no clearly defined fronts and causes. This is the age of asymmetric warfare, a lot wars are fought by militias, guerilla and paramilitary organizations who often don't hesitate to fight each other over different interests or simple because it's clan versus clan again. This is no different in today's hot zones in Middle East. In addition weapons are scarce and usually only available through criminal activities, hijacking shipments or simple donations by certain powers acting in background. In the end people always follow Maslow's pyramid of needs and if you think it through you can't fault them for preferring security and safety over joining some random militia for some false heroism. In the end a lot if these groups do not want to run country, they want to establish a rule over a region and are accepting total destabilization in return. Establishing power through means of force and corruption is easy, running a country under the rule of law requires some higher intellect, a lot if not all of the intellectuals from Middle-Eastern region have long gone into exile.
Also a lot people are looking through rose-tinted glasses when it comes to Western history. Changes in the West or Europe are a result of different epochs, some changes came through reforms - one would say the most critical ones actually did others came through wars. A lot wars or conflicts were bred upon social and religious differences. I'd like to point at the Huguenots who in the end were at the losing side and ended up as refugees in several European countries. At the end of WW2 there was a huge stream of ethnic German refugees coming from Eastern and Central European regions who were received with quite a lot hostility by their German peers in the West - they were accused to be leeches and traitors.
WoW: Crowcloak (Druid) & Neesheya (Paladin) @ Sylvanas EU (/ˈkaZHo͞oəl/) | GW2: Siqqa (Asura Engineer) @ Piken Square EU
If builders built houses the way programmers built programs,the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization. - Weinberg's 2nd law
He seeks them here, he seeks them there, he seeks those lupins everywhere!
I wonder how people believe welfare state is given in Europe sometimes. You don't just arrive in a country and then, at the border, there is someone who is waiting with cash to give it to you. You have to ask for the refugee statute, which is particulary long to process. Then you have to ask for the support of the state. And this is also long and not automatic. And even then, it's not like you will be able to live from it in Europe. In France, you receive, when you are alone, 476 euros per month. That's may seem a lot, but it is not much when you have to find a place to live, to eat, to buy some clothes and all the other things.
Even for the healthcare it is not totally free. You still have to contribute to it. There is only very special case where it can be totally free and again, not for everything.
Aww yea man, those 32 Vickers Tanks made of tin foil, 10 of which actually had weapons at the beginning of the Winter War, were totally out equipping those 2500 T-26 and BT tanks the Russians invaded with, and those 114 aricraft vs 3800 the Russians brought. Also lets not mention the Russian ground troops out numbered the Finns 3 to 1 but it's okay, the Finns were definitely better equipped because they had ski's and the best sniper in history to kill all the Russians for them.
Fight for who? The oppressive government or the more or less dubious resistance movement? (ISIS started as a resistance movement)
There are many who stayed and fought for their neighbourhood but they are small groups and get crushed easily between government forces and terrorist organisations. When and if you decide to grow up mentally you will notice that the world isn't as black and white and is a lot more complicated than that.
Why stay and fight when you can just move somewhere else that isn't a shithole with a stable Economy/Luxurious way of life without having to do the normal immigration process
WoW: Crowcloak (Druid) & Neesheya (Paladin) @ Sylvanas EU (/ˈkaZHo͞oəl/) | GW2: Siqqa (Asura Engineer) @ Piken Square EU
If builders built houses the way programmers built programs,the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization. - Weinberg's 2nd law
He seeks them here, he seeks them there, he seeks those lupins everywhere!