Of course they're using the refugee crisis to their advantage. As is just about every other political actor in the Middle East, Europe and the rest of the world. It just so happens that their purposes are a lot nastier than most - and that the world has a bigger interest in countering those purposes. We shouldn't let the Paris attacks affect the handling of the refugee problem - which is not to say you can't be critical of how that is being handled at present. Just do it on its own merits.

In case you hadn't noticed, Germany and the EU are in fact trying to persuade Turkey to keep more Syrian refugees - even at the cost of turning a blind eye to Erdogan's increasingly Putin-like behaviour. But where are they supposed to send the Syrians already here? Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have too many to deal with as it is, they're not going to take back the ones they managed to get rid of. And while you might argue that those Syrians became "economic refugees" the moment they left Turkey/Lebanon/Jordan for Europe, they are genuine refugees when it comes to returning to Syria.

Agree that it's not desirable for all the refugees to stay for the long term after the war is over - but then, many of them wouldn't want to.

What's also certain is that the pressure on the Gulf States to take in refugees needs to be increased - this is ridiculous. I dare say Saudi Arabia could do with a good number of Syrian immigrants with a somewhat healthier view on religion and a desire to work hard.