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 Somebody will argue that it's morally wrong to make such a distinction between two suffering groups.

FWIW, it's only North America, Europe, and Australia that have the attempted financial capacity to absorb some immigrants. The Middle East is basically only workable with oil and few citizens, South America isn't that rich and the same could be said for most of Asia. 
 FWIW, I read a story about Nigerians that ended up in Brazil because the boat they were using as their escape method ended up there instead of the US as would have preferred. Despite being more organized than back home, most longed for the States. The happiest, IIRC, was a mom with kids who seemed somewhat content about being somewhere *better* than home. The men wanted the US.