KESHAVARZ: And I think one very dangerous thing that we're seeing is - and it bears asking the question - is, have journalists become so desensitized to the suffering of different peoples of color, specifically people that are in war zones, that we're no longer seeing on the same level playing field? Why? Those seeking security at our southern border should not be treated any differently. Explosives and debris must be cleared from areas that have been retaken so that water and electric services can be restored. First, the rules of the EUs Dublin Convention will not pose the same burdens. Germany, for example, has suffered fromzero population growth for years and is in acute need of young, able-bodied workers to feed its massive industrial economy. About 18,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in Switzerland so far, with tens of thousands more expected by summer. . To answer this question, they conducted a second study using a sample of 289 female and 118 male students (average age of 32 years). Attitudes also are affected by humanitarian concerns: When a refugee is perceived to have a valid claim or specific vulnerability for example, if he or she was a victim of torture support is generally higher. The Detail asks why they are treated differently to refugees coming in through the quota system? The EU had to support Ukrainewhich included a commitment to aiding Ukrainian refugeesor risk international condemnation; in contrast, it is more politically risky for the EU to commit to one side of the Syrian civil war (a perceived choice between a tyrannical government or jihadists). They often have no or very limited access to services, material assistance, adequate housing, health . In a survey of almost 20,000 Europeans across 15 countries in 2016, my IPL colleagues found a strong anti-Muslim bias. In addition, they pose a health threat because some refugees come from countries with comparably higher rates of certain diseases (e.g., tuberculosis, AIDS). While we do not know the specific educational and skill profile of the now over 3 million Ukrainians who have fled, urban Ukrainians tend to have higher skill levels than other middle-income countries. What explains the difference? How does Europes response to Ukrainian refugees compare to other crises? Religion is a key factor influencing attitudes toward refugees. A mass exodus of Ukrainians risks overwhelming resources in neighboring countries even as Europe pledges to aid refugees fleeing Russia's invasion. But we need to remember that Europeans were impressively generous to the first wave of Syrian refugees, but as the numbers increased, attitudes quickly became exclusive. Yet, as Khalid notes, we do not have a stereotype of white people being inherently violent and prone to domestic terrorism." Branding Muslims as terrorists and using such accusations to reject Muslim asylum seekers are thinly veiled attempts for religious, racial, and ethnic prejudice to masquerade as national security concerns. Why don't we treat all refugees as though they were Ukrainian? Famously declaring The fight is here. I thought about the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing Ukraine and the tens of thousands of refugees who have had to flee their homes in Central America, Mexico and other parts of Latin. After all, from . LIMBONG: Mahdis Keshavarz is a board member with the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association, which put out a statement criticizing this framing, which Keshavarz says relies on old tropes. The Harbour Project charity said many Ukrainians received immediate refugee. Statistics show that asylum centers tend to isolate residents and restrict their access to the labor market. At the end of March 2022, the Biden administration announced a commitment to resettle up to. 1. But the Venezuelans are being labelled as 'migrants' and that is shaping the governance response and the degree of engagement by UNHCR and others. Furthermore, according to Hanne Beirens, Migration Policy Institute think tank director, the prioritization of Ukrainian refugees restricts the resources available to other refugees, such as housing and language courses; this inequality creates a two-tiered system of refugee integration. Turkish security guards shot and killed eleven Syrian refugees. In 2016, Hungarian leader Viktor Orbn described migration as a poison, yet he recently exclaimed that Ukrainians are welcomed by friends in Hungary. EU nationseven those with notorious anti-migrant sentimentshave opened their arms and borders to Ukrainian refugees with unprecedented generosity. For example, Orbn seeks to establish a Christian democracy in Hungary, and he has stated that Christian and Muslim society will never unite. This potent anti-Muslim, Christian supremacy rhetoric explains why Hungary welcomes Christian Ukrainians and rejects Muslim refugees from Africa and the Middle East. Religious and other prejudices are often intertwined; the disparity between how the EU treats Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian refugees stems from Europeans empathy for Ukrainians and the othering of African and Middle Eastern refugees. Identifying different types of threat and their association with emotional responses and attitudes towards refugee migration. Furthermore, immigrants pose an identity threat, especially if they have a different cultural identity, religious identity, and value system than members of the host community. Perceptions of threat, according to previous research, are one of the most important predictors of attitudes and prejudice toward immigrants and other outgroups(p. 82).2. He has also done graduate work in clinical psychology and neuropsychology in U.S. Get the help you need from a therapist near youa FREE service from Psychology Today. Turkey, a crucial political ally in the region already overburdened with hosting almost three million Syrian refugees and managing a failing security sector, is not well-fit to host additional people.Sundays incidentwhen Turkish security guards shot and killed eleven Syrian refugees attempting to cross the Syria-Turkey borderis only the latest stark example of Turkeys inability to protect incoming migrants. Addie Esposito is a staff writer and Senior Editor at the HIR. Witnessing how Palestinian refugees have become caught in a state of permanent displacement, many Syrians are careful to disassociate themselves from the refugee identity. Refugees, for instance, pose an economic threat because they need jobs, low-cost housing, access to health care, etc. What does Turkey get in return for taking care of Europes deported lot? Once granted refugee status in a host country, the state cant deport them. Iraq is reclaiming territory and yet faces internal conflict and a long road to recovery. Extensive efforts to support Ukrainian refugees are effectively progressive, yet they send a painfully clear message to non-Ukrainian refugees excluded from benefits: that they are less deserving of aid and acceptance. D'AGATA: What I'd hoped to convey is that what's unique about the fighting underway here is that this country has not really seen the scale of war in recent years, unlike some LIMBONG: But it wasn't just CBS. What is threatening about refugees? Migrants, on the other hand, live without legal protection and can be deported at any time. Free visas to the EU. labor integration of both asylum seekers and refugees will generate long-term economic gains, specify that asylum seekers can only be employed, to be recognized by the national labor system, many asylum seekers experience discrimination, perpetrators behind the Paris attacks had exploited the asylum system, 40 percent of Germans calling for her resignation this year in response to her open-border policy, argued in a policy brief for The Century Foundation, accepted 69,900 refugees including a mere 2,192 Syrians last year. We want to hear what you THINK. foreigners). A third study, a replication of the second study, included a sample of 23 male and 108 female students (average age of 33 years) and concluded that, aside from the prejudice threat, every threat type was associated with unfavorable attitudes toward migrants. While the two categories are treated differently by law, in practice they are both asylum seekers. A charity that helps refugees has said there is a big variation in how the UK helps people from different countries. In Sweden, which received 163,000 asylum seekers in 2015, many asylum seekers face difficulties navigating the Swedish labor market. Many refugees are coming from northern Africa and the Middle East, with roughly 50 percent of the population of Syria seeking refuge from war. Reviewed by Ekua Hagan. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health Services. In responding to refugee crises and surges in asylum applications, the EU has struggled to maintain unity and solidarity among member states. Many cultures and religions have survived for hundreds and thousands of years partly because they are flexible enough to adapt and evolve. David Laitin discusses how the experience of Ukrainian refugees in Europe compares to those who have fled other conflicts and hardships. Andrew Limbong, NPR News. In a strategic attempt to halt irregular migration while maintaining her principle of a generous domestic asylum policy, Merkel has facilitated an EU agreement with Turkey. The EUs response to the refugee crisis also shapes its posture towards Russia and reignites Cold War concerns about Russian aggression, for Eastern Europeans acknowledge the potential for Putin to invade their nations as well. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. the U.S. has admitted more than 3.1 million refugees, more than 700,000 people have been granted asylum. But the U.S. can easily put in place measures that manage risks to public health and still protect the legal right to asylum. But several EU countries have implemented labor restrictive measures to avoid this. Refugees, for instance, pose an economic threat because they need jobs, low-cost housing, access to health care, etc. But we could see White people going through. A Nigerian student added, Theyre pushing us back just because were Black!Were all humanThey should not discriminate against us because of the colour of our skin. Racism against POC fleeing Ukraine exposes differential treatment even among refugees fleeing the same conflict, suggesting that European solidarity is skin-deep. "Countries that had been really negative on the refugee issue and have made it very difficult for the EU to develop coherent refugee policy over the last decade, suddenly come forward with a much . attempting to cross the Syria-Turkey borderis only the latest stark example of Turkeys inability to protect incoming migrants. Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing her biggest political crisis to date over this issue, with over 40 percent of Germans calling for her resignation this year in response to her open-border policy. That convention requires the country that first registered an asylum seeker to administer the application and provide housing. Currently, Ukrainians benefit from the unprecedented implementation of the Temporary Protection Directive, which allows Ukrainian refugees to reside, seek employment, and attend school in the EU for three years, no official asylum approval necessary. As Al-Younes noted, who wants to hire an asylum seeker still at risk of deportation, since their application hasnt been accepted yet? 2016. If you are an immigrant, particularly a recent refugee or asylum seeker, you may have already asked this question many times after having experienced prejudice, racism, and discrimination. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic refused to accept asylum seekers the EU attempted to relocate from Italy and Germany. A further 133,000 have gone to Hungary, 72,000 to Slovakia, 51,260 to Romania, and nearly 98,000 . Albagir is given beatings, and the Maslovas are given bread. As such, refugees are generally asylum seekers who have been granted the right to asylum in another country (refugee status). Racism also impacts refugee treatment by influencing media coverage. This crisis requires countries that are accepting refugees to have . Help fund the NPR Illinois mission to inform the community by securing business sponsorships. We need to demystify refugees cultural practices so they appear less threatening. In late August, my colleagues from Jesuit Refugee Service Mexico traveled to the Mexican border with Guatemala to accompany those expelled from the U.S. on one of these flights. Refugee The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) defines refugees as those who have fled from conflict and persecution to seek protection in another country. The 1953 Refugee Relief Act defined "refugee" (someone in a non-Communist country fleeing persecution), "escapee" (someone fleeing communism), and "expellee" (an ethnic German forced out of Eastern Europe). Here are some suggestions: To understand the real effects of migration on us and our country, we must rely on data (e.g., economic indicators and crime rates), not ideology. Since the passage of the Refugee Act in 1980, the U.S. has admitted more than 3.1 million refugees, and since 1990 more than 700,000 people have been granted asylum. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) Reporters have documented dehumanizing treatment against international students from Africa, South Asia and the Middle East in Ukraine. As the European asylum system has effectively broken down amid the recent inflow, it is time for the EUs wealthier member states to rethink current practices. In 2014, Syrian and North African refugees poured into Greece, a country then not equipped to fulfill those treaty obligations. The Ukraine crisis may serve as a reminder that migration policy should be based on more careful collection of data. Although the Refugee Act of 1980 set an annual limit on refugee admissions, the law also authorized the President of the United . show that asylum centers tend to isolate residents. Until the EU extends these benefits to nonwhite, Muslim, Middle Eastern and African refugees, the bloc will not only be violating Article 3, but also the unwritten laws of basic human decency. Others avoid registering for asylum, not for practical reasons but out of a sense of dignity. March 3, 2022. Meanwhile, work gains do not mitigate the fear many European politicians and citizens express over the long-term cultural impact migration inflow will have on the region. 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Ukrainian refugees will not be as burdened by systemic failures in European migration policy as were the Syrians and North Africans in 2014-15. An additional . The Danish. The massive migration flow to the north has produced a war of semantics: Are the new arrivals refugees or migrants? Since the media expose Europeans more to the conflict in Ukraine, they are more aware of the atrocities and trauma necessitating Ukrainians flight to nearby countries; therefore, refugees need for asylum seems more legitimate. In this post, I discuss new research by Helen Landmann and colleagues in Germany, which has examined the reasons people use to justify anti-refugee hostility. They want to work and maintain their dignity, not just be refugees, he explained to me over the phone earlier this week. While this study indicates anti-Muslim bias among government officials, a similar 2016 study suggests that regular citizens exhibit similar tendencies. The Century Foundation Lest we forget, barrel bombs are not the only threat to life. The conflict is also highly symbolic, for it reflects a [return] to bipolarity and a new Cold War, a standoff between democracy and autocracy, morality and hostility. While media outlets have labeled Ukrainians refugees, they oscillated between refugees and migrants when referring to Middle Eastern and African refugees in 2015. Author Kate Zernike dissects the years-long fight for gender equality at MIT, NASA made history by knocking an asteroid off course. While not able to help everyone, the U.S. ensured that more than 123,000 people were safely flown out of Afghanistan and has already accepted 64,000 evacuees. Snohomish County couple providing relief to Ukraine amid Russia conflict. Ukrainians enjoy more lenient entry requirements, refugee reception centers offering essentials, easier travel within the EU, and free public transportation and phone services. The impact of racism on refugee treatment is evident in how African, Middle Eastern, and Asian refugees fleeing Ukraine are treated. LIMBONG: Mahdis Keshavarz is a board member with the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association, which put out a statement criticizing this framing, which Keshavarz says relies on old tropes. International law and practice addresses refugee and internal displacement emergencies differently. said. HIRING! 1, People want to keep their identity and their profession when they go abroad. The world is currently experiencing the largest refugee crisis since World War II. (2019). Tags: syria, refugees, eu, migration policy, Germany, chancellor angela merkel. At least 660,000 people have fled Ukraine in the five days following the start of Russia's invasion, the United Nations refugee agency U.N.H.C.R. Since 9/11, far-right terrorists have killed more people in the United States than Islamic jihadists. They also found that eligible voters favored refugees with higher employability. Knowing what you value will help you build the most meaningful life possible. Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers have custody of approximately 54,000 refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants. As they work out where to go next, it's not clear they'll find refuge in Europe. Albagir, a male refugee from Sudan, and one of his co-travelers struggle to cross into Poland. Defying Dictatorships: An Interview with Garry Kasparov, On Atlantic Alliances and Autocrats: An Interview with Jeanne Shaheen. By welcoming Ukrainian refugees and imposing economic sanctions on Russia, the EU has demonstrated its support for Ukrainian sovereignty and opposition to Russian aggression without direct military intervention. Cant deport them states than Islamic jihadists at www.npr.org for further information Convention requires the country first. 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