Why are refugees treated differently? Editor's note: Last year, thousands of asylum seekers and migrants from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia found themselves used as pawns in a political showdown between Belarus and the EU: stuck in a dense forest along the Polish-Belarusian border and pushed back and forth by security services as temperatures plummeted below zero. Meanwhile, the Maslovas, a family from Ukraine, enjoy warm welcomes. 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? 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. During the civil war, civilians were often purposefully caught in the crossfire between Assad and opposition forces; for example, in 2013, Assads forces waged chemical war against civilians, killing 1,400. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkelwidely hailed as a champion of refugee rightsfunded Turkeys refugee camps so that President Erdoan would hinder the passage of refugees into Greece, an EU member. Many cultures and religions have survived for hundreds and thousands of years partly because they are flexible enough to adapt and evolve. Given its magnitude, the Ukraine crisis may prompt leaders to consider policies that cast a wider lens, Laitin said. Stanford News is a publication of Stanford University Communications. For example, instead of comparing refugee numbers among European countries, refugee numbers in countries bordering conflict areas could be considered as a point of reference. Another way to reduce anger at refugees is by identifying responsibilities for social disruption, and understanding that European countries welfare is rooted in a global economy that sustains poverty in developing countries (p. 1416).1. The European Commission is considering reforms that ensure fair sharing of responsibility, including ending the Dublin Convention, but progress has been slow. The Detail asks why they are treated differently to refugees coming in through the quota system? The way we. But, as Katy Long argued in a policy brief for The Century Foundation, in the case of the United States, which accepted 69,900 refugees including a mere 2,192 Syrians last year, Western countries may be shooting themselves in the foot by outsourcing their migrant problem. This has meant that asylum-seekers have been expelled in violation of the United Nations 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, which prevents countries from returning people to places where they face threats to their lives or freedom without providing them the opportunity to apply for asylum. And the results again showed support for the six threat types. Again, Ukrainian refugees will now have the right to enter the European labor market. She holds an MA in Near Eastern Studies from New York University and will be a PhD candidate in social anthropology at Columbia University in the fall. 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. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health Services. Syrian refugees desire to work speaks to a broader sentiment, shared by many asylum seekers, that employment matters more than protection. deported back to their home countries, where they are at great risk of torture or prosecution. She says that's a pretty good sign of civilization. Are Zoomies a Sign of a Happy Dog or a Crazy Dog? symbolic and realistic). 2016. In Sweden, which received 163,000 asylum seekers in 2015, many asylum seekers face difficulties navigating the Swedish labor market. Syrian Palestinians have always been treated differently to their Syrian counterparts; whereas Turkish authorities have given Syrian refugees a "temporary protection" status using a specific regulation (which has become increasingly precarious over time), Palestinians (including Syrian Palestinians) have had to apply for visas to enter and stay . But several EU countries have implemented labor restrictive measures to avoid this. 2. Instead. (Image credit: Michele Tantussi /Getty Images). Syrians are careful to disassociate themselves from the refugee identity. Ukrainians enjoy more lenient entry requirements, refugee reception centers offering essentials, easier travel within the EU, and free public transportation and phone services. Refugee implies involuntary exodus, while migrant refers more to voluntary movement; therefore, the use of the latter undermines non-Ukrainian refugees requests for asylum. Its an undertaking thats demonstrated the ability of the U.S. government to bring tens of thousands of refugees to safety in America and marshal local resources to help them resettle in their new home. Several studies suggest the increase of an active work force will benefit the EUs GDP. Second, under the EUs temporary protection directive, any Ukrainian national who flees as a result of the invasion, plus his or her partners and children of any nationality, may receive permission to stay in any EU country for one year; previously, a Ukrainian passport permitted visa-free entry into the EU for only up to 90 days. The UNHCR has warned that the conflation of refugees and migrants has politicized humanitarian work, but the distinction was political at the onset, as it prioritizes victims of physical violence over victims of structural and economic violence. The death of Alan Kurdi: one year on, compassion towards refugees fades: Toddler's death opened European hearts and policy towards refugees, but 12 months on those changes have proved temporary. U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that. Refugees, for instance, pose an economic threat because they need jobs, low-cost housing, access to health care, etc. She said she told U.S. officers that she was a victim of violence in her home country and requested asylum at the U.S. border. Author Kate Zernike dissects the years-long fight for gender equality at MIT, NASA made history by knocking an asteroid off course. The Danish. Similarly, right-wing European officials used the recent sexual harassment scandal in Cologne to fuel cultural bias and collective punishment against all asylum seekers. He's also covered the near collapse of the live music industry during the coronavirus pandemic. Not only did those member states threaten vital diplomatic relationships by placing the burden on their neighbors, but they also may have placed their own security at risk with their anti-immigration, borderline xenophobic policies. Psychology Today 2023 Sussex Publishers, LLC. While this study indicates anti-Muslim bias among government officials, a similar 2016 study suggests that regular citizens exhibit similar tendencies. 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). They often have no or very limited access to services, material assistance, adequate housing, health . This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. Just last week, the U.S. expelled 86 Haitians who fled the recent earthquake and political unrest, and flew them back to Haiti under this policy. Furthermore, it is important to help the public understand immigrants do not have to give up the core of their identity (in terms of cultures and traditions) to be able to follow the law, find jobs, contribute to society, and make friends with people of the host country. Many Central and Eastern Europeans are empathising with. 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. As such, refugees are generally asylum seekers who have been granted the right to asylum in another country (refugee status). subscribe to Stanford Report. In 2012, at the onset of the current refugee crisis, I interviewed young Afghan and African asylum seekers in Denmark who expressed frustration with their confinement in asylum centers in remote areas, which they felt prevented them from integrating with their host community. Even though refugees are always victims of conflict, the civil war in Syria is more difficult to fit into this binary of right versus wrong, which may affect the EUs perceived political expediency of aiding Syrian refugees. As neighboring countries let in Ukrainian refugees, Africans living and studying in Ukraine say they're facing discrimination at border crossings. RANA KHOURY: We certainly do see it play out in terms of the politics of refugee reception in the idea of whose burden should it be to take refugees who are from the global South, the Middle East, Africa, versus, you know, who is welcome and who can be brought in here. 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. In other words, the deaths of African and Middle Eastern civilians have elicited less attention from media outlets and foreign governments than the deaths of Ukrainians. Khoury, the researcher, says race plays a part in all of this but also proximity and geopolitics, too. Laitin also offers insight into how European Union (EU) policy is supporting a surge of refugees that the United Nations has described as the largest humanitarian crisis Europe has seen since World War II. An anchor for Al-Jazeera English called Ukrainian refugees, quote, "middle-class people," in comparison to refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. About 18,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in Switzerland so far, with tens of thousands more expected by summer. As more refugees entered Europe, detention increased, and former European Council President Donald Tusk even called for 18-month detention periods. LIMBONG: The Nigerian statehouse issued a statement today denouncing reports of Nigerians being denied entry to the Polish border. MAHDIS KESHAVARZ: I always kind of think this imagery of, like, this pearl clutch of being just aghast that something can happen in your backyard, where things are happening in other people's backyards all the time. Other EU countries are now considering taking similar steps. The Century Foundation The Ukraine crisis may serve as a reminder that migration policy should be based on more careful collection of data. One of the many things that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not expect when he launched his gratuitously stupid invasion of Ukraine was international resolve. All refugees deserve protection, not just our allies. Black asylum-seekers from Africa face unique challenges in the U.S. African immigrants arriving in Texas are finding a litany of unique racial, cultural and practical challenges to becoming legal . If they are able to overcome these barriers and enter the EU, non-Ukrainians face prolonged unemployment. In addition, they found that every threat typeeven altruistic threat (concerns about the host countrys ability to care for refugees)was linked with negative views of immigration and refugees. ANDREW LIMBONG, BYLINE: On Friday, CBS News senior foreign correspondent Charlie D'Agata framed the fighting in Kyiv like this. Andrew Limbong, NPR News. In contrast, non-Ukrainian refugees have been physically assaulted by Polish and Belarussian patrolmen; left to freeze in the winter; detained in unhygienic camps in Greece; trapped in limbo between Poland and Belarus; assaulted with tear gas and water cannons near the Greece-Turkey border; and bombarded with xenophobic and anti-migrant rhetoric, especially in Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. Most are Ukrainians, but some are students . As of March 4, Canada has only resettled 8,580 of . The 2014-15 refugees had no such rights. The Venezuelan crisis parallels the Zimbabwean exodus of the early 2000s. The EU refused to activate the Temporary Protection Directive in 2015, incentivized other nations to thwart the flow of refugees, and neglected to discipline border patrol agents who violated the rights of asylum seekers. This is because under Australia's excision regime (which was introduced in September 2001) asylum seekers who arrive at an 'excised offshore place' without a valid visa are barred from applying for a visa to remain in Australia unless the Minister personally intervenes to allow them to do so. Data from a project of Stanfords Immigration Policy Lab (IPL) has shown that the longer applicants wait for resolution of their case, the less likely they are to secure a steady job once approved in large part due to loss of motivation. In the wall-to-wall coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, a certain pattern has sometimes emerged that positions Ukrainians as different from other victims of conflict. Media outlets therefore play a decisive role in how Europeans view asylum seekers. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic refused to accept asylum seekers the EU attempted to relocate from Italy and Germany. 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. Compared to college students in previous samples, these participants reported perceiving even stronger threats and experiencing more hostility toward refugees. Every threat type was correlated with unfavorable views of migration and refugees and with favoring more restrictive control of migration. The Biden administration must immediately halt flights carrying asylum-seekers back to Mexico and Haiti and fully rescind Title 42 so that everyone seeking protection can petition for safety. And if you zoom way, way out when talking about refugees and displacement, countries in the Middle East, Africa and the global South have taken in more than their fair share of refugees. Religion is a key factor influencing attitudes toward refugees. The reasons for this difference. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) Reporters have documented dehumanizing treatment against international students from Africa, South Asia and the Middle East in Ukraine. But many European leaders nonetheless feel they are under pressure to minimize the number of asylum seekers within their own country. In a survey of almost 20,000 Europeans across 15 countries in 2016, my IPL colleagues found a strong anti-Muslim bias. "Many nations today are spending much more money and energy on finding ways to prevent refugees and asylum seekers from ever crossing their border than they are in protecting people who have been. Unfortunately, extremists and right-wing politicians alike have used the sensitive political climate to strike fear and tensions. They are unable to return home unless and until conditions in their native lands are safe for them again. Only a very small number of asylum seekers arrive in New Zealand each year - and fewer than half of them are successful in their claims for refugee status. Tens of thousands of people have already crossed into. PublishedFebruary 28, 2022 at 3:31 PM CST. Landmann and colleagues in Germany conducted a series of four related studies to examine hostility toward refugees. Khoury, the researcher, says race plays a part in all of this but also proximity and geopolitics, too. This crisis requires countries that are accepting refugees to have . That flow increased the worlds refugee population by about 9 million over the next decade, according to data from UNHRC, the United Nations Refugee Agency. Lest we forget, barrel bombs are not the only threat to life. Many more Haitians trying to avoid this fate are being detained in Del Rio, Texas. Identifying different types of threat and their association with emotional responses and attitudes towards refugee migration. The report shows that unemployment among third-country nationals in the EU is twice as high as among EU citizens, with Sweden revealing a particularly worrying gap between the total labor force and non-EU citizens actively seeking a job. Its a continuation of the policy begun under the Trump administration known as Title 42, which essentially bans anyone from seeking asylum at the U.S. southern border under the pretext that concerns about the spread of Covid-19 mean they must immediately be deported. More so, their action was a case study in poor strategic thinking. How do you anticipate Ukrainians experience will unfold compared to that of asylees from Syria or North Africa? Migrants, on the other hand, live without legal protection and can be deported at any time. In both the United States and Europe, the inevitability of multiculturalism and diversityand the resulting decay of white dominanceprompts nativism, racism, and xenophobia from the right. Why are asylum seekers treated differently to other refugees? 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. the population growth among the working age has increased while unemployment has decreased. Since being forced to wait one additional year for the asylum decisions lowers the probability of being employed by about 4.9 percentage points'' due to skills atrophy and demoralization, it is more difficult for non-Ukrainian refugees to integrate into the workforce. NPR's Andrew Limbong has more. Since Russia invaded Ukraine one month ago on Feb. 24, nearly 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine, and should the conflict continue, an additional 5 million more refugees will likely flee from the country within a year a rate that is nearly five times as fast as the flow of refugees from Syria and North Africa, says Stanford immigration policy scholar David Laitin. Masses of refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, and elsewhere have faced racially motivated hostility in. At a time when Western states are highly concerned with maintaining influence in the Middle Eastern debacle, excluding people from their shores seems ill-advised. The United Nations refugee agency has expressed concern over these expulsion flights, noting that those impacted are being sent back to the very dangers they have fled in their countries of origin. Indeed, these asylum-seekers should instead be welcomed just like Afghans are being welcomed all refugees deserve protection, not just our allies. KESHAVARZ: So as journalists, I think it's really critical that we look at that duality, and we question why that is. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. 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. Describing them as 'refugees' would draw in a governance apparatus that today includes development actors. For instance, do you worry about foreigners spreading diseases, committing violence, or taking away jobs and depressing wages? LIMBONG: Keshavarz points to Poland accepting Ukrainian refugees when not that long ago, the country was telling scores of Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis, no, the country's full. A charity that helps refugees has said there is a big variation in how the UK helps people from different countries. Contrarily, due to racial, religious, cultural, and ethnic differences, Europeans feel less sympathy for other refugees. I need ammunition, not a ride from the war-torn streets of Kyiv, Zelensky has become a vocal, defiant defender of democracy and civil liberties, while Putin has trampled Russians freedoms, invaded a sovereign nation, and authorized countless war crimes in Ukraine. Why don't we treat all refugees as though they were Ukrainian? HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP/Getty Images. Work permits are a contested issue in the EU, since many native workers fear that the new labor force will steal jobs from them. To receive Stanford news daily, Whether the threat is true or imagined, immigrants might be perceived as threatening in a number of ways. International law and practice addresses refugee and internal displacement emergencies differently. 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