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. Describing them as 'refugees' would draw in a governance apparatus that today includes development actors. As of March 4, Canada has only resettled 8,580 of . "But instead, it really is night and day if we talk about the programs for Afghanistan's refugees.". Since 9/11, far-right terrorists have killed more people in the United States than Islamic jihadists. The United States has been consumed with the mass evacuation and resettlement effort for vulnerable Afghans in the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. 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. Every threat type was correlated with unfavorable views of migration and refugees and with favoring more restrictive control of migration. The 2014-15 refugees had no such rights. As Al-Younes noted, who wants to hire an asylum seeker still at risk of deportation, since their application hasnt been accepted yet? In fact, research from the European Parliament shows that the latest migration inflow has not increased unemployment, but rather led to a growth in higher-wage jobs for native workers, as refugees and migrants primarily take over low-wage jobs. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Statistics show that asylum centers tend to isolate residents and restrict their access to the labor market. Why are refugees treated differently? While a federal judge on Thursday blocked the Biden administration from enforcing Title 42 for migrant families, the administration still has 14 days to implement the court ruling, and in any case is appealing the decision. Why aren't all refugees treated like Ukrainian refugees? People fleeing war-torn Ukraine arrive on a train from Poland at Berlins main train station on March 6, 2022. "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 . With blanket news coverage of the dire situation in Ukraine, Europeans are observing the situation of Ukrainians through this humanitarian lens and thus express greater support for them. In Sweden, which received 163,000 asylum seekers in 2015, many asylum seekers face difficulties navigating the Swedish labor market. 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. Palestinians, who have for decades lived in UN-assisted camps in the region. 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 majority of Afghans evacuated to the U.S. arrive without visas as humanitarian parolees, yet have been welcomed in the U.S. The decision that wealthy northern European countries such as Denmark and the UK made last fall, when they dismissed the EUs call for sharing the responsibility by refusing to receive any of the 120,000 asylum seekers relocated from the south, revealed their humanitarian priorities. An additional . Work permits are a contested issue in the EU, since many native workers fear that the new labor force will steal jobs from them. [vi] Immigration policies are allegedly based on principles like "the reunification of families, admitting immigrants with skills that are valuable to the U.S. economy, protecting refugees, and promoting diversity." In other words, the choice presented to the Lebanese people by . 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. KESHAVARZ: So as journalists, I think it's really critical that we look at that duality, and we question why that is. The European Parliament stresses in a report that even though Sweden offers low working restrictions for asylees, their labor market is inflexible and poorly adaptable to employees with different skills. The injunction also only applies to families, so single adults can continue to be removed. Refugee implies involuntary exodus, while migrant refers more to voluntary movement; therefore, the use of the latter undermines non-Ukrainian refugees requests for asylum. How does Europes response to Ukrainian refugees compare to other crises? The asylum program works to provide refugee protection to people in Canada who: have a well-founded fear of persecution or. Again, Ukrainian refugees will now have the right to enter the European labor market. Among those were27.1 million refugees, half under the age of 18 (21.3 million refugees under . A charity that helps refugees has said there is a big variation in how the UK helps people from different countries. Islamophobia also underlies the assumption that Middle Eastern refugees are violent terroristsa sentiment echoed in Petkovs speech and Orbns comments that Muslim asylum seekers are Muslim invaders, accepting Middle Eastern migrants is importing terrorism, and all the terrorists are basically migrants. This assumption is a blatant fallacy of composition not applied to whites. The arrival of Afghan refugees, including some whose status is not materially different from asylum-seekers, proves this. Refugees, for instance, pose an economic threat because they need jobs, low-cost housing, access to health care, etc. Syrians rejection of the refugee category reflects the widespread association in the Middle East of refugees with Palestinians, who have for decades lived in UN-assisted camps in the region. Ibrahim. They also found that eligible voters favored refugees with higher employability. That convention requires the country that first registered an asylum seeker to administer the application and provide housing. In addition, they pose a health threat because some refugees come from. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic refused to accept asylum seekers the EU attempted to relocate from Italy and Germany. However, IPL research has found that Europeans care deeply about fairness in the EU asylum system, and that large majorities would support a plan to allocate asylum seekers in proportion to each countrys capacity, even if that meant their own country would receive more. CHARLIE D'AGATA: You know, this is a relatively civilized, relatively European - I have to choose those words carefully, too - city where you wouldn't expect that LIMBONG: The phrasing rankled enough people that he issued a clarifying apology a day later. A few European politicians have also stressed that Ukrainian refugees are qualitatively superior by virtue of their race and religion to those from countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and. 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. The reasons for this difference. For example in Germany and Sweden, so-called priority reviews specify that asylum seekers can only be employed if there are no suitable national or EU-citizens available for the job. And the results again showed support for the six threat types. What explains the difference? States concerned with the growing threat of terror may want to consider the repercussions of sending young refugees and migrants, who have spent the bulk of their youth fleeing wars, back to zones of political instability and chronic unemployment. Although Article 3 of the 1951 Refugee Convention states that nations shall apply the provisions of this Convention to refugees without discrimination as to race, religion or country of origin, white, Christian, Ukrainian refugees receive preferential treatment in the EU. Similarly, right-wing European officials used the recent sexual harassment scandal in Cologne to fuel cultural bias and collective punishment against all asylum seekers. 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 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stipulates that while refugees are humanitarian subjects primarily seeking protection, migrants are economic subjects, seeking better lives. The EU report challenges her statement by showing that, rather than signifying asylum seekers lack of desire to work, the slow inclusion of asylum seekers into the labor market is a result of poor implementation: Many employers in Sweden are simply not aware that asylum seekers are allowed to work. 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. This crisis requires countries that are accepting refugees to have . 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. Refugees are not citizens of the country of asylum and therefore have specific protection needs. Syrian refugees desire to work speaks to a broader sentiment, shared by many asylum seekers, that employment matters more than protection. Why? Watch on. Social Issues and Policy Review, 11, 78-123. Albagir, a male refugee from Sudan, and one of his co-travelers struggle to cross into Poland. It is not enough for them simply to stay alive. Many are living with so-called foster families and are being exploited . Many asylum applicants who technically fall under the refugee-protection category have been deported back to their home countries, where they are at great risk of torture or prosecution. About 18,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in Switzerland so far, with tens of thousands more expected by summer. That's what makes it so shocking. IE 11 is not supported. For the West, the line between right and wrong is simply the border between Ukraine and Russia. Andrew Limbong, NPR News. The participants were initially asked how many refugees Germany could host per year and then asked what would happen if this number was exceeded. The Century Foundation Moving forward, these new policies and attitudes towards people seeking refuge should be the norm . Copyright 2022 NPR. Migrants, on the other hand, live without legal protection and can be deported at any time. Stanford News is a publication of Stanford University Communications. Why are asylum seekers treated differently to other refugees? That's what makes it so shocking. Refugee Children in U.S. Schools: A Toolkit for Teachers and School Personnel (Grant No. Many Central and Eastern Europeans are empathising with. 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. 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. One 2022 study examining over 4,000 asylum applications in France between 1976 and 2016 found that Muslims were less likely than Christians to receive asylum. A charity that helps refugees has said there is a big variation in how the UK helps people from different countries. They are unable to return home unless and until conditions in their native lands are safe for them again. If they are able to overcome these barriers and enter the EU, non-Ukrainians face prolonged unemployment. Not everyone is eligible to seek asylum. infect themselves with deadly diseases to gain protection as HIV-positive patients. While the two categories are treated differently by law, in practice they are both asylum seekers. With the recent mass shooting in Germany, some people are again asking why anybody would hate refugees and aliens (i.e. Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers have custody of approximately 54,000 refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants. Once granted refugee status in a host country, the state cant deport them. Governments and civilians around the world have vocalized their support for Ukraine and opposition to Russia; therefore, the EU risks international backlash if it fails to absorb and aid millions of Ukrainian refugees. The Venezuelan crisis parallels the Zimbabwean exodus of the early 2000s. But research suggests some approaches can help communities successfully absorb all kinds of refugees Analysis by Claire. 90 RB 0022). An anchor for Al-Jazeera English called Ukrainian refugees, quote, "middle-class people," in comparison to refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. How do you anticipate Ukrainians experience will unfold compared to that of asylees from Syria or North Africa? 1, People want to keep their identity and their profession when they go abroad. 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. As the opposition fragmented into various factions, terrorist groups exploited the chaos, targeting both Assads forces and civilians. Central American and Mexican refugees ask why they aren't being treated at the same level as . To receive Stanford news daily, 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). 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. Religion is a key factor influencing attitudes toward refugees. Anna is working with Michael Hanna and the rest of the foreign policy team as a member of the 2016 internship class on issues such as U.S. policy toward the Middle East and East Asia. Assistant Professor Farzana Saleem on how to mitigate the toll racial stressors take on kids mental health. The Italian government has at times closed its ports to foreign boats carrying rescued migrants. 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. CHARLIE D'AGATA: You know, this is a relatively civilized, relatively European - I have to choose those words carefully, too - city where you wouldn't expect that LIMBONG: The phrasing rankled enough people that he issued a clarifying apology a day later. KESHAVARZ: So as journalists, I think it's really critical that we look at that duality, and we question why that is. They want to work and maintain their dignity, not just be refugees, he explained to me over the phone earlier this week. Refugees, for instance, pose an economic threat because they need jobs, low-cost housing, access to health care, etc. Al Jazeera journalist Virginia Pietromarchi notes, Bloody conflicts in Syria, Somalia, and other places have not received the wide-reaching international media coverageor urgent international government actionthat the invasion of Ukraine has inspired." Many Syrians I spoke to last year in Lebanon and Jordan, where millions of Syrians have relocated, rejected registering as refugees in favor of living as migrants, stressing that they wanted to work and be self-sufficient rather than depend on aid. 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. 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 . 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. The findings could help inform long-term wildfire and ecosystem management in these zombie forests.. But at the same time, the Biden administration has been quietly engaged in another series of evacuation flights, this time at our southern border. The Refugee Act is a federal immigration law that was adopted in 1980. 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. LIMBONG: The Nigerian statehouse issued a statement today denouncing reports of Nigerians being denied entry to the Polish border. Does the Ukraine crisis reveal any other blind spots or systemic failures in migration policy and discourse? said. Why don't we treat all refugees as though they were Ukrainian? While EU members bicker over how to define, manage, and ultimately dispose of their new work-eager guests, asylum seekers themselves are finding innovative ways to avoid the system and gain access to the labor market so they can accomplish what they came for: Continue their life as best they can, even if on temporary grounds. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: 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. EuroNews Trevor Noah has slammed the double-standard between how African and Middle Eastern refugees are treated when fleeing to Europe in comparison to Ukrainians who are currently fleeing their country due to the Russian invasion. In practice, refugees and migrants apply for the same asylum, which has somewhat disrupted the easy management of these categories. Help fund the NPR Illinois mission to inform the community by securing business sponsorships. 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. Other EU countries are now considering taking similar steps. LIMBONG: Rana Khoury, a research associate at Princeton University focusing on conflict and displacement, says this language has impacts on global refugee policy. Early refugees from Ukraine often had relatives outside the country and the means to reach them. Andrew Limbong, NPR News. Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov recently drew a distinct line between the two groups, justifying differential treatment and fostering a sense of Ukrainian exceptionalism: Underscoring this justification is Islamophobia; Ukrainian refugees are primarily Christian, while refugees from Syria and North Africa are mostly Muslim. If they are unable to return home unless and until conditions in native. 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