All refugees deserve. This stark contrast epitomizes Europes unequitable treatment of different refugee populations, with Ukrainians topping the refugee hierarchy. 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). He's the host of NPR's Book of the Day podcast and a frequent host on Life Kit. Ukrainian nationals are oftentimes allowed to board evacuation transportation ahead of foreign nationals, who also face more difficulties entering countries like Poland and acquiring suitable accommodations. By giving all asylum seekers temporary work permits and cracking down on labor discrimination, member states with surplus capacity could gain a much-needed workforce and secure long-term influence in the region. Although the Refugee Act of 1980 set an annual limit on refugee admissions, the law also authorized the President of the United . Many are living with so-called foster families and are being exploited . Who wants to hire an asylum seeker still at risk of deportation, since their application hasnt been accepted yet? The participants were initially asked how many refugees Germany could host per year and then asked what would happen if this number was exceeded. If they are able to overcome these barriers and enter the EU, non-Ukrainians face prolonged unemployment. The Century Foundation 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. That's why we want you to know that, when you visit our website, we use technologies like cookies to collect anonymized data so that we can better understand and serve our audience. Contrarily, due to racial, religious, cultural, and ethnic differences, Europeans feel less sympathy for other refugees. Why are some refugees treated differently than others? The injunction also only applies to families, so single adults can continue to be removed. With fewer resources invested in non-Ukrainian refugees, it may take longer for their asylum cases to be processed, prolonging unemployment, living precarity, and limited access to resources. Job insecurity, poverty, and hunger can leave people with no other choice but to risk everything on a boat across the Mediterranean. 2. 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. are at risk of torture, or cruel or unusual punishment in their home countries. Moving forward, these new policies and attitudes towards people seeking refuge should be the norm . That's what makes it so shocking. Stanford University. Rather than bringing people to safety via transit centers and, ultimately, to countries including the United States, these flights are sending vulnerable migrants and asylum-seekers back to danger. 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. LIMBONG: Rana Khoury, a research associate at Princeton University focusing on conflict and displacement, says this language has impacts on global refugee policy. 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. Media coverage of the invasion is part of the reason. 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 Ukraine refugee crisis revealed deep-seated racism as racialized and Black refugees from Ukraine were treated differently. 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. As anthropologist Miriam Ticktin has documented, some even infect themselves with deadly diseases to gain protection as HIV-positive patients and thereby gain residence. As neighboring countries let in Ukrainian refugees, Africans living and studying in Ukraine say they're facing discrimination at border crossings. Moreover, they were not permitted to work until their asylum application was approved. The way we talk about conflicts can impact those who are already most directly affected by war, refugees. Arriving from the Middle East and Africa, non-Ukranian refugees are often otherized. 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. What explains the difference? Does the Ukraine crisis reveal any other blind spots or systemic failures in migration policy and discourse? Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers have custody of approximately 54,000 refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants. symbolic and realistic). Ibrahim. Is it a vague feeling of hostility or does it stem from specific unpleasant experiences or future worries? She is interested in comparative politics, immigration law, and German. Many refugees are coming from northern Africa and the Middle East, with roughly 50 percent of the population of Syria seeking refuge from war. The Refugee Act of 1980 amended the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 and the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, standardizing the process for admitting refugees into the United States. Lest we forget, barrel bombs are not the only threat to life. How do you anticipate Ukrainians experience will unfold compared to that of asylees from Syria or North Africa? 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. 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. But at the same time, the Biden administration has been quietly engaged in another series of evacuation flights, this time at our southern border. Unlike Ukraine, the Assad regime in Syria was authoritarian, corrupt, and violent. In responding to refugee crises and surges in asylum applications, the EU has struggled to maintain unity and solidarity among member states. They often have no or very limited access to services, material assistance, adequate housing, health . According to DR's calculations, the distance from Denmark's border with Germany to the Ukraine-Poland border is 1,270 kilometres, and to the Syria-Turkey border 3,760 . The global refugee crisis: Empirical evidence and policy implications for improving public attitudes and facilitating refugee resettlement. 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. In a survey of almost 20,000 Europeans across 15 countries in 2016, my IPL colleagues found a strong anti-Muslim bias. Once granted refugee status in a host country, the state cant deport them. 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 consequences are devastating, as reports of violence and insecurity in their countries of origin, along transit routes and in Mexico abound. 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. Businesses and civil society groups are busy developing training programs and job centers for asylum seekers to integrate into the system. 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. The Russian incursion has sparked the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II, forcing more than 2 . 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." Work permits are a contested issue in the EU, since many native workers fear that the new labor force will steal jobs from them. 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. David Laitin discusses how the experience of Ukrainian refugees in Europe compares to those who have fled other conflicts and hardships. LIMBONG: Rana Khoury, a research associate at Princeton University focusing on conflict and displacement, says this language has impacts on global refugee policy. Asked whether she recognised a difference in the treatment of refugees between 2015 and 2022, Frederiksen replied "yes, it is (different), because Ukraine is our region". The studys findings are published in the December 2019 issue of the European Journal of Social Psychology.1. Compared to college students in previous samples, these participants reported perceiving even stronger threats and experiencing more hostility toward refugees. Albagir is given beatings, and the Maslovas are given bread. When I called the Swedish immigration authorities (Migrationsverket) to verify this, their press person acknowledged that not many asylum seekers are working, but indicated that only few asylum seekers make use of the temporary work permits in the first place. The Italian government has at times closed its ports to foreign boats carrying rescued migrants. Furthermore, to many white and Christian Europeans, an influx of Middle Eastern and African Muslim refugees threatens power dynamics rooted in racial and religious hegemony, while incoming Ukrainians primarily strengthen them. Extensive international coverage of the crisis in Ukraine also has geopolitical consequences. The Ukraine crisis may serve as a reminder that migration policy should be based on more careful collection of data. U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that. As they work out where to go next, it's not clear they'll find refuge in Europe. Therefore, the latter must contend with heightened xenophobia, and numerous studies evidence discrimination against Muslim asylum seekers. Palestinians, who have for decades lived in UN-assisted camps in the region. (Image credit: Michele Tantussi /Getty Images). He's also covered the near collapse of the live music industry during the coronavirus pandemic. For example, Ukrainians and Poles are fast-tracked across the border near Medyka, Poland, while everyone else must wait 14 to 50 hours to cross. 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. the population growth among the working age has increased while unemployment has decreased. Refugee implies involuntary exodus, while migrant refers more to voluntary movement; therefore, the use of the latter undermines non-Ukrainian refugees requests for asylum. In practice, refugees and migrants apply for the same asylum, which has somewhat disrupted the easy management of these categories. The Harbour Project charity said many Ukrainians received immediate refugee. The arrival of Afghan refugees, including some whose status is not materially different from asylum-seekers, proves this. Landmann, H., Gaschler, R., & Rohmann, A. In addition, we should remember foreigners culture will change, particularly with intergroup contactjust as cultures of European immigrants to America have changed, as history shows. All rights reserved. Swiss Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter predicted that up to 50,000 people from Ukraine would arrive in the country before June to date, the highest number of war refugees to enter Switzerland in the 21st century. Over the past decade, mostly in collaboration with his Stanford colleague James Fearon, Laitin has published several papers on ethnicity, ethnic cooperation, the sources of civil war and policies that work to settle civil wars. Public policy in the EU and discussions of Dublin Convention reform have been marred by misunderstandings. If the U.S. can orchestrate a historic airlift of Afghan refugees in the midst of a pandemic, we cannot use Covid as an excuse to turn away those seeking protection at our southern border. Defying Dictatorships: An Interview with Garry Kasparov, On Atlantic Alliances and Autocrats: An Interview with Jeanne Shaheen. 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 Century Foundation takes your data security and privacy seriously. KESHAVARZ: So as journalists, I think it's really critical that we look at that duality, and we question why that is. 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. This treatment also extended to racialized permanent . A myriad of factors overlap and contribute to the exceptionalism of Ukrainian refugees in the EUIslamophobia; Europeans perceived similarities and fraternity with Ukrainians; racism, which also perpetuates inequality among refugees leaving Ukraine; media coverage; and geopolitics, especially the post-Cold War fear of Russian aggression and the EUs concern for its international reputation. International law and practice addresses refugee and internal displacement emergencies differently. And the results again showed support for the six threat types. 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