That's what makes it so shocking. NPR's Andrew Limbong has more. When it comes to these refugees being treated differently during their time of need, Abdelaaty's research shows that the labels used to describe those fleeing their homelandrefugees and migrantsimpacts how countries respond, including the actual definitions of who is a refugee and who is a migrant. Anna is from Denmark and can speak five languages. The Russian incursion has sparked the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II, forcing more than 2 . People fleeing war-torn Ukraine arrive on a train from Poland at Berlins main train station on March 6, 2022. The impact of racism on refugee treatment is evident in how African, Middle Eastern, and Asian refugees fleeing Ukraine are treated. They want to work and maintain their dignity, not just be refugees.. Religion is a key factor influencing attitudes toward refugees. The way the system is in place, most of the burden falls on groups like us, in terms of housing and transportation, says Chuevang Xiong, Director of Refugee Services at the International . 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. Broadly, what does your research reveal about the publics attitude toward refugees? In the first of these investigations, they used a sample of 55 male and 121 female psychology students (average age of 32 years). David Laitin discusses how the experience of Ukrainian refugees in Europe compares to those who have fled other conflicts and hardships. 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. In line with these recommendations, countries with high migration rate such as Germany, Sweden, and Italy offer asylum seekers temporary work permits while their applications are being processed. Identifying different types of threat and their association with emotional responses and attitudes towards refugee migration. Fortunately for the Ukrainians, Ukraines westward neighbors are working assiduously to register and take initial responsibility for this unprecedented flow, which is likely to add another 5 million refugees from Ukraine within a year from the Russian invasion, nearly five times as fast as the flow from Syria and North Africa. 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. 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. As political scientist Lamis Abdelaaty describes, Europeans see Ukrainians as White and Christian, similar to the way that many in European countries see themselves. Eastern Europeans are especially welcoming of Ukrainians, with whom they share a sense of fraternity; many people move around within Eastern Europe, so nationalities expand beyond each nations borders. Refugees, defined by international humanitarian law as people in need of protection, are entitled to a privileged status. An anchor for Al-Jazeera English called Ukrainian refugees, quote, "middle-class people," in comparison to refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. "But instead, it really is night and day if we talk about the programs for Afghanistan's refugees.". While the two categories are treated differently by law, in practice they are both asylum seekers. So how can we reduce perceptions of different types of threats associated with refugees and immigrants? The world is currently experiencing the largest refugee crisis since World War II. More than half - nearly 548,000 - have fled to Poland which shares a 500km border with Ukraine. She is interested in comparative politics, immigration law, and German. 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. 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. KESHAVARZ: So as journalists, I think it's really critical that we look at that duality, and we question why that is. 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. She told us that she shared the name of a family member in California, and then boarded a plane, believing she would be safe and with her family in the U.S. soon. 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. 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. 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 . 2. Given the risk of deportation, many also avoid the system altogether and work informally instead. 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." Addie Esposito is a staff writer and Senior Editor at the HIR. Copyright 2022 NPR. 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. 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. The other hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of girls and young women who survived the journey are still in Kakuma Refugee Camp. 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. Landmann, H., Gaschler, R., & Rohmann, A. 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. Why refugees from Ukraine have been treated differently European countries haven't seen such a large number of displaced people in this short period of time in recent history. 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. 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. 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. ANDREW LIMBONG, BYLINE: On Friday, CBS News senior foreign correspondent Charlie D'Agata framed the fighting in Kyiv like this. A new report released by The Guardian shows the recent massive migration inflow to Germany has had a positive impact on the GDP, as the population growth among the working age has increased while unemployment has decreased. attempting to cross the Syria-Turkey borderis only the latest stark example of Turkeys inability to protect incoming migrants. 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. By Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, a lecturer in digital. These asylum-seekers should be welcomed just like Afghans are being welcomed. Similarly, as many EU members have already acknowledged, it is neither fair nor sustainable to let Mediterranean frontier states such as Greece and Italy, already crumpling under financial debt, host the bulk of the incoming asylum seekers. 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. She previously worked as a Middle East Fellow at the Independent Diplomat Advisory Group and as an adviser at the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the UN. That convention requires the country that first registered an asylum seeker to administer the application and provide housing. 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. 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). : 'Labours Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper struggles to justify why refugees fleeing war in Ukraine should be treated differently to refugees fleeing war in Afghanistan. An additional . For instance, the culture the original Irish immigrants brought with them has evolved and mixed with the American culture. 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. What explains the difference? Furthermore, semantics matter. The Venezuelan crisis parallels the Zimbabwean exodus of the early 2000s. 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. 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. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. 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. About 18,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in Switzerland so far, with tens of thousands more expected by summer. Assad sought to offer a stark choice between his secular rule and a jihadi alternative, creating a binary with no clean, moral winner. LIMBONG: The Nigerian statehouse issued a statement today denouncing reports of Nigerians being denied entry to the Polish border. 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. Ukrainian refugees will not be as burdened by systemic failures in European migration policy as were the Syrians and North Africans in 2014-15. 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. Two recent reports from the European Parliament show that despite short-term costs, labor integration of both asylum seekers and refugees will generate long-term economic gains that exceed the costs. Help fund the NPR Illinois mission to inform the community by securing business sponsorships. As neighboring countries let in Ukrainian refugees, Africans living and studying in Ukraine say they're facing discrimination at border crossings. Iraq is reclaiming territory and yet faces internal conflict and a long road to recovery. Most are Ukrainians, but some are students . How to Handle People Who Are Eternally Evasive, Mass Shooters and the Myth That Evil Is Obvious, Transforming Empathy Into Compassion: Why It Matters, No Dr. Spock for Black Parents: Lessons From Tyre Nichols, Research Shows Why Attractive People Are More Narcissistic. Study 4 used a more representative sample, consisting of 111 women and 140 men (mean age of 50 years). The arrival of Afghan refugees, including some whose status is not materially different from asylum-seekers, proves this. Since it was first implemented in March 2020, more than 1 million migrants and asylum-seekers have been turned away. Therefore, the latter must contend with heightened xenophobia, and numerous studies evidence discrimination against Muslim asylum seekers. . (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) Reporters have documented dehumanizing treatment against international students from Africa, South Asia and the Middle East in Ukraine. For years, asylum seekers have navigated the asylum system by changing their sexual and national identities. Andrew Limbong, NPR News. Unfortunately, extremists and right-wing politicians alike have used the sensitive political climate to strike fear and tensions. 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. Stanford, California 94305. It took three. In a survey of almost 20,000 Europeans across 15 countries in 2016, my IPL colleagues found a strong anti-Muslim bias. LIMBONG: The Nigerian statehouse issued a statement today denouncing reports of Nigerians being denied entry to the Polish border. They met a woman from Guatemala traveling with her two daughters. Tens of thousands of people have already crossed into. For more information, see our full Privacy Policy. Chief among these is the so-called " jewelry law " - a measure which allows the government to seize asylum seekers' assets, including their jewelry, to fund their stay in the country. The Harbour Project charity said many Ukrainians received immediate refugee. But several EU countries have implemented labor restrictive measures to avoid this. Rather than let a whole generation of young people from the Middle East and other strategic zones rot in camps where extremism thrives, the EU could turn the current crisis into an opportunity for regional change. But they may be misguided to see migration from Africa as their foremost challenge. The Ukraine refugee crisis revealed deep-seated racism as racialized and Black refugees from Ukraine were treated differently. The Century Foundation 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. | A charity that helps refugees has said there is a big variation in how the UK helps people from different countries. 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