Euro-centric Biases on the Refugee Issue: Confronting Personal and Media Misperceptions
A refugee is a displaced person that has been forced to cross their borders due to political, social, or religious persecution or oppression. They are considered forcibly displaced people or asylum-seekers until granted refugee status by the contracting state or the UNHCR. Through research, I have challenged biases and preconceptions on the topic of refugees and immigration that, although highly mediated, are scarcely studied or taught, in a pre-collegiate educational setting. Common misperceptions of refugees and asylum-seekers I held previously have definitely been reflective of the euro-centric environment I grew up in and are representative of the skewed lens on this devastating issue that was demonstrated by the media in my socio-economic bubble. This has been challenged through reading; immersing myself in a personal narrative through autobiographical novels written by refugees has been conducive to highly enriching and refining discussions that have helped me begin to form a more nuanced understanding of the refugee and forcible displacement crises across the world. Prior to engaging in research and data, my misconceptions stemmed from my personal experiences, my exposure to European politics, and my cultural biases. The three main preconceptions I carried can be detailed in the personalization of what a refugee looked like in my head: the image of a refugee was mostly able-bodied, men from Middle Eastern and African regions, mostly relocated to western and more economically developed countries and they represented an economic burden and potential threat to the national security of the host country. I couldn’t believe how wrong I was.
My preconceptions were very much a reflection of what I had heard, read, and experienced. I would have pictured the common refugee profile or demographic as a male from the Middle East or African region. This racist preconception I carried, though I knew it was inaccurate, shaped my ideas, on a subconscious level, regarding refugees and forcibly displaced people in politics and in everyday life. During a class lecture and discussion, the topic of demographics was brought on by the following statistic from the UNHCR: “Of the 70.8 million forcibly displaced people in the world, nearly 25.9 million are refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18”. The accurate data brought up in the lecture was surprising to some degree, not because it was unimaginable but because it was drastically different from what I had assumed. Upon reading that, “About one-third of Syrian refugees are children under 12; many have been refugees longer than they ever lived in Syria,” from the article in Foreign Policy Group, the degree of inaccuracy of my idea of the refugee demographic was revealed to me. Not only was I inaccurate in my biases of nationality, ethnicity, age, and gender but also ability; through reading the Women’s Refugee Commission Report from 2014, I learned, “an estimated 6.7 million persons with disabilities are forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence, and human rights violations”(1). The Girl From Aleppo book by Nujeen Mustafa that I recently read, also details through poignant, personal narrative the challenges of the disabled community in forcible-displacement crises.
Another misconception that I was exposed to in my childhood and believed for the past decade, regarded the relocation of migrants and refugees from less economically developed countries to wealthy and western countries — especially Europe and North America. According to the UNHCR, in 2019, 70.8 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide and for the fourth consecutive year, Turkey hosted the largest number of refugees in the world, at 3.7 million this year. Certain elements of a class lecture about Myths and Perceptions helped reveal the extent of myths and misconceptions that western communities judge refugees by. I found this both surprising and disconcerting to some degree, that I had accepted and internalized western culture to the point of Euro-centrism. From the “Where do refugees go” page on the UNHCR website, it can be observed that the only European country in the top asylum-for-refugees country was Germany at a rank six of refugee-hosting with 970,400. The misconstrued idea that Europe and the United States are welcoming the most amount of refugees is an immediate reaction of western media and news. Headlines such as “Germany Reaches Deal With Spain to Return Refugees” from 2018 in the New York Times both glorify and exaggerate how many refugees migrate to and in Europe. The hyper-focus on Western culture, Euro-centrism, and Americo-centrism that is portrayed constantly in mainstream media eventually skews the way one can see the proportion of refugees in various host countries.
Lastly, a misconception that is often debated and conversed in politics is that refugees pose some type of threat or burden to the economy or national security of host countries. This idea has been long deconstructed and debunked by economic experts and certain political conversations of the terrorism issue and deeper research on the subject. As Alex Bollfrass, Andrew Shaver, and Yang-Yang Zhou suggested in the Foreign Affairs article, “The latest evidence suggests that the connection between refugees and terrorism is tenuous. The West can take in refugees without jeopardizing its national security.”; it is crucial that the conversation around welcoming refugees becomes more researched and less threatening. The article outlines that terrorist groups have other means of infiltrating the United States than the refugee route and therefore refugees and migrants pose little national security threat. The idea and misconception of the negative effects of hosting refugees also imply the economic consequences. Another common misconception is that refugees don’t find jobs and damage economies. However, the refugee population has shown an impressive involvement in the economy of host countries. A recent study by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees found that “ almost 35 percent of refugees who had arrived in Germany in 2015 had a job by October 2018, compared with 20 percent the previous year” and “many refugees managed to find work despite language difficulties and a lack of formal vocational qualifications that are normally vital to securing employment in Germany.”(2019, Aljazeera). The data and statics here show that the myth of refugees harming the economy is likely a racist idea that stuck in politics and everyday life without being questioned, denied, or further researched.
There is some element of discomfort in being in a position of both privilege (in being able to afford college education) and ignorance (in relying on data, sources, and ideas that are limited to my socioeconomic status and cultural area of the world) on this global crisis. I did not expect this extent of growing cognizance and realization as well as unlearning of biased ideas I would have to engage in by reading Solito, Solita: Crossing Borders with YOUTH Refugees from Central America. Nonetheless, it is preeminent that the conversation around refugees changes — starting with one’s self. I am grateful to have had these challenging discussions and jarring research because it is through this that I have been able to begin to unlearn European biases and confront my prejudices and misconceptions of the global forcibly displaced people issue. For discussing these misperceptions with others that still hold them, the approach of respectful debate and reference to reliable sources would probably be most suitable so that the individual doesn’t feel critiqued or attacked and react defensively; I would likely redirect them to academic articles, various autobiographies and fascinating documentaries rather than attempt to convince them that my argument is most accurate. One documentary, in particular, does a beautiful job of detailing the travel and journey of refugees out of their home country and into the host country. The Golden Dream (La Jaula de Toro) directed by Diego Quemada-Díez won the A Certain Talent award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Cinematographic, documentary-like, and gut-wrenching, this film details the layers of struggle, pain, and devastation of forcible displacement, refugee issues, and immigration.
Though convincing articles give details, personal stories, and developed connections between ideas and phenomena they also have some element of persuasion or refutation which could urge the reader to deny or refute the argument. To encourage discussion and research, I would aim to spark their interest and curiosity rather than tell them how or why they’re wrong. Reliable organizations with thorough data collection that is dependable such as the UNHCR make information palatable and clear in illustrated diagrams and shortlists or bullet points like their “Figures at a Glance” yearly.
I would challenge them to think differently in two ways: firstly, I would ask them if they have ever had an experience even barely similar to leaving their home country as a single last resort and means of survival, and furthermore, I would challenge their points of view to see if they can reliably justify them with data and evidence they have been exposed to through the media. Empathy is inherently human, and no human is undeserving of empathy. The only means of enlightenment and knowledge is by open-minded learning — whether it be through conversation, movie, music, writing, or photography — this cataclysmic issue should be discussed globally and urgently.
(19 June 2019). Figures at a Glance. The United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR
Retrieved from: https://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html
Pearce, Emma. (March 2014). Disability Inclusion: Translating Policy into Practice in Humanitarian Action. Women’s Refugee Commission
Retrieved from: file:///Users/margotsauvagnat/Downloads/Disability-Inclusion-Translating-Policy-into-Practice-in-Humanitarian-Action.pdf
Wildman, Sarah. (March 29, 2018). Seven Years of Syrian Civil War, Through the Eyes of Refugee Children. The Foreign Policy Group
Retrieved from: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/29/seven-years-of-syrian-civil-war-through-the-eyes-of-refugee-children/
Bollfrass, Shaver and Zhou. (9 December 2015). Don’t Fear Refugees, Why They Pose Little Threat to National Security. Foreign Affairs
Retrieved from: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2015-12-09/dont-fear-refugees
Eddy, Melissa. (8 August 2018). Germany Reaches Deal With Spain to Return Refugees. The New York Times
Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/08/world/europe/germany-spain-refugees.html
Dowling, Siobhan. (20 June 2019). Germany welcomed refugees. Now it’s reaping the economic benefits. German companies need more skilled workers. Refugees are helping to fill the gap. Aljazeera
Retrieved from: https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/germany-welcomed-refugees-reaping-economic-benefits-190617194147334.html
Mayers, Steven, et al. Solito, Solita: Crossing Borders with YOUTH Refugees from Central America. Haymarket Books, 2019.
