Stop demonising Syrian refugees

The hostility and hatred that Europe and the United States are displaying towards asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq is unconscionable. In the wake of the Islamic State’s terrorist attacks in Paris last week, Western countries are further tightening their borders. While their caution is understandable – one of the perpetrators of the attacks in Paris reportedly entered Europe in the recent influx of asylum seekers – their sweeping hostility towards all people fleeing these war-torn countries is unwarranted. It stems from deep Islamophobia and negative stereotyping of Muslims. The US House of Representatives, for instance, has overwhelmingly voted to reject a programme backed by President Barack Obama to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees into the US next year. Dozens of US governors are saying they will not allow Syrian refugees to be resettled in their states. European sympathy for Syrian refugees, that was generated by images of the drowning of a child on the Turkish coast in September, has evaporated following the Paris carnage and politicians are demanding an end to policies that allowed thousands of migrants, many from Syria, to enter Europe this year. The debate on refugees has become shrill and xenophobic.

Even if the perpetrators of the Paris attack came as refugees to Europe, the West is wrong in perceiving all asylum seekers as potential terrorists. Those who are at Europe’s doorstep pleading for asylum are desperate and frightened. They are as much victims of terrorism as are those who suffered in the terror and violence unleashed by the IS in Paris. Not only are many of them fleeing IS-controlled areas but also the IS has labelled them traitors to the radical Muslim cause as they are choosing to move out. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has rightly called on the international community to desist from demonising the refugees.

By shutting their doors on desperate migrants fleeing Syria and Iraq, Europe and the US are driving them back into the hands of the IS. They are, in effect, empowering the IS as their actions are feeding the terrorist group’s anti-West propaganda. This will only make the West more vulnerable to IS attacks. As the UNHCR says, the scapegoating of refugees must end now. The potential threat that a few among the Syrian migrants pose to the security of host countries can be dealt with through improving processes for registering asylum seekers and putting in place more effective screening mechanisms. Importantly, the international community must step up efforts for a political solution to the conflicts in these countries.