Sharif Nashashibi: Europe and the misrepresentation of refugees/Abdulrahman al-Rashed:The Gulf and Syrian refugees/Germany Pledges 6 Bn Euros for Refugees

Europe and the misrepresentation of refugees
Sharif Nashashibi/Al Arabiya/September 07/15

For weeks now, images and reports of those trying (and dying) to enter Europe have made headline news. However, despite round-the-clock debate by politicians and the media about how best to handle the situation, they are committing a fundamental error that could hinder a just solution. Their very description – a “migrant crisis” – is neither accurate nor fair, contrary to the basic tenets of journalism.The U.N. high commissioner for refugees and other U.N. officials have made clear that most of those trying to enter Europe are refugees. The definition of a refugee is very different from that of a migrant. According to the United Nations, migrants “choose to move not because of a direct threat of persecution or death, but mainly to improve their lives by finding work, or in some cases for education, family reunion, or other reasons. Unlike refugees who cannot safely return home, migrants face no such impediment to return.” Refugees, however, “are persons fleeing armed conflict or persecution. Their situation is often so perilous and intolerable that they cross national borders to seek safety in nearby countries, and thus become internationally recognised as ‘refugees’ with access to assistance from States, UNHCR [the U.N. refugee agency], and other organisations.”In a nutshell, then, someone is a migrant by choice, but a refugee by force. Most of those heading to Europe are fleeing war-torn countries – primarily Syria followed by Afghanistan, but also Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria and Eritrea, among others. As such, it is not a migrant crisis but predominantly a refugee crisis.

Importance of terminology
To highlight the issue of terminology is not pedantic. “Conflating refugees and migrants can have serious consequences for the lives and safety of refugees,” the UNHCR wrote on Aug. 27. “Blurring the two terms takes attention away from the specific legal protections refugees require. It can undermine public support for refugees and the institution of asylum at a time when more refugees need such protection than ever before.” Most of those heading to Europe are fleeing war-torn countries. As such, it is not a migrant crisis but predominantly a refugee crisis. Countries deal with migrants under their own immigration laws, but refugees are protected under international law. “One of the most fundamental principles laid down in international law is that refugees should not be expelled or returned to situations where their life and freedom would be under threat,” wrote the UNHCR. Other aspects of refugee protection include “access to asylum procedures that are fair and efficient; and measures to ensure that their basic human rights are respected to allow them to live in dignity and safety while helping them to find a longer-term solution. States bear the primary responsibility for this protection.”

Motives
As such, politicians and media figures who are anti-immigration are likely using the term “migrant” so governments can shirk their legal responsibilities toward refugees without a public backlash, given the rise in anti-immigrant sentiment throughout the European Union (EU), and the fact that countries are not obliged to take in migrants. It is also an attempt to deflect blame when those denied entry end up dying, as so many have. Anti-immigrant sentiment, and the incorrect conflation of refugees and migrants, have given rise to high-profile hostility toward those trying to reach Europe. To take just a few examples from Britain alone, Prime Minister David Cameron and UKIP leader Nigel Farage have described them as a “swarm,” Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond called them “marauding migrants,” and Katie Hopkins, a columnist for The Sun – the country’s highest-circulation newspaper – described them as “cockroaches.”
The misuse of terminology may also be down to ignorance and laziness, with some using the term “migrant” simply because it has caught on. However, that is as inexcusable as being motivated by deceit. News organizations use style guides, which – among other things – clarify the use of certain words, particularly regarding contentious issues. Given the high-profile nature of the refugee crisis, it would be baffling if high-level discussions were not held, and directives not issued, about appropriate terminology. Furthermore, given the clear difference between migrants and refugees, it is equally baffling that media outlets continue to refer to refugees entering Europe as migrants.The BBC, for example, has had the words “migrant crisis” in large letters on screen throughout its coverage. This despite its website containing an article by Ruud Lubbers, former U.N. high commissioner for refugees, who writes that refugees and migrants – “two distinct groups of people” – are “increasingly being confused, and increasingly being treated in the same way: with mistrust, even hatred and outright rejection.”He concludes: “We have to be clear about who is a refugee and who is a migrant, and not sacrifice one to keep out the other.” This was written in April 2004, providing ample time for the BBC to get it right.
Racism
One can sense an element of racism in certain quarters regarding the choice of terminology. Syrians languishing in the Middle East are readily described as refugees until they reach Europe, at which point they inexplicably become migrants even though their circumstances have not changed. In addition, anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe is often expressed specifically in relation to Muslims. Last month, Slovakia said it would only take in Syrian Christians, not their Muslim compatriots. Last week, Hungary’s prime minister wrote in a German newspaper that it was important to secure his country’s borders from mainly Muslim refugees “to keep Europe Christian.” This despite the fact that up to August, the number of those who reached Europe so far this year constituted just 0.027 percent of the continent’s total population.It would be preposterous – and deeply offensive – to describe European refugees during the two world wars as migrants. Present-day refugees should be afforded the same humanity and respect. We should be letting the media and politicians know – factually and firmly but politely – that their misrepresentation of the crisis is unacceptable, illogical, and does a grave disservice to the many who are suffering so greatly.

Germany Pledges 6 Bn Euros for Refugees 
Agence France Presse/Naharnet /September 07/15/Germany pledged billions in new funds for refugees Monday, as Chancellor Angela Merkel said the tens of thousands of people flowing into her country in Europe’s biggest migrant crisis in decades would lead to profound change. As European leaders stepped up efforts to tackle the historic crisis, France also said it would take 24,000 more asylum-seekers under a European plan to relocate 120,000 refugees from hard-hit frontline countries. Meanwhile, the poor and desperate kept coming, both on the land corridor through Turkey and the Balkans and on overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean on journeys that have claimed thousands of lives this year. Underscoring the danger brought home so graphically by last week’s picture of three-year-old Aylan lying drowned in the surf, a Greek passenger ferry on Monday sent its lifeboats to rescue 61 migrants whose boat was at risk of sinking off Lesbos island. And migrants rescued by Italian coastguards on Sunday said five of their group were still missing.

Merkel, at a joint news conference with her vice-chancellor, said: “What we are experiencing now is something that will … change our country in coming years.” “We want the change to be positive, and we believe we can accomplish that.”Germany is expecting at least 10,000 more refugees to arrive on Monday, an official in the south of the country said, after 20,000 entered over the weekend. Merkel hailed as “breathtaking” the emotional and warm welcome given to thousands of migrants who arrived in packed trains in Germany after a grueling odyssey through Hungary and Austria. Germany was now seen by many abroad as a place of “hope”, Merkel said, after citizens turned up in large numbers to shower the new arrivals with gifts, cash and toys. Europe’s top economy — which expects 800,000 asylum requests this year, four times last year’s total — faces extra costs estimated at 10 billion euros ($11 billion) this year and next. Merkel said that the federal government would contribute six billion euros for new shelters, extra police and language training in 2016.

Schengen ‘collapse’ warning
However, despite German solidarity, Merkel stressed that other EU countries must take in more migrants because “only with common European solidarity can we master this effort”. Europe has battled to overcome deep divisions on the migrant crisis and French President Francois Hollande warned that unless the EU makes a greater collective effort, the core European ideal of open borders will be in peril. “If there is not a united policy, this mechanism will not work, it will collapse, and it will … undoubtedly be the end of Schengen, the return of national borders,” he said about the passport-free zone across much of the continent. But Europe looked far from united as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has taken a hard line, said quotas would be futile so long as refugees kept streaming in. “As long as we can’t defend Europe’s outer borders, it is not worth talking about how many people we can take in,” Orban said in a speech in Budapest. Hungary, struggling with massive numbers arriving through the Balkans, had Friday and Saturday bussed refugees to the border with Austria, from where some 20,000 traveled on to Germany over the weekend.

EU quotas
Under pressure from Berlin and Paris, the European Union is readying fresh quotas that would see the two top EU economies take nearly half of the 120,000 refugees to be relocated, under a plan by European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker. According to Juncker’s proposal to be unveiled Wednesday, Germany would take over 31,000, France 24,000, and Spain almost 15,000 to relieve the burden on frontline countries Greece, Italy and Hungary, a European source told AFP. Hollande confirmed France would take in 24,000 refugees over the next two years and proposed to host an international conference on Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II. In Berlin, hundreds of refugees and their children again sat on blankets and suitcases outside a registration center, as volunteers brought them water and food, in scenes repeated across the country. “Germany is one of the best countries in Europe and the world, but it’s too slow here with the paperwork,” said a 25-year-old Syrian music student, waiting for his turn in the overwhelmed office. “I’ve been here for 12 days without anything happening.”The governor of the Bank of Finland, Erkki Liikanen, meanwhile said he would do his part by donating a month’s salary to help asylum-seekers. “That is 10,000 euros ($11,200),” he wrote on Facebook. “I know the funds will get across to those who are suffering the most.” And the U.N. High Commissioner urged Italian millionaires to help Syrian refugees in Jordan by donating 15,000 euros, enabling 10 families to live in dignity for a year.

The Gulf and Syrian refugees
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/September 07/15
The crisis of refugees – Syrians, Iraqis, Yemenis and others – is everyone’s responsibility amid the international community’s failure to support them. No one, including Gulf countries, have an excuse to not support them. Arab Gulf countries have been recently criticized about this, but some critics have aims that are completely irrelevant to the humanitarian side of it. Gulf countries must of course accommodate more people and grant more care to Arabs and Africans fleeing wars in their countries. However, it is important to look at the entire picture, not just rely on people who seek to serve their own interests, or reporters who only know part of the truth. A big percentage of the funds spent by international organizations and received by governments who host refugees, such as Lebanon and Jordan, come from Gulf countries. The latter are thus one of the major funders of about 3 million Syrian and Yemeni refugees in different countries.

Gulf countries are not selfish as some claim. They host some of the biggest foreign communities
Almost all these funds spent on refugees come from Gulf governments, after charities and individuals decreased their activity due to suspicions over beneficiaries and fears that groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) may be making use of the financial aid. As to hosting refugees, ever since the Arab Spring erupted, Gulf countries have received thousands of them via family reunifications and quick employment programs. Riyadh has exempted Syrians from renewing their visas and from labor permits. There are currently more than 500,000 Syrians in Saudi Arabia, representing the third-largest community after Egyptians and Yemenis. The number of Yemenis in the kingdom has increased to over 1 million since the war erupted in their country. All Yemeni refugees and Yemenis who illegally entered the kingdom have been granted legal residencies that allow them to stay and work.

Europe
Europe agreed to take in 250,000 refugees, and there is uproar regarding this number, although it is humble compared with the numbers who sought refuge in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. It is even less than the number of refugees who quietly found their way to Gulf countries. Despite that, we must thank countries such as Germany for their humanity, and note that Germans have always been one of the most welcoming to refugees since the Lebanese civil war erupted in the 1970s. Gulf countries must provide more space for refugees via the system that reunifies Syrians with their families who reside there, and by allowing more Yemenis to seek refuge there in addition to the 1.5 million already present. Gulf countries are not selfish as some claim. They host some of the biggest foreign communities. All six Gulf countries have opened their doors for these communities to live and work, and some of these foreigners have fled persecution and wars from Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Afghanistan. These people were neither housed in tents nor categorized as refugees, and they mingled with society. This year around 1.5 million people, who sneaked into Saudi Arabia mostly from troubled countries, were granted residencies and work permits.

Demographics
When taking into consideration the percentage of foreigners to citizens in most Gulf countries, there is a dilemma that prevents receiving more refugees. Foreigners make up more than 80 percent of the population in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, around half of Kuwait’s population, some 40 percent in Saudi Arabia and around a third in Bahrain. You do not see such percentages in other countries, including in Europe, which complains about the number of foreigners on its land. The percentage of foreigners in Britain is 8 percent, and it is a similar percentage in Germany and Greece. Trading accusations, and some people’s exploitation of a humanitarian cause to achieve personal or political aims, will preoccupy everyone with disputes instead of housing and feeding these poor, miserable refugees.