Britons amongst most supportive of refugees’ right to seek asylum

Contrary to what many might believe, British people are among the most supportive of the fundamental right of refugees to seek refuge – including in their own country - to escape war or persecution. Seven in ten (72%) agree that people should have this right (compared with 61% globally), according to a new Ipsos global study. These findings are rather heart-warming in the actual political landscape where immigration has been such a loaded issue.

The study, conducted to mark World Refugee Day, finds that a majority across 26 countries believes that people should have the right to seek refuge – including in their own country - from war or persecution.  Those in Latin American countries are more likely to agree (Argentine 74%, Chile 73% and Peru 70%) than those in Europe (Hungary and France 43%, Belgium 50% and Germany.)

However, the survey, conducted online among adults aged under 74, finds that broader opinions towards refugees still include some negative attitudes, and there are some signs that they could even be hardening compared with two years ago, although this is less the case in Britain. 

Kully Kaur-Ballagan, Research Director at Ipsos MORI says: “These findings show that Brits are very compassionate about people’s fundamental right to seek refuge from war and persecution and they are among the least likely globally to want to close the borders to refugees.  However, in practice there is widespread concern about people taking advantage of the system and the public remains relatively divided over the extent to which refugees will successfully integrate into their new society.” 

It is clear that countries’ policies and the number of refugees arriving in each country have a direct impact on people’s perceptions, but I am wondering whether the media are also playing an important role in molding people's attitudes?

Half of Brits are skeptical that many refugees are genuine. Those most likely to doubt the authenticity of refugees coming into their country are in India (70%), Turkey (69%) and South Africa (66%), while those among the least likely to question whether refugees are genuine are in Canada (45%) Spain (45%), Brazil (40%).

Brits are relatively divided over whether refugees will integrate successfully into their new society; 45% agree they will integrate compared with 38% who disagree.  Countries that are most optimistic about refugees successfully integrating into their new society are India (68%), Argentina (58%) and Saudi Arabia (55%).  Those most likely to disagree that refugees will successfully integrate are in South Korea (67%), Sweden (64%) and Turkey (63%).

Brits are also more positive about welcoming in refugees than the global average with just over half of Britons (54%) disagreeing that the country’s borders should be closed to refugees (46% globally) compared with a third (33%) who think that borders should be closed at this time (40%).  These figures have seen little change since 2017.

Countries where views have hardened most about closing their borders since 2017 include Mexico and Peru, which have both seen an increase in people seeking asylum from neighbouring countries according to UNHCR.  In Serbia agreement has also increased 13 points from 38% to 51%. In contrast, the desire to see their borders closed has fallen in Hungary (down 17 points from 61% to 44%) and Poland (down 6 points from 45% to 39%) – perhaps reflecting the hard-line stance the Polish and Hungarian governments have taken on restricting entry to refugees.

Emma Harrison, CEO, IMiX – migration communications hub says: 

“We know Britain welcomes refugees because every day we hear stories of kindness and of welcome. Concerns about integration are real but they could easily be resolved by government investment in English lessons for new arrivals and enabling people to work while their asylum claim is being processed.

“More than anything, refugees want to build a new life for themselves and their families - having made their perilous journey here and having lost so much already. We also know that people don’t make the decision to leave their home lightly -far from it. These decisions are made when the bombs are dropping on your city, when soldiers are storming your hospitals and schools, when you are being persecuted because of your sexuality or your beliefs.  When you are not safe in your own home it makes sense to move – and here in Britain we respond more often than not with friendship and compassion.”

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Thousands of Migrants Have Died in ‘Watery Graveyard’ despite Libya Deal

Personal clothing and items left behind by migrants who travelled by boat from Libya to Sicily.  Credit: Alessandro Rota/Oxfam

Two years on from Italy’s EU-backed migration deal with Libya, more than 5,300 people have drowned in the Mediterranean and thousands more still are suffering in Libyan detention camps – and EU governments are complicit in this tragedy.

 “EU countries are making the Mediterranean a watery graveyard as a matter of deliberate policy,” said Oxfam’s EU migration policy advisor, Raphael Shilhav. “They must allow search and rescue ships to dock in their ports, disembark rescued people, and return to sea to save people’s lives, in line with international law. All attempts to prevent their work will inevitably lead to more deaths and run counter to Europe’s humanitarian values.”

In an open letter to EU governments, more than 50 organisations including Oxfam said EU governments have become complicit in the tragedy unfolding before their eyes in the Mediterranean. People are now in even more danger at sea and are being returned by the Libyan coastguard to face sexual abuse, slavery and other human rights abuses in Libya. 

The Libya deal, signed on 2 February 2017, provides money and technical support from Italy and the EU to the Libyan coastguard, in return for the coastguard preventing people from leaving Libya for Europe.

The open letter says that some EU member states have deliberately forced the organisations conducting search and rescue operations to stop their life-saving work. It also accuses governments of making unfounded allegations against ships operating in the Mediterranean and preventing them from leaving their ports. This time last year there were five organisations conducting search and rescue operations – now there is only one.

Since the Libya deal was struck, more than 5,300 people have drowned in the Mediterranean including over 4,000 people on the central route closest to Libya, making it the deadliest sea in the world. 

In 2018, the Libyan coastguard intercepted more than 15,000 people and returned them to Libya. Currently, 6,400 people are known to be held in official detention sites in Libya, with many more in other centres, some of which are run by armed groups. According to the UN, even “official” centres can be run by people smugglers and traffickers, despite the EU’s commitment to combat human trafficking.  

Numerous accounts collected by Oxfam and its partners in recent years show that people in Libya are often crammed into detention centres in abandoned buildings or pitch black tunnels, without enough food. Many are mistreated before being sold to armed groups or as slaves. 

Yonas (not his real name), a 28-year-old man from Eritrea, said he was detained by various gangs in Libya: “Altogether, I lived a year and a half in two prisons, where we were all living in terrible conditions, with many people getting sick and not receiving care. Many died and were buried like animals. The women were raped in front of us. We were beaten every day by prison guards selected from the group of migrants … They beat us and made us call our family to ask them to send us money.”

Ibrahim (also an alias), a 26-year-old man from Guinea, said he was kidnapped by a gang in Tripoli. He described how the gang members would deceive UN personnel who came to the detention centre where he was held: “On the days when UN staff came they treated us well, cleaned everything, cooked good food, brought us clothes, brought us to a doctor for check-ups. As soon as the UN staff had left, things changed immediately. They took everything they had given us: food, clothes, soap.”

Oxfam and the other signatories to the open letter are calling on EU governments to stop sending people rescued at sea back to Libya. The organisations say that EU member states need to be prepared to suspend cooperation with the Libyan coastguard if issues like arbitrary detention are not dealt with. EU governments should also support search and rescue operations and ensure that people rescued at sea can arrive safely and without delay to Europe. 

A Taste of Home - When meals in refugee camps mean more than food

A hot meal in a refugee camp is always welcome, but in Obrenovac and other refugee camps in Serbia, a meal is also a portal to the home and loved ones left behind by the refugees and migrants who live in limbo in camps.

“Kookoo Sibzamini [potato patties] is what I had in my backpack when I left home. My sister made them for me for the road. I told myself I need to save them for later when it gets tough. But I ate them all. I don’t think they even got cold,” says Mohsen from Iran.

Moshen’s favourite dish is one of seven popular healthy, homely recipes cooked in refugee camps in Serbia, which were provided by the refugees themselves.  Oxfam, which is serving meals at the Obrenovac camp 30km south-west of the capital Belgrade, along with Care and CaritasEuropa, had run a survey asking refugees and migrants what they wanted to eat.  The refugees came up with a lot of suggestions, but many also offered recipes from their own countries. Now, instead of the usual breaded fish and vegetable curry, Obrenovac and several other camps are serving traditional dishes from Afghanistan, Syria, India, Iran and Pakistan.

Oxfam asked an illustrator to make colourful and easy to read recipe cards for seven of the recipes. The cards also include recollections from some of the refugees: where the recipe came from, who first cooked it for them, the last time they ate it, etc.  For example, Gjulan from India (Kashmir) says that the smell of Gajar Matar ki Sabzi, a spicy stew now cooked at the camps, instantly transports him home. “When me and my brothers would come back from school my mother would be by the stove cooking the stew, dancing along with the music from TV. In my mind, it is still like this back home: music ad the smells of cooking.”

“Refugees’ life is hard,” says Ali who came from Pakistan, “but when I sit with people and eat at the dinner table, I am very happy.”

Most refugees in the camps have been in Serbia for over a year and have attempted to cross the border into neighbouring countries such as Bosnia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Hungary - and been turned back. They are trying to reach other countries in Europe, either to claim asylum, reunite with family members or to find work.

In 2017, there were nearly 4,000 migrants in Serbia, of which 89% are housed in camps.

Women refugees face assault, exploitation and sexual harassment journeying through Europe

These women and girls have fled war in Syria and Iraq, walked for days across  hostile terrains, put their lives in the hands of ruthless traffickers, crossed seas on flimsy dinghies and finally made it to Europe.  Safe at last? No, these women and girls who have fled some of the world’s most dangerous areas, faced assault, exploitation and sexual harassment at every stage of their entire journey, including on European soil, according to a new report by Amnesty International released this week.

Amnesty interviewed 40 refugee women and girls in Germany and Norway last month. They had travelled from Turkey to Greece and then across the Balkans. All the women, who had endured the horror of war in their countries, said they felt threatened and unsafe during the journey. Many reported that in almost all of the countries they passed through, they experienced physical abuse and financial exploitation, being groped or pressured to have sex by smugglers, security staff or other refugees. 

“Nobody should have to take these dangerous routes in the first place. The best way to avoid abuses and exploitation by smugglers is for European governments to allow safe and legal routes from the outset. For those who have no other choice, it is completely unacceptable that their passage across Europe exposes them to further humiliation, uncertainty and insecurity, says Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Director Tirana Hassan said:

Women and girls travelling alone and those accompanied only by their children felt particularly under threat in transit areas and camps in Hungary, Croatia and Greece, where they were forced to sleep alongside hundreds of refugee men, according to the report. In some instances women left the designated areas to sleep in the open on the beach because they felt safer there. 

Women also reported having to use the same bathroom and shower facilities as men. One woman told Amnesty that in a reception center in Germany, some refugee men would watch women as they went to the bathroom. Some women took extreme measures such as not eating or drinking to avoid having to go to the toilet where they felt unsafe. 

It is shameful that governments and aid agencies cannot give basic protection to these women and girls who have risked everything to find safety in Europe. It seems extraordinary that they cannot provide at the very least single-sex toilets and safe sleeping areas.