Refugee: someone who has been forced to leave a country because of war or for religious or political reasons.
Yet, this is not usually the answer when you ask citizens in places such as the United States, Britain, France, Germany and other places taking in these displaced people. The majority of U.S. citizens oppose taking in any Syrian refugees out of fear of terrorist attacks. In Australia, the Minister for Immigration has declared that refugees come to take jobs and simultaneously take all the unemployment benefits.
The definition of a refugee has become volatile and looked upon with distrust. Many people in countries across the globe share the view that refugees take resources from citizens. The other thought process that invokes a distrustful definition is the idea that terrorists hide in incoming refugees. This is especially prevalent after the Paris terrorist attacks last year, of which two of the terrorists were confirmed to have come to France by way of Greece from Syria. The other nine (including the ringleader) were European-born.
Since September 11th, the United States has taken in 784,000 refugees. Of these, only three of them have had links to terrorism (That’s 0.00038 percent). This year, we have been taking refugees in to fill a quota of 10,000—one of the lowest numbers being taken out of all the countries accepting refugees. So far, the U.S. is disappointingly behind on that number, having taken in only about 1,000.
When you ask refugees how they define themselves, the answer falls along the lines of humiliation, desperation, or helplessness. Which is why the atmosphere surrounding refugees and the definition of refugee is so important.
In Tucson, a family of Syrian refugees received a threatening letter calling them terrorists and killers, with statements such as “Please move before danger can happen.” The dangerous and disrespectful attitude towards refugees amounts to incidents like this. The family has had to relocate for their safety.
Mostly, this attitude and the threats that come from it are a result of fear-mongering and misunderstanding how the United States chooses refugees for resettlement. In the U.S., there is an 18- to 24-month waiting period before a decision is made on whether or not a family can enter the country. It is the most in-depth and detailed screening process out of all accepting countries. Only 2 percent are single males of combat age, as that criteria is almost always an automatic disqualifier from entry (and also the most statistically likely to commit acts of terrorism). Half the refugees accepted thus far have been children, and a quarter are adults over 60.
To fully understand the repercussions around the hostile image of refugees, education and understanding is one of the most important factors. Not terror, not fear mongering, not threats. It’s up to us to do our own research, rather than listen to politicians or jump to conclusions that have such a large impact. Through this, we can stop disrespecting the definition of refugee and these people.
