Despite much global debate and animosity over refugee policy, a recent Amnesty International survey suggests that anti-refugee sentiments are actually the minority view. Globally, two of every three respondents to the survey, conducted in more than two dozen countries around the world, said their governments should do more to help refugees, and four of five said they would accept refugees in their country, community or home. It seems that most people want governments to do more to welcome refugees into their countries, yet many governments continue to turn away large numbers of refugees. This finding presents advocates with an important—and urgent—challenge: we must find a way to align government policies with more support for refugees.
Every day, countless refugees are fleeing war and persecution in search of safer, more stable places to live—and many are dying in the process. In Syria alone, more than 11 million people have been killed or forced to flee their homes in what many have called the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Some countries, of course, are accommodating refugees, but many aren’t, leaving millions of men, women and children fighting for survival in a state of political and existential limbo.
The crisis has ignited a fierce debate in Europe and around the globe, pitting human rights advocates and their allies against their anti-refugee opponents. In Europe, in particular, the surge of refugees from Syria, Iraq and North Africa has triggered broader debates about immigration, religion and civil liberties, driving anti-Muslim sentiments and fueling a strong nationalist backlash. Combined with lingering fallout from the Eurozone crisis, the migrant rhetoric has fueled the rise of far-right political parties in Austria, France, and other European countries—including some of the more moderate Scandinavian states.
