RACISM IN EUROPE AND THE SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS BY KATHARYNE BUSHMAN

RACISM, INSOMNIA PLAGUE SYRIAN REFUGEE FAMILY IN GERMANY OCTOBER 17, 2015 ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS THE HABASHIEH FAMILY’S EXPERIENCE FORCED TO FLEE SYRIAN CIVIL WAR PAID SMUGGLER : CROSSED MEDITERRANEAN IN RUBBER BOAT, TREKKED HIDDEN BALKAN TRAILS, RODE IN MINIBUS TO BERLIN NOW IN EASTERN GERMANY SEEKING ASYLUM THEY HAVE BEEN WAITING IN A HALL WITH 700 OTHER REFUGEES FOR WEEKS

THE SYRIAN CIVIL WAR BEGAN IN 2011 WITH PRESIDENT AL-ASSAD’S VIOLENT REACTION TO PRO-DEMOCRACY ARAB SPRING PROTESTERS HAS SINCE GROWN INTO AN INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT ACCORDING TO A RECENT UN REPORT: MORE THAN 250,000 KILLED 4 MILLION HAVE FLED 7.6 MILLION HAVE BEEN INTERNALLY DISPLACED MORE THAN HALF OF SYRIA’S POPULATION HAS BEEN UPROOTED

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF REFUGEES ARE RISKING LIFE AND LIMB TO ESCAPE THE BLOODY CONFLICT MANY ARE HEADING FOR NEARBY COUNTRIES LIKE TURKEY, LEBANON, IRAQ, JORDAN, AND EGYPT OTHERS ARE PAYING SMUGGLERS TO HELP THEM MAKE THE TREACHEROUS JOURNEY TO EUROPE

GERMANY’S ROLE UNLIKE MANY OTHER COUNTRIES, GERMANY IS ACCEPTING REFUGEES WITH OPEN ARMS THEY ARE CURRENTLY PROCESSING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF APPLICATIONS, BUT THE NUMBER OF ASYLUM SEEKERS INCREASED SO RAPIDLY THAT THEY ARE EXPERIENCING A HEFTY BACKLOG ALTHOUGH THE COUNTRY’S CURRENT POLICY IS TOTAL ACCEPTANCE, THERE ARE SOME WHO DISAGREE

HEIDENAU, GERMANY FOR THE HABASHIEH’S, THIS TOWN’S NEO-NAZI POPULATION HAS MADE EVEN GOING FOR WALKS TO THE LAKE “MORE OF A DISTRESS THAN A RELIEF”. TOWNSPEOPLE WILL SHOUT AT THE WOMEN TO TAKE OF THEIR HIJABS “BECAUSE WE’RE IN EUROPE”, OR EVEN YELL “FOREIGNERS OUT”. THESE TWO COMMENTS REPRESENT TWO DIFFERENT PHENOMENA REFUGEES ARE FACING

RACISM OR XENOPHOBIA? AS WE’VE READ IN THE TEXT, RACISM IS DEFINED AS, “BELIEFS, ATTITUDES, INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS, AND ACTS THAT TEND TO DENIGRATE INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS BECAUSE OF PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERISTICS OR ETHNIC GROUP AFFILIATION.” UNESCO DEFINES XENOPHOBIA AS, “AN ATTUDINAL ORIENTATION OF HOSTILITY AGAINST NON-NATIVES IN A GIVEN POPULATION.” IN THE MEDIA, WE OFTEN HEAR THESE TERMS INTERCHANGED, BUT IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT THEY ARE DISTINCT, DESPITE FREQUENT OVERLAP REFUGEES EVERYWHERE ARE LIKELY EXPERIENCING A MIXTURE OF BOTH

OTHER PRESSURES IN ADDITION TO NEGATIVE RESPONSES, WE MUST KEEP IN MIND THE HUGE AMOUNTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS THESE PEOPLE ARE ALREADY UNDER EXAMPLES INCLUDE: LOSS, GRIEF, STRESS, FEAR, CULTURE SHOCK, AND AN INABILITY TO SPEAK THE HOST COUNTRY’S LANGUAGE RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA ONLY ADDS TO THEIR DIFFICULT SITUATION IN OTHER PARTS OF GERMANY, THERE HAVE EVEN BEEN ATTACKS ON REFUGEE HOUSING UNITS AS WELL AS PROTESTS AND ASSAULTS IN HEIDENAU, THE SITUATION IS LESS EXTREME, BUT MANY FAMILIES LIKE THIS STILL HEAR RACIST COMMENTS AND EXPERIENCE MICROAGGRESSIONS OFTEN

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE… MANY ARE RECEIVED WITH OPEN ARMS THE HABASHIEH FAMILY HAS MADE FRIENDS WITH A GERMAN FAMILY THAT IS HELPING THEM WITH THE LANGUAGE AND ASSIMILATING THE GUARDS AT THE REFUGEE HALL HAVE BEFRIENDED KHAWLA’S YOUNGEST DAUGHTER THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT IS STILL ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS AND DOING WHAT THEY CAN TO AID DISPLACED SYRIANS

IN CONCLUSION WHILE THE SITUATION IN SYRIA HAS LEAD TO THE DEATHS OF THOUSANDS AND THE UPROOTING OF MILLIONS, AT THE VERY LEAST THEY HAVE A RELATIVELY SAFE PLACE TO GO, IF THEY CAN GET THERE HOWEVER, GERMANY IS OVERWHELMED WITH APPLICATIONS AND REFUGEES FACE HATRED AND RACISM FROM SOME GROUPS, WHICH ONLY INTENSIFIES THE STRESS THEY ARE ALREADY UNDER FOR THE HABASHEIH FAMILY, THEIR GERMAN FRIENDS HAVE GIVEN THEM HOPE. IN TIMES LIKE THESE, SOMETIMES IT’S ALL ONE CAN ASK FOR.