A scholar of humanitarianism sums up what she saw on the ground during a five-week research trip to Poznań, Lublin, Warsaw, Krakow and several smaller cities along the Poland-Ukraine border.
Many displaced Syrians responded to harsh border controls by passing through permeable borders, using alternative routes and relying upon the use of smugglers and social networks.
Refugees from non-English speaking backgrounds with disabilities face the twin obstacles of English language courses that don’t work for them and disability services that don’t speak their language.
Australia’s offshore detention policies have helped to produce indifference to the suffering of refugees. Pushing refugees out of sight, and out of mind, has now placed them beyond moral concern.
The prevailing narrative around migrant smuggling has clouded the public’s understanding of the issue by obfuscating the role smuggling plays in helping refugees gain asylum.
Our study found that overall, most people just aren’t motivated to take political action against Australia’s refugee policies – even if they strongly dislike them.
A heartening 70% of British voters want to allow Ukrainians into the UK but only 50% feel the same way about Afghans. And the difference is even starker among those who vote Conservative.
Our report sets out practical reforms that can be implemented relatively simply, within existing legislative provisions and with only minimal changes to policy and regulations.
Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham