Shannon McGuigan
The Russian invasion currently burning through Ukraine is a war crime; a man-made tragedy. Ukraine is a beautiful country, coloured by its vibrant culture, euphonious language and amiable people. Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine will result in the deaths of thousands of innocent people and the destruction of what was a beautiful country. It has already displaced millions of Ukrainians, with an estimated 2.8 million Ukrainian refugees fleeing to different states within Europe.
Europe has welcomed these Ukrainian refugees with open arms, with Poland having accepted 1.8 million Ukrainian refugees thus far. Many other European countries have extended their welcome to hundreds of thousands of more Ukrainians, coming to the aid of Ukraine and protecting their civilians in any way that they possibly can. However, Britain’s response has been overwhelmingly poor.
Britain’s Response To The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis
Priti Patel’s Home Office had issued a stricter visa policy for Ukrainian refugees in comparison to its European peers, only allowing for those already with family in the UK to apply for visas.
After showing very minimal support in actuality, with some of the most significant action being Downing Street illuminating itself in Ukrainian colours, the UK government has finally announced a new UK visa scheme where there is “no cap” on Ukrainian refugees.
Under this scheme, UK citizens are being encouraged to open their homes as a place of rent-free refuge for at least six months. Hosts will be gifted £350 a month from the government as a “thank you.”
In no way am I implying that these are not necessary or positive steps being taken by both the UK and their European counterparts. We should be helping Ukrainian refugees in any way we can to safely protect them from the illegal war crimes that are being committed against their country by Russia.
However, Europe has easily absorbed 2.8 million Ukrainian refugees over a short period. Yet, the European government and its people had completely different sentiments during the migrant crisis of 2015 that continues to ensue until this day.
“Europe does not have a refugee crisis. We have a racism crisis.”
Refugees Of 2022 VS Refugees Of 2015
The migrant crisis of 2015 saw a record surge of 1.3 million refugees, with half originating from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Within, these 1.3 million figure refugees were also from Nigeria, Pakistan, Iraq, Eritrea and the Balkans.
According to the Pew Research Centre, this huge surge in migrants at the time broke records, with the wave of asylum applications at that time accounting for one-in-ten of applications since 1985.
When faced with the 1.3 million South Asian and North African refugees comparatively to Ukraine’s 2.8 million refugees, Europe and the UK responded with rejection and coldness.
Europe ‘could not’ help them. We ‘didn’t have the capacity’ for 1.3 million refugees then, but we have the capacity for 2.8 million Ukrainian refugees now. Europe ‘could not’ help Syrians fleeing missile strikes led by the US, the UK and France.
“This transcends into an issue of systemic racism that persists within Europe on an institutional level.”
We ‘could not’ help Iraqis fleeing an illegal war led by the US, and supported by the UK. We definitely ‘could not’ extend any aid to the Afghanistanis escaping a US-led invasion, yet again backed by the UK, which was described as an invasion with “a patently illegal use of armed force.”
Europe Does Not Have A Refugee Crisis. We Have A Racism Crisis.
Both Europe and the UK looked on as these people begged for our help in the jungle of Calais, whilst they risked and lost their lives crossing the channel. When black and brown children were drowned trying to flee to the safety of European shores, we did not bat an eyelid. Our governments and our people did not care.
In the UK, Priti Patel and her conservative government continue to endanger more lives by creating no legal immigration routes and continuing to function on an outdated immigration system.
According to Priti Patel, Britain is struggling to find accommodation for 12,000 people from Afghanistan. Yet, we can have a “no cap” policy for Ukrainian visas. We should open our homes to Ukrainians, but asylum seekers from other cohorts are left in hotels struggling to find accommodation.
The government policies presented by the Home Office are divergent, and contrast with one another daily. Additionally, Europe’s overall attitude towards the two different refugee cohorts is entirely conflicting. But they do reveal an important assertion: Europe does not have a refugee crisis. We have a racism crisis.
This is not only a European issue or a British issue. It is not simply a refugee crisis. This transcends into an issue of systemic racism that persists within Europe on an institutional level. While brown and black people were dying in an attempt to receive sanctuary, Priti Patel stated that we could not have a policy to “accommodate everyone”, but we can have a policy that accommodates largely white European refugees.
As expected, Europe will do all it can to help those escaping illegal wars ensued by Russia. But, when it comes to those fleeing wars ensued by its allies, they allow them and their children to drown in their bids for a safe life.
Feature image courtesy of Julie Ricard via Unsplash. The image license can be found here. No changes or alterations were made to this image.
ShannonMcGuigan
Shannon McGuigan is one of our Editor in Chiefs at Empoword. She is a trainee journalist studying the News Journalism MA course at Cardiff University and is also freelancing in her spare time! She enjoys crying about shorthand and going on long walks with her rescue dog.