The ugly scenes on the borders of Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia as Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko strives to weaponize migration have prompted some within Europe to retort that they are under invasion.  Such a notion brings echoes with the sense in Douglas Murray’s The Strange Death of Europe that Europe is in some way under threat, not in a physical but rather a cultural sense.

This concept rests on the notion that refugees and other migrants from outside of Europe lack many of the cultural and social norms that “makes Europe what it is”, and that with each new arrival, this culture is being eroded.  It’s a fear that research from the University of Maryland suggests is completely unfounded.  Indeed, the study suggests that Syrian refugees were not only motivated more by a desire to return home than they were to move to the West, but also that those who did want to emigrate were least likely to have extreme views.

Seeking shelter

That refugees have not only experienced extreme hardship in their homeland but also as they attempt to find shelter and security elsewhere is hard to dispute.  Sadly, this hardship often extends into their stay in foreign lands, with refugees suffering from suspicion and racism from people in their adopted home.

This suspicion is often rooted in prejudice about perceived political and religious ideologies.  It’s a fear that the research suggests is largely misguided.  The researchers examined Syrian refugees who were living in Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordon between 2016 and 2017.

The analysis found that refugees relocating in the West were far less likely to have extreme political or religious views than most in the West seem to think.

“People in Western countries have been reluctant to accept refugees, in part, because of the perception that these individuals hold extremist political views and therefore pose a security threat,” the authors explain. “Our results run counter to such views and could be used as an educational tool to provide evidence against such misperceptions.”

Desires and ideologies

The findings emerged from an analysis of around 1,000 Syrian refugees who were quizzed on their hopes, opinions, and experiences.  Each participant was also asked about their willingness to relocate to a Western country or their preference for moving back to Syria.  They were also quizzed on their ideological and political views.

Due to the fact that there is no real single measure of political extremism, the researchers combined a number of existing approaches.  This enabled them to include a range of measures, including the willingness to sacrifice oneself for one’s politics or religion.

“The majority of refugees in our study wanted to return home to Syria and they did not intend to migrate to the West. This was not surprising,” the researchers explain. “The second result—that most refugees reject violent extremism—is also in line with our other research on political violence, which shows that majorities of people are strongly against ideologically motivated violence. What is more theoretically interesting in our study is the link between migration intentions and ideological beliefs. Past research on refugees has predominantly focused on their basic needs for safety and security as drivers of migration decisions. We assumed that their sociopolitical attitudes should also be related to those decisions.”

The findings must surely prompt us to think afresh about the attitudes we hold about people and the rhetoric used when talking about them.  The reality is nowhere near as dangerous as the image created today.