Of these, 52% of all refugees and other people in need of international protection came from just three countries: Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan. The most important guest countries include Turkey, Iran, Colombia, Germany and Pakistan. Turkey alone took in around 3.6 million refugees last year, the largest population group in the world.
When refugees leave their homes in search of protection and help, they often encounter difficulties in accessing basic services, sociocultural integration, legal problems and a lack of psychological support when they arrive in new countries.
We must therefore qualify the public debate on this issue and help combat the prejudices that these people suffer from. We could start by addressing three important issues: 1) stigma and negative labeling; 2) perception that refugees are a burden on the economy; and 3) neglect of humanitarian needs.
Discrimination is often based on ignorance and/or political manipulation. In addition, many refugees have valuable skills and great motivation to make a positive contribution to their new communities. Finally, resettlement, assistance and integration programs also help build stronger and fairer communities overall.
In a world in transition, we will be increasingly exposed to this issue. We need not only empathy and compassion, which cannot and should not be selective, but also a more nuanced approach to discussing the issue from the perspective of our public policy. This is the kind of issue that can bring out the best or the worst in us, and in times of polarization and misinformation it is often a big deal for onduty opportunists.