Prejudice Against The Syrian Refugees Caused By The Uk Media

With the harrowing onset of the Syrian refugee crisis, there has been destabilizing contention in the United Kingdom (UK) regarding the support for the asylum seekers. However, where the British media is concerned, these refugees are bleakly faced with an uncompromising stance.

The most influential and harmful anti-refugee perpetrators are the tabloid articles, such as Daily Mail’s THE ‘SWARM’ ON OUR STREETS. Conventional of tabloids, these articles express their trademarked sensationalism to entertain the readers. Evidently, their persistent use of overt moralization on the Syrians is widely repeated throughout their narratives. As a result, they manage to exert an effectively pernicious impact on the public, wherein many do not even realize that they would subconsciously conform to these frequently propagated stereotypes. Ultimately, these tabloids create a sense of widespread xenophobia and disrupt the UK society, explaining the current manifestation of prejudice against the Syrians in the public.

With a glance, the prominent title THE ‘SWARM’ ON OUR STREETS immediately spells sensationalism. However, the tabloid article attempts to be objective and trustworthy by employing a seemingly neutral tone. The subtitle first states that “Cameron is attacked for ‘likening (the refugees) to insects’”, as if the writers were condemning his act of dehumanizing refugees. This, however, is simply a misleading façade. After all, the rest of the tabloid presents a negative commentary of Syrians. In the photographs and the caption below them, the idea of the police arresting ‘illegal immigrants’ was accentuated, contradicting the impression that it would shed any light on the refugees.

In fact, as the article goes on, it is increasingly evident that the writers do not showcase any form of apologetic remorse in labeling them as social threats. With the inclusion of large statistical numbers wherein Eurotunnel “has blocked 37,000 migrants trying to make their way to Britain”, fear derived from the massive influx of Syrians would be invoked in the reader. Moreover, in the next statement, the migrants were said to be successful in overwhelming the Eurotunnel’s attempts of denying entry. This asserts an imperative emotional appeal, compelling the readers to regard the refugees as dangerous elements capable of “breaching security fences”.

In addition to concrete facts, movements of refugees into the UK are likened to the degrading symbols of a “swarm” or a “storm”. This usage of zoomorphism and dehumanization wipes off the refugee’s humanity, deducing them to mere numbers. In doing so, this eradicates the individuality of each refugee and de-personalizes the immigration crisis, making it easier to generalize the Syrian refugees under one collective stereotype. Consequently, this makes the refugees more prone to negative stereotyping and leads once again to a heightened sense of xenophobic anxiety towards them. Furthermore, this constantly repeated imagery of them in massive influxes, which is further supported by statistics throughout the article, would inevitably instigate readers to feel overwhelmed as they perceive the migrants to be a gigantic destructive force capable of ruining the UK.

Did you think the tabloids stopped here? No. The stereotypes of the refugees culminate into a terrible stigmatization of them as being “illegal” criminals causing social “mayhem”. The migrants were incessantly being put under a bad light of being dangerous, to the extent that even the “Army Forces were preparing to get involved in the crisis”. In fact, the army and the police were fighting “running battles with migrants”, alluding to the need to wage a war with the refugees to quell their attempts of storming into the Eurotunnel. This war motif is constantly perpetuated, serving as a rallying call for the public to oppose immigration. Moreover, as any opposition to war would be alleged as a traitor, this incites a greater anti-refugee momentum.

But, the fact is that migration does not increase crime, contrary to the perceived social threat in such tabloids! From the findings of a report by the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2013, it was found that Eastern European areas with mass immigration had encountered a significant decline in criminal rates. Hence, there is no evident link between migration and the increase in crime rates, if any. In other words, the populist notion of refugees posing a threat to security is, at its best, only a misconception. However, such perpetuations of them are still being irresponsibly conveyed, causing a subliminal psychologizing influence on the readers due to persistent repetition. This results in the construction of reality of the refugees as criminals, ultimately resulting in the xenophobia in UK and Britain.

Last but certainly not the least (damage they have done), the writers further fueled the national worry of refugees damaging the economy. This is evident in the fact that the Eurotunnel cut down on its overnight transport services and the fact that the UK economy has been dwindling by a sum of “£250 million a day because of the chaos”, which is highly questionable. In actuality, it has been proven numerous times with historical data that immigration can improve the economy. In 2004, The Mirror stated about how the UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by £4 million with the inflow of migrants. Therefore, there is no concrete evidence that the economy would be affected by the inflow of refugees. It is ultimately up to the country to manage the crisis, and whether they are capable enough to manage it, that will affect their economy. However, the emphasis on the Syrian refugees as the issue, instead of the governing body in the management of this refugee issue, is unfair and unjust to them.

This is a world wherein unjustified negative stereotypes cloud people’s judgment. Inevitably, the UK public would perceive these refugees as criminals capable of wrecking the social fabric and the economy. Do you think this is ethical? It is now time for us all to take a step back and analyze the truth from the wrong in what we read. It is now time for us all to dismiss our prejudices about the refugees and renew our perspectives. Let’s eradicate our fallacious discriminatory stance now!