Refugees are not migrants

On the BBC television news channel yesterday the language used to describe people escaping across the sea to reach Europe was challenged by a fellow journalist.

Newscaster Gavin Esler introduced the ‘Dateline London’ discussion slot by asking, “Is it the end of compassion in the European Union for migrants?”

He continued:

“Far more migrants, some say 30 times more, have tried to enter Europe in the first two months of this year than a year ago. Greece, which has plenty of other problems, is under enormous pressure. 

"There have been disturbances in Greece and from Macedonia to Calais, plus border tightening, from the Balkans to Austria, Belgium to Scandinavia. Has compassion for migrants ended, and have we also seen the end to the idea of Europe without borders?"

Turning to studio guest, Maria Margaronis, who writes for The Nation (America’s oldest weekly magazine), she immediately responded:

“Let’s start with language, you say migrants. These people by any definition are refugees. 90% of the 125,000 who have come into Greece already this year are from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. 

"More than 50% of those are women and children, they are not coming to Europe – quote – ‘to take our jobs’.”

Why is it that the British media - especially the BBC - persist in describing people desperately escaping from war, terror, violence, oppression and religious extremism as migrants? 

Isn't Maria right when she asserts that the correct definition and description of these people is refugees?

The term ‘migrant’ means a person who moves from one place to another in order to find work or better living conditions. Migrants voluntarily leave their home countries for another, and can voluntarily return home at any time.

That’s not the case for refugees. The term refugee means a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster. They have to leave their homes involuntarily and they cannot return. 

William Spindler, Senior Communications Officer for UNHCR told me:

 “The approximate recognition rates in the EU for Syrian asylum seekers is around 95 percent and for Iraqis and Afghans it’s over 70 percent. 

“In other words, the majority of Mediterranean arrivals will be recognized as refugees by EU countries.”

According to Frontex, the numbers of arrivals to the Greek islands compose 39% Syrians, 25% Iraqis and over 25% Afghans. So about 90% of arrivals to the Greek Islands were from areas of war and conflict, and almost all of these people are accepted in the European Union as genuine asylum seekers and refugees.

Reported Eurostat in their asylum report for the last quarter of 2015: "Syrians, Afghanis and Iraqis were the top 3 citizenships of asylum seekers (to the EU)".  

Commented human rights law expert, Professor Steve Peers of University of Essex:

“It's clear that a large majority of the people risking their lives to enter Greece, the country of arrival for most of the EU's asylum-seekers, are still coming from conflict zones and therefore likely to qualify as refugees." 

Language matters; all journalists know that. To constantly refer to refugees as migrants is a betrayal of their desperate circumstances. 

Using the blanket term ‘migrant’ to describe all people arriving to or travelling across Europe results in viewers, listeners and readers of our media not discerning between them. 

And yet, there is a huge difference between EU migrants, non-EU migrants, illegal migrants and refugees. Is it laziness, ignorance or another agenda that our media in most cases simply refers to all of them as migrants?

Using the wrong term to describe refugees can hurt them. It can result in the public not having empathy with their plight, or not believing that they are people worthy of help. 

This in turn can allow governments to dismiss them or not provide adequate help, with the apparent approval of the public. 

After all, when Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, can refer to refugees as a “swarm” or a “bunch” it says something about the acceptable language of our day.

But would Mr Cameron - or the BBC - have described Jewish refugees, or the ‘Kindertransport’ children, who escaped to Britain from Nazi oppression in the late 1930s, as a ‘bunch’ or ‘swarm’ of migrants? 

BBC newscaster, Gavin Esler, asked on his programme today whether it was the end of compassion for migrants? 

But maybe if he – and all other journalists – had more accurately described them as refugees, there would be more compassion for those genuinely war-torn, ravaged, stateless people who aren't coming to Europe for a better life or a new job.

They are mostly coming for refuge, having escaped from the most terrible, shocking, heart-rending circumstances.

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Other articles by Jon Danzig:

• Never again? It's happening again
• From child refugee to refugee lawyer
• Misleading claim about why Syrian boy died
• List of the latest articles by Jon Danzig

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Posted by Jon Danzig on Saturday, 5 March 2016

90% risking lives to reach #EU by sea are genuine #refugees Why call them #migrants? My blog https://t.co/HcnE3JJ5aW pic.twitter.com/nnVWAgrvdi

— Jon Danzig (@Jon_Danzig) March 6, 2016

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