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Institutional Racism and Refugee Policies of the West: The Numbers Do Not Lie

Received: 26 September 2022    Accepted: 21 October 2022    Published: 30 October 2022
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Abstract

This article demonstrates that the Universal Human Right to asylum is not uniformly guaranteed to all asylum seekers pursuing refuge in Western countries. Specifically, many Western countries accept fewer asylum seekers than might be expected based on their population size. Moreover, there are a number of Western countries that demonstrate a clear bias against asylum seekers originating from Africa and the Middle East; people who are attempting to escape extremely dire circumstances. To arrive at these conclusions, a tripartite approach was implemented. First, elaborations were made on the existing theoretical foundations used by the West that frame the refugee as not "Our Kind of People" or "Our Kind of Color." Second, a mathematical assessment was applied to quantify the forcibly displaced persons from around the world using data extracted from the UNHCR that factually evidences this bias. Lastly, qualitative assessments were made that examined the policy and practices that govern the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in select Western countries, including Australia, Türkiye, Palestine, the European Union, Canada, and the United States. These three lines unequivocally demonstrate the influence of institutional racism on the mass migration of people seeking asylum in Western Countries.

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 10, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.hss.20221005.19
Page(s) 332-349
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Refugees, Asylum Seekers, ‘Not Our People’, ‘Not Our Color’, Western Countries Policy and Practice, Institutional Racism

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Lora Benoit, Carl Hermann Dino Steinmetz, Deena Mikbel. (2022). Institutional Racism and Refugee Policies of the West: The Numbers Do Not Lie. Humanities and Social Sciences, 10(5), 332-349. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20221005.19

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    ACS Style

    Lora Benoit; Carl Hermann Dino Steinmetz; Deena Mikbel. Institutional Racism and Refugee Policies of the West: The Numbers Do Not Lie. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2022, 10(5), 332-349. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20221005.19

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    AMA Style

    Lora Benoit, Carl Hermann Dino Steinmetz, Deena Mikbel. Institutional Racism and Refugee Policies of the West: The Numbers Do Not Lie. Humanit Soc Sci. 2022;10(5):332-349. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20221005.19

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  • @article{10.11648/j.hss.20221005.19,
      author = {Lora Benoit and Carl Hermann Dino Steinmetz and Deena Mikbel},
      title = {Institutional Racism and Refugee Policies of the West: The Numbers Do Not Lie},
      journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
      volume = {10},
      number = {5},
      pages = {332-349},
      doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20221005.19},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20221005.19},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20221005.19},
      abstract = {This article demonstrates that the Universal Human Right to asylum is not uniformly guaranteed to all asylum seekers pursuing refuge in Western countries. Specifically, many Western countries accept fewer asylum seekers than might be expected based on their population size. Moreover, there are a number of Western countries that demonstrate a clear bias against asylum seekers originating from Africa and the Middle East; people who are attempting to escape extremely dire circumstances. To arrive at these conclusions, a tripartite approach was implemented. First, elaborations were made on the existing theoretical foundations used by the West that frame the refugee as not "Our Kind of People" or "Our Kind of Color." Second, a mathematical assessment was applied to quantify the forcibly displaced persons from around the world using data extracted from the UNHCR that factually evidences this bias. Lastly, qualitative assessments were made that examined the policy and practices that govern the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in select Western countries, including Australia, Türkiye, Palestine, the European Union, Canada, and the United States. These three lines unequivocally demonstrate the influence of institutional racism on the mass migration of people seeking asylum in Western Countries.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    AB  - This article demonstrates that the Universal Human Right to asylum is not uniformly guaranteed to all asylum seekers pursuing refuge in Western countries. Specifically, many Western countries accept fewer asylum seekers than might be expected based on their population size. Moreover, there are a number of Western countries that demonstrate a clear bias against asylum seekers originating from Africa and the Middle East; people who are attempting to escape extremely dire circumstances. To arrive at these conclusions, a tripartite approach was implemented. First, elaborations were made on the existing theoretical foundations used by the West that frame the refugee as not "Our Kind of People" or "Our Kind of Color." Second, a mathematical assessment was applied to quantify the forcibly displaced persons from around the world using data extracted from the UNHCR that factually evidences this bias. Lastly, qualitative assessments were made that examined the policy and practices that govern the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in select Western countries, including Australia, Türkiye, Palestine, the European Union, Canada, and the United States. These three lines unequivocally demonstrate the influence of institutional racism on the mass migration of people seeking asylum in Western Countries.
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Author Information
  • Math, Sciences, and Engineering Division, Reedley College, State Center Community College District, Reedley, United States

  • Expats & Immigrants B. V., Amsterdam, the Netherlands

  • Agriculture and Environmental Science, University of California, Davis, United States

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