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Casey Sennett
Dr. Lori Bedell
CAS 137
05 October 2018

Finding Sanctuary in a Xenophobic World

Civil wars and regional conflict over the last few decades have led to an unprecedented

displacement. In 2016, the number of displaced people in the world exceeded the number of

those displaced after World War II. If consolidated, the recently displaced could form a country

with the 21st largest population in the world (McKirdy). In Syria, civil war has raged for several

years, leading to the displacement of millions. Similarly, the events during and after World War

II led to a previously unprecedented displacement. Millions of Jews and Europeans fled their

homes to find sanctuary elsewhere; however, they encountered an emerging ideology across the

world that rejected and protested the presence of refugees. After World War II, many countries

came together to create international laws providing more protection and rights to refugees.

International legislation, however, has failed to protect the current population of refugees who

encounter the resurgence of ideological beliefs protesting refugees. Although photographed

decades apart, the image of Jewish refugees aboard the St. Louis and the image of Syrian

refugees coming ashore in Greece capture two similar time periods where worldwide emerging

ideology opposed refugees. While international law between the two periods attempted to give

more rights to refugees, the last few decades has brought forth a reemergence of distrust and

distain toward refugees.

During World War II, many Europeans, especially Jews, attempted to leave Germany or

Europe entirely to escape the Nazi regime. While refugees of any background were unwanted by

most countries, Jewish refugees found asylum even more difficult due to anti-Semitism and

xenophobia, “The restrictive immigration practices of the major overseas countries vis-à-vis
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Jewish refugees reflected a global climate of economic protectionism tinged with xenophobia

and outright anti-Semitism” (SHOAH Resource Center). While Germany’s Nazi regime is most

accredited with anti-Semitic views, many countries felt distrustful of Jews during World War II.

Although the lives of Jews across Germany and eventually Europe were threatened by the

Nazi’s, over 900 of the predominately Jewish passengers aboard the German liner, the St. Louis,

were forced to return to Western Europe in 1939 following their rejection from Cuba, the United

States, and Canada. Only 288 passengers were accepted to seek refuge in Great Britain and

ultimately escaped the holocaust; however, about half, 278, of those remaining in continental

Europe prior to Germany’s conquering of Western Europe died in the Holocaust (Holocaust

Encyclopedia). Those deaths could have been prevented if the Jewish refugees were allowed

asylum in the New World. The emerging ideology of anti-Semitism and xenophobia throughout

the world, however, prompted the rejection of those Jewish refugees as well as many others. The

exigence of the situation was lost on a world that feared the unknown. Instead of realizing the

severity of Germany’s anti-Semitism, other countries allowed their xenophobia to persist and

sponsored a disregard for Jewish refugees.

After World War II, the emerging ideology opposing refugees disappeared and allowed

for the creation of international laws that gave more rights to refugees. During the United

Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, 145 nations ratified a document defining refugee status and

their rights. An important concept within the document asserted that refugees should not be

returned to countries where there are threats to their lives or freedoms (UNHCR: The UN

Refugee Agency). The United States, however, did not ratify an international refugee document

until 1967. In 1980, the United States Refugee Act molded U.S. refugee laws to existing

international laws and created a permanent refugee admission program as well as increased the
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yearly admission of refugees to 50,000 people per year (Council on Foreign Relations). World

War II and the events following prompted a mass migration of people throughout the world. The

exigence of this migration forced the world to address international ideology surrounding

refugees. While many countries previously denied refugees, the mass migration during this

period prompted an international discussion and the installment of international laws protecting

refugees.

International legislation after World War II began to favor refugees; however, reemerging

ideologies pertaining to refugees have reverted back to the ideologies expressed during World

War II. In the current political state of the world, a new worldwide emerging ideology protests

the settlement of refugees, especially Syrian refugees, in many European and Western nations.

Numerous countries fear that the refugees will bring increased terrorism to the countries they

seek asylum in. A poll conducted in Europe prior to the 2016 terrorist attacks in France and

Germany found, “A median of 59% across 10 EU countries voice[d] concern about the prospect

of increased terrorism” (Poushter). Most Syrian refugees are Muslim and due to prior terrorist

attacks by individuals of that religious faith, individuals across the world have become increasing

Islamophobic. The number of Europeans concerned about terrorist attacks has probably risen

since those polls were conducted prior to recent terror attacks in Europe. In the United States,

Islamophobia has peaked since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September

11th, 2001. President Donald Trump enacted an executive order in early 2017 banning the travel

of individuals, especially refugees, from certain Middle Eastern and African countries, including

Syria. While considered a travel ban, the ban was considered by many as a ban against Muslims

since the countries impacted by the ban have high Muslim populations. In January of 2018, the

temporary ban on refugees from certain countries, including Syria, was lifted; however, it was
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recently announced that the 2019 fiscal year will allow a maximum of 30,000 refugees into

America, 15,000 less than the 2018 maximum and about 66,000 less per year than the average

pre-Trump admissions (Lind). Although the United States Refugee Act increased the number of

refugees admitted into the U.S. to 50,000 per year, 2019 will see at least a 40% reduction

according to those standards. Europe and the United States also protest the presence of refugees

because of the financial strain they believe refugees will put on their country’s economy. In

Europe, “…[a median of 50% across the 10 countries surveyed] believe refugees are a burden to

society because they take jobs and social benefits that would otherwise be available to citizens of

each nation” (Poushter). Xenophobia and a fear of terrorism has driven numerous countries to

protest refugees. Although 145 nations agreed to the 1951 Refugee Convention, many countries

have closed their borders to refugees. In October 2015, during the height of the refugee crisis,

Hungary closed its borders to refugees, blocking them from traveling the remainder of the way to

Western Europe. Many other European countries followed suit, ultimately isolating refugees in

Europe to Greece by early 2016 (Kakissis). For one Syrian refugee, Rasha al-Ahmed, she

imagined Europe as a clean and bountiful sanctuary, but once she arrived with her family they

were forced to live in a makeshift tent encased in mud, human feces, and decaying food

(Kakissis). While the pictured Syrian refugees probably thought they would be entering a safe

haven once arriving on the shore of Greece, the child realizes the challenges ahead for him and

the other refugees. Syrian refugees unknowingly enter a continent that loathes them and has

attempted to block their entrance. Fear and xenophobia has annulled the legislation established

after World War II. Although the document constructed at the 1951 Refugee Convention was

founded on the main principle of not returning individuals to countries where there are threats to

their lives or freedoms, many refugees are no longer guaranteed the protections given to them
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under the international documents created after World War II. While international legislation

following World War II was meant to aid refugees, recent refugee policies throughout the world

have sharply contrasted the ideals expressed following World War II.

Worldwide emerging ideology has once again abandoned refugees. During World War II,

Jewish refugees were unwanted by the world. In modern society, Syrian refugees are unwanted

by numerous countries. Although the exigence of refugee protection was addressed after World

War II, international legislation has been either ignored or directly opposed by current policies.

America, a country commonly viewed as a haven for immigrants and refugees escaping

persecution and poverty, proves as hostile to refugees as Europe. The images of both the

passengers of the St. Louis and the Syrian refugees demonstrate a world divided by fear and

xenophobia. Instead of accepting refugees, many countries have closed the borders they

promised to keep open, ushering in a new era of unprecedented displacement.

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Works Cited

Diedring, Michael and John Dorber. “Refugee Crisis: How Language Contributes to the Fate of

Refugees.” The Elders, 27 Oct 2015. Syrian Refugees Arrive on Lesbos, Greece, by

UNHCR | Andrew McConnell. Web.

“Frequently Asked Questions: Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.” SHOAH Resource Center. The United

Nations, n.d. Web.

Heilman, Uriel. “What Americans Had to Say About Jewish War Refugees.” The Time of Israel,

06 Dec 2015. Jewish Refugees Aboard the German Liner St. Louis, June 29, 1939, by

Planet News Archive/SSPL/Getty Images/via JTA. Web.

Kakissis, Joanna. “‘Europe Does Not See Us as Human': Stranded Refugees Struggle In Greece.”

National Public Radio, Inc. NPR, 09 Mar 2018. 11 Sept 2018. Web.

Lind, Dara. “Trump Slashed Refugee Levels This Year. For 2019, He’s Slashing Them Even

Further.” Vox. Vox Media Inc., 18 Sept 2018. Web.

McKirdy, Euan. “UNHCR Report: More Displaced Now than After WWII.” CNN. Turner

Broadcasting System, Inc., 20 June 2016. Web.

Poushter, Jacob. “European Opinions of the Refugee Crisis in 5 Charts.” Fact Tank: News in the

Numbers. Pew Research Center, 16 Sept 2016. Web.

“The 1951 Refugee Convention.” UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency. The United Nations, 2018.

Web.

“U.S. and International Policy to Protect Refugees: A Timeline” Council on Foreign Relations,

01 Feb 2017. Web.

“Voyage of the St. Louis.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial

Museum, n.d. Web.