Sunday, July 10, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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The return of Taliban control in Afghanistan and the Russian invasion of Ukraine brought the world’s attention to authoritarian governments’ role in displacing people from their homes. This is sadly not a unique situation.
More than 82 million people worldwide are displaced, many due to persecution and violence at the hands of authoritarians. The free world has opened its doors to Ukrainians and, to a more limited extent, Afghans. But millions of other refugees are left with few options, long periods of uncertainty, and tiny odds of being permanently resettled somewhere safer.
The European response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis has been a rare bright spot in migration policy. Since the invasion began in late February, more than 8 million Ukrainians have left Ukraine seeking protection. Ukraine’s neighbors — Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova — deserve credit for welcoming millions fleeing Russia’s brutal attacks.
The European Union’s relatively liberal migration policies for many Europeans, including Ukrainians, have undoubtedly helped despite their imperfections. Reports from early in the war demonstrated the limits of welcome to non-white Ukrainians. Many were unjustly delayed or outright denied entry upon presenting themselves at border checkpoints with their countrymen.
But, overall, the response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis has been a feel-good story. Few of us will forget the images of baby strollers left on train platforms in Poland to help Ukrainian moms who carried their babies to safety or the ordinary Germans who greeted Ukrainian refugees at train stations with homemade signs and offers of a meal and a safe place to stay. These stories represent the best of humanity and remind us all how powerful even small gestures of welcome can be.
While Ukraine’s neighbors have shouldered most of the burden — Poland alone is host to more than 3.2 million Ukrainians — other allies are helping. The United States has pledged to bring in 100,000 Ukrainians via a private sponsorship model. And Ukrainians will have the right to stay and work for up to three years in any of the 27 EU member states.
The millions of other refugees worldwide are still waiting for their welcome. This includes tens of thousands of Afghans who were displaced when the Taliban came back to power.
The plight of the Afghans is particularly disappointing. Hundreds of thousands were evacuated by the combined effort of the NATO allies who had had a presence in the country over the past 20 years. Tens of thousands have been resettled across the globe. But thousands remain in limbo.
They are stuck in third countries while they wait for news on whether they qualify for the restrictive visa and resettlement programs available to them. While many of them are safe, their situation is untenable. Most are not allowed to work while they wait. For some, schooling for their children is limited. Access to health care can also be uncertain.
And while many will be able to remain indefinitely in their host country, others live from temporary visa to temporary visa, fearful they may be deported back to Afghanistan.
Many other displaced people have it much worse. Only about 1% of refugees will be permanently resettled, a shamefully low number made worse when the freest and wealthiest countries in the world are unwilling to welcome them. Eighty-six percent of refugees are hosted by nations with developing economies.
These are just two examples of the events driving displacement. While many are fleeing authoritarian regimes, others are driven out by war, violence and persecution based on race, gender or religion. In some places, it’s a lack of economic opportunity. Elsewhere, the climate — droughts, floods or other natural disasters — makes an already challenging living situation impossible.
Which reasons make refugees deserving in the eyes of the governments that can afford to welcome them? Is it only an invading military? Is brutal persecution of women enough? Or does cultural similarity make some refugees preferable to others?
The freest and wealthiest countries in the world are not doing enough. All people deserve to live in a country that respects their rights and dignity. Unfortunately, too often, these countries make arbitrary choices about which refugees are more deserving to live in freedom and prosperity than others.
Citizens of these nations have an obligation as free people to make sure our countries lead. And we should all be asking ourselves how we can do our part to ensure that every displaced person is seen as deserving.
Laura Collins is director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative. A longer version of this essay appeared in The Catalyst: A Journal of Ideas from the Bush Institute. This is distributed by InsideSources.com.
