Striking Difference

The narrative around refugees and asylum seekers across the globe appears politically insinuated. Because data tells a different story

- Jaffer Latief Najar

RECENTLY, on July 7, 2023, the Dutch government collapsed over radical yet opposing outlooks of coalition parties on the issue of a proposed new immigration policy. The mounting concerns over the problem of a housing crisis, high gas prices and inflation are developing a narrative that blames foreign migrants—international students, wealthier “expats” and particularly asylum seekers as the key cause. It has ensued into the formation of a policy proposal, pressing the Dutch government to introduce a new bill that appears to restrict the rights of family members to join refugees from countries temporarily at war.

The difference in the views of coalition parties over this new bill caused the collapse of the government. Akin to or even harsher than such a policy, the United Kingdom has already devised a plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to ‘deter’ people from arriving in the UK. Notably, such a pattern indicates the upsetting concerns and narratives that are appearing against the “soaring outsider” in Europe, especially refugees and asylum seekers.