Blog:

What’s Wrong with Innocence, by Miriam Ticktin, spoke about the binary effects of viewing certain migrants/refugees as innocent. This perception, although seemingly harmless, distinguishes worthy versus unworthy migrants/refugees in the eyes of the public. In this way, a hierarchy system is created in which those perceived as innocent struggle to later stand on their own feet, whereas those deemed unworthy are deported. This notion of interior or exterior boundaries also resonates with Étienne Balibar’s work, We, the People of Europe?, in which he explains that Europe is unwilling to take responsibility everywhere for the actions of certain nations, such as human rights violations (an overwhelming occurrence in the refugee crisis), particularly in those nations that are not centers of governmental or virtual authorities in Europe, such as Yugoslavia when it was still standing. These two articles bring to light the volatility of the refugee/migrant crisis: innocent looking migrants, such as Aylan, caused an influx of refugees to be accepted in European countries, yet during moments after situations like the Paris Attack in 2015, European nations begin restricting entry again. This type of volatility scares me because it is unsustainable. In the generations to come, there must be a plan in place for the migrants/refugees to find safety because if there is no support structure (a much stronger one than the system in pace now) someone, whether the nations or the migrants/refugees, will collapse due to rising tensions with each other (potentially leading to war), saturation, or limited resources. However, for migrants travelling through Morocco, for example, the challenge lies in that there is virtually no way to fix their nation states, and thus these individuals are left trying to cross peripheral zones in which opposing cultures confront each other in order to get to safety. Because they have no other option but to meet these zones, I believe it is up to European states (in this example) to form a sustainable solution to the migrant/refugee crisis.

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Critical Response: Hungary’s Campaign to Expel Migrants

11/7/2017

 Advertisement:  

On September 21st, 2015, the Hungarian government published a full-page declaration in several Lebanese and Jordanian newspapers that Hungary will take the “strongest possible action” against individuals who enter the country illegally (full advertisement attached) (OCR). In 2015, Lebanon’s population size of 4.5 million people contained over 1.1 million Syrian refugees, and Jordan, a nation made up of 6.5 million individuals, was home to 630,000 Syrian refugees (OCR). In 2014, 41,215 migrants applied for asylum in Hungary, and by 2015, the number had risen to 174,400 applications per year (Eurostat).

The advertisement was published in reaction to the exponentially increasing number of Syrian migrants and refugees entering Hungary to resettle or to use it as a crossing point to enter Germany or Austria (Bayer). This publication kicked off Hungary’s “zero refugee” strategy, in which they aimed to not only stop entering migrants, but to also discourage established refugees from staying in the nation; after the publication of this advertisement, Hungary suspended monthly stipends for refugees intended to help them learn Hungarian and acclimate to the country (Bayer). By 2016, only 29,432 migrants applied for asylum in Hungary (AID).

Hungary’s Enforcement of Advertisement Threats:

            The advertisement published by Hungary in Lebanon and Jordan successfully limited the number of asylum seekers entering Hungary, yet not because of its individual merit, but because threats made in the publication were strongly enforced. Hungary’s promise to “[punish] by imprisonment” and “take the strongest action” against migrants was harshly implemented and explicitly sent a warning message to individuals yet to come.

Within the period of the ad’s distribution, Hungary began halting trains heading to western Europe, such as Germany or Austria, and forcibly removed the migrants. During one incident in September 2015, trains were halted for hours in Budapest as police attempted to tear down train doors that migrants held shut from the inside. Police turned off the air-conditioning and did not refill water supplies, hoping migrants would be forced to exist due to over heating. Outside the train station, tents and desks were set up as a stopping point before transferring these migrants to the nearest refugee center, some of which are compared to internment camps (CNN). However, the physical removal of migrants and refugees was further enforced by a fence built along the Hungarian-Serbian boarder. At the completion of the fence in September 2015, migrants fought back by tearing down portions of the fencing only to be met with “head-cracking” batons and tear gas (NYT). Declared one of the worst bursts of violence in 2015, the message spread quickly to migrants heading from Serbia that Croatia was a stronger bet to crossing than the Hungarian boarder.

Hungary’s blunt publication was backed by horrid consequences to those who did not follow its warning and the nation capitalized on this advantage. Hungarian officials, representing the current Hungarian president, Viktor Orban, declared that he “…[hopes] that the messages [Hungary has] been sending migrants for a long time have reached them… Don’t come. Because this route doesn’t lead where you want to go.” (NYT). This refugee/migrant expulsion campaign worked effectively, as shown by the 83% decline in asylum applications in Hungary in 2016.

Response to Hungary’s Advertisement:

            Lebanon responded to Hungary’s publication by turning to donors and requesting them to assist in supporting the country with the oncoming influx of migrants. Lebanon used this additional aid to freely school the hundreds of thousands of refugees within the nation in 2015. Lebanon’s goal was to give children hope that there will be jobs and educational opportunities in their futures, and prevent them from looking for illegitimate ways to travel from one place to another (OCR). By 2016, Lebanon was able to school over 200,000 students with the additional aid received largely in response to Hungary’s rejection of these children (OCR).

Hungarian citizens, although largely immigrant-averse, are not all opposed to the entrance of migrants/refugees and demonstrated this stance during a protest in September, 2015, in response to Orban’s sanctioned advertisement and violence. Thousands marched in Budapest to draw attention to their disapproval of the warning ad coupled with Orban’s declaration that he will reduce the number of refugees entering Hungary to zero. Protesters compared the Hungarian boarder patrollers to that of Nazi troops in Germany and vowed to prove that the government’s beliefs are not shared by its people (The Independent).

The cries of Lebanon and Hungary’s people reached EU leaders, causing the group to announce legal proceedings against Hungary due to their advertisement and supplementary actions in 2017. Although these sanctions took over a year to declare, this onset of legal action could result in severe fines and sanctions, detrimentally impacting the already fragile Hungarian economy (The Telegraph).

Personal Critique:

My personal critique of the Hungarian advertisement came from two angels. First, I looked from the point of view of the Hungarian government to determine if their means of communication was effective. Second, I viewed the advertisement from my own perspective and critiqued its impacts on the nation.

Angle One:

No alternatives provided: The advertisement submitted in Lebanon and Jordan not only limits the number of locations migrants can travel, but it also offers no support as to where else migrants may go. In addition, it does not offer support to nations that will now experience an additional influx of migrants, such as Croatia. This advertisement, although morally and legally unjust, does not even achieve the job it was aiming to do, expelling and deterring migrants from coming to Hungary, effectively. In this way, migrants had no choice but to continue with their travels in hopes of crossing the Hungarian boarder regardless of the warnings because they had or knew no other possible solutions.

Not solely effective: The Hungarian advertisement could not stand on its own to deter migrants from entering Hungary. Instead, the government had to enforce the conditions of the advertisement physically upon migrants in order to truly send the message that they do not want them entering the nation. The effects of this physical abuse, used to back up their declaration, resulted in extreme backlash from the EU, boarding nations, as well as thousands of Hungarians themselves. Hungary could face an economic downturn and lose its footing in the EU as a result of their ineffective communication.

Angle Two:

Propagates racism: Hungary is communally known as one of the most anti-Semitic nations with predominantly white individuals who are extremely averse to other ethnicities. However, this is not solely a rumor in Europe, but fact. In 2015, the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance reported that Hungary is rampantly xenophobic and violent against minorities (DW). In response, Viktor Orban, who was cited as the force behind this movement, denied any wrongdoing (DW).

Through advertisements such as this, the government continues to propagate the idea to their citizens that classes exist due to color and nationality, and that white Hungarians are superior. This idea rings comparably to the Nazi mentality, and this analogy is not an uncommonly heard. Government propaganda such as this advertisement not only encourages this thought process but gives it validation as well, and this has the potential to lead to catastrophic events such as civil war or exclusion from the EU.

Excludes positive impacts of migrants: Hungary suffers from a declining population as well as a brain drain, as the majority of accomplished citizens move elsewhere in western Europe to find job opportunities (OSF). Through the entrance of migrants, economic growth will increase and be sustained. Migrants, coming from many backgrounds, will bring innovation and energy to add support a growing job market. In addition to these economic benefits, the young migrants can support the pension gap currently growing in Hungary to support the ageing population by their contributions and tax payments.

Beyond the moral and economic benefits of migrants entering a nation, the culture will also be enriched with diversity. Cultural diversity brings higher moral and community engagement as people feel validated no matter what their background is. Hungary, under the leadership of Viktor Orban, is engrained in a societal and moral crisis in which the youth population cannot find long term opportunities in the nation (HS). Migrants, in many ways, are a strong solution to eradicating this societal problem.

Bibliography:

1. Deeb, Sarah El. “Hungary Posts Ads in Lebanon, Jordan Media Warning Migrants.” Orange County Register, (OCR) Orange County Register, Sept. 2015, ocregister.com/2015/09/21/hungary-posts-ads-in-lebanon-jordan-media-warning-migrants/.
2. “Record Number of over 1.2 Million First Time Asylum Seekers Registered in 2015.” Europa, Eurostat, 4 Mar. 2016, ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/7203832/3-04032016-AP-EN.pdf/.
3. Bayer, Lili. “Hungary’s ‘Zero Refugee’ Strategy.” POLITICO, POLITICO, 20 Sept. 2016, politico.eu/article/hungary-zero-refugee-strategy-viktor-orban-europe-migration-crisis/.
4. “Statistics.” Statistics – Hungary | Asylum Information Database, (AID), Asylum Information Database, 2017, asylumineurope.org/reports/country/hungary/statistics.
5. Damon, Arwa, and Laura Smith-Spark. “Migrant Crisis: Chaos as Trains Are Stopped in Hungary.” CNN, Cable News Network, Sept. 2015, cnn.com/2015/09/03/europe/europe-migrant-crisis/index.html.
6. Lyman, Helene Bienvenu And Rick. “Hungary Blocks Migrants in Border Crackdown.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Sept. 2015, nytimes.com/2015/09/16/world/europe/hungary-detains-migrants-in-border-crackdown.html?_r=1
7. Ramgobin, Ryan. “Thousands Protest against Hungarian Government’s Stance on Refugee Crisis.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, Sept. 2015, independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/thousands-protest-against-hungarian-government-s-stance-on-refugee-crisis-10499816.html.
8. Day, Peter Foster; Matthew. “EU Migration Showdown: Divide Deepens after Brussels Launches Legal Action against Hungary, Poland and Czech Republic.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 13 June 2017, telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/13/eu-migration-showdown-divide-deepens-brussels-launches-legal/.
9. Bleiker, Carla. “EU Report Finds Rampant Racism, Xenophobia in Hungary.” DW Made for Minds, DW, 6 Sept. 2016, dw.com/en/eu-report-finds-rampant-racism-xenophobia-in-hungary/a-18505689.
10. “The Moral Health of Hungarian Society.” Hungarian Spectrum, (HS) 4 Oct. 2015, hungarianspectrum.org/2015/10/04/the-moral-health-of-hungarian-society/
11. Pardavi, Márta. “Ten Things You Need to Know About Hungary’s Refugees.” Open Society Foundations, (OSF) 30 Sept. 2015, www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/what-you-need-know-about-refugee-crisis-hungary.