0000000000131674
AUTHOR
Shawn M. Condon
Refugee Crisis in the European Union
This chapter outlines the myriad push and pull factors that led to the refugee crisis, describes the scale of the migration, and discusses how the European Union (EU) nations and the EU as a whole responded to the crisis. Four push factors are described: the change in migration policy in Macedonia that opened up the Balkan route to the EU, the war in Syria, political and economic instability in sub-Saharan Africa, and climate change. The primary pull factors are economic opportunities and political and religious freedoms. The discussion of the scale of the migration and how each nation responded provides in-depth discussion of how individual EU nations responded to the refugee crisis.
Perception of Finns Towards Refugees and Immigrants
This chapter explores the perception Finns have towards refugees. In particular, building off intergroup threat theory (ITT), this chapter describes the extent to which Finns perceive refugees as a threat to Finnish society. Researchers have proposed Finns might perceive immigrants (and refugees) as threats because they share less cultural and physical similarities with the “Typical” Finns. As fear of this threat increases, so can the chance of intergroup conflict between these two groups. Through an analysis of in-depth interviews, this chapter brings to light these perceived threats to understand the refugee situation in Finland, as perceived by Finns.
Migration to Finland and the Nordic Nations
This chapter provides a brief review of historical migration to Finland, discusses the legal aspects of migrating to Finland and the rights of immigrants and refugees, current trends in migration to and from Finland, and analyses how other Nordic nations (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden specifically) have responded to the refugee crisis. Through this discussion, similarities and differences in how Nordic nations have historically and currently respond to migration are explained.
Perceptions of Immigrants Towards Refugees and Finns
For a full picture and for more developed insights into the intergroup relations between Finns, immigrants, refugees, and other migrants, it was important for us to look beyond the experiences of refugees and ethnic Finns and to examine the position of other immigrants living or residing in Finland. Thus, this chapter explores the perception immigrants have towards Finns and refugees. Building off intergroup threat theory (ITT), this chapter describes the extent to which immigrants perceive immigrants and refugees as a threat to Finnish society. Through an analysis of in-depth interviews, this chapter brings to light these perceived threats to understand the immigration and prejudice situat…
Perceptions of Refugees Towards Finns and Immigrants
Building off of the previous two chapters, this chapter looks at the refugee experience from the point of view of the refugee. While the overwhelming majority of integrated threat studies have been conducted from the point of view of the dominant culture, and a few from the point of view of an immigrant or minority’s perspective, none have explored threat from the point of view of a refugee. Therefore, for a more holistic picture of the Finnish migration situation, and the situation of refugees in Finland, we explored how refugees see threat, migration, their situation, Finns, and other immigrants in Finland. Thus, through the use of in-depth interviews, this chapter explores the perception…