Refugee campaigner: Trump has created hate in Jersey

Tuesday 31 January 2017

When Donald Trump was elected to the US presidency following a fierce campaign in November 2016, shockwaves darted through both Washington and the wider world. But the ripples are now reaching Jersey in the unfortunate form of hate speech and racial prejudice, a refugee campaigner has said.

Founder of ‘Jersey Cares; Refugee Aid Group’ (JCRAG) and De La Salle teacher Bram Wanrooij came under heavy fire from some Islanders last week after using Facebook to welcome a group of former refugee actors, who were visiting to appear in an Arts Centre play.

Among the attacks were mentions of racial stereotypes and, in one in extreme instance, a suggestion that the group should be shot, sparking an investigation by the States of Jersey Police.

Pictured: The former refugee actors – Wassim Dalal from Syria, Zana Ali from Iraq and Ali Avut from Turkey, who have all been granted asylum in the Netherlands – taking part in Love Theatre’s ‘HOME’. (Photo: Bram Wanrooij)

Mr Wanrooij told Express that Jersey's anti-refugee sentiment is just one symptom of a world now governed by Trump, and spurned on by Brexit.

“People are getting more confident now with things being thrown in their favour with Trump being elected… People feel it’s more and more justifiable,” Mr Wanrooij told Express.

"[The Facebook comments were] an appalling response to people who have really done nothing wrong or done nothing to deserve that treatment. It highlights a problem not just in Jersey but across the western world, I suppose – the growing backlash against immigration, growing backlash against muslims particularly, tarring everyone with the same brush."

The root of this racial prejudice, he says, is a knee-jerk reaction to the changing face of Europe, now forced to accommodate a huge number of refugees - by no fault of the continent's or the refugees' own.

Pictured: A child playing in the former Calais 'Jungle' - home to more than 6,000 refugees - to which Mr Wanrooij's charity delivered aid.

"The amount of refugees that are being produced by the conflicts that are around Europe are higher than its even been, and there’s more people on the move since the second world war so that’s of course one of the factors that it’s important to say.

"On the other hand, there’s also a growing insecurity and instability in our parts of the world. People’s jobs are becoming more insecure, and there are all these global challenges like climate change, etcetera. I think that a lot of the anger that people are feeling towards a political class that hasn’t really responded to what people have been saying over the past two or three decades, and that anger is now being directed in the direction of a scapegoat. And the easy scapegoat is the 'immigrant' or the 'refugee'. Those terms are being used interchangeably which is a problem as well."

'Fake news' - the media's favourite catchphrase of late - and media bias also might have a part to play in fuelling harmful misconceptions about asylum seekers.

Pictured: Not all refugees are economic immigrants, but are instead fleeing persecution, Mr Wanrooij says.

"Even the conception about Calais – where my charity was active in at the beginning – people seem to respond, "why does everyone want to get to England? For benefits?"

"If you look at the numbers, there were a million people crossing into Europe in 2015, and at the highest point of the Calais camp, it was about 10,000 people. Anyone can do the maths – that’s not even 1%. Not everyone wanted to get to the UK, there’s a small group of people who wanted to get there. It’s about seeking safety. And even the people who did want to get to England have good reasons for wanting to do that. Some of them have family there, some of them had maybe a community that was already established – there’s always a reason. And instead people start shouting about benefits, even that is a misconception. Benefits in Germany and Scandanavian countries are a lot higher."

"Perception is ruling this debate for a considerable amount of people. That's part of the reason there is so much fear involved."

Pictured: A rehearsal of Love Theatre's 'HOME' about Jersey's response to the Calais migrant crisis.

JCRAG is therefore looking to correct this misinformation by engaging with and educating the public. As well as helping to stage Calais-themed 'HOME' with Love Theatre, they'll be bringing the British Institute of Human Rights over for a talk on 24 March and participating in International Refugee Week from 19th to 25th June this year with various events.

"A lot of what we do in the next few months is also focused on those misconceptions and hopefully we can change a few people’s minds."

But the States will have to play a part too, Mr Wanrooij says.

In Monday's States Assembly, Chief Minister Ian Gorst reiterated that the government would favour helping homeless Syrians on-site via the Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA) Commission rather than inviting some families to seek shelter on the Island. But Mr Wanrooij believes these efforts would be better directed towards asylum seekers stranded in Europe.

Pictured: The scene at a camp in Syria, where the States said they would prefer to direct JOA funds.

"[Syria's] got international organisations like the UNHCR who are active there in providing basic care. The refugees who get stranded in Europe all fall into the hands of criminal elements. All of them. Especially smuggling networks. There’s a lack of official organisations involved in the European camps so something we should be engaged with and the States of course should have a role there as well."

"Some of the images coming out of Paris, for example, are horrendous – people sleeping on the streets, police chasing them off and stealing their sleeping bags. It’s a pretty horrendous situation and we also see people returning to Calais."

To that end, he'll be visiting camps in Paris on the 10th February to deliver warm clothes and sleeping bags. Anyone who wishes to donate items can leave them at the Arts Centre tomorrow evening during the performance of 'HOME' at 7pm.