“We can do it.”
With these words German chancellor Angela Merkel famously refused to close the country’s borders. In rejecting the xenophobic sentiments that led to immigration caps in other countries, Merkel made Germany a bastion of hope for many of those still waiting at the borders of Europe.
It was not only the German chancellor who was morally motivated by the drama around the refugee crisis, but also an extraordinarily high number of citizens. Most eye-catching were the receptions of refugees in cities like Munich, where asylum seekers were greeted by cheering crowds holding signs with the fast-spreading slogan “Refugees welcome!”. Pictures like the tragically famous one of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi’s dead body touched people all across Europe and caused a surge of donations and volunteering .
Unfortunately, this collective altruism did not last long. Since that time, the euphoric welcoming of refugees has settled. Incidents of attacks against immigrants have risen as has support for anti-immigrant groups. Countries throughout Europe have reintroduced border controls, and rejected any type of joint effort to fairly distribute refugees among EU member states. Merkel, facing immense backlash in the public and even her own party, has abandoned her slogan. In Germany, there seems to be a growing yet unspoken consensus that we no longer can do it.
There are many possible explanations for this trend of rejection and hostility. Fear of terrorism, economic strain, problems with cultural integration, and sheer lack of capacity are some of the most commonly cited ones. However, these arguments simply cannot account for the massive shift in public sentiment over the past year. With the passage of time, it seems, the emotional arousal that came with the media’s narrative of refugee misfortune has faded. The refugee crisis has passively been accepted as the status quo by politicians and by the public. Germany’s Willkommenskultur (welcome culture) was salient a year ago, but now it simply is no longer timely.
Instead of touching people’s hearts, the refugee crisis has become an abstract situation used as a pawn in negotiations between states and in campaigns by populists. This shift of attitude is, though perhaps understandable, unacceptable. The people in Europe should remind themselves that the refugee crisis is a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis that affects individuals. These people need our help, not our hate. Only when nations find and express the empathy of a welcoming people will governments act accordingly.