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The Guardian view on the refugee crisis: dial down the rhetoric, and have the difficult debate The Guardian view on the refugee crisis: dial down the rhetoric, and have the difficult debate
(about 2 hours later)
“Of course we condemn the violence…”. Muslim voices in every debate have, for some time, had to establish their right to be heard in this way. Question one of the interview script rarely applies the same legitimacy test to others. But since the dreadful New Year’s Eve sex attacks in Cologne, it has begun to feel as if anybody making the case for a humane asylum policy – whose urgency was laid bare on Friday, after another 45 people drowned in the Aegean – is duty bound to preface every point with several “of courses”. Yes, of course, women should be able to walk the streets without being attacked. Yes, of course, sexual assault must be pursued with the full force of the law. And yes, of course, it is appalling how women are oppressed in many Middle Eastern societies.“Of course we condemn the violence…”. Muslim voices in every debate have, for some time, had to establish their right to be heard in this way. Question one of the interview script rarely applies the same legitimacy test to others. But since the dreadful New Year’s Eve sex attacks in Cologne, it has begun to feel as if anybody making the case for a humane asylum policy – whose urgency was laid bare on Friday, after another 45 people drowned in the Aegean – is duty bound to preface every point with several “of courses”. Yes, of course, women should be able to walk the streets without being attacked. Yes, of course, sexual assault must be pursued with the full force of the law. And yes, of course, it is appalling how women are oppressed in many Middle Eastern societies.
Well, yes. Of course. The important question is where this trail leads, and the signs are not heartening. The French prime minister, Manuel Valls – in an intervention which mentioned Cologne, without explaining why it was pertinent – has just laid out his intention to retain indefinitely a state of emergency, where the house arrest powers are aimed more at some communities than others. The traditionally hospitable Swedes have been seeking to draw up the bridge over the Öresund, while the Danes have been drawing up rules to swipe immigrants’ possessions at the border. David Cameron, meanwhile, has been trumpeting a new interest in the inadequate English not of immigrants in general, but of Muslim women in particular. By placing that issue in the context of counter-terrorism and repatriation, he did more to stoke mutual distrust than to foster real integration.Well, yes. Of course. The important question is where this trail leads, and the signs are not heartening. The French prime minister, Manuel Valls – in an intervention which mentioned Cologne, without explaining why it was pertinent – has just laid out his intention to retain indefinitely a state of emergency, where the house arrest powers are aimed more at some communities than others. The traditionally hospitable Swedes have been seeking to draw up the bridge over the Öresund, while the Danes have been drawing up rules to swipe immigrants’ possessions at the border. David Cameron, meanwhile, has been trumpeting a new interest in the inadequate English not of immigrants in general, but of Muslim women in particular. By placing that issue in the context of counter-terrorism and repatriation, he did more to stoke mutual distrust than to foster real integration.
Mr Cameron also flexed his “muscular liberalism” with a fresh foray into the reliably inflammatory question of the veil. It is not so long since such selective feminism provided a pretext for bombing Afghanistan, but it is especially distasteful for Mr Cameron to be hamming up culture clashes just now because Britain has declined to take its fair share of the people displaced in the current crisis, and so does not confront the same practical questions of integration as the likes of Germany. In such states, the pressure to discuss to “migrant crime”, as if it were something entirely different from the crime Europe has always known, can at least be understood. But this is terrain where fact and fiction can easily get muddled. Even if there turn out to be distinctive patterns in the sorts of crime reported, condemnation shorn of understanding will not get us far. Mr Cameron also flexed his “muscular liberalism” with a fresh foray into the reliably inflammatory question of the veil. It is not so long since such selective feminism provided a pretext for bombing Afghanistan, but it is especially distasteful for Mr Cameron to be hamming up culture clashes just now because Britain has declined to take its fair share of the people displaced in the current crisis, and so does not confront the same practical questions of integration as the likes of Germany. In such states, the pressure to discuss “migrant crime”, as if it were something entirely different from the crime Europe has always known, can at least be understood. But this is terrain where fact and fiction can easily get muddled. Even if there turn out to be distinctive patterns in the sorts of crime reported, condemnation shorn of understanding will not get us far.
In trying to make sense of the horrors of Cologne, where over 200 women reported being sexually assaulted in a public space, some will wave a hand and decry a supposedly alien Muslim culture, which Christendom naively welcomed in. But they explain nothing. They ignore the innocence of the overwhelming majority of the migrants, as they selectively dredge up those aspects of Sharia law which seem most at odds with feminism. Theological justifications for crime are in any case much less important than social conditions and the hope of impunity. So rather than explore that dead end, it is more fruitful to dig into research about the conditions which encourage young men to behave appallingly in all sorts of cultures and contexts. The research, for example, which nails a connection between risky and brutish male behaviour and the gender imbalance wrought by selective abortion in India and China, an imbalance less extreme than that in many of the migrant camps. And the studies, too, which elucidate the connection, traditionally familiar from the football terraces, between violence and the crowd.In trying to make sense of the horrors of Cologne, where over 200 women reported being sexually assaulted in a public space, some will wave a hand and decry a supposedly alien Muslim culture, which Christendom naively welcomed in. But they explain nothing. They ignore the innocence of the overwhelming majority of the migrants, as they selectively dredge up those aspects of Sharia law which seem most at odds with feminism. Theological justifications for crime are in any case much less important than social conditions and the hope of impunity. So rather than explore that dead end, it is more fruitful to dig into research about the conditions which encourage young men to behave appallingly in all sorts of cultures and contexts. The research, for example, which nails a connection between risky and brutish male behaviour and the gender imbalance wrought by selective abortion in India and China, an imbalance less extreme than that in many of the migrant camps. And the studies, too, which elucidate the connection, traditionally familiar from the football terraces, between violence and the crowd.
Once we have clarity on the social risks thrown up by displaced populations living in rather hopeless conditions, the solutions begin to suggest themselves – the jobs and the housing which might give isolated young men a route into society. Europeans also need to face up to, and then fix, those policies that have alienated, rather than integrated. The French education minister, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, showed the way this week, when she told the Guardian that the republic’s secularism needs to be rescued and recast, after a period in which it has been twisted into a weapon to attack minorities. And then, yes, there is also a need to ensure that migrants, wherever they may come from, are informed about their new society and its laws. The sort of courses being offered to new arrivals in Norway and Finland might be considered here. Do economic hope, education and mutual respect sound like the principles for managing community relations in challenging times? Well yes, of course.Once we have clarity on the social risks thrown up by displaced populations living in rather hopeless conditions, the solutions begin to suggest themselves – the jobs and the housing which might give isolated young men a route into society. Europeans also need to face up to, and then fix, those policies that have alienated, rather than integrated. The French education minister, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, showed the way this week, when she told the Guardian that the republic’s secularism needs to be rescued and recast, after a period in which it has been twisted into a weapon to attack minorities. And then, yes, there is also a need to ensure that migrants, wherever they may come from, are informed about their new society and its laws. The sort of courses being offered to new arrivals in Norway and Finland might be considered here. Do economic hope, education and mutual respect sound like the principles for managing community relations in challenging times? Well yes, of course.