Refugees are not terrorists.

Refugees are not terrorists.

Refugee – noun; a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

Terrorism – noun; the unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.

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According to the UN High Councillor for Refugees, there are currently 59.5 million displaced people in the world; every single day, 42,500 people are forced out of their homes due to conflict or persecution. Last year, 51% of all refugees were under the age of 18. It is vital that we welcome them with compassion and care – any hostility will surely lead to susceptibility for extremist recruitment.

Several leading members of the press in the United Kingdom and the USA have been eager to highlight an alleged intrinsic link between refugees, who are fleeing for their lives, and hideous terrorist atrocities. Sporting bogus statistics and ridiculously far-fetched narratives, a perfect example of this fear-mongering comes from the 55p tabloid, The Daily Express. It claimed last year that ISIS has helped to smuggle over 4,000 militant “gunmen” into western nations, “hidden amongst innocent refugees”.

According to recent Europol statements, this simply isn’t true. Speaking at the launch of a new European-wide anti-terrorism scheme today, Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol, concluded that there is “no concrete evidence” linking refugees and terror attacks. Further, investigating into the November 13th Paris attacks, Europol analysts and crime experts found nothing whatsoever to support the idea “that terrorist travellers systematically use the flow of refugees to enter Europe unnoticed”. This myth has been generated as a sophisticated ploy to sell newspapers, and it is wholly disgusting.

However, the Europol investigation revealed three main things that have to change if we are to stand any chance of preventing radicalisation and stopping further terror attacks from happening.

Firstly, Europe needs to pay close attention to relocating and clearing refugees from so-called bottlenecks in Greece and Turkey – and fast. Europol found that refugee holding camps were quickly becoming hotbeds for radicalisation, and vulnerable scared refugees were frequently targeted by ISIS recruiters operating in these camps; their research suggests that it is in these refugee camps, not in the refugees’ home countries, where radicalisation is occurring.

Secondly, Europol uncovered a lack of information exchange between European countries. As a result, the European Counter-Terrorism Centre was set up on Monday. Rob Wainwright, Europol director, explains, “Our ambition is for the European Counter-Terrorism Centre to become a central information hub in the fight against terrorism in the EU, providing analysis for ongoing investigations and contributing to a coordinated reaction in the event of major terrorist attacks”.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, Europol called for a change to our culture. It lamented the rise of subtle xenophobia and concluded that a major contributing factor to radicalisation is a feeling of isolation. As long as the tabloid press smears refugees and immigrants are murderers and rapists, it will be impossible for those groups to integrate fully with. society. And, if integration does not occur, large proportions of our population are left vulnerable to radicalisation.

It is absolutely vital that we stop viewing refugees as terrorists – this is categorically untrue. Doing so merely detracts and distracts from the sensible discussion surrounding the best methods of counter-terrorism. Europol’s suggestion are clear and effective and seem to be the best. option in an increasingly muddled debate.