Refugees and emigrants

There is wide international consensus that President Donald Trump’s recent executive order aiming to ban the entry of nationals of seven Muslim countries is repugnant to all norms dear to the American people, not to mention international standards.

But this is only one side of the equation.

There is no doubt that Trump enjoys considerable support among his countrymen.

At the same time, most Western countries are experiencing demonstrations against refugees and emigrants, and this sentiment is on the rise, especially in France, The Netherlands and Germany.

This rejection of refugees and emigrants from the developing world, especially from Muslim countries, is a feeling against newcomers belonging to different cultures and religions.

It stems, in part at least, from the view that most of the newcomers fail to integrate in the countries that acquire them and maintain their culture and way of living, which often stand out, different from the mainstream culture of the European nations.

Refugees and emigrants tend to live in ghettos, forced, in part, but also by choice and clinging to their own culture and traditions that appear in contrast with the mainstream cultural values of the receiving states.

This raises the question whether emigrants and refugees integrate in, if not get assimilated by the local population.

By international human rights, countries have a right to preserve and protect their cultural values and way of living, and newcomers have the duty to respect and observe this right.

France and Turkey stand out as the two countries that do not recognise minority rights and do not even admit that they have different ethnic or national groups living side by side with the mainstream population.

The two countries contend that all people living in their countries are either French or Turks, and that means that all newcomers are expected to either integrate or assimilate in every conceivable way. 

The rapid rise in the number of refugees or emigrants entering European countries is bound to create cultural and religious shockwaves that may get out of hand in the future. 

All sides must deal with this imminent danger before it gets out of control.