By Dr.
John McCoy
e-mail: jsmcoy@ualberta.ca
Originally published in the Edmonton Journal, December 18, 2015.
Writing about terrorism and refugees is
difficult. From a personal and normative standpoint and, given my own liberal
internationalist inclinations and commitment to multiculturalism,
humanitarianism and multilateralism, it is a challenging subject. But in light
of the level of controversy, fear and unabashed racism that surrounds the
current debate over the admission of Syrian refugees to Canada and other
western states it is crucial that academics engage with these fears from a
scholarly perspective. I believe that empirical, social-scientific study and a
historicist’s perspective is supportive of my own normative biases and the case
for “solving” the refugee crisis.
First the controversial endeavors:
defining terrorism and exploring the connections between waves of political
violence and a flood of refugees. Here,
I define terrorism as a particular method
or form of political violence – one that explicitly seeks to have a
psychological impact (primarily fear inducement) and/or send a message beyond
the immediate target of a terrorist act. This definition draws on the work of
Anthony Richards, it is “actor neutral” allowing for the inclusion of state and
non-state actors, and it moves beyond the “one man’s terrorist is another man’s
freedom fighter” cliché by including violence that we may sometimes approve of
(e.g. in pursuit of a “just cause”).[1]
This is not a definition that will satisfy everyone – that is not achievable.
But it does allow us to view terrorism as something that is conceptually
distinct.
Now the hard part - connecting the dots
between refugees and terrorism. According to Bruce Hoffman, author of the
influential book Inside Terrorism, modern
international terrorism began on the 22nd of July 1968. On that date,
the Palestinian Liberation Organization hijacked an Israeli El Al flight flying
from Rome to Tel Aviv. The event brought media attention to the Palestinian
cause; it resulted in a prisoner swap and the release of 16 individuals. Four
years later, another high profile terrorist attack - the 1972 Munich Olympic
tragedy – drew a massive global media response when over 4000 print and radio
journalists and 2000 television reporters covered the event: the world was
horrified, and that horror was magnified by a globalized media.[2]
Eighteen months after that attack, Yassir Arafat was addressing the UN General
Assembly, and by the end of the 1970s the PLO had more formal diplomatic
relations with states than Israel had. Terrorism, in a limited strategic sense,
worked – it succeeded in bringing attention to the hopelessness, despair and
desperation of stateless Palestinians – it had succeeded where years of
desperate diplomatic pleas had failed.
In this sense modern international
terrorism has its origins in the displacement of refugees who found themselves
with few options - languishing, homeless, stateless - in Jordan, Lebanon and
elsewhere. Should we be surprised that individuals forcibly removed from their
homes, subjected to violence, locked in a refugee camp and stripped of their
futures, their children’s futures and their dignity would, in some cases, turn
to violence? Of course, not all refugees will turn to terrorism out of
hopelessness, but like any other disempowered people they will sometimes pursue
one of the view forms of violence available to them. Today, for the Syrians,
the settings are analogous, the wars more complex, but their plight is similar.
Bringing in 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada, or hundreds of thousands to
Germany, or a million to Europe, is not a solution (I’ll leave that discussion for
another space). But allowing refugees to find refuge in Western states is one
way of lessening the impact of these trends by offering hope to the hopeless. And
on the perceived security threat posed by refugees arriving in Canada and
elsewhere, we need to first recognize that they are fleeing violence - not looking
for it - they are seeking a new beginning and an escape from cycles upon cycles
of violence and despair. Is it possible that a refugee could commit an act of
terrorism? It is possible, but today, in the era of online radicalization,
conceivably anyone can become a terrorist.
The other argument employed by those
opposed to admission - that refugees are “bad for the economy” is simply and blatantly
false. Immigrants and refugees are good
for the economy; this much is a clearly demonstrated social scientific fact
that is supported by a large body of data and scholarly research. Refugees work;
they pay taxes and build a future for their children who are needed in states
with birth rates under that of replacement. The initial costs of settlement are
not insignificant but the long-term investment pays dividends.
Today, refugees are an all too familiar
part of our zeitgeist – we are living through the greatest wave of refugees
since the Second World War because of our collective inability to address
failed states, legacies of colonialism and our haphazard use of military
intervention in the post-9-11 world. We are living through a period of profound
conflict because of geo-political rivalries that are being played out at global
and regional levels. Fear and racism directed towards refugees are a sure way of
promoting some of the conflicts and ideologies that are undermining our
collective security. These narratives embolden the militant Islamists and the
equally dangerous and rapidly growing neo-fascists. We need to recognize that
today’s “war on terrorism” is not going to be won through an air war, or the
logic of drone strikes – today’s struggle is a war of ideas. Welcoming refugees
and promoting lasting solutions to their plight is the only sane path we can
take – it is a crucial first step to restoring order in our disordered world. It
is morally and practically sound.
John McCoy, PhD, is an expert in homegrown violent extremism and
integration in Canada. He is a lecturer in the Department of Political
Science at the University of Alberta where he leads undergraduate and
graduate courses on terrorism studies, international relations and
foreign policy. John is the Director of Applied Research with the
Organization for Intra-Cultural Development (OICD), an organization that
is engaged in the development of counter-extremism programs. He also
works as a policy consultant for the federal government, other national
governments, and international organizations.
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