PL | EN

Pushbacks and anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe

A story about migration is also about seemingly unconnected phenomena — for example, when sea levels rise in Senegal, the ratings of far-right political parties in Europe change. Forced to flee due to climate change, coastal erosion and resource-depleting international fishing on a massive scale, Senegalese are travelling from their homeland to Spain via Morocco. With the growing number of migrants, anti-immigrant sentiment is gaining strength. Then political groups feel emboldened to portray migrants as a threat to national identity, as exemplified by Spain’s Vox party.

Bulgaria is one of the gateways to the European Union for migrants. The country is trying to seal the border with Turkey to stop the growing number of people seeking to cross it. The Bulgarian authorities are accused of abusing migrants and using pushback. Pushbacks and human rights violations are also taking place in Greece and Italy. These countries have been condemned internationally for their actions toward migrants.

In Greece, the asylum seekers have had to leave their homes and return to refugee camps. According to Greek authorities, the standards in the camps are high, but migration experts say that this is an attempt to deter other migrants from seeking a chance at asylum. The housing for migrants was provided by the Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation (ESTIA) program, a joint initiative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the European Union. The Greek government withdrew from participation in the program in December 2022.

Read also
The new map of China and diplomatic relations in Asia
The new map of China and diplomatic relations in Asia
Publishing the official map of China on the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources website sparked a reaction from neighbouring countries. India lodged a formal protest because the map shows the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Doklam and Aksai Chin plateaus as official Chinese territory. While the situation on the China-India border has been […]
Technology and food: fruits from the laboratory and the Farm of the Future
Technology and food: fruits from the laboratory and the Farm of the Future
At the Future Farm of Wageningen University & Research, scientists want to produce more food and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. They experiment, among others, with a crop diversity method that uses water more efficiently, reduces the risk of plant diseases, is healthier for the soil and produces higher yields. The farm’s drainage […]
Social protests: Syria, Colombia and Nagorno-Karabakh
Social protests: Syria, Colombia and Nagorno-Karabakh
Is a revolution just beginning in Syria, a country which has been plunged into civil war since 2011? The largest anti-government protests in years have been taking place there for several weeks. In Sweida province in the south of the country, roads to the capital, Damascus, were blocked, and government offices were closed. According to […]
Gender equality in the world, quotas in Mexico and busy Japanese women
Gender equality in the world, quotas in Mexico and busy Japanese women
Goal 5 of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls. Meanwhile, according to data from 2023, in 87 countries worldwide, less than half of women and girls finish secondary school, and the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation. Of the 14 Goal 5 indicators, only […]
Technology in human life: from robots in schools to the Haredi
Technology in human life: from robots in schools to the Haredi
According to experts from the Monell Chemical Senses Center and the Osmo startup, the machine learning model developed by Google DeepMind has achieved human-like proficiency in describing the smell of chemicals. This is a breakthrough in research that will enable the digitization of odours, their recording and reproduction, the identification of new odours for the […]
Previous issues