Refugees benefit Europe economy, culture: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Ken Fero, a filmmaker and lecturer at the Coventry University, about criticism made by Amnesty International that Germany has failed to adequately protect incoming refugees.

Read a rough transcription of the interview below.

Press TV: How do you feel about this human rights report?

Fero: Well, it’s obviously welcome that Amnesty has done this. I don’t think the report is hard enough and goes deep enough into what’s actually happening on the ground. We have several people not just in Germany but across the whole of Europe and what they’re reporting is that the racism and the viciousness against refugees is growing daily.

So, I think this report is just a tiny view on terms of what’s happening on the ground.

Historically, Germany has always had racist policies towards refugees and asylum-seekers. We’ve seen several deaths, several racist murders not just in Germany but across the whole of Europe over the past 30, 40, 50 years and these deaths are now escalating. And I think the cause of this racism, the cause of this problem is the rhetoric of governments, the rhetoric of the political parties, who keep stocking up a hatred of the other, a hatred of Arabs, a hatred of Africans, a hatred of refugees and migrants... and those words themselves have now become completely loaded.

So, I think we in Europe, people in Europe, have to rise up against this. For every fascist, for every Nazi, there are 10 or 20 who would support refugees and I think it is up to the people of Europe to actually stand against Nazis, stand against the right-wing and support the refugees.

Press TV: It’s interesting, isn’t it Mr. Fero, because, you know, Germany was applauded at least Angela Merkel was applauded when she spoke about that open-door policy of refugees, but then I’m also wondering, in comparison to other countries, I imagine maybe Germany stands still on a higher ground?

Fero: Well, I don’t think the open-door policy is enough, because once you open the door and you invite somebody in, you have to treat them with respect. When you open the door and you invite somebody in, you can’t beat them up, you can’t kill them. So, an open-door policy isn’t enough. Open the door but welcome people into your house and show them respect and show them what it is to be a human being.

So, I think the open-door policy has to be looked at and talked all the way through. And of course Germany is not the only place where there are problems with fascist and rightwing... we have it in the UK, we have it everywhere.

But as I said before, the importance is there not to look at refugees as victim and at to look at migrants as victims but to look at them as our brothers and sisters. And people in Europe have to stand with them.

Press TV: Well and the criticism obviously, Mr. Fero, of the refugee influx is that this will obviously affect (A) the economy and (B) culture. How do you feel about those two arguments?

Fero: Well, I think if you look at any country in Europe, the so-called influx, the numbers are very small; so, I don’t even appreciate the use of the word influx because it implies that there’s a this kind of mass migration, mass refugee movement. That isn’t true at all. Refugees, migrants, immigrants have only done two things: in terms of the economy, they have benefited the economy; and culturally, they have increased cultural activity and they have led to a new kind of fusion between different cultures. If you go to London, if you go to Berlin, if you go to all the major cities, you can see people from all over the world living together, developing hybrid cultures and developing a new kind of way of living together and I think that has to be celebrated.

As well as the resistance, we have to appreciate the fact that people are living together very successfully all over the world and that isn’t an issue. The issue is the politics, the major parties and how they use refugees, how they use black people, how they use Arabs to divide their own populations; and people have to see through those lies and to stand together.

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