The Dehumanization Of Refugees

Refugees are an important topic in the media at the moment, mostly because of the increasing numbers of immigrants in various countries, but also because of the way they are talked about. Some people think that we use an excessive amount of negative and condescending words, when we talk about refugees. They believe it can be “dehumanizing” and suggests that we start using positive words about refugees, because that could change our view on them. Can a change in our language really change our perspective? The British reporter Adam Taylor addresses this issue in his article “Why the language we use to talk about refugees matters so much” published in The Washington Post on July 30, 2015.
In his article Taylor makes his viewpoints very clear.

He feels like there’s an inequality between immigrants and us, and that there shouldn’t be. “Mawuna Remarque Koutonin asked why white people were often referred to as expatriates. "Top African professionals going to work in Europe are not considered expats," Koutonin wrote. "They are immigrants.” According to Taylor, there is also an inequality in the names that we call immigrants. “"We don 't call middle-class Europeans who take regular holidays abroad 'EasyJet people, ' or the super-rich of Monaco 'yacht people, '” He doesn’t understand why we call them names such as boat people, when they don’t call us anything. For the immigrants it is very important what they are called, because it has an impact on how the will be perceived in the country they arrive in. However, the immigrants aren’t always leaving their country because of political reasons, but sometimes to seek better jobs and higher wages. “In May, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the migrants leaving her country were "fortune-seekers" and "mentally sick."” Even a word as neutral as immigrant is starting to get a negative meaning, according to Taylor. “…the word used to describe them takes on a new, negative meaning," Trilling

According to Laurence Peter’s article “Why is EU struggling with migrants and asylum?” published in BBC News in August 2015, the number of refugees in Germany this year is at about 800,000! I find that to be almost too many, but I also agree with Taylor on some levels. Of course, we should treat the immigrants with respect and respect their feelings, but I think it’s all becoming a bit excessive if we can’t even call them immigrants anymore. I think that we should maybe be more strict with the people we let in to our country, but also not too strict like in Australia. For example in Australia, they’ve made a campaign video against illegal refugees on youtube called “General Campbell 's message to people who travel illegally by boat to Australia” and was published September 2014. They are trying to stop them from getting into their country. I definitely think that what they are doing is too much, beside if the people are refugees, they probably won’t watch the video anyway. I think that we should help and respect immigrants, if they are in need of help. But if they are just fleeing to get a better job, they should stay in their own country and try to make the best out of it