MARCH 2, 2022
While the Western media never made any effort to hide behind curtains when it spoke of tightening screws and shutting doors on refugees from war-ravaged Middle Eastern countries, its overwhelmingly biased coverage of those fleeing the terrors of Ukraine has laid bare the tinted glasses perched on the end of its nose. Expressing solidarity with Ukrainians could very well do without the sprinkle of racist vigour that dehumanised people who came from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or even parts of Africa. Some commentators talked about “blue eyes and blonde hair,” and regret over a “relatively civilised, relatively European city” being targeted echoed elsewhere–all of which has been condemned with all might and main as a “pervasive mentality” by the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists’ Association. But no amount of exasperation by those, who the “civilised” world did not bat an eyelid before turning into a laboratory for its military exercises, can help undo the widespread ignorance, especially when those sitting on the other end of the table seem totally comfortable, living in their bliss. The inability to see beyond its own nose runs in direct contravention with the most basic of media’s responsibilities, especially in times of conflict. With a much greater dependence on the general people because of the need for reliable information, media outlets have a far profound impact on opinion-making. By throwing open borders and asylums that last as long as three years, European nations have already shown their cards. However, reinforcing such stereotypical points again and again only twists the dagger further in this war matters only because those who are being targeted matter.
War can never be pursued as a solution for it only aggravates miseries for its victims. Raising the voice for the Arab refugees should, in no manner, be taken as a political ploy to tear down civilian casualties in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In plain words, it is a plea to reconsider the case of hundreds of thousands of desperate Afghans begging for a way out at Kabul airport and millions of Syrians who bore the brunt of a regime acting hand in glove with the same Putin whose actions are being denounced as unacceptable by Western powers. They have been declared as less valuable. Ergo, why would anyone shed a tear, talking about atrocities in the world of those deemed not as worthy? *
source https://dailytimes.com.pk/894004/worthy-refugees/
Categories: Europe, Europe and Australia, European Union, Ukraine