So why the media frenzy? With over 60 million displaced people worldwide, we Brits seem to have lost sight of the fact that the number of refugees taken in by the UK pales in comparison to countries like Jordan and Lebanon, where displaced people account for 38% and 26% of the population respectively.
Countries that host far more refugees than the UK are certainly watching as the British media whips up a panic over just a handful of children.
Kenya, for example, has been home to hundreds of thousands of refugees for decades. When the European ‘refugee crisis’ broke out last summer, many Kenyans took to Twitter to critique Europe’s response:
https://twitter.com/kemmy_/status/643310845276094464
https://twitter.com/Gabinuss/status/642566106469765121
I dread to think what, looking at the UK today, they might be saying now.
But this is more than the UK becoming a laughing stock on Twitter. ODI's own research shows that when richer countries treat refugees in a punitive way – by detaining them offshore and restricting their family reunification rights for example – it paves the way for similar measures in less well-off countries.
Earlier this year, when the Kenyan government announced the closure of Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp, it too drew comparisons with Europe. One of the government’s justifications for its decision was that ‘rich, prosperous and democratic countries are turning away refugees from Syria, one of the worst war zones since World War Two’.
