How accurate are European perceptions of Muslim Asylum Seeker values?

Louis Talay

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The European Migrant Crisis (EMC) has emerged as a direct result of the Syrian war and general conflict in the Middle East that has put the lives of civilians in that region in serious danger. Although there is no disputing that this very source of the EMC needs to be attended to through the development of a sustainable geopolitical strategy, such efforts cannot come at the expense of the lives of those that have been forced to leave that region to protect themselves and their families. Subsequently, the European countries where these people arrive to seek asylum are faced with varying degrees of a moral imperative to accommodate them. Intercultural tolerance levels, national security fears, welfare state exploitation and economics all act as barriers against immigration. We already know that the latter two concern the short term wellbeing of nationals but can easily be refuted by long term rationalist arguments (Dumont and Liebig, 2014; Horn, 2016). This study will focus more on the validity of protectionist immigration policies based on national security sentiments and claims of value incompatibilities.

Abstract:

The European Migrant Crisis (EMC) has emerged as a direct result of the Syrian war and general conflict in the Middle East that has put the lives of civilians in that region in serious danger. Although there is no disputing that this very source of the EMC needs to be attended to through the development of a sustainable geopolitical strategy, such efforts cannot come at the expense of the lives of those that have been forced to leave that region to protect themselves and their families. Subsequently, the European countries where these people arrive to seek asylum are faced with varying degrees of a moral imperative to accommodate them. Intercultural tolerance levels, national security fears, welfare state exploitation and economics all act as barriers against immigration. We already know that the latter two concern the short term wellbeing of nationals but can easily be refuted by long term rationalist arguments (Dumont and Liebig, 2014; Horn, 2016). This study will focus more on the validity of protectionist immigration policies based on national security sentiments and claims of value incompatibilities.

Keywords

AAM- Attitudes to the amount of Muslims in the country EACEA- European Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency EMC- European Migrant Crisis EU- European Union Ger- Germany Hun- Hungary Kos- Kosovo MAS- Muslim Asylum Seekers MASV- Muslim Asylum Seeker Values NL- The Netherlands TFEU- Treaty of the functioning of the European Union

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 17. 7. 2017

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 17. 7. 2017
• Supervisor: Prof. dr. Joop Schippers
• Reader: Mgr. Martin Chovančík, Ph.D.

Masaryk University

Faculty of Social Studies

Master programme / field:
International Territorial Studies / European Governance