High-Income Country Privilege and How it Affects Refugees
By: Rachel Ulrich
The refugee crisis is one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. That being said, before discussing how people who live in the high-income countries (HICs) (Europe and America are the main ones to note) have imposed a superiority complex disguised as heroism, it is essential to note a few things. This is a very sensitive issue and should be treated as such. Additionally, this post is a glimpse into many nations’ shortcomings in regards to the refugee crisis, so in no way is this a localized issue. This post will highlight some of the many ways people who live in high income countries have imposed a superiority complex and how it has harmed refugees and their communities, with sources all being from a refugee’s perspective.
Americans have homogenized the suffering of millions of refugees by assigning them vague labels. In doing so, they sensationalize refugees’ suffering and center themselves as saviors. In practice, this looks like a child soldier who is forced to walk from South Sudan to Ethiopia and “drink [his] own urine” along the way being reduced to the label of a “passive victim” (Bex, 2016). While this label is technically accurate, it is an extremely downplayed and simplified look into the pain refugees face in their home countries. Labeling erases and belittles refugees’ experiences to the pain and suffering rather than taking a holistic view. They completely ignore the culture, tradition, and family ties that refugees hold dear by focusing on their pain to appear empathetic, which again centers HICs as opposed to refugees. The Western audience then excuses themselves of any responsibility to aid these child soldiers by claiming that their history makes it impossible for them “to be considered for relocation to the United States” (Bex, 2016). Not only does this center the conversation on the United States, it attempts to make them appear heroic for their empathy in their sensationalized pieces. They get all the praise without putting in any of the work or having any perspective on what the life of a refugee truly looks like.
The pattern of homogeneity continues through Americans’ pan-African view. Valentino, a Sudanese refugee who was relocated to Atlanta, suffered a traumatic childhood because of the refugee crisis. A black United States citizen that Valentino met in Atlanta called Valentino his “brother” because of this false idea of community in pan-Africanism (Bex, 2016). This incident may seem harmless, but it falsely groups together all people groups of Africa and their extremely varied experiences. In this case, this man completely simplifies and strips away the pain Valentino experienced throughout his childhood as a Sudanese refugee by comparing Valentino to himself as a person who lived in an HIC and never experienced what Valentino went through. Although these two men shared the experience of subsequent treatment in the United States, the man erases Valentino’s roots as a refugee from Africa and the difficulties he has faced before experiencing racism in the United States. The ignorance this man displayed with Valentino is not an isolated incident and captures how those of us in HICs can relate so little to refugees’ traumatic experiences, yet we are the first to offer our opinion.
Two Muslim women protesting France’s Islamophobic laws (Nazeer)
Additionally, in France, white citizens have developed a sense of superiority over many refugees, specifically those who wear hijabs. Because many European countries have made greater gender equality strides than less privileged countries, they feel as though they need to “liberate” less privileged refugees by “acting on their behalf” (Jailani, 2016). In this case, that “liberation” comes in the form of anti-hijab campaigns and laws. Just in 2021, the French Senate passed an amendment to ban anyone younger than 18 from wearing a hijab in public. The amendment is an addition to a law regarding “religious extremism” (NPR, 2021). Categorizing the wearing of a hijab as religious extremism is harmful because it perpetuates the idea that Muslim culture as a whole is “too extreme.” Not only does this foster Islamophobia, this anti-hijab sentiment comes from an ignorance that people who live in high income countries tend to have. They did not ask women who wear hijabs whether this “liberation” is something that they wanted. Acting on refugees’ behalf without their input or decision making is extremely de-humanizing and centers HICs in the narrative as heroes.
As you can see, high income countries, in this case, France and America, have deep rooted savior complexes that started long ago. The tendency that HICs have to center themselves in the narrative of refugee’s stories is performative and problematic. Living in an HIC, it is very easy to slip into a position as ‘savior’ when engaging in conversations about refugees. However, being educated about how to better support refugees while keeping them centered in the narrative is a great way to overcome this gap. I am going to include some additional sources below that dive into this more deeply.
P.S. It also helps to listen to refugee stories!! *Wink wink* GRMR’s podcast !!
I wanted to share some resources with you all to further look into this topic.
This article includes a brief overview of the white savior complex and personal stories/how it is relevant: https://blogs.elon.edu/aidworkervoices/?p=1309
This website has some tips on how to be an advocate as opposed to a “hero”: https://nowhitesaviors.org/how-to-be-an-advocate-without-perpetuating-the-white-savior-complex/
Works Cited
“French Senate Voted to Ban the Hijab for Minors in a Plea by the Conservative Right.” NPR, NPR, 8 Apr. 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/04/08/985475584/french-senate-voted-to-ban-the-hijab-for-minors-in-a-plea-by-the-conservative-ri.
Jailani, Yusuf. "The struggle of the veiled woman: 'White Savior Complex' and rising Islamophobia create a two-fold plight." Harvard International Review, vol. 37, no. 2, winter 2016, pp. 51+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A452288869/AONE?u=tall22798&sid=googleScholar&xid=65158995. Accessed 13 Feb. 2022.
Logan, Erin. “Do Western Celebrities Perpetuate the ‘White Man's Burden.’” The Borgen Project, Borgen Project Https://Borgenproject.org/Wp-Content/Uploads/The_Borgen_Project_Logo_small.Jpg, 7 July 2020, https://borgenproject.org/western-celebrities-white-mans-burden/.
Nazeer, Tasnim. “Opinion: French Secularism Is Giving Far-Right Mps Licence to Target Muslim Women Yet Again.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 16 Oct. 2019, https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/france-islamophobia-headscarf-hijab-school-julien-odoul-secularism-a9158081.html.
Sean Bex, and Stef Craps. “Humanitarianism, Testimony, and the White Savior Industrial Complex: <em>What Is the What</Em> versus <em>Kony 2012</Em>.” Cultural Critique, vol. 92, University of Minnesota Press, 2016, pp. 32–56, https://doi.org/10.5749/culturalcritique.92.2016.0032.