Changing the narrative: celebrating the diversity, courage and resilience of refugees

The sinking of a fishing boat carrying refugees and migrants off the coast of Greece last week, with several hundred feared dead – many of them women and children – is a reminder on World Refugee Day of the ongoing cost of the global humanitarian crisis.

I can personally identify with the desperation the people on the ill-fated boat must have felt. My family and I were once in their shoes, on a boat that also sank, escaping fears of persecution. 

It is a common myth that most refugees choose to head West for economic and welfare gains. The facts are more complex. Most refugees don’t want to be refugees.  They don’t want to leave their family, their homes for somewhere they are unwelcomed, alone and unable to speak the language. It is extreme fear and desperation that propel refugees to take such irrational risks. Most do not expect to survive. This is why we see men more often than women and children making these journeys.  My own family faced similar choices.

New Ipsos research of 22,000 people across 29 countries finds that public compassion towards refugees remains strong, with widespread support for providing refuge to those fleeing wars or persecutions. In Britain support for refugees has risen since 2022 and remains higher than the global average.

Furthermore, over eight in ten Britons believe that refugees currently in the UK should be allowed to stay, and half of Britons support the establishment of more legal routes for refugees to enter the UK.

However, that’s not to say that the public is not worried. In Britain (and globally too), we see rising concerns that most refugees are not genuine and will not successfully integrate. This is causing tension: whilst the British public recognise that employment is good for integration, they also fear that it may attract non-genuine asylum seekers. This is perhaps unsurprising given our pre-occupation with stopping the small boats crossing the English Channel. But it is distracting governments and the public from addressing the more important issue of integration. We need to change the narrative to one that celebrates the diversity, courage and resilience of refugees.  A narrative that we can support refugees to enrich our society. But this is dependent upon providing the tools and opportunities for refugees to fully integrate – the most obvious and effective way is through employment, so this is a call-to-action for employees and employers alike.  

At Ipsos, we have made a commitment to recruit 100 refugees across our global offices in the next three years. We are proud to be a member of the Tent Partnership for Refugees and of the Refugees Are Talents collective. On this World Refugee Day, we call on the business community to join us in supporting refugees.