Pusić: Our attitude towards refugees is determining our society and ideas we are led by

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Zagreb, March 30, 2017. – „Refugees are not migrants; those are the people who would like to stay in their own country if they could. They are running because of the terrible circumstances of the war and trying to save their head and secure yourself and their families a decent life", said Honorary President of HNS and Member of Parliament Vesna Pusić as a speaker on the round table „Refugee crisis as the challenge and development opportunities" that was held by the HNS Political Academy.

In her presentation about the possible solutions of the refugee crisis as a global problem Vesna Pusić pointed out of, among other things, that until February 2016 we could find on the website of the Ministry of the Interior number of refugees that have entered and passed through Croatia, as well as the number of people seeking and granted asylum that was published daily but since then, she warned, data was not published and the old information are not available. "We do not know how many people came and went through Croatia since then", she warned, adding that all the people who have successfully contributed to the solving of this wave of refugees were removed and the camps are dismantled in the short term. "In January 2017, Human Rights Watch published an article which says that Croatian police is beating people who come into Croatian territory and forcing them to come back across the border in Serbia. Was that a minor incident or it is a new policy, I cannot say because I have no insight, but Interior Ministry said it was not true", she said.

She said that Croatia had two different policies towards refugee crisis - one by January 2016, the second after that, one that tried to accept people for what they are - refugees and people in trouble and another that saw itself into the army at the borders and barbed wire. "It does not define primarily our attitude towards refugees; it defines our relationship to us. That's how we determine who we are, what kind of a society we are and which ideas lead us. And from that point refugee crisis will have even more far-reaching consequences on our society and politics than it seems at first sight", she concluded.

Research associate of the Institute for Development and International Relations Senada Å elo Å abic talked about different responses to the challenges of migration in Europe and beyond, and warned of the problem of populist policies in Europe, the inability to find a solution to the crisis and creating a sense of panic. "Populists are very good at detecting problems and will always point out where the problem is but will not offer you a solution. I think that all those who think differently and who believe in European values or the principles of solidarity, freedom, equality and opportunities to find a solution for common problems through the dialogue and the preservation of community, need to take advantage this crisis for facing with the mistakes that perhaps have been done before and also for finding the solutions that we cannot be afraid of. To say that we cannot and do not know, would be a defeat for Europe as a stable and rich continent, "said Å elo Å abić.

Deputy Head of the Center for Research of ethnicity, nationality and migration, Viktor Koska talked about the models of integration of refugees and conceptualization of integration in a comparative perspective and delusions and advantages in the idea of receiving refugees. "The term refugee crisis is completely wrong, it's not about any kind of crisis, but we are witnessing a new normal, a new product of global society that will not disappear. Refugees circulate, these people are still looking for their way and keeping refugees in contaminated Turkey is increasing the number of victims, the black market, gray economy and security risks in Europe. With all the indicators that we have at European level, refugees are absolutely not a threat, a threat is the unprepared states that can potentially receive refugees and they cannot be that because they spend a lot of money, power and politics to discuss about raising the wire."

Member of the Executive Board of the Center for Peace Studies Gordan Bosanac referred to the suppression of solidarity with refugees through securitization of the refugee crisis. "Currently in the EU lives 34.3 million people born outside the borders of the EU, which shows that the vast majority of them integrates regardless of the integration policy and that terrorism is in this context an exception which becomes the dominant policy. It is much easier to mobilize people around fear, than around solidarity, which contributes the hyper production of the false news and alternative facts. Terrorist excesses should not be tied exclusively to Islam; they should be prevented by coordinating and cooperating of agencies. Most importantly, the Croatian security institutions do not send any information that refugees are threat to our country."

Head of the Political Academy, Boris Blažeković said the number of refugees who arrived in Europe makes only 0.5 percent of the population of the European Union and that none of the citizens of the European Union was not threatened. Speaking about the meaning of the existence of Schengen he said that Schengen is not and must not be an excuse for not having the energy and t will to help those who need it most.