Joachim Haeberlen

As millions of Ukrainians escape from Russian invasion and receive a warm welcome by the European Union and supporters of the “refugee cause,” as well as by Afghans and Syrians who had come here as refugees who expressed a sense of both solidarity but also bewilderment. Surely, those fleeing the war in Ukraine deserve support. But doesn’t this apply to any refugee? Are Syrians and…

Ten years on from Syria’s revolution, it’s high time Europeans grasped that Syrians’ struggle is also their own, and that Europe’s future cannot be roped off from the Middle East’s, argues Prof. Joachim C. Häberlen.

Too rarely does it occur to Westerners, worried about the erosion of their democracies, that refugees from Syria and elsewhere have valuable experience striving for civic values against authoritarian forces.