Asylum seekers and refugees are silenced by the media amid rising hate
Hate and dehumanisation in the media: a reality for refugees and asylum seekers
By Ibrahim Zain Congy (Abu-Zain), Chadian writer and socio-political activist
This article is being published on World Refugee Day 2026.
I speak as one voice among thousands of asylum seekers who never wanted to seek asylum or become a refugee.
No one chooses to leave behind family, children, partners, parents, a career, a home, and property. The search for refuge, safety and protection is a recurring and natural phenomenon throughout human history, among people whose lives are endangered. It was never peculiar to a particular race, colour, demography or generation.
In 1951, the Geneva Refugee Convention, a fundamental international treaty, set out the legal obligations of states to protect people who have been forced to flee their homes to escape conflict, violence, human rights violations, and persecution. There are clear guidelines on international protection and human rights, including the rights to non-refoulement, non-discrimination, the right to work, access to basic services, freedom of thought and religion, and travel documents.
However, for an asylum seeker today, most of these rights are dreams on the other side of an ocean of bureaucracy. By which I mean these rights are either highly restricted or completely denied.
After 75 years, with the Geneva Convention having given hope to displaced and despairing people, I strongly believe the world is in serious need of a Second Geneva Convention to address the real suffering of contemporary refugees and to protect the principles of the original Convention. It is all the more urgent in the face of increased hostility, discrimination, hatred, and the dehumanisation and demonisation of asylum seekers.
Being ignored by the media
We, asylum seekers, are the voices that have been ignored amidst the cacophony of biased media outputs and the chaotic content on social media outlets. The failure of apparently impotent politicians to challenge this systemic hate rhetoric makes them and their gullible supporters complicit.
Despite the fact that asylum seekers are among the most vulnerable people in the world, we have been treated with maximal cruelty, hate, segregation, and dehumanisation. We are spoken about in inhumane ways, categorised as alien criminals, spoken about without being given any chance to speak. We are discussed a lot by people who have known very little or nothing about our predicaments, yet do not hear from us.
They seem oblivious to the fact that the Convention says refugees should not face criminal charges over the way we have sought asylum. It EVEN acknowledges that we may have had to break immigration rules in order to find safety, and says we should not be arbitrarily detained on that basis.
Behind every asylum application there is a human story.
The hard decision to leave
There is a failure to understand that no one wants to abandon family and home for the sake of convenience. The moment we leave our country to seek safety elsewhere, we are refugees. We only become asylum-seekers when we enter another country and apply for status to remain.
Refugees have been forced to flee their homes because staying became an impossibility due to the ravages of war, persecution, or ethnic conflicts. They are often driven onto perilous routes, risking many dangers: starvation, thirst, exhaustion, falling victim to predators, kidnappers, and human traffickers. Many have been trafficked, exploited, extorted, sold for cash, enslaved, tortured, sexually assaulted, and are killed, some drown in deep waters.
Yet for those who survive the journey, their afflictions do not end upon arrival in an allegedly safe country. We are then trapped in our worst nightmare – the asylum process.
The impediments to asylum
The long, drawn-out asylum process can be unspeakably tragic. Asylum seekers are stuck waiting in traumatic uncertainty for many months, if not years. Nothing can adequately describe the torment we endure while waiting for the unpredictable decision.
The haphazard official asylum support system is degrading, with inadequate accommodation, unhealthy food, and challenges in the legal aid system. We appreciate the efforts of credible legal aid solicitors, but sometimes we find ourselves in the hands of dishonourable lawyers and get nowhere despite the fees.
Our plight is compounded by the constant threat of negative news from officialdom, while we face death threats, raids on asylum seekers’ hotels and accommodations encouraged by racist social media influencers, and the dissemination online of videos distorting the truth.
The hotel I was staying at was isolated, in a very remote area far from human habitation. Everything in that hotel reminded me of the 651 days of solitary confinement I served while illegally incarcerated some eight years ago. No one sought to share how asylum seekers felt about their ill-treatment and the deplorable services they were receiving.
The unbearable asylum process has affected many, and some have even taken their own lives. Every asylum seeker knows someone who has become a victim of suicide or lost their mind. I cannot understand why the hardships and tragedies experienced by asylum-seekers are often so ignored, while public attention is focused instead on narratives that create totally irrational fears and deep division.
Hate rhetoric narratives
The mainstream media and social media have been weaponised by far-Right actors to incite hate knowing they can get away with it now that hate rhetoric against migrants, ethnic minorities, refugees and asylum seekers has reached such a destructive peak.
Asylum-seekers and refugees are being scapegoated for successive governments’ failures, broken election promises, worsening economic conditions, and knife crimes. The focus is on the person’s immigration status, colour and ethnicity rather than the crime.
Anti-Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) rhetoric is rife in the media, among politicians, commentators, and social media influencers. They often portray asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants as an existential threat to national identity, security, employment and public service. Political speeches, social media campaigns, and sensational headlines spread narratives that promote hatred and social division.
Unfortunately, we become the easiest target to blame for the pressures on public services. Complex social and political problems are reduced to simple accusations against asylum seekers who have no way to defend themselves. The serious repercussions of such rhetoric are obvious. Words influence attitudes, and attitudes influence actions.
When time and time again asylum seekers, refugees and migrants are described in the media as criminals, invaders, rapists or enemies, prejudice becomes normalised. We, asylum seekers, deserve fair and dignifying treatment within the asylum system, and protection from hate, discrimination, racism and hostility. We deserve a proper chance to contribute, belong, and build a better future for ourselves and the wider community.
Despite the enormous challenges we face, when we obtain the Right to work, we contribute significantly to host communities. Like everyone, we want to maintain peace, harmony, solidarity and unity.
We continue to work as volunteers, skilled workers, healthcare workers, teachers, technicians, entrepreneurs, and we pay taxes. It has been proven across the globe that when asylum seekers, refugees and migrants are given true opportunities, they give far more than they receive. We are assets to the host communities that welcome us.
Our utmost gratitude goes out to those organisations, families, and individuals who do try to give us a home away from home.
