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ABSTRACT
In 2015, millions of refugees, mostly Syrians, knocked the door of Europe for protection against war and violence in their home countries. The number of refugees that entered Europe in 2015 made only 0.2 percent of total Europe's population, considerably low number than other refugee hosting countries. In fact, for a continent as wealthy as Europe, the influx of refugees could be easily managed but European Union was unable to bring a common policy to cope with it. European Union already divided by the Eurozone crisis experienced further divisions due to refugee influx. The polarization in European politics and society reached the highest point since the Second World War. The failure of Social Democracy and center politics in solving the crisis created space for either right-wing or left-wing populist parties that won many seats in both European and national parliaments, while in some countries even managed to make governments.
Keywords: Arab Spring, European Union, Multiculturalism, Refugee Crisis, Syria
Background
In 2015, millions of refugees knocked the door of Europe for protection. The refugee crisis marked the largest mass migration in the European Union since the Second World War. Millions of people fled into Europe surviving the perils of war, poverty and starvation. The Syrians constituted the largest group of these migrants who fled to Europe. This geo-political event has since sparked a fierce and heated debate among the public and stimulated a rise in political populism across the European Union.
On one side, large pro-immigrant groups expressed humanitarian concerns and pointed at the moral duty of Europe to help the refugees. Some of the pro-immigrant left-wing groups also came forward and welcomed the migrants. On the other hand, a large number of anti-immigrant groups were worried about the threat that refugees - mostly Muslims - would pose to the security of their country. Some on anti-immigrant side even expressed their concerns about the identity, cultural, religious and economic fallout of migrants on European society.
These ideological differences in Europe map onto a left-right dimension of political spectrum, where the political left placed more emphasis on helping and providing aid to refugees, while the political right placed more emphasis on tough policies and stricter border controls to protect the safety of European citizens. The...