Sociologist Drago Zuparic-Ilijic, one of the signatories of the open letter which experts on migrations sent to the media last week, was a guest on N1's morning programme on Monday, where he spoke about the spread of fake news and negative depictions of migrants in Croatia's public discourse.
Last week, 18 Croatian humanities and social sciences scholars penned an open letter sent to the media, warning about the increasingly negative and “criminalised” depictions of migrants and migrations in general in the Croatian public discourse, and calling on the media to report on this global issue in a trustworthy and responsible manner.
“We wanted to say at least two things. In the public and political discourse, covered by some media outlets, pieces of a certain type of unfounded half-information are fabricated in order to discredit the process around the Marrakech agreement. We also wanted to open up space for a public dialogue in which we could speak on the issue of migrants and migrations in a more neutral, objective, and dispassionate way,” Zuparic-Ilijic told N1 on Monday.
The United Nations’ global pact on migrations, dubbed the Marrakech agreement, aims to boost international cooperation in addressing the growing number of migrants globally, and will be discussed and endorsed by the majority of UN member states at a conference in the Moroccan city of Marrakech in early December.
In recent weeks, the pact has stirred up some controversy in Croatia between the government and President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. Grabar-Kitarovioc had earlier announced she would support the agreement, but later backed out, while the Foreign Ministry had supported it all along, saying that it had no objections to the final draft document.
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The letter signed by scholars said that, although the pact had its shortcomings, it is still seen as an attempt to establish a more secure and humane working and living conditions for over 250 million international migrants globally, including hundreds of thousands of Croatian emigrants in other European countries.
Zuparic-Ilijic said migrations were an important issue which needed to be discussed in a neutral manner, and not be used for ideological back-and-forth bickering and populist campaigning.
“The people are giving into this moral panic. When faced with something new and unknown, that you don’t know much about, it’s more likely you will fall victim to some sort of fear, discomfort, and panic, and that’s why it’s important to shed light on this issue by providing true and timely information on the phenomenon, instead of creating hysteria and moral panic with releasing half-truths,” he said.
On fake news
“People are bombarded with statements by politicians, so they see threats everywhere. That’s why it’s important that opinion-makers are appointed, who should report the truth and explain who those people are, where they are coming from, and what is to be expected,” Zuparic-Ilijic said, adding that fake news spreads quickly, and can create not only fear, but also hate speech, which is far more dangerous.
In the letter, scholars warned that there is not enough talk in the public discourse on the data released the Interior Ministry, according to which the crime rates among the refugee population in Croatia were comparatively lower compared to the general population.
Last week, independent MP Mirando Mrsic warned about what he described as “the spreading of fake news and hysteria about migrants“, inviting Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic to visit migrants seeking aslyum in Croatia, and to make a clear statement that they are welcome in the country.
“The politicians need to take responsibility for every word they say… Crime rate in this country is 4.5 percent lower than last year, and there were only three cases in all of 2018 where migrants, or asylum seekers, were involved in criminal offences in Zagreb. In all three, it was the asylum seekers who were the damaged parties, and that needs to be said clearly,” Zuparic-Ilijic said.
In October, the government said that a total of 4,808 illegal migrants were registered in Croatia in 2017, which represented a 6.9 percent increase from 2016. However, in the first nine months of this year, the increase compared to the same period in 2017 was 31 percent.
A new route that passes through Bosnia and Herzegovina became popular with illegal migrants last year, who travel on towards Croatia in the hopes of reaching the Schengen area which includes wealthy western European countries.
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