Countries rejecting Syrian refugees because they are Muslims are fuelling Islamic State and other militant groups, United Nations (UN) refugee chief Antonio Guterres said on Monday.
“When people say they cannot receive Syrian refugees because they are Muslims, those that say it are supporting terrorist organisations and allowing them to be much more effective in recruitment of people,” he told a news conference.
At least one of the men who carried out suicide attacks in Paris last month came through the Balkans to western Europe posing as a Syrian refugee, counter-intelligence and police sources have said.
But before the Paris attacks, many European countries were already talking about closing their borders to refugees ─ or actually doing so ─ because of the sheer weight of numbers.
Much of the rhetoric connecting refugees and acts of violence has come from the United States, where Ben Carson, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, likened Syrian refugees to “a rabid dog running around your neighborhood,” and said admitting them would put Americans at risk.
His rival candidate Donald Trump suggested shutting mosques to prevent Muslims in the United States from becoming radicalised.
