When Pandemic Threat Does Not Stoke Xenophobia: Evidence from a Panel Survey around COVID-19

Abstract

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected attitudes of host citizens towards refugees and migrants? A large literature, mostly in Global North contexts, links disease threat with increased xenophobia. Indeed, recent studies on the effects of COVID-19 have found an increase in hate crimes and anti-migrant attitudes, particularly when political elites exclude and blame migrants for the pandemic. We examine the case of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, in which elite rhetoric and immigration policies have been largely inclusive. Using a panel experimental survey of 374 Colombian respondents, supplemented by 550 new respondents at endline, we find no evidence that exposure to COVID-19 changes Colombians' attitudes towards Venezuelans, even if the respondents were directly affected by COVID. In fact, we find some evidence of empathy. Our research implies that xenophobia in reaction to pandemics is not a foregone conclusion, but likely a product of political scapegoating.

Early perceptions of COVID-19 intensity and anti-Asian prejudice among White Americans

“…Overall, we observed that the perceived intensity of the COVID-19 outbreak tended to be associated with a greater desire to maintain social distance from both Asian and Black people. The relation between perceived intensity of COVID-19 and anti-Asian prejudice can be explained by considering both current cultural narratives—including attempts to tie the pandemic to Asian people via geographic origins of COVID-19 ( Wu et al, 2020 ) and racist, anti-Asian language used to describe the pandemic ( Zhou, 2020 )—as well as theoretical frameworks focused on evolutionary responses to disease outbreak (e.g., Schaller & Neuberg, 2012 ; Schaller & Park, 2011 ). However, in contrast to the possibility that this period of disease outbreak would be associated specifically with anti-Asian prejudice, we found similar relations between COVID-19 intensity and anti-Black prejudice.…”

“…First, narratives that place the blame for COVID-19 on China, or Asian people more broadly, have been pervasive in the US since the start of the pandemic (for a review, see Noel, 2020 ). Anti-Asian sentiment has been expressed blatantly in public discourse ( Mitchell et al, 2020 ), including by the former U.S. president and other leading politicians who on numerous occasions referred to COVID-19 as the “Chinese flu” or “kung flu” ( Zhou, 2020 ). In this context, it is easy to envision how prejudice against Asian people might have deepened as the COVID-19 outbreak intensified and became more salient in people’s minds.…”

“…Thus, during a period of disease outbreak, and especially when combined with narratives placing the blame for the COVID-19 pandemic on Chinese people ( Zhou, 2020 ), we would expect to observe heightened anti-Asian prejudice among White people in the US. This has been borne out in recent research.…”

Social Cohesion and Forced Displacement: A Synthesis of New Research

“…Public messaging that invokes humanitarian values including empathy and counters negative framing and xenophobia may also be an effective mechanism for eliciting broad support within host communities for inclusive refugee policies. In Colombia, partly due to the government's inclusive refugee policies and rhetoric, there is evidence that COVID-19 elicited empathy, rather than xenophobia and anti-immigrant violence, from host communities toward Venezuelan migrants (Zhou et al 2022b). Colombians who hold stronger humanitarian values or view the Venezuelan crisis as a humanitarian issue express more favorable preferences for family reunification and access to health care .…”

Percepciones de identificación cultural y discriminación en población migrante

“…A esto se suma el hecho de que para el año 2020 la enfermedad por coronavirus vino acompañada con un aumento de la xenofobia en varios países, afectando entre otros a las tasas de inserción laboral (Zhou et al, 2022). Según la epm, el 22,6 % de la población migrante venezolana en Colombia ha experimentado discriminación o ha sido tratada injustamente debido a su país de origen o por la condición de migrantes.…”