Aurora Humanitarian Index 2018

“In today’s complex world, we need to build trust – in particular when it comes to facts and figures. The Aurora Humanitarian Index 2018 and the Aurora Prize both contribute to more“ – Dr. Steffen Angenendt.

Findings reveal, populations around the globe have greater fear that there could be new wars. This nurtures uncertainty, while, indeed, there is an objective increase in regional, national and global crises. 61% responded that with the number and individual severity of humanitarian crises, they cannot ‚keep track‘. Edelmann Intelligence surveyed 11.000 respondents from 12 countries for the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. Most striking is the discrepancy between countries, respondents assumed to host most refugees, and  countries that actually do. The general perception is that the refugee crisis affects industrialized European countries (foremost Germany) most. But Turkey, Pakistan, and Lebanon host the highest number of refugees worldwide.

This barometer of public opinion on the refugee crisis in host countries serves as foundation for discussions with experts and journalists.

Dr. Steffen Angenendt (German Institute for International and Security Affaires), Prof. Dr. Petra Bendel and Dr. Cornelia Schu (The Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration), concluded that international debate on migration is, after all, illegitimately focused on the Global North. The refugee crisis is factually concentrated in the Global South, for which part of the world there is little (reliable) available data. The Global South is also where we find the crisis’ roots, wherefore flight prevention initiatives must be implemented here. With little available data, policies are based on hypotheses rather than factuality. This is a gap, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative intends to close. Participating experts demanded for the survey to be conducted objectively and toned-down, and for the questions to be posed and analyzed in a differentiated manner.

The Aurora Humanitarian Index 2018, its survey and more information on the topic can be found here.