Xenophobia is the word for the fear for strangers

Xenophobia, or fear of strangers, is a broad term that may be applied to any fear of someone different from an individual. Hostility towards outsiders is often a reaction to fear. It typically involves the belief that there is a conflict between an individual’s ingroup and an outgroup.

Xenophobia often overlaps with forms of prejudice, including racism and homophobia, but there are important distinctions. Where racism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination are based on specific characteristics, xenophobia is usually rooted in the perception that members of the outgroup are foreign to the ingroup community.

Whether xenophobia qualifies as a legitimate mental disorder is a subject of ongoing debate.

Signs of Xenophobia

How can you tell if someone is xenophobic? While xenophobia can be expressed in different ways, typical signs include:

• Feeling uncomfortable around people who fall into a different group
• Going to great lengths to avoid particular areas
• Refusing to be friends with people solely due to their skin color, mode of dress, or other external factors
• Difficulty taking a supervisor seriously or connecting with a teammate who does not fall into the same racial, cultural, or religious group

While it may represent a true fear, most xenophobic people do not have a true phobia. Instead, the term is most often used to describe people who discriminate against foreigners and immigrants.

People who express xenophobia typically believe that their culture or nation is superior, want to keep immigrants out of their community, and may even engage in actions that are detrimental to those who are perceived as outsiders.

Is Xenophobia a Mental Disorder?

Xenophobia is not recognized as a mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). However, some psychologists and psychiatrists have suggested that extreme racism and prejudice should be recognized as a mental health problem.

Some have argued, for example, that extreme forms of prejudice should be considered a subtype of delusional disorder. It is important to note that those who support this viewpoint also argue that prejudice only becomes pathological when it creates a significant disruption in a person’s ability to function in daily life.

Other professionals argue that categorizing xenophobia or racism as a mental illness would be medicalizing a social problem.

Types of Xenophobia

There are two primary types of xenophobia:

• Cultural xenophobia: This type involves rejecting objects, traditions, or symbols that are associated with another group or nationality. This can include language, clothing, music, and other traditions associated with the culture.
• Immigrant xenophobia: This type involves rejecting people who the xenophobic individual does not believe belongs in the ingroup society. This can involve rejecting people of different religions or nationalities and can lead to persecution, hostility, violence, and even genocide.

The desire to belong to a group is pervasive—and strong identification with a particular group can even be healthy. However, it may also lead to suspicion of those who are perceived to not belong.

It is natural and possibly instinctive to want to protect the interests of the group by eliminating threats to those interests. Unfortunately, this natural protectiveness often causes members of a group to shun or even attack those who are perceived as different, even if they actually pose no legitimate threat at all.

Xenophobia vs. Racism

Xenophobia and racism are similar in that they both involve prejudice and discrimination, but there are important differences to consider. Where xenophobia is the fear of anyone who is considered a foreigner, racism is specifically directed toward people based on their race or ethnicity. People can be both xenophobic and racist.

Examples of Xenophobia

Unfortunately, xenophobia is all too common. It can range from covert acts of discrimination or subtle comments to overt acts of prejudice or even violence. Some examples of xenophobia include:

• Immigration policies: Xenophobia can influence how nations deal with immigration. This may include hostility and outright discrimination against immigrants. Specific groups of people may be the target of bans designed to keep them from moving to certain locations.
• Displacement: In the U.S., the forcible removal of Indigenous people from their land is an example of xenophobia. The use of residential schools in the U.S. and Canada was also rooted in xenophobic attitudes and was designed to force the cultural assimilation of Native American people.
• Violence: For example, attacks on people of Asian descent have increased in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Causes of Xenophobia

There are a number of different factors believed to contribute to xenophobia: 

• Social and economic insecurity: People often look for someone to blame in times of economic hardship or social upheaval. Immigrants and minorities are often scapegoated as the cause of society’s ills.
• Lack of contact: People with little or no contact with people from other cultures or backgrounds are more likely to be fearful or mistrustful of them.
• Media portrayals: The way immigrants and minorities are portrayed in the media can also influence people’s attitudes towards them. If they are only shown in a negative light, it can reinforce people’s prejudices.
• Fear of strangers: In general, people are more likely to be afraid of unfamiliar things. This can apply to both physical appearance and cultural differences.

Impact of Xenophobia

Xenophobia doesn’t just affect people at the individual level. It affects entire societies, including cultural attitudes, economics, politics, and history. Examples of xenophobia in the United States include acts of discrimination and violence against Latinx, Mexican, and Middle Eastern immigrants.

Xenophobia has been linked to:

• Hostility towards people of different backgrounds
• Decreased social and economic opportunity for outgroups
• Implicit bias toward members of outgroups
• Isolationism
• Discrimination
• Hate crimes
• Political positions
• War and genocide
• Controversial domestic and foreign policies

Certainly, not everyone who is xenophobic starts wars or commits hate crimes. But even veiled xenophobia can have insidious effects on both individuals and society. These attitudes can make it more difficult for people in certain groups to live within a society and affect all aspects of life including housing access, employment opportunities, and healthcare access.

The twisting of a positive trait (group harmony and protection from threats) into a negative (imagining threats where none exist) has led to any number of hate crimes, persecutions, wars, and general mistrust.

How to Combat Xenophobia

If you struggle with feelings of xenophobia, there are things that you can do to overcome these attitudes.

• Broaden your experience. Many people who display xenophobia have lived relatively sheltered lives with little exposure to those who are different from them. Traveling to different parts of the world, or even spending time in a nearby city, might go a long way toward helping you face your fears.
• Fight your fear of the unknown. Fear of the unknown is one of the most powerful fears of all. If you have not been exposed to other races, cultures, and religions, gaining more experience may be helpful in conquering your xenophobia.
• Pay attention. Notice when xenophobic thoughts happen. Make a conscious effort to replace these thoughts with more realistic ones.

Xenophobia is often deeply rooted in a combination of upbringing, religious teachings, and previous experiences. Successfully combating xenophobia generally means confronting numerous aspects of the personality and learning new ways of experiencing the world.

History of Xenophobia

Xenophobia has played a role in shaping human history for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks and Romans used their beliefs that their cultures were superior to justify the enslavement of others. Many nations throughout the world have a history of xenophobic attitudes toward foreigners and immigrants. 

The term xenophobia originates from the Greek word xenos meaning «stranger» and phobos meaning «fear.

Xenophobia has also led to acts of discrimination, violence, and genocide throughout the world, including:

• The World War II Holocaust 
• The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II
• The Rwandan genocide
• The Holodomor genocide in Ukraine
• The Cambodian genocide

Recent examples in the United States include discrimination toward people of Middle Eastern descent (often referred to as «Islamophobia») and xenophobic attitudes towards Mexican and Latinx immigrants. The COVID-19 pandemic also led to reports of xenophobia directed toward people of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent in countries throughout the world.

By Lisa Fritscher

Lisa Fritscher is a freelance writer and editor with a deep interest in phobias and other mental health topics.

Xenophobia (from Ancient Greek ξένος (xénos) ‘strange, foreign, alien’, and φόβος (phóbos) ‘fear’)^[1] is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange.^[2][3][4] It is an expression which is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-group and an out-group and it may manifest itself in suspicion of one group’s activities by members of the other group, a desire to eliminate the presence of the group which is the target of suspicion, and fear of losing a national, ethnic, or racial identity.^[5][6]

Alternate definitions[edit]

A 1997 review article on xenophobia holds that it is «an element of a political struggle about who has the right to be cared for by the state and society: a fight for the collective good of the modern state.»^[7]

According to Italian sociologist Guido Bolaffi, xenophobia can also be exhibited as an «uncritical exaltation of another culture» which is ascribed «an unreal, stereotyped and exotic quality».^[5]

History[edit]

Ancient Africa[edit]

In Ancient Egypt, foreigners were conceived of through a complex xenophobic discourse. Given ancient Egypt’s long history, Egyptians encountered a number of different peoples. Peoples living in present-day Greece, Sudan, and Turkey, for instance, were referred to by various names in Egyptian. According to one source, «…all the names have at the end the same hieroglyphic sign– a determinative or taxogram– indicating the word-group. This is the hieroglyph for a hilly country or the desert– indicating ‘foreign land’ (khaset)…By contrast, Egypt (Kemet/Black land) is written with the determinative for a town. This indicates that Egyptians regarded their part of the world as cultivated, ordered and civilized, while the other countries were not.»^[8] This indicates an early example of a xenophobic attitude towards other peoples. In addition, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics indicate xenophobic ideas about a necessity to conquer non-Egyptians, with Hittites in particular being referred to as «vile».^[9]

Ancient Europe[edit]

An early example of xenophobic sentiment in Western culture is the Ancient Greek denigration of foreigners as «barbarians», the belief that the Greek people and culture were superior to all other peoples and cultures, and the subsequent conclusion that barbarians were naturally meant to be enslaved.^[10][11]

Ancient Romans also held notions of superiority over other peoples.^[12] such as in a speech attributed to Manius Acilius:

There, as you know, there were Macedonians and Thracians and Illyrians, all most warlike nations, here Syrians and Asiatic Greeks, the most worthless peoples among mankind and born for slavery.^[12]

Black Africans were considered especially exotic, and perhaps they were considered threateningly alien, so they are seldom if ever mentioned in Roman literature without some negative connotations. The historian Appian claims that the military commander Marcus Junius Brutus, before the battle of Philippi in 42BC, met an ‘Ethiopian’ outside the gates of his camp: his soldiers instantly hacked the man to pieces, taking his appearance for a bad omen—to the superstitious Roman, black was the colour of death.»^[13]

COVID-19[edit]

The COVID-19 pandemic, which was first reported in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019, has led to an increase in acts and displays of Sinophobia, as well as prejudice, xenophobia, discrimination, violence, and racism against people of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent and appearance around the world.^{[citation needed]} With the spread of the pandemic and the formation of COVID-19 hotspots, such as those in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, discrimination against people from these hotspots has been reported.^[14][15][16]

Regional manifestations[edit]

Americas[edit]

Brazil[edit]

Despite the majority of the country’s population being of mixed (Pardo), African, or indigenous heritage, depictions of non-European Brazilians on the programming of most national television networks is scarce and typically relegated for musicians/their shows. In the case of telenovelas, Brazilians of darker skin tone are typically depicted as housekeepers or in positions of lower socioeconomic standing.^[17][18][19]

Canada[edit]

Muslim and Sikh Canadians have faced racism and discrimination in recent years, especially since the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. and the spillover effect of the United States’ War on Terror.^[20][21] An increase in hate crimes targeting Ontario Muslims was reported after ISIS took responsibility for the November 2015 Paris attacks.^[22]

A 2016 survey from The Environics Institute, which was a follow-up to a study conducted 10 years prior, found that there may be discriminating attitudes that may be a residual of the effects of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States.^[23] A poll in 2009 by Maclean’s revealed that only 28% of Canadians view Islam favourably, and only 30% viewed the Sikh religion favourably. 45% of respondents believed Islam encourages violence. In Quebec in particular, only 17% of respondents had a favourable view of Islam.^[24]

Colombia[edit]

According to the UNHCR, by June 2019, 1.3 million of the 4 million Venezuelan refugees were in Colombia.^[25] Because of their urgent situation, many migrants from Venezuela crossed the border illegally, indicating they had few opportunities to gain «access to legal and other rights or basic services and are exposed to exploitation, abuse, manipulation and a wide range of other protection risks, including racism, discrimination and xenophobia».^[26] Since the start of the migrant crisis, media outlets and state officials have raised concerns about increasing discrimination against migrants in the country, especially xenophobia and violence against the migrants.^[27]

Guyana[edit]

There have been racial tension between the Indo-Guyanese people and the Afro-Guyanese.^[28][29][30]

Mexico[edit]

Racism in Mexico has a long history.^[31] Historically, Mexicans with light skin tones had absolute control over dark skinned Amerindians due to the structure of the Spanish colonial caste system. When a Mexican of a darker-skinned tone marries one of a lighter skinned-tone, it is common for them say that they are » ‘making the race better’ (mejorando la raza)». This can be interpreted as a self-attack on their ethnicity.^[32] Despite improving economic and social conditions of indigenous Mexicans, discrimination against them continues to this day and there are few laws to protect indigenous Mexicans from discrimination. Violent attacks against indigenous Mexicans are moderately common and many times go unpunished.^[33]

On 15 March 1911 a band of Maderista soldiers entered Torreón, Mexico, and massacred 303 Chinese and five Japanese. Historian Larissa Schwartz argues that Kang Youwei had successfully organized the prosperous Chinese businessmen there, making them a visible target for class antagonism made extreme by xenophobia.^[34]

The Chinese were easy to identify in northern cities and were frequent targets especially in Sonora in the 1930s. Systematic persecution resulted from economic, political, and psychological fears of the Chinese, and the government showed little interest in protecting them.^[35][36]

Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp argues that the Porfiriato, 1876–1910 promoted immigration from the Middle East. However the revolution of 1910–20 saw a surge in xenophobia and nationalism based on «mestizaje.» The community divided into the economically prosperous Lebanese Mexicans who took pride in a distinct Lebanese-Mexican identity, while the downscale remainder often merged into the mestizo community.^[37]

Racism against indigenous people has been a current problem in Mexico.^[38] Domestic workers, many of whom are indigenous women who have moved from rural villages to cities, often face discrimination including verbal, physical or sexual abuse.^[39]

Panama[edit]

Peter Szok argues that when the United States brought in large numbers of laborers from the Caribbean—called «Afro-Panamanians»—to build the Panama Canal (1905–1914), xenophobia emerged. The local elite in Panama felt its culture was threatened: they cried out, «La Patria es el Recuerdo.» («The Homeland is the Memory») and developed a Hispanophile elitist identity through an artistic literary movement known as «Hispanismo.» Another result was the election of the «overtly nationalist and anti-imperialist» Arnulfo Arias as president in 1940.^[40]

Venezuela[edit]

In Venezuela, like other South American countries, economic inequality often breaks along ethnic and racial lines.^[41] A 2013 Swedish academic study stated that Venezuela was the most racist country in the Americas,^[41] followed by the Dominican Republic.^[41]

United States[edit]

In a 2010 report, a network of more than 300 US-based civil rights and human rights organizations stated that «Discrimination permeates all aspects of life in the United States, and it extends to all communities of color.»^[42] Discrimination against racial, ethnic, and religious minorities is widely acknowledged, especially in the case of Indians, Muslims, Sikhs as well as other ethnic groups.

Members of every major American ethnic and religious minority group have perceived discrimination in their dealings with members of other minority racial and religious groups. Philosopher Cornel West has stated that «racism is an integral element within the very fabric of American culture and society. It is embedded in the country’s first collective definition, enunciated in its subsequent laws, and imbued in its dominant way of life.»^[43]

A 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center suggested that 76% of black and Asian respondents had experienced some form of discrimination, at least from time to time.^[44] Studies which have been conducted by the PNAS and Nature have found that during traffic stops, officers spoke to black men in a less respectful tone than they spoke to white men and those same studies have also found that black drivers are more likely to be pulled over and searched by police than white drivers.^[45] Black people are also reportedly overrepresented as criminals in the media.^[46] In 2020 the COVID-19 epidemic was often blamed on China, leading to attacks on Chinese Americans.^[47] This represents a continuation of xenophobic attacks on Chinese Americans for 150 years.^[48]

Asia[edit]

Bhutan[edit]

In 1991–92, Bhutan is said to have deported between 10,000 and 100,000 ethnic Nepalis (Lhotshampa). The actual number of refugees who were initially deported is debated by both sides. In March 2008, this population began a multiyear resettlement in third countries including the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia.^[49] At present,^[when?] the United States is working towards resettling more than 60,000 of these refugees in the US in accordance with its third country settlement program.^[50]

Brunei[edit]

Brunei law permits positive discrimination in favor of ethnic Malays.^{[citation needed]}

China[edit]

The Boxers[edit]

The Boxer Rebellion was a violent anti-foreign, anti-Christian, and anti-imperialist uprising which occurred in China between 1899 and 1901. It was led by a new group, the «Militia United in Righteousness’, the group was popularly known as the Boxers because many of its members had practiced Chinese martial arts, at the time, these martial arts were popularly referred to as Chinese Boxing. After China’s defeat in war by Japan in 1895, villagers in North China feared the expansion of foreign spheres of influence and resented the extension of privileges to Christian missionaries. In a severe drought, Boxer violence spread across Shandong and the North China Plain, destroying foreign property, attacking or murdering Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians. In June 1900, Boxer fighters, convinced that they were invulnerable to foreign weapons, converged on Beijing, and their slogan was «Support the Qing government and exterminate the foreigners.» Diplomats, missionaries, soldiers and some Chinese Christians took refuge in the diplomatic Legation Quarter. They were besieged for 55 days by the Imperial Army of the Chinese government and the Boxers. George Makari says that the Boxers, «promoted a violent hatred of all those from other lands and made no effort to distinguish the beneficent from the rapacious ones…. They were unabashedly xenophobic.»^[51] The Boxers were overthrown by an Eight Nation Alliance of American, Austro-Hungarian, British, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Russian troops—20,000 in all—that invaded China to lift the siege in August 1900. The allies imposed the Boxer Protocol in 1901, with a massive annual cash indemnity to be paid by the Chinese government. The episode generated worldwide attention and denunciation of xenophobia.^[52][53]

Chinese nationalism and xenophobia[edit]

Historian Mary C. Wright has argued that the combination of Chinese nationalism and xenophobia had a major impact on the Chinese worldview in the first half of the 20th century. Examining the bitterness and hatred which existed towards Americans and Europeans in the decades before the Communist takeover in 1949, she argues:

The crude fear of the white peril that the last imperial dynasty had been able to exploit in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 had been submerged but not overcome, and expanding special privileges of foreigners were irritants in increasingly wide spheres of Chinese life. These fears and irritations provided a mass sounding board for what otherwise might have been rather arid denunciations of imperialists. It is well to remember that both Nationalists and Communists have struck this note.^[54][55]

COVID-19[edit]

In China, xenophobia against non-Chinese residents has been inflamed by the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, with foreigners being described as «foreign garbage» and targeted for «disposal».^[56] Some black people in China were evicted from their homes by police and told to leave China within 24 hours, due to disinformation that they and other foreigners were spreading the virus.^[57] Expressions of Chinese xenophobia and discriminatory practices, such as the exclusion of black customers from restaurants, were criticized by foreign governments and members of the diplomatic corps.^[58][59]

Hong Kong[edit]

Black people in Hong Kong have experienced negative comments and instances of discrimination in the job market and on public transport.^[60][61] Expats and South Asian minorities have faced increased xenophobia during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[62][63]

Persecution of Uighurs[edit]

Since 2017, China has come under intense international criticism for its treatment of one million Muslims (the majority of them are Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic minority mostly in Xinjiang) who are being held in secret detention camps without any legal process.^[64][65] Critics of the policy have described it as the Sinicization of Xinjiang and they have also called it an ethnocide or a cultural genocide.^[64][66]

Indonesia[edit]

A number of discriminatory laws against Chinese Indonesians were enacted by the government of Indonesia. In 1959, President Sukarno approved PP 10/1959 that forced Chinese Indonesians to close their businesses in rural areas and relocate into urban areas. Moreover, political pressures in the 1970s and 1980s restricted the role of the Chinese Indonesian in politics, academics, and the military. As a result, they were thereafter constrained professionally to becoming entrepreneurs and professional managers in trade, manufacturing, and banking. In 1998, Indonesia riots over higher food prices and rumors of hoarding by merchants and shopkeepers often degenerated into anti-Chinese attacks.^[67][68]

Native Papuans in the country have faced racism,^[69][70] and several reports have accused Indonesia of committing a «slow-motion genocide» in West Papua.^{[71][72][73][74][75]} Hostility towards the LGBT community has been recently reported,^[76][77] especially in Aceh.^[78][79]

India[edit]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (February 2023)

Japan[edit]

Japan had successfully isolated itself from the outside world, allowing anti-foreign sentiments and myths to multiply unchecked by actual observation.^[80] In 2005, a United Nations report expressed concerns about racism in Japan and it also stated that the government’s recognition of the depth of the problem was not total.^[81][82] The author of the report, Doudou Diène (Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights), concluded after a nine-day investigation that racial discrimination and xenophobia in Japan primarily affected three groups: national minorities, Latin Americans of Japanese descent, mainly Japanese Brazilians, and foreigners from poor countries.^[83] Surveys conducted in 2017 and 2019 have shown that 40 to nearly 50% of the foreigners who were surveyed have experienced some form of discrimination.^[84][85] Another report has also noted differences in how the media and some Japanese treat visitors from the West as compared to those from East Asia, with the latter being viewed much less positively than the former.^[86]

Japan accepted just 16 refugees in 1999, while the United States took in 85,010 for resettlement, according to the UNHCR. New Zealand, which is 30 times smaller than Japan, accepted 1,140 refugees in 1999. Just 305 persons were recognized as refugees by Japan from 1981, when Japan ratified the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, to 2002.^[87][88] Former Prime Minister Taro Aso called Japan a «one race» nation.^[89] A 2019 Ipsos poll also suggested that Japanese respondents had a relatively lower sympathy for refugees compared to most other countries in the survey.^[90][91]

Sharon Yoon and Yuki Asahina argue that Zaitokukai, a right-wing organization, succeeded in framing Korean minorities as undeserving recipients of Japanese welfare benefits. Even as Zaitokukai declined, the perceptions of a Korean internal threat powerfully influences public fears.^[92]

Malaysia[edit]

The racial tension between the dominant poor Malay Muslims and the minority wealthier Chinese has long characterized Malaysia. It was a major factor in the separation of Singapore in 1965 to become an independent, primarily Chinese nation. Amy L. Freedman points to the electoral system, the centrality of ethnic parties, gerrymandering, and systematic discrimination against the Chinese in education and jobs as critical factors in xenophobia. Recently the goal of creating a more inclusive national identity has been emphasized.^[93]

In Malaysia xenophobia occurs regardless of race. Most of xenophobia is towards foreign labourers, who normally came from Indonesia, Bangladesh^[94] and Africa.^[95] There is also a significant degree of xenophobia towards neighbouring Singaporeans and Indonesians too.

South Korea[edit]

Xenophobia in South Korea has been recognized by scholars and the United Nations as a widespread social problem.^[96] An increase in immigration to South Korea since the 2000s catalyzed more overt expressions of racism, as well as criticism of those expressions.^[96][97] Newspapers have frequently reported on and criticized discrimination against immigrants, in forms such as being paid lower than the minimum wage, having their wages withheld, unsafe work conditions, physical abuse, or general denigration.^[96]

After 2010, xenophobia became increasingly prevalent in the widely used social media. Jiyeon Kang reports a common pattern scapegoating dark-skinned migrants by gender, race and class. They are presented as accomplices and beneficiaries of the elite coalition allegedly taking traditional rights away from South Korean male citizens.^[98]

In a 2010–2014 World Values Survey, 44.2% of South Koreans reported they would not want an immigrant or foreign worker as a neighbor.^[99][97] Racist attitudes are more commonly expressed towards immigrants from other Asian countries and Africa, and less so towards European and white North American immigrants who can occasionally receive what has been described as «overly kind treatment».^[96][100] Related discrimination have also been reported with regards to mixed-race children, Chinese Korean, and North Korean immigrants.^[100]

Philippines[edit]

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Thailand[edit]

There are no laws within the Kingdom of Thailand which criminalize racial discrimination and the use of racist cliches. Unlike neighboring nations which were colonized, Thailand’s history as an uncolonized state further shaped its existing laws.^{[citation needed]}

Anti-refugee sentiment has been significant in Thailand, with a 2016 Amnesty International survey indicating that 74% of surveyed Thais do not believe (to varying degrees) that people should be able to take refuge in other countries to escape war or persecution.^[101]

Middle East[edit]

In 2008, a Pew Research Center survey found that negative views concerning Jews were most common in the three predominantly Arab nations which were polled, with 97% of Lebanese having an unfavorable opinion of Jews, 95% of Egyptians and 96% of Jordanians.^[102]

Egypt[edit]

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Mahdi Akef has denounced what he called «the myth of the Holocaust» in defense of the former-Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s denial of it.^[103] In an article in October 2000 columnist Adel Hammoda alleged in the state-owned Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram that Jews make Matza from the blood of non-Jewish children (see Blood libel).^[104] Mohammed Salmawy, the editor of Al-Ahram Hebdo, «defended the use of old European myths like the blood libel against Jews» in his newspapers.^[105]

Jordan[edit]

Jordan does not allow entry to Jews who have visible signs of Judaism or possess personal religious items. The Jordanian ambassador to Israel replied to a complaint by a religious Jew who was denied entry by stating that security concerns required that travelers who are entering the Hashemite Kingdom should not do so with prayer shawls (Tallit) and phylacteries (Tefillin).^[106] Jordanian authorities state that the policy is to ensure the Jewish tourists’ safety.^[107]

In July 2009, six Breslov Hasidim were deported after attempting to enter Jordan to visit the tomb of Aaron / Sheikh Harun on Mount Hor, near Petra. The group had taken a ferry from Sinai, Egypt because they understood that Jordanian authorities were making it hard for visible Jews to enter their country from Israel.^[108]

Israel[edit]

According to the 2004 U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Israel and the Occupied Territories, the Israeli government had done «little to reduce institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country’s Arab citizens.»^[110] The 2005 US Department of State report on Israel wrote: «[T]he government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas, including… institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country’s Arab citizens.»^[111] The 2010 U.S. State Department Country Report stated that Israeli law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, and the Israeli government effectively enforced these prohibitions.^[112] Former Likud MK and Minister of Defense Moshe Arens has criticized the treatment of minorities in Israel, saying that they did not bear the full obligation of Israeli citizenship, nor were they extended the full privileges of citizenship.^[113]

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) published reports which documented racism in Israel, and the 2007 report suggested that anti-Arab racism was increasing in the country. One analysis of the report summarized it thus: «Over two-thirds of Israeli teens believe that Arabs are less intelligent, uncultured and violent.^[114][115] The Israeli government spokesman responded that the Israeli government was «committed to fighting racism whenever it raises its ugly head and is committed to full equality to all Israeli citizens, irrespective of ethnicity, creed or background, as defined by our declaration of independence».^[115] Isi Leibler of the Jerusalem Center for Public affairs argues that Israeli Jews are troubled by «increasingly hostile, even treasonable outbursts by Israeli Arabs against the state» while it is at war with neighboring countries.^[116] Khaled Diab of The Guardian wrote in 2012 that demonisation was a two-way street, with Palestinians in Israel reportedly holding negative stereotypes of Israelis as devious, violent, cunning and untrustworthy.^[117]

A 2018 poll by Pew Research Center also suggested there to be particularly widespread anti-refugee sentiment among surveyed Israelis compared to the people from other selected countries.^[118]

Kuwait[edit]

In April 2020, an actress said on Kuwaiti TV that migrants should be thrown out «into the desert», amidst reported exploitation of foreign labourers in the country.^[119] Reports of Sierra Leonean, Indonesian and Nepalese workers suffering abuse in Kuwait have prompted the 3 countries’ governments to ban its citizens from being employed as domestic workers there.^[120] Expat surveys done by InterNations have ranked the country amongst the most unfriendly for expatriates.^[121][122]

Lebanon[edit]

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV channel has often been accused of airing antisemitic broadcasts, accusing the Jews/Zionists of conspiring against the Arab world, and frequently airing excerpts from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,^{[123][124][125]} which the Encyclopædia Britannica describes as a «fraudulent document which served as a pretext and rationale for anti-Semitism in the early 20th century». In another incident, an Al-Manar commentator recently referred to «Zionist attempts to transmit AIDS to Arab countries». Al-Manar officials denied broadcasting any antisemitic incitement and they also stated that their group’s position is anti-Israeli, not antisemitic. However, Hezbollah has directed strong rhetoric against both Israel and Jews, and it has cooperated in publishing and distributing outright antisemitic literature. The government of Lebanon has not criticized Hezbollah’s continued broadcast of antisemitic material on television.^[126]

There are also substantial accounts^[127] of abuses against migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, notably from Ethiopia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and other countries in Asia and Africa, exacerbated by the Kafala system, or «sponsorship system». Recent increases in abuse have also occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[128]

Palestine[edit]

Various Palestinian organizations and individuals have been regularly accused of being antisemitic. Howard Gutman believes that much of Muslim hatred of Jews stems from the ongoing Arab–Israeli conflict and that peace would significantly reduce antisemitism.^[129]

Anti-US and anti-Israeli sentiment had led some Palestinians to support the 2001 September 11 attacks in New York.^[130] In August 2003, senior Hamas official Dr Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rantisi wrote in the Hamas newspaper Al-Risala:^[131]

It is no longer a secret that the Zionists were behind the Nazis’ murder of many Jews, and agreed to it, with the aim of intimidating them and forcing them to immigrate to Palestine.

In August 2009, Hamas refused to allow Palestinian children to learn about the Holocaust, which it called «a lie invented by the Zionists» and referred to Holocaust education as a «war crime».^[132] A 2016 Gallup International poll had roughly 74% of Palestinian respondents agreeing there was religious superiority, 78% agreeing there was racial superiority, and 76% agreeing there was cultural superiority. The percentages were among the highest out of 66 nations surveyed.^[133][134]

Saudi Arabia[edit]

Racism in Saudi Arabia is practiced against labor workers who are foreigners, mostly from developing countries.
Asian maids who work in the country have been victims of racism and other forms of discrimination,^{[135][136][137][138]} foreign workers have been raped, exploited, under- or unpaid, physically abused,^[139] overworked and locked in their places of employment. The international organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) describes these conditions as «near-slavery» and attributes them to «deeply rooted gender, religious, and racial discrimination».^[140] In many cases the workers are unwilling to report their employers for fear of losing their jobs or further abuse.^[140]

There were several cases of antisemitism in Saudi Arabia and it is common within the country’s religious circles. The Saudi Arabian media often attacks Jews in books, in news articles, in its Mosques and with what some describe as antisemitic satire. Saudi Arabian government officials and state religious leaders often promote the idea that Jews are conspiring to take over the entire world; as proof of their claims they publish and frequently cite The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as factual.^[141][142]

Europe[edit]

A study that ran from 2002 to 2015 has mapped the countries in Europe with the highest incidents of racial bias towards black people, based on data from 288,076 white Europeans. It used the Implicit-association test (a reaction-based psychological test designed to measure implicit racial bias). The strongest bias was found in several Central (the Czech Republic, Slovakia)) and Eastern European countries (Lithuania, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria), as well as Malta, Italy, and Portugal.^[143] A 2017 report by the University of Oslo Center for Research on Extremism tentatively suggests that «individuals of Muslim background stand out among perpetrators of antisemitic violence in Western Europe».^[144]

Negative views of Muslims have varied across different parts of Europe, and Islamophobic hate crimes have been reported across the region.^[145] A 2017 Chatham House poll of more than 10,000 people in 10 European countries had on average 55% agreeing that all further migration from Muslim-majority countries should be stopped, while 20% disagreed. Majority opposition was found in Poland (71%), Austria (65%), Belgium (64%), Hungary (64%), France (61%), Greece (58%), Germany (53%), and Italy (51%).^[146]

Belgium[edit]

There were recorded well over a hundred antisemitic attacks in Belgium in 2009. This was a 100% increase from the year before. The perpetrators were usually young males of immigrant background from the Middle East. In 2009, the Belgian city of Antwerp, often referred to as Europe’s last shtetl, experienced a surge in antisemitic violence. Bloeme Evers-Emden, an Amsterdam resident and Auschwitz survivor, was quoted in the newspaper Aftenposten in 2010: «The antisemitism now is even worse than before the Holocaust. The antisemitism has become more violent. Now they are threatening to kill us.»^[148]

France[edit]

In 2004, France experienced rising levels of Islamic antisemitism and acts that were publicized around the world.^{[149][150][151]} In 2006, rising levels of antisemitism were recorded in French schools. Reports related to the tensions between the children of North African Muslim immigrants and North African Jewish children.^[151] The climax was reached when Ilan Halimi was tortured to death by the so-called «Barbarians gang», led by Youssouf Fofana. In 2007, over 7,000 members of the community petitioned for asylum in the United States, citing antisemitism in France.^[152]

In the first half of 2009, an estimated 631 recorded acts of antisemitism took place in France, more than the whole of 2008.^[153] Speaking to the World Jewish Congress in December 2009, the French Interior Minister Hortefeux described the acts of antisemitism as «a poison to our republic». He also announced that he would appoint a special coordinator for fighting racism and antisemitism.^[154]

Germany[edit]

The period after Germany’s loss of World War I led to the increased espousal of anti-Semitism and other forms of racism in the country’s political discourse, for example, emotions which were initially expressed by members of the right-wing Freikorps finally culminated in the ascent of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in 1933. The Nazi Party’s racial policy and the Nuremberg Race Laws against Jews and other non-Aryans represented the most explicit racist policies in twentieth century Europe. These laws deprived all Jews (including half-Jews and quarter-Jews) and all other non-Aryans of German citizenship. The official title of Jews became «subjects of the state». At first, the Nuremberg Race Laws only forbade racially mixed sexual relationships and marriages between Aryans and Jews but later they were extended to «Gypsies, Negroes or their bastard offspring».^[155] Such interracial relationships were known as «racial pollution» Rassenschande, and they became a criminal and punishable offence under the race laws.^[155][156] The Nazi racial theory regarded Poles and other Slavic peoples as racially inferior Untermenschen. Nazi Germany’s Directive No.1306 stated: «Polishness equals subhumanity. Poles, Jews and gypsies are on the same inferior level.»^[157]

After the 1950s the steady arrival of Turkish workers led to xenophobia.^[21]

According to a 2012 survey, 18% of Turks in Germany believe that Jews are inferior human beings.^[158][159]

Hungary[edit]

Anti-refugee sentiment has been strong in Hungary,^[160][161] and Hungarian authorities along the border have been accused of detaining migrants under harsh conditions^[162] with some reported instances of beatings and other violence from the guards.^{[163][164][165]} Surveys from Pew Research Center have also suggested that negative views of refugees and Muslims are held by the majority of the country’s locals.^[166][167]

As in other European countries, the Romani people faced disadvantages, including unequal treatment, discrimination, segregation and harassment. Negative stereotypes are often linked to Romani unemployment and reliance on state benefits.^[168] In 2008 and 2009 nine attacks took place against Romani in Hungary, resulting in six deaths and multiple injuries. According to the Hungarian curia (supreme court), these murders were motivated by anti-Romani sentiment and sentenced the perpetrators to life imprisonment.^[168]

Italy[edit]

A new party emerged in the 1980s, Lega Nord. According to Gilda Zazzara, it started with identity-based claims and secessionist proposals for the North to break away from Southern Italy. It shifted to xenophobia and the demand that job priority be accorded to native Italian workers.^[169]

Anti-Roma sentiment in Italy takes the form of hostility, prejudice, discrimination or racism directed at Romani people. There’s no reliable data for the total number of Roma people living in Italy, but estimates put it between 140,000 and 170,000. Many national and local political leaders engaged in rhetoric during 2007 and 2008 that maintained that the extraordinary rise in crime at the time was mainly a result of uncontrolled immigration of people of Roma origin from recent European Union member state Romania.^[170] National and local leaders declared their plans to expel Roma from settlements in and around major cities and to deport illegal immigrants. The mayors of Rome and Milan signed «Security Pacts» in May 2007 that «envisaged the forced eviction of up to 10,000 Romani people.»^[171]

According to a May 2008 poll 68% of Italians, wanted to see all of the country’s approximately 150,000 Gypsies, many of them Italian citizens, expelled.^[172] The survey, published as mobs in Naples burned down Gypsy camps that month, revealed that the majority also wanted all Gypsy camps in Italy to be demolished.^[172]

Netherlands[edit]

In early 2012 the Dutch right-wing Party for Freedom established an anti-Slavic (predominantly anti-Polish) and anti-Romani website, where native Dutch people could air their frustration about losing their job because of cheaper workers from Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and other non-Germanic Central and Eastern European countries. This led to commentaries involving hate speech and other racial prejudice mainly against Poles and Roma, but also aimed at other Central and Eastern European ethnic groups.^[173] According to a 2015 report by the OECD and EU Commission, 37% of young people born in the country with immigrant parents say they had experienced discrimination in their lives.^[174]

In the Netherlands, antisemitic incidents, from verbal abuse to violence, are reported, allegedly connected with Islamic youth, mostly boys of Moroccan descent. A phrase made popular during football matches against the so-called Jewish football club Ajax has been adopted by Muslim youth and is frequently heard at pro-Palestinian demonstrations: «Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas!» According to the Centre for Information and Documentation on Israel, a pro-Israel lobby group in the Netherlands, in 2009, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in Amsterdam, the city that is home to most of the approximately 40,000 Dutch Jews, doubled compared to 2008.^[175]

Norway[edit]

In 2010, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation after one year of research, revealed that antisemitism was common among Norwegian Muslims. Teachers at schools with large shares of Muslims revealed that Muslim students often «praise or admire Adolf Hitler for his killing of Jews», that «Jew-hate is legitimate within vast groups of Muslim students,» and «Muslims laugh or command [teachers] to stop when trying to educate about the Holocaust.» Additionally that «while some students might protest when some express support for terrorism, none object when students express hate of Jews» and that it says in «the Quran that you shall kill Jews, all true Muslims hate Jews.» Most of these students were said to be born and raised in Norway. One Jewish father also told that his child after school had been taken by a Muslim mob (though managed to escape), reportedly «to be taken out to the forest and hanged because he was a Jew».^[176]

Russia[edit]

Lien Verpoest explores the era of the Napoleonic wars to identify the formation of conservative ideas ranging from traditionalism to ardent patriotism and xenophobia.^[177] Conservatives generally controlled Russia in the 19th century, and imposed xenophobia in education and the academy. In the late 19th century, especially after nationalistic uprisings in Poland in the 1860s, the government displayed xenophobia in its hostility toward ethnic minorities that did not speak Russian. The decision was to reduce the use of other languages, and insist on Russification.^[178]

By the beginning of the 20th century, most European Jews lived in the so-called Pale of Settlement, the Western frontier of the Russian Empire consisting generally of the modern-day countries of Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and neighboring regions. Many pogroms accompanied the Revolution of 1917 and the ensuing Russian Civil War, an estimated 70,000 to 250,000 civilian Jews were killed in the atrocities throughout the former Russian Empire; the number of Jewish orphans exceeded 300,000.^[179][180]

During the civil war era (1917–1922) both the Bolsheviks and the Whites employed nationalism and xenophobia as weapons to delegitimise the opposition.^[181]

After World War II official national policy was to bring in students from Communist countries in East Europe and Asia for advanced training in Communist leadership roles . These students encountered severe xenophobia on campus. They survived by sticking together, but developed a hostility toward the Soviet leadership.^[182] Even after the fall of Communism foreign students faced hostility on campus.^[183]

In the 2000s, «skinheads» were especially visible in attacking anything foreign.^[184] Racism against both the Russian citizens (peoples of the Caucasus, indigenous peoples of Siberia and Russian Far East, etc.) and non-Russian citizens of Africans, Central Asians, East Asians (Vietnamese, Chinese, etc.) and Europeans (Ukrainians, etc.) became a significant factor.^[185]

Using surveys from 1996, 2004, and 2012, Hannah S. Chapman, et al. reports a steady increase in Russians’ negative attitudes toward seven outgroups. Muscovites especially became more xenophobic.^[186] In 2016, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that «Researchers who track xenophobia in Russia have recorded an «impressive» decrease in hate crimes as the authorities appear to have stepped up pressure on far-right groups».^[187] David Barry uses surveys to investigate the particularistic and xenophobic belief that all citizens should join Russia’s dominant Orthodox religion. It is widespread among ethnic Russians and is increasing.^[188]

A 2016 GlobeScan/BBC World Service poll found that 79% of Russian respondents disapproved of accepting Syrian refugees, the highest percentage out of 18 countries surveyed.^[189][190]

Sweden[edit]

A government study in 2006 estimated that 5% of the total adult population and 39% of adult Muslims «harbour systematic antisemitic views».^[191] The former prime minister Göran Persson described these results as «surprising and terrifying». However, the rabbi of Stockholm’s Orthodox Jewish community, Meir Horden, said, «It’s not true to say that the Swedes are antisemitic. Some of them are hostile to Israel because they support the weak side, which they perceive the Palestinians to be.»^[192]

In March 2010, Fredrik Sieradzk told Die Presse, an Austrian Internet publication, that Jews are being «harassed and physically attacked» by «people from the Middle East», although he added that only a small number of Malmö’s 40,000 Muslims «exhibit hatred of Jews». Sieradzk also stated that approximately 30 Jewish families have emigrated from Malmö to Israel in the past year, specifically to escape from harassment. Also in March, the Swedish newspaper Skånska Dagbladet reported that attacks on Jews in Malmö totaled 79 in 2009, about twice as many as the previous year, according to police statistics.^[193] In December 2010, the Jewish human rights organization Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a travel advisory concerning Sweden, advising Jews to express «extreme caution» when visiting the southern parts of the country due to an increase in verbal and physical harassment of Jewish citizens by Muslims in the city of Malmö.^[194]

Ukraine[edit]

Israel’s Antisemitism Report for 2017 stated that «A striking exception in the trend of decrease in antisemitic incidents in Eastern Europe was Ukraine, where the number of recorded antisemitic attacks was doubled from last year and surpassed the tally for all the incidents reported throughout the entire region combined.»^[195] Ukrainian state historian, Vladimir Vyatrovich dismissed the Israeli report as anti-Ukrainian propaganda and a researcher of antisemitism from Ukraine, Vyacheslav Likhachev said the Israeli report was flawed and amateurish.^[195]

United Kingdom[edit]

Derek Wilson notes that xenophobia was a factor in anti-alien riots in London in 1517, protesting the prominence of foreigners in London wool and cloth businesses.^[196]

Bernard Porter argues that Anti-black and anti-Indian themes waxed strong in the late 19th century, not only because of racism but also because of rebellious episodes in the British Empire in Africa and India, empire.^[197] Xenophobia in popular literature targeted Germans in the early 20th centuries, based on fears of militarism and espionage.^[198]

The extent and the targets of racist attitudes in the United Kingdom have varied over time. It has resulted in cases of discrimination, riots and racially motivated murders. Racism was mitigated by the attitudes and norms of the British class system during the 19th century, in which race mattered less than social distinction: a black African tribal chief was unquestionably superior to a white English costermonger.^[199] Use of the word «racism» became more widespread after 1936, although the term «race hatred» was used in the late 1920s by sociologist Frederick Hertz. Laws were passed in the 1960s that specifically prohibited racial segregation.^[200]

According to scholar Julia Lovell, there has been a history of sinophobia dating back to the early 20th century, propagated by writers like Charles Dickens, which has endured to the present day with current media depictions of China.^[201]

Racism has been observed as having a correlation between factors such as levels of unemployment and immigration in an area. Some studies suggest Brexit led to a rise in racist incidents, where locals became hostile to foreigners.^[202]

Studies published in 2014 and 2015 claimed racism was on the rise in the UK, with more than one third of those polled admitting they were racially prejudiced.^{[203][needs update]} However a 2019 EU survey, Being Black in the EU, ranked the UK as the least racist in the 12 Western European countries surveyed.^[204] A 2016 BBC poll found increased hardening attitudes towards refugees from Syria and Libya, with 41% of British respondents saying the UK should accept fewer refugees compared to 24% saying it should accept more.^[205]

Sectarianism between Ulster Protestants and Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland has been called a form of racism by some international bodies.^[206] It has resulted in widespread discrimination, segregation and serious violence, especially during partition and the Troubles.

In recent years the intense debates over Brexit has increased xenophobia in London, especially against French living in the city.^[207]

Africa[edit]

Ivory Coast[edit]

In the past recent years, Ivory Coast has seen a resurgence in ethnic tribal hatred and religious intolerance. In addition to the many victims among the various tribes of the northern and southern regions of the country that have perished in the ongoing conflict, white foreigners residing or visiting Ivory Coast have also been subjected to violent attacks. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, the Ivory Coast government is guilty of fanning ethnic hatred for its own political ends.^[208]

In 2004, the Young Patriots of Abidjan, a strongly nationalist organisation, rallied by the state media, plundered possessions of foreign nationals in Abidjan. Calls for violence against whites and non-Ivorians were broadcast on national radio and TV after the Young Patriots seized control of its offices. Rapes, beatings, and murders of persons of European and Lebanese descent followed. Thousands of expatriates and white or ethnic Lebanese Ivorians fled the country. The attacks drew international condemnation.^[209][210]

Mauritania[edit]

Slavery in Mauritania persists despite its abolition in 1980 and mostly affects the descendants of black Africans abducted into slavery who now live in Mauritania as «black Moors» or haratin and who partially still serve the «white Moors», or bidhan, as slaves. The practice of slavery in Mauritania is most dominant within the traditional upper class of the Moors. For centuries, the haratin lower class, mostly poor black Africans living in rural areas, have been considered natural slaves by these Moors. Social attitudes have changed among most urban Moors, but in rural areas, the ancient divide remains.^[211]

Niger[edit]

In October 2006, Niger announced that it would deport to Chad the «Diffa Arabs», Arabs living in the Diffa region of eastern Niger.^[212] Their population numbered about 150,000.^[213] While the government was rounding up Arabs in preparation for the deportation, two girls died, reportedly after fleeing government forces, and three women suffered miscarriages. Niger’s government eventually suspended their controversial decision to deport the Arabs.^[214][215]

South Africa[edit]

Xenophobia in South Africa has been present in both the apartheid and post–apartheid eras. Hostility between the British and Boers exacerbated by the Second Boer War led to rebellion by poor Afrikaners who looted British-owned shops.^[216] South Africa also passed numerous acts intended to keep out Indians, such as the Immigrants Regulation Act of 1913, which provided for the exclusion of «undesirables», a group of people that included Indians. This effectively halted Indian immigration. The Township Franchise Ordinance of 1924 was intended to «deprive Indians of municipal franchise».^[217] Xenophobic attitudes toward the Chinese have also been present, sometimes in the form of robberies or hijackings,^[218] and a hate speech case in 2018 was put to court the year later with 11 offenders on trial.^[219]

In 1994 and 1995, gangs of armed youth destroyed the homes of foreign nationals living in Johannesburg, demanding that the police work to repatriate them to their home countries.^[220]
In 2008, a widely documented spate of xenophobic attacks occurred in Johannesburg.^{[221][222][223]} It is estimated that tens of thousands of migrants were displaced; property, businesses and homes were widely looted.^[224] The death toll after the attack stood at 56.^[220]

In 2015, another widely documented series of xenophobic attacks occurred in South Africa, mostly against migrant Zimbabweans.^[225] This followed remarks by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu stating that the migrants should «pack their bags and leave».^[220][226] As of 20 April 2015, 7 people had died and more than 2000 foreigners had been displaced.^[225]

Following the riots and murders of other Africans from 2008 and 2015, violence again broke out in 2019.^[227]

Sudan[edit]

In the Sudan, black African captives in the civil war were often enslaved, and female prisoners were often abused sexually,^[228] with their Arab captors claiming that Islamic law grants them permission.^[229] According to CBS News, slaves have been sold for US$50 a piece.^[230] In September 2000, the U.S. State Department alleged that «the Sudanese government’s support of slavery and its continued military action which has resulted in numerous deaths are due in part to the victims’ religious beliefs.»^[231] Jok Madut Jok, professor of history at Loyola Marymount University, states that the abduction of women and children of the south is slavery by any definition. The government of Sudan insists that the whole matter is no more than the traditional tribal feuding over resources.^[232]

Uganda[edit]

Former British colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa have many citizens of South Asian descent. They were brought by the British Empire from British India to do clerical work in imperial service.^[233] The most prominent case of anti-Indian racism was the ethnic cleansing of the Indian (called Asian) minority in Uganda by the strongman dictator and human rights violator Idi Amin.^[233]

Oceania[edit]

Australia[edit]

The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 (White Australia policy) effectively barred people of non-European descent from immigrating to Australia.^[236] There was never any specific policy titled as such, but the term was invented later to encapsulate a collection of policies that were designed to exclude people from Asia (particularly China) and the Pacific Islands (particularly Melanesia) from immigrating to Australia.^[237] The Menzies and Holt Governments effectively dismantled the policies between 1949 and 1966 and the Whitlam Government passed laws to ensure that race would be totally disregarded as a component for immigration to Australia in 1973.^[238]

The 2005 Cronulla riots were a series of race riots and outbreaks of mob violence in Sydney’s southern suburb Cronulla which resulted from strained relations between Anglo-Celtic and (predominantly Muslim) Lebanese Australians. Travel warnings for Australia were issued by some countries but were later removed.^[239] In December 2005, a fight broke out between a group of volunteer surf lifesavers and Lebanese youth. These incidents were considered to be a key factor in a racially motivated confrontation the following weekend.^[240] Violence spread to other southern suburbs of Sydney, where more assaults occurred, including two stabbings and attacks on ambulances and police officers.^[241]

On 30 May 2009, Indian students protested against what they claimed were racist attacks, blocking streets in central Melbourne. Thousands of students gathered outside the Royal Melbourne Hospital where one of the victims was admitted.^[242] In light of this event, the Australian Government started a Helpline for Indian students to report such incidents.^[243] The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, termed these attacks «disturbing» and called for Australia to investigate the matters further.^[244]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Akinola, Adeoye O. ed. The Political Economy of Xenophobia in Africa (Springer, 2018) 128pp.
• Auestad, Lene, ed. Nationalism and the Body Politic: Psychoanalysis and the Rise of Ethnocentrism and Xenophobia. (Karnac Books, 2013).
• Bernasconi, Robert. «Where is xenophobia in the fight against racism?.» Critical Philosophy of Race 2.1 (2014): 5–19. online
• Bordeau, Jamie. Xenophobia (The Rosen Publishing Group, 2009). global.
• Dovido, John F., Kerry Kawakami, and Kelly R. Beach. «Implicit and Explicit Attitudes: Examination of the Relationship between Measures of Intergroup Bias.» in Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Intergroup Processes ed by R. Brown and S. Gaertner, (Blackwell, 2003) Pp. 175–97.
• Frayling, Christopher/ The Yellow Peril: Dr. Fu Manchu and the Rise of Chinaphobia (2014); role of popular culture in promoting xenophobia against Chinese. excerpt
• Harrison, Faye V. Resisting Racism and Xenophobia: Global Perspectives on Race, Gender, and Human Rights (2005) excerpt
• Hjerm, Mikael. «Education, xenophobia and nationalism: A comparative analysis.» Journal of ethnic and Migration Studies 27.1 (2001): 37–60. online
• Neocosmos, Michael. From ‘Foreign Natives’ to ‘Native Foreigners’: Explaining Xenophobia in Post-apartheid South Africa, Citizenship and Nationalism, Identity and Politics (2010).
• Nyamnjoh, Francis B. Insiders and Outsiders: Citizenship and Xenophobia in Contemporary Southern Africa (Zed, 2006)
• Quillian, Lincoln. «New approaches to understanding racial prejudice and discrimination.» Annual Review of Sociology 32 (2006): 299–328. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.32.061604.123132
• Rydgren, Jens. «The logic of xenophobia.» Rationality and society 16.2 (2004): 123–148.
• Schlueter, Elmar, Anu Masso, and Eldad Davidov. «What factors explain anti-Muslim prejudice? An assessment of the effects of Muslim population size, institutional characteristics and immigration-related media claims.» Journal of ethnic and migration studies 46.3 (2020): 649–664. online
• Sundstrom, Ronald R., and David Haekwon Kim. «Xenophobia and racism.» Critical philosophy of race 2.1 (2014): 20–45. online
• Tafira, Hashi Kenneth. Xenophobia in South Africa: A History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).
• Yakushko, Oksana. Modern-Day Xenophobia: Critical Historical and Theoretical Perspectives on the Roots of Anti-Immigrant Prejudice (Springer. 2018) 129pp, theoretical

Europe[edit]

• Bartram, David, and Erika Jarochova. «A longitudinal investigation of integration/multiculturalism policies and attitudes towards immigrants in European countries.» Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (2021): 1–20. online Archived 5 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine
• Baumgartl, Bernd, and Adrian Favell, eds. New xenophobia in Europe (Martinus Nijhoff, 1995).
• Bukhair, Syed Attique Uz Zaman Hyder, et al. «Islamophobia in the West and Post 9/11 Era.» International Affairs and Global Strategy 78 (2019): 23–32. online
• Davidov, Eldad, et al. «Direct and indirect predictors of opposition to immigration in Europe: individual values, cultural values, and symbolic threat.» Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 46.3 (2020): 553–573. online
• De Master, Sara, and Michael K. Le Roy. «Xenophobia and the European Union.» Comparative politics (2000): 419–436. online
• Doty, Roxanne Lynn. Anti-Immigrantism in Western Democracies: Statecraft, desire and the politics of exclusion (Routledge, 2003).
• Finzsch, Norbert, and Dietmar Schirmer, eds. Identity and intolerance: nationalism, racism, and xenophobia in Germany and the United States (Cambridge UP, 2002) 16 essays by scholars.
• Harrison, Faye V. Resisting Racism and Xenophobia: Global Perspectives on Race, Gender, and Human Rights (2005)
• Heath, Anthony, et al. «Contested terrain: explaining divergent patterns of public opinion towards immigration within Europe.» (2020): 475–488. online Archived 5 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine
• Jolly, Seth K., and Gerald M. DiGiusto. «Xenophobia and Immigrant Contact: French Public Attitudes Toward Immigration» The Social Science Journal (2014) 51#3: 464–73.
• Kende, Anna, and Péter Krekó. «Xenophobia, prejudice, and right-wing populism in East-Central Europe.» Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 34 (2020): 29–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.11.011
• Krumpal, Ivar. «Estimating the Prevalence of Xenophobia and Anti-Semitism in Germany: A Comparison of Randomized Response and Direct Questioning.» Social Science Research (2012) 41: 1387–1403.
• Makari, George. Of Fear and Strangers: A History of Xenophobia (2021), scholarly history focused on US and Europe; excerpt
• Minkenberg, Michael. «The Radical Right and Anti-Immigrant Politics in Liberal Democracies since World War II: Evolution of a Political and Research Field.» Polity 53.3 (2021): 394–417.
• Quillian, Lincoln. «Prejudice as a response to perceived group threat: Population composition and anti-immigrant and racial prejudice in Europe.» American Sociological Review (1995): 586–611. online
• Schlueter, Elmar, Anu Masso, and Eldad Davidov. «What factors explain anti-Muslim prejudice? An assessment of the effects of Muslim population size, institutional characteristics and immigration-related media claims.» Journal of ethnic and migration studies 46.3 (2020): 649–664. online
• Scully, Richard, and Andrekos Varnava, ed. Comic Empires: Imperialism in Cartoons, Caricature, and Satirical Art (Manchester UP, 2020)
• Strabac, Zan, Toril Aalberg, and Marko Valenta. «Attitudes towards Muslim immigrants: Evidence from survey experiments across four countries.» Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 40.1 (2014): 100–118.
• Tausch, Arno. «Muslim immigration continues to divide Europe: A quantitative analysis of European social survey data.» Middle East Review of International Affairs 20.2 (2016). online
• Thränhardt, Dietrich. «The political uses of xenophobia in England, France and Germany.» Party politics 1.3 (1995): 323–345.
• Todd, Emmanuel. Who is Charlie? Xenophobia and the new middle class. Polity Press, 2015, France.

United States[edit]

• Anbinder, Tyler. «Nativism and prejudice against immigrants,» in A companion to American immigration, ed. by Reed Ueda (2006) pp. 177–201 excerpt
• Awan, Muhammad Safeer. «Global terror and the rise of xenophobia/Islamophobia: An analysis of American cultural production since September 11.» Islamic Studies (2010): 521–537. online^{[permanent dead link]}
• Baker, Joseph O., David Cañarte, and L. Edward Day. «Race, xenophobia, and punitiveness among the American public.» Sociological Quarterly 59.3 (2018): 363–383. online
• Bennett, David H. The Party of Fear: The American Far Right from Nativism to the Militia Movement (U of North Carolina Press, 1988). online
• FitzGerald, David Scott, and David Cook-Martín. Culling the Masses: The Democratic Origins of Racist Immigration Policy in the Americas (Harvard UP, 2014) excerpt
• Lee, Erika. «America first, immigrants last: American xenophobia then and now.» Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 19.1 (2020): 3–18. online
• Lee, Erika. America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States (2019). The mnajor scholarly history; excerpt; also see online review
• Makari, George. Of Fear and Strangers: A History of Xenophobia (2021), scholarly history focused on US and Europe; excerpt

External links[edit]

Xenophobia has an adverse effect on the society as well as economy of a region. It goes without saying that the community will be looked down upon by others and on a global platform as well. Here, we’ll check out the causes and negative effects of xenophobia.

Literally

The word xenophobia is made up of the Greek words ‘xenos’, which means strange or foreigner, and ‘phobos’, which means fear.

What is Xenophobia?

When a person is born, the only people that he/she is comfortable around are the parents. Gradually, the child warms up to other family members and slowly gets used to them. His world, for a few years then, is limited only to his family. A big change is introduced into this world of his when he starts going to school. His circle of comfort now includes his teachers and classmates as well.

What I am trying to say here is that, a person, through the course of his life, meets strangers and makes acquaintances. In this process, there are some inhibitions at the beginning, but soon these are overcome. But this is not the case always. Some people find it difficult to mix with people who they deem are different from them; strangers from a different land. This irrational fear of strangers or foreigners is termed as xenophobia. There are various reasons that lead to this fear, and it brings out a range of emotions that vary from a biased attitude to violence.

Causes of Xenophobia

The fear of foreigners can be attributed to the mismatch in the basic thinking process and culture. However, this reason is not all that there is to it. One of the reasons responsible for painting a negative picture of foreigners is their involvement in various crimes. This can create a feeling of alienation, and strangers are seen as someone who have come to reign chaos in the homelands of the local populace.

Another reason is the increase in competition for jobs because of the incoming ‘aliens’. The locals, along with the already existing competition, have to further face steep odds owing to the influx of foreigners. Even in case of the ones who are already employed, replacements are available, rather easily. Thus, foreigners become a threat to their jobs.

There can be a presence of ‘one bad apple’ among the incoming populace. But generalizing one negative experience from one foreigner or a bunch of them, and applying it to every stranger leads to xenophobia. Further, this hatred is passed along among the locals. Along with this, the hatred towards foreigners can be a reciprocated reaction when the roles were reversed.

The incoming strangers are also deemed as a danger to the culture, traditions, and customs of the locals. This is also the reason for the spread of xenophobia, as foreigners are seen as a threat to the local heritage and legacy. The migrations result in sharing of resources, including the natural ones, which can lead to a stress on the economy and the general lifestyle of the natives.

Xenophobic people find it stressful when they are exposed to the cultures or people that are unknown to them or they perceive as strange. They are anxious when dealing with people they are not comfortable with, and try to establish a supremacy over them. Those who are xenophobic do not easily trust, are hostility in their behavior, and can get abusive when dealing with those whom they hate or are afraid of.

Effects of Xenophobia

One of the social impacts of Xenophobia is that it breeds an atmosphere of hostility and distrust in society. This can lead to the decline in the number of migrants to that particular society. This, in turn, has a negative impact on the economy, that will be deprived of the influx of talent and resources.

Escalation of this hostility can lead to a spree of violence, like the one seen in South Africa in 2008, which was the result of the prevailing mood in the nation. This xenophobic reaction is not new to the ‘Rainbow Nation’, as there have been several such scenarios in the Apartheid Era there, and these were expected to stop after democratic rule was established in the country in 1994. The recent hatred towards foreign nationals has, however, proved otherwise.

These attacks in South Africa were prominently against the Nigerians. Nigerians themselves are not unfamiliar with this kind of hatred towards foreigners, as the nation had seen a similar spate of killings in the 1980s, when many people of Ghanaian origin were charred to death.

One of the negative effects of xenophobia on a community is that, it will, more or less, turn into a closed one, where there will be no introduction of new ideologies, innovations, and thought processes. It will also have long-term effects on the tourists as well, who will be advised against and also prefer not to visit such a volatile region. This will result in the loss of a chunk of revenue, and various industries that come associated with the tourism sector will be hit.

Difference Between Racism and Xenophobia

Now, both these can seem similar, but they are not, and the only similarity they possess is that both are intolerable practices responsible for a regressive society. Racism is the hatred towards the people who belong to a different race. Xenophobia, on the other hand, is hatred or fear of people who are perceived as strangers or foreigners having different cultural beliefs.

Xenophobia is the general failure to accept ‘others’. It usually builds on the existing bias and prejudiced notions that are prevalent in a society. A Sanskrit verse says, ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’, which means that a guest is equivalent to God. Well, one is left to wonder, will not this philosophy be helpful in negating the adverse psychological effects that xenophobia has?

Xenophobia—»fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners»—has the look and feel of a word that has been in the English language for hundreds of years, borne of the tumultuous political climates of the Renaissance and the penchant that many writers back then had for fashioning fancy new words from Latin and Greek. It is not that old. In fact, the word is relatively new (with an emphasis on «relatively»), with all evidence suggesting that it originated near the end of the 19th century. Our earliest citation is from 1880:

Here, however, as in other cases, we are inclined to think that intelligent xenomania is decidedly preferable to the Xenophobia which is of necessity and always unintelligent.
—The Daily News (London, England), 12 April 1880

Xenophobia was formed from a brace of words found in ancient Greek, xenos (which can mean either «stranger» or «guest») and phobos (which can mean either «flight» or «fear»). It appears to have arrived on the heels of another late-19th century coinage, xenomania («an inordinate attachment to foreign things»), which, sadly, has proved to not have the same currency as xenophobia, and was followed shortly afterwards by the forms xenophobe and xenophobic:

There is a wider field for satire in the behavior of Xenophobes, who wherever they wander say “for all we can see foreigners is ‘mostly fools.’”
—Daily News (London, England), 26 March 1891

Zeikin seems to have been a faithful and conscientious teacher, for even such a fanatical Xenophobe as Theophylactus, Archbishop of Tver, allows that his intentions were at least honest, and his morals unexceptionable.
—R. Nisbet Bain, The Pupils of Peter the Great, 1897

Of course, the fact that the word xenophobia did not exist before Rutherford B. Hayes was president of the United States does not mean that the condition itself was absent. After all, things may very well exist before they are named; additionally, our language did have another word for the hatred or distrust of strangers prior to this (albeit a very obscure one): misoxenie.

Indeed the Genius, and common humour of a Nation, is not easily alterable, and our Misoxenie (or hatred to Strangers) was no new quality, for Horace noted it before or about Christs birth and Englishmen can hardly see when they are well to keepe them to.

—John Speed, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain, 1611

Lest all this focus of words relating to fear and hatred of strangers proves to be depressing, we should point out that our language also has a fair number of words formed from xenos which are slightly more pleasant. We have xenophile («one attracted to foreign things») and xenial («of, relating to, or constituting hospitality or relations between host and guest»), which, although little used, help in some way to balance out our language.

10. Choose the correct preposition. Check in Appendix II. 1 He’s afraid at/of moths. 2 Xenophobia is the word for the fear of/for strangers. 3 An effective psychologist must be sensitive to/in the needs of the patient. 4 It’s natural to worry about/at dangers that are realistic, but a phobia goes far beyond this. 5 Treatment of a phobia can often lead to/ about a permanent cure.​

Asked by: Kennedy Toy

Score: 4.7/5
(42 votes)

Xenophobia is the fear or hatred of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an ingroup and an outgroup and may manifest in suspicion by the …

What is the real meaning of xenophobia?

Xenophobia is an extreme, intense fear and dislike of customs, cultures, and people considered strange, unusual, or unknown. The term itself comes from Greek, where “phobos” means fear and “xenos” can mean stranger, foreigner, or outsider. Yet in Greek, xenos carries some ambiguity. It can also mean guest or wanderer.

What does Xeno in xenophobia mean?

If you look back to the ancient Greek terms that underlie the word xenophobia, you’ll discover that xenophobic individuals are literally «stranger fearing.» Xenophobia, that elegant-sounding name for an aversion to persons unfamiliar, ultimately derives from two Greek terms: xenos, which can be translated as either » …

What is the opposite of xenophobia?

Xenophilia or xenophily is the love for, attraction to, or appreciation of foreign people, manners, customs, or cultures. It is the antonym of xenophobia or xenophoby.

What does Monophobia mean?

Also known as autophobia, isolophobia, or eremophobia, monophobia is the fear of being isolated, lonely, or alone. As a phobia, this fear isn’t necessarily a realistic one.

33 related questions found

Fear is a natural response in times of threat. Sometimes, you may not feel comfortable being with outsiders or with unknown people around you. 

But, if the fear or hatred of strangers is excessive and robs inner peace and mental health, it may be Xenophobia as well. 

It stems from a feeling of dislike, or disgust towards people of other countries, communities, or cultures. Often the fear gets intense when the outsiders or foreign people look strange and non-native. 

In some cases, fear leads to discrimination, biases, and intolerance. It also involves hatred towards the outside group.

Let’s learn more about the fallacy and reality attached to this phobia.

Xenophobia Infographics

SUMMARY
Xenophobia is a fear of strangers, unknown people, or communities that are different from us. The fear is intense and involves dislike, hostility, and hatred towards the language, customs, culture, traditions, of a foreign land and social group.

Many times, you must have seen certain groups of people showing a genuine dislike towards members of some other country or community. 

This dislike may turn into discrimination and fear of strangers when the foreign nationals are perceived as different and unlike us. 

The term xenophobia comes from two Greek words. In Greek, ‘Xenos’ means stranger, wanderer, or even a guest.

The word ‘Phobos’ refers to fear. Thus, Xenophobia means fear of strangers or outsiders.

Xenophobia is an intense and disturbing fear response. It also includes a general dislike, antagonism, and hostile feelings towards strangers.

The strangers are looked down with disgrace. They are also regarded as someone who is different, having a separate culture and language that is unknown and strange.

Xenophobia typically arises from an idea or belief that foreign people belong to an out-group.

Thus, there is a conflict between the in-group and out-group. People may differ in their ideologies, lifestyle choices, and many other things.

Xenophobia also involves an aversion for the culture, food habits, dress, and customs of people who are foreign and do not belong to one’s own country.

The fear response arises out of hatred caused due to the rise of globalization, the lack of job opportunities for the people of one’s own nation. 

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The psychology behind Xenophobia

There is a misconception that xenophobia and racism are the same. But there are important differences between the two.

Xenophobia refers to fear and dislike towards members of other countries, cultures, or communities. 

Racism stems from a belief that a particular culture or country is superior to the other. This leads to anger and hostility towards members of the inferior community and culture.

Racism may involve an intense hatred that can destroy harmony between people. It is also harmful to World Peace and the mutual development of Nations.

Though xenophobia overlaps with symptoms of fear and avoidance, it is not considered a diagnosable illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). The discomfort that a person suffers does not meet the diagnostic criteria of a specific phobia.

Sometimes xenophobia includes acts of damage and hostile attitude towards foreign nationals and immigrants. They are insulted, humiliated, or treated with disrespect and abuse.

An occasional worry and ill-feeling towards immigrants and unknown people are normal. But if the fear is intense and interferes with your daily life, it needs to be treated as soon as possible.

The history of xenophobia has proved that ancient Greeks and Romans were proud of their own culture.

Xenophobia has led to wide-scale destruction of life and property. Some of the historical examples of xenophobic attitudes are –

• The World War II Holocaust
• The Rwandan Genocide
• Genocide in Cambodia

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Triggers of Xenophobia

There are various triggers of xenophobia. Some of them are as follows:

• Learned responses from parents or forefathers. You must have grown up seeing similar ill feelings for Foreign Nationals in your house
• Fear of a perceived threat that is unreal but causes insecurity
• Lack of adequate resources or sharing of resources by outsiders. This may lead to economic inequality or a dearth of jobs for local youths
• Financial troubles of in-group may lead to hatred and intolerance for the outsiders’
• Peer pressure
• Poverty 
• Acts of violence shown by outsiders
• Trauma and emotional crisis
• Political propaganda about a group of people who may be actually harmless
• Coloring the perceptions of the insiders by supplying wrong information about the foreign people.

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Xenophobia signs and symptoms

When xenophobia sets in, you may experience physical symptoms as well as emotional discomfort. 

The fear may soon turn into dislike, hatred, and annoyance. The people of other countries and communities are seen as alien and not a part of one’s own group.

You may experience an increased heart rate and chest discomfort. There could be an adrenaline rush that makes the ‘fight or flight’ response.

Either you will feel like insulting or abusing the stranger or would prefer to avoid being with them. You may try to move away from the social space, or do not talk to them, etc.

Xenophobia signs are real and people experiencing it have confirmed fear, disgust, and a host of negative feelings.

The xenophobic symptoms can be both physical and psychological.

Physical symptoms of Xenophobia

The various physical signs that show that you might be under the grip of fear are as follows:

• Increased heart rate
• Excessive body sweat
• Trembling or shivering
• An instant fight, flight, or a freeze response
• Choking feeling in the throat
• General body discomfort

Psychological and emotional signs of Xenophobia

Xenophobia manifests many psychological signs such as

• Feeling of discomfort with people of other countries or communities.
• You may try hard to avoid going to certain places or areas.
• You may refuse to make friends with strangers.
• Avoid people who dress differently or follow customs that are unknown and feel different.
• Difficulty relating with outside people and foreign Nationals in workplaces or other social setups.
• A general dislike for people who belong to some other country, culture, or ethnic group.
• Feelings of anger and hostility towards strangers.
• Fear of being threatened by the outsider in some way.
• You may want to avoid strangers fully.
• Feelings of discrimination towards strangers and outsiders.
• You may wish to keep immigrants out of your in-group.
• Poor self-esteem.
• Isolating tendencies may surface.
• Mood swings.
• Lack of inner peace.
• Fear of getting involved in conflicts with outsiders.
• Fear of your social rights being taken away from you.
• A constant need to be reassured by others that you are safe and sound.
• You may criticize outsiders for no obvious reason.
• Feel threatened without a reason.
• Negative thoughts.
• Intense and irrational fear.
• Fear gets into your daily life.
• You may not be able to function normally.

Xenophobia is not a clinical phobia. The emotional signs stem from a feeling of insecurity. 

You are feeling threatened because you have developed the wrong idea for a long time.

Even if the outsider is not harmful, you may think they are going to harm you in some ways. There is a constant erosion of self-esteem. You may start to develop an inferiority complex as well.

Xenophobia is caused by an uneasiness that something bad will happen to you. You are under the grip of fear though there is no real threat around you.

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Personality factors and Xenophobia

If you hold a xenophobic attitude or know someone with a similar attitude, you must have observed that personality traits play a key role in Xenophobia.

The research studies have indicated that we all have different levels of tolerance.  Some of us are more insecure and uncertain than others.

Thus, our attitudes are colored by our perceptions and negative thinking.

People who have higher levels of intolerance are more xenophobic. They cannot accept any kind of social change. 

Change makes them fearful and insecure. They may feel threatened even without any threat in front of them.

If your ability to cope with new change and uncertain things is low, you may have more intolerance.

When the situation is unpredictable and you do not know how to deal with strangers, fear can set in.

Thus, your mind states will alter. Attitudes will convert into harmful discrimination of people.

Sometimes little knowledge about foreign people, their culture, and lifestyle can make you insecure. You are fearful because you do not know the truth.

Your ability to cope with the outsider may be poor. Xenophobia may not be intentional always. It is an adaptive response to fear and insecurity. 

Your primary motive is to keep yourself and your community safe from outside influence.

The low levels of xenophobia lead to intolerance and dislike. But if the fear is moderate or too high, the attitude will change.

You may develop symptoms of extreme anxiety, fear, and mental restlessness.

Xenophobic attitudes or anti-immigrant feelings may also lead to feelings of terror and dread. Your behavior may turn negative sooner than expected.

A research study done in 2020 has shown that xenophobia and personality traits are linked with each other. In this study, 422 college students were tested for their xenophobia attitudes. 

Three different psychological scales were administered to assess their opinion. They are –

• The Xenophobia scale
• Adjective Based Personality Test
• Dirty Dozen Scale

The results were striking. The participants who scored high in agreeableness showed lesser xenophobia.

They were more tolerant and acceptable of change than the others. Compassion and feelings of empathy were seen in them.

Participants who scored higher in sociopathy and psychopathy, as well as narcissism, showed more xenophobia. 

They are less tolerant, unkind, and have an inflated sense of ‘self’. Thus, feelings of grandiose are high. This made them judge the foreigners unfavorably.

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Forms of Xenophobia

Xenophobic beliefs, attitudes, and behavior may show up in various ways. The most obvious sign is dislike, aversion, and avoidance towards those who are perceived as different.

You may stay aloof from them. Social isolation and disrespect towards other countries and cultures are seen in Xenophobia.

You will avoid all strangers. Sometimes the avoidance may stop you from tolerating them even for a minute.

You may become scornful and aggressive seeing an outsider in front of you.

Sometimes your xenophobic response can be a learned behavior. You are behaving oddly because you must have seen someone else showing the same level of dislike towards an outsider.

Some examples of xenophobic talking are like this –

• “Can we eat in some other restaurant? I’ve heard the food here is odd and not of our type.”
• “Let us avoid this lane and go from some other way. I’ve heard that this area is not safe at all.”
• “See her dress. It looks odd and weird. We don’t even know the name of the dress. Right?”
• “No way. I’m not going to interact with them. They look and behave differently. It is better to avoid them.”
• “I’m not going to talk to them. They are not of my type.”

These sayings are not directed towards a specific person. They are meant for people who are regarded as strangers, outsiders, or simply immigrants.

Xenophobia involves rejection and outright anger. It is directed towards anything or anyone who does not belong to the native’s own social group or community. 

Xenophobia can be divided into two distinct forms. They are as follows:

• Cultural Xenophobia
• Stranger Xenophobia / Immigrant Xenophobia

Cultural Xenophobia

This form of xenophobia involves a dislike, rejection, and hatred towards the customs and traditions of foreign people. 

You may seem to reject objects or refuse the symbols that carry the flavor of an unknown land.

The language, customs, religious beliefs, social traditions, music, heritage, and overall culture of other communities are rejected and avoided.

Cultural xenophobia occurs because you can identify yourself only with your own culture. 

All other cultures are seen as alien, absolutely strange, and unknown.

Cultural xenophobia is not related to a person. It goes beyond individuals. When you feel threatened by cultural mixing up, you may show avoidance of other cultures and traditions.

This form of xenophobia may make you reject all the small elements of the ‘outside’ culture. 

You may not accept even a bit of anything that doesn’t belong to your community.

Signs of cultural xenophobia

Someone who shows cultural xenophobia may behave like this –

• Making negative remarks and showing rude behavior towards the dressing sense and clothing of outsiders.
• Refuse to accept the music of foreign land.
• Not liking the food habits of people of other Nations.
• Not interested in watching TV shows or movies in other unknown languages.
• Feels threatened if asked to follow customs of the strange land.
• You may also think that the goods and services of other countries are not of good quality.
• The food habits and customs of the immigrants are odd and funny.
• Making abusive and belittling remarks towards people who speak a foreign language
• Showing distaste for the dance and music forms of the outside group.
• Tendency to separate people as “insiders” and “outsiders” as far as customs and social beliefs are concerned.

Stranger Xenophobia / Immigrant Xenophobia

Immigrant xenophobia is the fear or disliking of strangers and foreigners. 

It involves rejecting those who do not belong to an in-group. 

This form of xenophobia involves discriminating the strangers on the basis of religion, nationality, geographic location, and much more.

Immigrant xenophobia surfaces dislike and hatred. It involves a feeling of antagonism and hostility.

As the desire to maintain the integrity of the in-group is high, you will not tolerate the presence of an outsider in the group.

This form of xenophobia may cause extreme violence, genocide, and persecution of immigrants or outsiders.

Signs of immigrant xenophobia

If you are expressing immigrant xenophobia, you may behave like this:

• You will tend to reject people from foreign countries. 
• There will be signs of dislike and hostility towards other communities and languages.
• Consider the members of the in-group as superior and talented.
• You may also avoid stores or shopping centers run by immigrants.
• Discrimination of people on the basis of skin color, lifestyle choices, and religious beliefs.
• Immigrant xenophobia also involves avoiding neighborhoods where strangers and unknown people stay.
• You may pass on negative comments and demeaning language about strangers.
• Every effort is made to keep the outsiders out of one’s own group.

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Is Xenophobia a type of racism?

Xenophobia includes a bitter taste of racism or ethnic prejudice but there are subtle differences between the two concepts.

The cultural biases may arise from fear and insecurity. You may fear that the outsider may be harmful towards you. 

There may not be any real threat. It could be a false perception only.

Xenophobia is caused by a fear of ‘identity crisis.’ The members of the in-group may feel threatened that their culture, ideology, language, customs might be at stake.

Through xenophobia, you may wish to strengthen your in-group belongingness. This sense of attachment and kinship may give you faith and inner strength. 

If you are suffering from xenophobic response patterns, you will feel harmony towards your own group. Thus, anyone who is perceived as different and an outsider will be kept far away.

You will prefer to maintain a distance from the outsider or stranger. Sometimes, when xenophobic responses go too far and wide, it may turn into racism.

People who consider themselves as ‘insider’ and reject all strangers hold xenophobic ideas.

They may fear, avoid, reject, abuse, or put to shame the strangers for no obvious reason. There could be the unjust treatment of the strangers as well.

The hatred is directed towards the outsiders because they are perceived as threatening and harmful in some way or the other.

The concept of racism involves social discrimination where a group considers themselves as superior, more able, and respectful of the other group.

Racism involves dividing people on the basis of skin color, hair color, language, lifestyle choices, etc. 

The abilities and worth of the out-group are considered inferior. In racism, oppression of inferior groups occurs.

Racism involves a power struggle between the superior and inferior groups.

Xenophobia is an aversion and disliking towards other communities or strangers who do not belong to the in-group. 

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Causes of Xenophobia

Xenophobia is an intense fear and intolerance for strangers and unknown people. It is displayed by a person, or a group of people who think that the outside group is hostile, aggressive, and can harm them in some way.

In most cases, xenophobia is a fear that arises from a perceived fear. There is no real threat that can hint towards any danger.

An analysis of the causes of Xenophobia has shown that it is quite deep-rooted. There are many factors that may give rise to xenophobia.

Usually, the fear of outsiders can be seen in small groups such as a locality where no outside people are allowed. It can also happen in big towns or large cities.

Example: The unemployed youth may feel xenophobic towards outsiders because they may think that their jobs are taken away by the outside people. 

Xenophobia is caused by socio-economic factors. The insiders may feel that their due things are taken away from them. 

Several incidences of economic inequalities may lead to xenophobia. Thus, the outsiders are disliked and hated by the insiders.

Xenophobia may be caused when the insiders feel that their basic requirements are not met only because they are deprived of good opportunities.

There is intense competition for jobs, resources, public health policies, and social security.

Sometimes, xenophobic attitudes may also arise if the in-group members feel that the out-group members may be carriers of some deadly disease. They just want to keep themselves away and safe from such unknown diseases.

The Covid-19 pandemic is a global health threat but it fuelled xenophobia to a great extent. Reports confirmed that the pandemic gave rise to violence, racism, and social discrimination.

The people of East Asian and Southeast Asian Nations were blamed for the pandemic. They were looked down upon by other Nations, though without valid proof.

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Impact of Xenophobia

Xenophobia has many bad effects on the person and society at large. Xenophobia can cut through the inner core of society and create widespread hatred and intolerance. 

It can influence the cultural setup of a society. People suffering from xenophobia may display antagonism and try to divide society into ‘in-group’ and ‘out-group.’

Xenophobia can also impact the economic development of Nations. Even the political and social order gets affected by xenophobia. 

There will be acts of violence and anger that the young generation will learn from the older.

Thus, the intolerance and hatred against foreign people and strangers may be passed down from one generation to another.

Xenophobia can impact societies in different ways:

• Anger and hostile attitudes towards all those who are perceived as different
• Reduced job opportunities for members of out-group.
• No social security, poor medical aid, lack of proper economic opportunities for strangers
• Social stereotypes meant for members who are regarded as outsiders
• Isolation
• Social discrimination
• Large number of hate crimes
• War
• Hate speeches
• Genocide

Xenophobia may take a covert form also. It may not show up externally. Yet the general attitudes of in-group members may impact the life of the outsiders.

The outsiders or strangers will be denied housing access. There will be a dearth of good quality medical care for them. Access to good employment opportunities is not there.

Xenophobia may not always involve open acts of violence. The hidden ill-feelings that insiders have for foreign people may creep into society slowly.

It can make the life of the outsiders miserable in no time.

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Prevalence of Xenophobia

Xenophobia is quite common across the globe. Reports of racial discrimination and xenophobic responses are much more common than what one can expect in reality. 

The prevalence rate of xenophobia across Nations reveals a spine-chilling reality. The xenophobic attitudes lead to social discrimination, violence, hate killings, and genocide

• A 2019 survey done by Pew Research Center has revealed that 76% of Asian respondents have experienced xenophobia and discrimination from time to time.
• In 2009 a poll survey was conducted by Maclean’s, a Canadian News Survey has shown that only 28% of Canadians viewed Islam favorably. There are about 45% of Canadian Nationals who viewed Islam differently. They showed an unfavorable attitude and held opinions that Islam can spread violence in the World. These opinion polls may or may not always be correct.
• In 2008, 60 people lost their lives and 50000 people were displaced in a wave of xenophobic reactions in South Africa. The foreigners were blamed for unemployment and poor government services.
• The various forms of hate crimes against Asian Americans in the United States have increased by 150% in 2020. The xenophobic and racist attitudes towards anti-Asian communities increased because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
• The Muslim immigrants and Sikh Canadians are insulted and face xenophobic racism after the 2011 terrorist attacks in the United States. The survey done in 2016 by Environics Institute has shown that only 28% Muslims and 30% Sikhs were tolerated in the country.

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How do you reduce symptoms of Xenophobia? (10 easy ways)

While you try to overcome your fear, always remember to work slowly and take baby steps towards success. Fear is a natural response to insecurity and uncertainty.

Xenophobia is an intense fear and emotional discomfort that is triggered by a feeling of insecurity. 

If you are suffering from xenophobic attitudes, try doing certain self-help dos and don’ts to overcome your fear.

1. Broaden your exposure and experience new things

People who show xenophobia are reared in closed atmospheres. They were never allowed to or exposed to unknown people and situations.

Thus, they started feeling fearful and insecure. They slowly developed a low tolerance level for all those people who are different from them.

If you too had a similar upbringing, you may develop an aversion towards others who appear different. In such a case, you need to broaden your experiences. 

Try to expose yourself to new customs. You can also try your hand at learning a foreign language.

Just come out of your sheltered lives and explore different countries. Traveling to new places can help you understand the various cultures. 

It will improve your level of tolerance. You will become more accepting. This will go a long way in overcoming xenophobic attitudes.

2. Fight your fears by facing them

You can learn to face your fears as confidently as possible. By getting yourself exposed to various cultures, you’ll be more accepting. 

Exposure to other religions, cultures, and languages can help you to overcome the fear easily.

3. Connect with yourself

Pay attention to your negative thoughts. Try to analyze the reasons behind your thoughts and develop a logical viewpoint. 

Do not give importance to biased ideas. Sometimes what you see or hear about strangers may be completely wrong.

You should make a conscious effort to replace your wrong beliefs and ideas with positive ones.

Think of the good things about others’ cultures. Remind yourself when a good friend of some other nationality has helped you.

4. Try not to avoid strangers

When you avoid the feared stimulus, your fear doesn’t get better. It may give you some temporary relief but in the long run, it will be damaging.

Thus, do not avoid strangers. Try to know them personally. There is no harm in free mixing with others and knowing each other’s interests. 

In this way, you might be able to shed off some old biases that you may be having. You need to let go of some habits and beliefs that may give rise to xenophobia. 

5. Improve your tolerance levels

You can do this just by accepting others as they are. Embrace change that might be good for you. You need to accept change as good and increase your level of control over the situation. 

6. Practice calming techniques

You can practice deep breathing exercises to self-soothe yourself. Regular meditation can lower anxiety and negative thinking. 

It helps to improve your level of tolerance. You will be able to accept uncertainty in a much better way.

7. Challenge your negative thoughts

Xenophobia may stem from irrational thinking and biased beliefs. Thus, check-in with your thoughts and ask yourself whether the fear is justified.

You may find that most of the ill feelings that you might be having for foreign people or their culture are baseless. Your fear is not relevant because there is no real threat around you.

Monitoring your thoughts can help you reduce emotional discomfort. You will have a clear idea about why you are reacting in ways that are not justified.

8. Reach out to people who can help you

Overcoming fear may not always be easy. Xenophobia is not an exception to this. You should always talk about your preconceived ideas and biased beliefs with friends and family.

Their inputs and suggestions may help you develop a different perspective about foreigners or immigrants. 

They may help you gather several pieces of evidence that suggest that people who are different from you are equally good and able.

Sometimes a change in perspectives may help in altering your attitude towards strangers.

9. Individual therapy

If your fear is getting worse day by day, you can think of visiting a therapist. Sometimes medical advice helps to overcome fear. 

The therapist will help you develop proper insights into your irrational thoughts. They will also teach you coping skills to manage xenophobic attitudes.

10. Join a support group

Sometimes xenophobia tends to run in societies. There are many people who may have negative attitudes and fear of strangers. 

An open discussion may give rise to various opinions and outlooks. You will be able to fight your fears with the help of others.

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Xenophobia Statistics

Summing up from ‘ThePleasantMind’

To conclude, we can say that Xenophobia is a complex psychological process. It involves a negative spiral of thoughts and feelings that guides the perception and behavior of in-group people.

People express their fear and aversion to outsiders by rejecting foreign culture. They start considering their own group and culture as superior.

It also leads to unchecked discrimination and violence towards strangers.

Xenophobia can lead to destruction. It can also damage human solidarity and World Peace. Several inhuman acts of violence can occur and leave a bad taste in society forever.

Thus, it is important to remove the veil of ignorance. Keep yourself informed about what is real and not what you perceive.

Instead of accepting what you see or hear, it’s important to develop insight and think rationally. Practice kindness and gratitude to widen your horizon.

You can remove your biased attitude simply by exploring various cultures and knowing the goodness lying within. 

Accept people humbly and learn that every culture has some good to offer to this beautiful world. After all, we are good in our own sweet ways.

Article Sources

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1. https://www.healthline.com/health/xenophobia#signs-and-symptoms
2. https://www.choosingtherapy.com/fear-of-the-unknown/
3. https://www.verywellmind.com/xenophobia-fear-of-strangers-2671881
4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/xenophobia

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