85% of refugees in Europe are fleeing explosive violence, new research finds

In the first research of its kind, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) has set out to examine the impact of explosive violence on the refugee crisis in Europe.

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Interviewing over 250 refugees in the UK Germany, and Greece, AOAV found in The Refugee Explosion, that 85% of those interviewed had witnessed explosive violence. In total, some 69% had witnessed shelling, 61% airstrikes, 58% Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks and 39% suicide attacks.

Of those refugees questioned from Afghanistan, 92% had been directly impacted by explosive violence, and from Iraq 90% had been affected.

The findings are in line with other research AOAV has done. Since 2011, it has recorded 233,949 deaths and injuries from explosive violence from English-language news sources. 76% of these were civilians and when explosive weapons were used in populated areas, 92% of those killed or injured were civilians. Such levels of harm have had consequences – over the same amount of time Europe has seen over 4 million asylum applicants.

It is clear that the often-overwhelming numbers of refugees coming into Europe are largely doing so because they are fleeing explosive violence, and that this fact has not been fully realised by many European governments.

AOAV campaigns as part of the International Network of Explosive Weapons (INEW) to encourage States to sign up to political commitment not to use explosive violence in towns and cities.

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Key findings of The Refugee Explosion:

• 85% of all refugees AOAV spoke to in Greece, Germany and the UK had witnessed explosive violence: 61% had witnessed airstrikes, 69% had witnessed shelling, 58% had witnessed IED attacks, 39% had witnessed suicide attacks.
• 69% said that they or their family had been directly impacted by explosive violence.
• 44% said that their homes had been destroyed by explosive violence.

Related link: The Refugee Explosion

Source: AOAV. Read more here.
15 May, 2017