On The Move

In recent years, the issue of refugees and migration has often decided elections in Central Europe. This is despite Central Europeans having very little personal experience with refugees and generally with people from other continents. The debate is based almost exclusively on stereotype and the image and messages transmitted by the media and proliferated on social networks.

News media and social networks usually focus on all things current, contemporary and relevant. Recently such issues and the reports that track them have centered on shots of dramatic border crossings made by asylum seekers, problems faced by European nations to handle tens of thousands of refugees or crimes committed by specific migrants. What is missing is a wider context and a search for answers to questions aimed towards the future.

How can Europe prevent the exodus of young people directly in Africa or in the Middle East? Will climate change affect other migratory patterns? How massive is migration within Europe - from East to West - and what impact does it have in countries of origin and in host societies? How does the normal life of immigrants compare to the lives of the local inhabitants of European cities?

Our „On the Move“ project has been designed to shift the existing media focus on to alternative ideas and issues. We are working together with colleagues from leading Central European media in an attempt search for and shed more light onto this context. A series of reports, photo galleries and short videos will appear on these pages over the next few weeks, which will hopefully contribute to a factual debate on migration, one of the key themes of 21st century Europe.