AIDS Anxieties: Anti-Migrant Attitudes in the Middle East and North Africa

• In Event: Survey Research in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract

Under what conditions do native citizens vocalize opposition to migrants? Why, moreover, does native citizens’ opposition intensify against non co-ethnic migrants while it attenuates against co-ethnic migrants? To examine these questions, this paper draws upon an original, nationally representative survey of 2700 respondents from the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). Conducted in Morocco in 2018, the survey tracks variation in citizens’ opposition to migrants and, further, explains why significantly stronger opposition exists toward non co-ethnic migrants (specifically sub-Saharan Africans). Cohering with findings from studies on anti-migrant attitudes from Western Europe, this study confirms that both economic and cultural theories help to explain variation in citizen opposition to migrants. Native citizens who perceive migrants—especially sub-Saharan Africans—as depressing their wages, utilizing public services, and threatening their culture are more likely to voice opposition. These factors also seem to predict citizens’ stronger opposition toward sub-Saharan African migrants when compared with Arab migrants, like Syrians and Iraqis. Yet, this study takes a new tack by introducing a previously unexplored variable: Fear of AIDS. In addition to both economic and cultural factors, our survey demonstrates that fear of AIDS transmission also likely plays a role in driving native citizens’ anti-migrant attitudes in the MENA region. The paper concludes by offering policy recommendations, specifically greater AIDS health education, to help dampen anti-migrant sentiment.

Authors

• Matt J. Buehler, University of Tennessee

• Kristin E. Fabbe, Harvard Business School

• Kyung Joon Han, University of Tennessee, Knoxville