Xenophobic Events vs. Refugee Population -- Using GDELT to Identify Countries with Disproportionate Coverage

TL;DR

This study analyzes media-reported xenophobic events in 2022 using GDELT, revealing that political factors may influence xenophobia more than refugee population size, with most events being indirect in nature.

Contribution

It introduces a method to quantify xenophobic incidents relative to refugee populations using GDELT data and categorizes event types as direct or indirect.

Findings

Most xenophobic events are indirect in nature.

Political factors may influence xenophobic incidents more than refugee numbers.

Identified top countries with disproportionate xenophobic coverage.

Abstract

In this preliminary study, we used the Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT) database to examine xenophobic events reported in the media during 2022. We collected a dataset of 2,778 unique events and created a choropleth map illustrating the frequency of events scaled by the refugee population's proportion in each host country. We identified the top 10 countries with the highest scaled event frequencies among those with more than 50,000 refugees. Contrary to the belief that hosting a significant number of forced migrants results in higher xenophobic incidents, our findings indicate a potential connection to political factors. We also categorized the 20 root event codes in the CAMEO event data as either "Direct" or "Indirect". Almost 90% of the events related to refugees in 2022 were classified as "Indirect".