I can answer your question specifically in relation to the Basque refugees who fled to the UK.

Without meaning to appear lazy, I did write a previous series of posts on the topic, from which I hope you can understand the background and context of the Basque refugees in the UK. I think this answers your questions partly, but I will write some extra below and you are welcome to ask anything!

How were the refugees portrayed by the media and how were they received by the population?

In a word, simplistically. The aim was admirable - to increase support for fundraising to help the refugees once they arrived in the UK. Many selfless people stepped forwards to give money, land and labour to help the children. But the problematic aspect of their portrayal in the media is that they were shown only as simple, innocent beings who were passive in the face of overwhelming military aggression.

Examples include descriptions of 'nerve racked tinies' and 'poor little waifs from a stricken land.' Appeals and newspaper columns alike usually featured a photograph of a lost-looking child, holding their belongings or gratefully receiving food. More politically charged photographs from the refugee camps included children gathered around a Republican flag, fist raised - these would seldom be seen by a member of the public.

Many newspapers, especially more religious and right-wing ones, were keen to draw parallels between Basque and British culture. Basques were 'conservative,' 'deeply religious' and 'light-hearted' - 'closely akin to ourselves,' one letter published in the (left wing) Manchester Guardian wrote. The Daily Mail, a more right-wing publication, was keen to emphasise that the Basques were 'as blonde as any English children.'

Obviously, these portrayals were deeply misleading. The children were, just like any group, complex and varied. Perhaps most notably, they had just arrived from the front line of a civil war which had deeply divided and damaged Spanish society. A significant number had probably fought in some capacity. There was also a mix of children from both Nationalist and Republican families. This led to a public that, whilst generally well-meaning, failed to understand the children they were accepting.

Amador Diaz wrote later that;

'It seems to me that the whole operation had been prepared as if it was some sort of Scouts and Guides jamboree... but we were not Scouts and Guides but youngsters reluctantly separated from our parents and known surroundings.'

Public interest faded quickly. (I attach here a graph of donations in Birmingham from Kevin Myers, whom I cite below.) This was in part due to the normal rise and fall of topical causes in the media, but also because of increasingly negative press - especially from the right-wing media. They became known horribly as the 'Bad Basque Boys.' Small incidents one could expect from any gathering of children for a prolonged period of time were hugely exaggerated. The Mail described them as 'Red Terrorists' after an upset in one camp following the fall of Bilbao.

Despite this 'smear campaign,' newspapers did lose interest in the refugees almost entirely by the time of the Kindertransport and the steep rise in political tension across Europe.

What were the main political consequences?

If any, they were limited.

The Conservative government's fear of communism within British society was intensified. They feared that their gesture would in some way be perceived as approval of the communist cause - something they desperately wanted to avoid in the context of the Spanish Civil War. Furthermore, the 'Aid Spain' movement had relied on the organisation of left and far-left communities, who assisted both out of humanitarianism and because they wished to show solidarity with the Republicans.

Did the Basque refugees have an impact on the Kindertransport? It's at this point I have to hold my hands up and say, I don't know. Media coverage of migration to Britain the 1930s sometimes mentions that accepting the Basque refugees led, in turn, to the Kindertransport. I do not believe this claim to have foundation. Aside from a few academic attempts to draw parallels, the actual affect of the Basque refugees on the Kindertransport has not - to my knowledge - been explored very much.

Sources

Myers, Kevin, 'The Ambiguities of aid and Agency: Representing Refugee Children in England, 1937–8', The Journal of the Social History Society , 6.1, (2009), 29-46.

Knox, Katherine and Tony Kushner, Refugees in an age of genocide: Global, national and local perspectives (Routledge 2012)