The immigration debate is the focus of the news once again, The architect of Brexit, Nigel Farage speaks of an “invasion” off the Kent coast, and the arguments for and against never steers far from the accepted scripted punch and Judy show we see in the media. No one mentions the documented facts that Britain’s corrupt foreign policy is at the heart of why these desperate people risk their lives to travel thousands of miles.
That old divisive debate is in the UK media again. Immigration, refugees, asylum seekers, economic migrants. These are are all words that strike fear in the hearts of Britain’s communities as it goes to to the heart of our identity and it arguably makes many people from BAME communities realise that they are not welcome in Britain. It also makes many people in the white community frustrated. They want to talk about their culture, they want to discuss how the NHS is overstretched with all the immigrants coming in. They want to discuss how the streets of London is no longer English, and schools and public services are becoming overwhelmed. They want to talk about all of this without being labelled racist; and I for one believe that these discussions should be encouraged without censorship.
The problem with the immigration debate is that it has never been honest and if the untold truth was to reveal itself, the racism would then arguably rear its familiarly ugly head.
The organisations and charities that allegedly fight on behalf of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants rarely examine or expose the root to why so many people flee the country of their birth.
In 2010, I found one organisation that had the guts to expose the naked lies on what is referred to as the immigration debate. Sadly, The Refugee Project does not appear to be in operation anymore, but nevertheless, the statement on the website can still be found on the Internet.
They said that:
“The vast majority of refugees today are fleeing conflict, or social or economic oppression – and the vast majority of the world’s refugees live in the countries of Asia and Africa; less than 2% make it to Britain. In many cases, the British government, companies and taxpayers are directly and indirectly supporting a multitude of human rights abuses that often go with British overseas investment and policies, some of which ultimately force people to flee their homes and then their countries .”
“These investments have not just been the more obvious ones, such as waging war or allowing the export of weapons. They also include supporting large infrastructure projects, such as hydro-electric and irrigation dams, oil and gas pipelines, and mines.” (Watson, 28 March, 2010: How immigration in the UK is linked to corrupt British foreign policy overseas)
In the same article I cite The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CATT), a London-based organisation which aims to eradicate the international arms trade, who stated that …”the UK continues to arm repressive regimes around the world. In 2000, the UK licensed military exports to 30 of the 40 most repressive regimes in the world and British weapons are being used in most of the world’s current conflicts.”
Britain’s deadly arms to conflict regions in Africa is never mentioned in this debate. Britain’s deliberate policy of undermining African development is never part of this debate.
So I am all for discussing why so many people are coming to this country. I am all for discussing the overstretched NHS, the lack of housing and the burden on public services, however British society has never discussed immigration from an honest perspective and arguably never will.
For further research:
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dover/news/farage-criticised-over-invasion-tweet-231723/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53723687
