August 21, 2020

Migrant crossings into the U.K. are being framed as an "invasion"

topic:	Refugees and Asylum
located:	United Kingdom, France, Sudan, South Sudan
editor:	Gurmeet Singh

“A 16-year-old from Sudan who disappeared at sea has been found dead on a French beach. French politicians believe the boy, whose body was found in Calais, went missing while attempting to cross the English Channel in a small boat.

A search operation began after another migrant was found with hypothermia on the shore at about 02:00 BST. He told authorities that his friend, who could not swim, was missing after their makeshift boat capsized.”

So reported the BBC this week, in relation to the death of a migrant trying to reach the U.K. from Calais via boat. This tragic incident has been framed by the government and media as a problem of people smugglers and not one of governments not taking responsibility.

The U.K. and France have been at loggerheads on the issue, with parts of the English Channel being under the jurisdiction of neither country. As such, the migrant crossings have become something of a hot-potato; neither the U.K. nor France wants to take responsibility for the migrants. On top of that, neither country wants to be seen as taking responsibility – such is the public vitriol against the crossings.

Public worries take a peculiar form – that of exploitation. The complaints against migrants, refugees and asylum seekers often take the form of: “they’re just here to use our NHS or claim welfare or use free housing.” This is peculiar for many reasons, not least because it’s demonstrably false that migrants and refugees make their way to the U.K. to exploit social services. But even if it were true, the act of claiming welfare, even illegally, would be a minor case of fraud and exploitation in comparison to major exploitation carried out by corporations, who avoid tax, flout legal standards, extract and manipulate user data and of course, lobby government against policies which would benefit working people. MP Zarah Sultana made a pithy and touching video about the crossings, summarising her point in the title: “The Enemy of the Working Class Travels by Private Jet not Migrant Dinghy.” In other words, the migrant crossings are a mere distraction from what actually troubles the U.K.

This construction of the crossings as an “invasion” is also cemented by the right-wing media such as The Daily Mail, who use inflammatory rhetoric and constructions to frame migrant crossings as the fault of the migrants: “Despite the drowning of a young Sudanese man, the boats keep coming,” as though Britain faces a relentless influx of people, despite the danger.

This is to say nothing of people like Nigel Farage who promote the idea of an “invasion” via Twitter. As well as being provocative, and obviously a PR stunt to keep Farage and his agenda in the news (which the media willingly does), there’s a lot to be said about a nation that also prides itself on its former empire, but also believes a few boats constitutes an invasion. One MP even asked for the armed forces – the British Armed Forces – to step in to counteract a few small boats.

Yet a few voices are asking for the migrants’ safe passage to the U.K. “A letter to Priti Patel from 100 prominent refugee and human rights campaigners, including members of the Windrush generation, warns that the “pattern of ignoring expert advice, failing to engage with civil society and branding migrants as criminal” replicates Home Office failings that caused the 2018 Windrush scandal.

They also believe Patel’s hard-nosed strategy contravenes a central recommendation from the Windrush Lessons Learned Review that urges the Home Office to implement policies based on evidence and transparent decision-making.

Among the signatories is Michael Braithwaite, who arrived from Barbados as a child in 1961 and lost his job as a special needs teaching assistant two years ago for not having an up-to-date identity document. The 68-year-old said: 'The Home Office doesn’t care. They need to give people a chance. They’re making a life-threatening journey – babies, mums and kids.'”

With Brexit, a hardline Conservative government and the public mood all against migrants, what hope do they have left? Never has it been more important to support organisations such as Migrant Help, Help Refugees and the UN HCR.

Image by Jim Black 

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