#UKpol #immigration

A good read from Nesrine Malik on the recent #racist riots in the #UK. Excerpt:

After the riots, Keir Starmer should tell us the truth about our country. The violence exposed racist, anti-immigration narratives based on lies. Yet there has been a gaping hole where the counter-argument should be.What he should say is that immigration is not “out of control”. That we do, in fact, have control of our borders, and that the vast majority who come to the country are allowed in after meeting an extremely high visa threshold.

He will not say this, because the illusion that immigration is something that a government can fully “control”, that is not subject to economic dynamics and the needs of public infrastructure, is important to maintain.

What he should say is that those who are not allowed or invited in constitute a tiny fraction of overall immigration. That asylum seekers are not merely an administrative processing concern, but a human rights one. That the UK has obligations, and moreover, values and convictions, that necessitate looking fairly and humanely upon the resettlement needs of those fleeing war, persecution and the devastation of their countries.

He will not, because, well, it feels like heresy just to have typed the above. ... an almost total failure by the media and politicians to humanise asylum seekers, makes pointing out their needs and real numbers forbidden.