It’s ironic you mention ‘reality’, since the hysteria surround immigration is largely built on misinformation and xenophobic propaganda being spouted by right-wing politicians and media for well over a decade, and people’s subjective fears about immigration are largely based on that.
The mass migration of peoples seeking refuge from war and other geopolitical disasters is a global issue rather than something that is unique to the UK, and even then the UK has taken in far fewer asylum seekers relative to other EU countries.
For instance:
- When measuring the number of asylum applications per 10,000 citizens, the UK only ranks 20th when compared to other EU countries.
- In terms of migrants arriving by boat, the UK is well behind other EU countries like Italy, Greece, and Spain.
- Despite the obsession with small boat crossings, they represent only a tiny fraction of overall arrivals. The vast majority of immigrants still come through official channels for work, study, etc.
Also, the UK population is actually pretty positive when it comes to immigration:
- In a global survey, 55% of UK citizens said immigration was a net positive, and only 30% were in favor of strict limits.
The paranoia about immigrants causing higher crime rates is also based on a myth:
- The overall rates of violent crime has been steadily falling for decades despite a steady rise in the number of foreign-born citizens.
- There is no evidence that an increase in the rate of foreign-born citizens even correlates with a rise in burglaries, thefts, and other property crimes.
All this is to say that a lot of the anger inflaming these racists riots come from a combination of political and media misinformation and many people’s innate prejudice towards non-Europeans.
Wanderer@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
I’m not denying this isn’t a problem all across Europe. A united front on this matter is the only way to solve it.
You are just taking asylum and illegal migration. Legal migration is a huge issue also. But I agree the media focuses on this a lot less and it spinning the narrative. But people want less legal and illegal migration. Legal migration is numerically the larger of the two.
Grouping immigration as all the same is problematic. Separate it by things like country and education and I bet the picture changes entirely.
But everything you said is not the whole picture. People do not want immigration they may produce less crime you might be right. But that’s not the whole picture. It doesn’t mean people want Muslim culture in the UK they want British culture. Immigrants coming over and integrating completely is not the same as generations of people coming over and not integrating.
aleph@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
But as I noted above, the average UK citizen is not in favor of strict immigration controls (legal or otherwise) and certainly not supportive of the recent riots.
Of those who are, the majority comes from lower-income areas that suffered the most under years of Tory austerity, which is understandable. But even then it’s really a case of the socioeconomic elites pointing the finger at immigrants rather than themselves.
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As for the Muslim community, again there is good evidence to suggest that a lot of the fears you mentioned are unfounded. Surveys have shown that most feel British and have no problem with integrating with the culture. Again, the problem you tend to find is extremists like Anjem Choudary tend to be amplified by the press, giving the impressions that the Muslim community is incompatible with British values, when in fact the vast majority disagree with that statement.
Wanderer@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
Immigration as a whole is a different matter to controlled immigration. Ask people if they want more immigration from Australia or from Africa and the middle east and see what’s comes up.
Immigration has been worse for working class people and Tories have been bad for them (they also caused a lot of the low wage immigration). Both statements can be true.
At lot of rich people and business owners have done well from immigration I won’t deny. They haven’t seen the issues and they are telling people who have the issues not to worry.
I’m not sure what you want from that photo. I think immigration should be allowed but I don’t think we should be bringing in poor people to do poor peoples jobs for a low wage. Yea the rich immigrant should give to the local. But it doesn’t mean a local should give to a rich immigrant, no country is responsible for the lives of every person in the world.
Go to places with high immigration level (even second and third generation) and tell me they have integrated fully into the UK. It’s like an entirely different country. But it doesn’t happen with Germans, or French, or Aussies.
Go look up British Muslim values of women, or homosexuals or marrying your cousin.