The forthcoming general election offers British politicians and the media an opportunity to change the rhetoric around immigration and migrants, said the head of a leading NGO working on migrants, as concerns continue to mount about the treatment of migrants from across communities, asylum seekers and ethnic minorities.
While official figures have shown a rise in hate crime in the immediate aftermath of the referendum last year, anecdotal evidence suggests this has continued, triggered wider concerns and fears within Black and Minority ethnic communities, even those who have lived in Britain for generations “When people are verbally abused, the abuser isn’t concerned about their immigration status - they may just see someone with a different accent, or someone who looks different,” says Fizza Qureshi, director of the Migrants’ Right Network, which has also been tracking incidents of racism and xenophobic street harassment via a volunteer-created initiative iStreetWatch. The initiative has monitored incidents up and down the country - from northern Scotland, to Cornwall in the south - and hundreds of incidents in London and the surrounding areas. “The idea is to get a visual map of what is happening, and to look at what the political and media narrative is and see if there is a correlation.”
“We know there is significant underreporting of events - and even if there is fear in the community that is not necessarily translated into the reporting of incidents.”
There are concerns that the language deployed by the media and politicians are adding to the frenzied atmosphere around the issue of immigration. “We are monitoring the language used by politicians - its unlikely to be very different to what has been previously expressed, especially by those parties and candidates who want to close the doors or want much reduced immigration,” says Qureshi.
She added that existing policies were fuelling concerns and were proving difficult for communities to handle. “There is an issue of the hostile environment. The Prime Minister [Theresa May] when she was home secretary was pushing a crackdown on undocumented migrants but this also impacts on communities themselves who are asked to do the policing and check their right to be in the country - whether it’s employers or NHS staff - this is creating divisions,” she said adding that mapping by the network of businesses that being subject to immigration raids had found a significant number of Indian and Pakistani restaurants had been among them. “There is an approach where certain communities are being focused on, and this adds to the tensions.” We think there should be a more rights-based approach to immigration, making it a more fair and transparent process rather than what seems to be one that is subjective and based on ad hoc policies that are constantly changing.”
She added that a more positive conversation was needed around the issue of immigration - that went beyond the economic contribution of migrants. “We will be looking to encourage the media and candidates to consider how they talk about migrants and refugees, to ensure that it’s non divisive and fairer.” There have been a number of public initiatives in response to some of the media coverage of the issue of immigration and race, including one called Stop Funding Hate that is focusing on encouraging advertisers to avoid publications such as the Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express. “I think it’s a sign that the current processes for dealing with such issues are not working and people are having to use other means to try and influence the media. Money can talk and maybe we will start to see a shift in language.”
