Across the English Channel, the U.K.'s white cliffs beckon. On fine days, men and women with children in their arms and determination in their eyes can see the shoreline of what they believe will be a promised land as they attempt the perilous crossing clandestinely, ditching belongings to squeeze aboard flimsy inflatable boats that set to sea from northern France.
In a flash, on one recent crossing attempt, French police swooped in with knives, wading into the water and slashing the boat’s thin rubber — literally deflating the migrants’ hopes and dreams.
Some of the men put up dispirited resistance, trying to position themselves — in vain — between the boat and the officers’ blades. One splashed water at them, another hurled a shoe. Cries of “No! No!” rang out. A woman wailed.
I am confused both about why immigrants would want to go to the UK in the first place instead of staying in France, and about why French police wouldn’t be perfectly happy to see them go and let the UK deal with them.
I have no idea on the first question, but the second question was answered in the story. The French police are being paid by the UK government to stop the immigrant boats.
It’s easy to see how someone might fall into an anti-immigrant pipeline with news like this.
- Thousands of immigrants are willing to risk death to reach the UK which they see as a promised land
- I live in the UK and see nothing of this promised land, on the contrary my life is quite shitty, I’m barely making the ends meet
- Therefore the good life opportunities are taken by the immigrants
Of course what’s missing is the first-hand insight in the immigrant life, which is far from comfortable.
Which makes me think what is driving those people to see specifically the UK as a promised land. Rather than any other country. Mass hysteria/cultural phenomenon? An extreme case of FOMO?
I live in the UK and see nothing of this promised land, on the contrary my life is quite shitty, I’m barely making the ends meet
I think the point missed by a lot of people is that the immigrants are experiencing even worse lives and living conditions. Even after they immigrate.
Also, the whole “they took err jerbs” thing, really just spits in the face of economic theory and …idk… Reality? Jobs exist because of demand for them and that demand goes up as more people join your society. Jobs aren’t being "taken " from anyone. It’s not like there’s some imaginary pool of jobs that once they’re gone they’re gone.
Now, caveat, it’s more complex than that but this whole notion of jobs being “stolen” is just a false narrative used to stoke the fires of infighting amongst us proles while the rich laugh at the top.
I imagine most of the immigrant trying to get to the uk speak English. And the uk is the only country/kingdom in Europe where English is the native language. But this is just speculation from my side.
Ireland is another European country that speaks English, but I’ll grant you that it’s not super relevant in this case considered it’s geographical position behind the UK
Removed by mod
As always, ACAB.
It’s not quite that easy.
Many migrants have drowned en route to the UK, so if the boats are caught before they leave the shore it’s not as if the police are condemning the migrants to death. Some police forces have denied migrant boats or even ruined them on the Mediterranean, causing more direct deaths. Or died in migrant camps just outside the borders of the EU.
What is at fault here is the geopolitical perspective. People are fleeing extreme poverty, injustice, war, genocide etc etc. The border agreements of the EU mean that they get sent back to whatever country they were first “discovered” in, which in its turn sends them back further. Many have lost everything coming here, even loved ones, children perished en route. Many were maybe aiming for Germany, France, Denmark or Sweden. But as they’ve been detected in other countries in the EU first, they will be sent back to those first. So as a last ditch attempt, they aim for the UK. And if they didn’t drown in the Mediterranean, there is a huge risk that they might drown in the colder waters of the Channel instead.
This being said, slashing their last (perceived) hope or reaching safety is cruel. But there are few things that are NOT cruel towards most migrants, sadly.
