It seems that all politicians ever want to talk about these days is immigration, and many of them with the same tone of ‘get them out’. I have begun to see the words ‘migrant crisis’ or ‘refugee crisis’ being thrown around, which strikes me as massively hypocritical. I never saw the problem with people from one place moving to somewhere else, especially if their destination was safer than their home but, as it seems to be a divisive topic, it’s worth examining the logic and reasoning behind it, and perhaps tracing the root of the problem.
Stealing British jobs?
One common complaint is that immigrants are ‘stealing the jobs’ of British people. While the jobs market is imploding at the moment, it would be sensible to look at the companies happily replacing human employees with AI, rather than your nice doctor who just happens not to have been born here. From my own experience, it tends to be senior managers with an eye on the profits who are keeping their staff constantly working overtime, instead of hiring even one additional person.
However, when you bring up something that is actually having a worrying effect on the job market – the use of generative AI putting workers, particularly creatives, out of their jobs – there is quite a different attitude. Indeed, some people seem almost gleeful about the fact that (as was said to me), “Journalism will be done by AI, and you’ll be homeless.” Yet, no doubt, this person would also insist that immigration is the reason that they cannot find a job.
Work restrictions and overt discrimination
There are many restrictions placed on immigrants who want to work in the UK. International students can only work a certain number of hours, and asylum seekers are not allowed to participate economically in society while their claim is being assessed.
In addition, public displays of racism are becoming more common, coinciding with the rise of figures such as Nigel Farage and Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson). Anybody ‘foreign-looking’ may be less likely to get hired anyway. This is a narrative being pushed by certain parts of the mainstream media: that ‘evil’ immigrants are here to steal your job.
Why do migrants choose the UK?
Where are migrants coming from and why do they choose the UK? It is important to note that there are different motivations for different people, and there is never going to be a one-size-fits-all answer.
The reports of ‘small boats’, my focus here, often imply that lots of young men are arriving to work, and send the money back to their families, because pay rates in the UK are better. So, it might be summed up as them looking to improve the lives of their families.
Asylum seekers, perhaps fleeing war and persecution, are often simply looking to save the lives of themselves and their families. One reason that their countries are unstable and often poor has its roots in Britain’s proud history of colonialism. The British Empire, which nationalists celebrate while bemoaning their brown next-door neighbour, destroyed cultures and countries worldwide, the effects of which can still be seen today. It also imposed the English language on the colonised people. This makes the UK a popular destination, as somewhere they can at least be understood.
Many countries once had thriving and wealthy pasts, that were dismantled piece by piece to create a system which directly benefitted the British people, keeping the natives of the land reliant on their British ‘superiors’. It is a distortion of the truth, for example, to repeat the common rhetoric that the Middle East has always been ‘unstable’, or – much more explicitly racist – that no country was developed before Europeans ‘civilised’ them. Many people who come from these countries looking for a better life are doing so because of the UK’s involvement in the destruction of their own country’s stability, and the influence of British culture on their homelands as a result.
Creating refugees through political neglect
More recently, the UK recorded its highest ever arms exports in 2025. It frequently ships to countries known to be harming civilians through war or indiscriminate political attacks: one report by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) states that, of the 84 countries to which the UK exported arms between 2021-2024, 23 of them used these weapons to harm civilians – the most worrying of which were identified as Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey and the United States. Yet exports continue. Since the war in Gaza began, Britain’s weapons exports to Israel have hit a record high, with only a half-hearted suspension in September 2024.
It is no wonder that people flee warzones. When we are complicit in this destruction, we can have no right to complain about people fleeing violence, poverty or persecution choosing to seek safety here.
In the USA’s recent history, the suspension of USAID has left millions without adequate healthcare, food and water. This withdrawal has reportedly already killed hundreds of thousands of people, two-thirds of them children. By its long and dark history of intentionally destabilising countries and assassinating their leaders, or wreaking violence on places such as Iraq for its natural resources, the USA is active in creating more refugees, through failing to support them in their own countries.
Dehumanisation is normalised, we lack compassion
Everybody is worthy of basic human respect. Whether they are fleeing war, are already familiar with the culture and language, or just happened to like the UK and want to live here, surely we should be measuring how happy people are, how they settle, how they’re treated kindly by their neighbours, rather than how quickly we can kick them out? To do otherwise is not only cruel, it is moral cowardice – a willingness to tolerate untold suffering for commercial gain while failing to face the consequences.
In a kinder world, when asylum seekers fleeing bombs and destruction wash up on the beach, they would be treated with gentleness and respect, greeted by friendly faces and warm drinks, and allowed to rebuild their lives. Immigrants would feel welcome, happy, safe, and build communities which are diverse and loving. But it would seem we would rather continue to dehumanise and criminalise people, many of whom have been through hell. People who are desperate for a chance at safety, a chance to live again, but we detain and demean them, threaten to deport them, and allow children to simply ‘go missing’ in droves.
If we really want to stop the boats and halt immigration in its tracks, the first thing to stop is the funding for foreign wars.
Bylines Network Gazette is out!
The latest Bylines Network Gazette is out now. Become a Friend of Bylines Network or upgrade to a paid Substack subscription, and you will get access to a vital collection of citizen articles and stories.
Journalism by the people, for the people.
