The mood in the UK is pretty bleak. Despite the capital, London, having just been voted number one on the list of the world’s ‘best cities’, there is a sense of trepidation here about the post-Brexit era.
The pound is going down, prices are set to rise and there is uncertainty as to how the economy is going to be affected by the exit from the EU.
This uncertainty manifested itself in the rather xenophobic rhetoric that had surrounded the referendum campaign, and which was framed along the lines of "we want our country back". That rhetoric and that frame of mind persists, except that now instead of being directed towards labour and migrants from East European countries, it is directed towards those groups of refugees (mainly from the Middle East, Afghanistan and parts of Africa) who are keen to find shelter in the UK.
The talk around immigration over the past few years had already created a sense that the country was somehow being ‘overwhelmed by foreigners’ trying to get into the UK. So, unsurprisingly, there are many people here who are extremely anxious about what they think will be an unmanageable flood of refugees into the country who will supposedly use up public resources, take over jobs and houses and bring with them primitive or extremist cultural values. This might, it is feared, infect the body of the British nation.
What is disturbing about the debate now is the shocking vitriol that it seems to spew forth. Britain has, over the years, been a haven for desperate or displaced people, and there has been a real compassion in this society for the plight of refugees.
However, now anybody who expresses the idea that the British people should exhibit some compassion and take in more refugees can expect to be the target of vitriolic columnists as well as of social media trolls. Take the recent case of former football star and TV sports commentator Gary Linekar: he remarked on Twitter "the treatment by some towards these young refugees is hideously racist and utterly heartless" and then asked "What’s happening to our country?"
Well, he was greeted with a torrent of abuse which he later cheerfully described as "quite a spanking", but he then also added that the tone of what he called "the I’m alright Jack mentality" of the criticism was "sickening".
Then, after news photos of ‘child refugees’ featured some swarthy, haggard young men, the tabloids began an alarmist campaign about whether these refugees were actually children or just opportunistic young migrants. One Tory MP, David Davies suggested that their teeth needed to be examined to confirm their age. There was a bit of uproar over his remarks but it seems many people also agree with this sort of approach.
So where is compassion? Well singer Lilly Allen visited the Calais refugee camp known as the Jungle and broke down in tears when she met a 13 year old Afghan boy there. She apologised to him on behalf of her country for the suffering that he had been through: "We’ve bombed your country, put you in the hands of the Taleban and now put you in danger of risking your life to get into our country" she said.
She was lambasted by right-wing columnists as well as social media trolls. The attacks were personal and really horrible.
Hosting a large number of refugees is not an easy task, as Pakistanis know, but there are many benefits and also there is the idea that helping other human beings in their time of need is what is considered humane, a moral responsibility, a duty.
Britain can control the number of refugees it eventually takes in but what is more dangerous is how out of control the hate-filled rhetoric has become. That’s what needs to be controlled.
Whatever the number of people the country takes in, it should all be done with good grace -- and a bit of compassion.
Let’s see how it all works out…
Best wishes,