Immigration has risen to the top of the political agenda in the UK. And the popular press has been propelling the bandwagon.
The shipwreck that claimed the lives of more than 350 mainly Eritrean asylum seekers off the Italian island of Lampedusa last month has focused Europe’s obsession with irregular migration on the area of the Mediterranean separating southern Italy and Malta from North Africa. But this treacherous stretch of sea represents only the final leg of a lengthy journey filled with hazards.
Debate regarding immigration in the UK is highly charged and often consists of the use (or misuse) of statistics to underline one’s argument. While it is important to consistently challenge purposeful misrepresentations of facts that worsen perceptions of migration, Alex Glennie argues that countering numbers with yet more numbers will only reinforce the existing reductive framing of the debate, and confuse or alienate the public further. Treating migrants as statistics rather than people fails to recognise the complex emotional drivers of public attitudes.
Recent headlines have claimed that immigrants in the UK “free-ride” on the benefits and health system, but recent research shows that immigrants from Europe and beyond have actually contributed about £25 billion to the British economy over the last decade.
Stockholm has seen three nights of violence across the city following the shooting of a man by police last week.