A long thread about #immigration and #FreedomOfMovement in the light of the #Covid #vaccine.
While the UK government is now apparently ecstatic with delight to be ending Freedom of Movement, I'm thinking of Albert Bourla, (Άλμπερτ Μπουρλά) a Greek scientist and veterinarian. 1/8
While the UK government is now apparently ecstatic with delight to be ending Freedom of Movement, I'm thinking of Albert Bourla, (Άλμπερτ Μπουρλά) a Greek scientist and veterinarian. 1/8
Albert Bourla has lived in four different countries, joined Pfizer in 1993, and has used EU #FreedomOfMovement.
Similarly, the Turkish parents of the CEO of Biontech Uğur Şahin came to Germany when that country opened up and welcomed foreign workers "Gastarbeiter". 2/8
Similarly, the Turkish parents of the CEO of Biontech Uğur Şahin came to Germany when that country opened up and welcomed foreign workers "Gastarbeiter". 2/8
Obviously, the vast majority of #immigrants are not going to design vaccines that potentially can bail us out of this #corona misery.
Still, what strikes me in success stories like these is how many successful immigrants or their parents weren't exceptional when they came. 3/8
Still, what strikes me in success stories like these is how many successful immigrants or their parents weren't exceptional when they came. 3/8
Uğur Şahin's father came to work in a car factory in Germany.
He wasn't thought of as a desirable, high-skill #immigrant. 4/8
He wasn't thought of as a desirable, high-skill #immigrant. 4/8
The award-winning illustrator Axel Scheffler has said that when he came from Germany to the UK, he wasn't a famous illustrator.
But coming to the UK was exactly what enabled him to make the highly successful collaborations with Julia Donaldson, who is British. 5/8
But coming to the UK was exactly what enabled him to make the highly successful collaborations with Julia Donaldson, who is British. 5/8
When discussing #immigration we just don't pay enough attention to the opportunities it provides, the great benefits of allowing people to move where they can find the best opportunities and where, in turn, they can generate the most good. 6/8
Instead, #immigrants are subject to irrational quotas and restrictions, and stress of application being turned down, and ridiculous lotteries even for highly skilled workers
(cf the theatre that is the US H1B lottery).
All those are meant to assuage #xenophobic sentiment. 7/8
(cf the theatre that is the US H1B lottery).
All those are meant to assuage #xenophobic sentiment. 7/8
The UK government itself ordered a report on what immigrants' impact is, and it turns out that we don't even have a serious effect on house prices, and we don't drive down wages.
If the UK had any sense they'd maintain #FreedomOfMovement. 8/8
(Thank you Helen for writing this.)
If the UK had any sense they'd maintain #FreedomOfMovement. 8/8
(Thank you Helen for writing this.)
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