Thread by @TanjaBueltmann

I am going to say all this one more time 🧵

1) Migration is life.

Our human existence has been shaped by the movement of people since day one. Even if you yourself have never moved, you are where you are—and who you are—because of migration. It will continue to shape our lives.

2) The movement of people—and multiculturalism that flows from it—is not the root cause of any of the UK’s problems.

The same is true for other countries.

Where issues exist, there have been policy failures, but migration, in itself, is *not* the problem!

3) The UK is not—in no way at all—pulling its weight in terms of helping those most in need. There is no invasion and there is no wave of mass migration. If you want to understand where forcibly displaced people go, look here: unhcr.org/refugee-statis…

This is just one quick comparison between the UK, Germany and Turkey (screenshots are from the UNHCR Refugee Data app linked on the page above—a very useful source).

4) If you want to understand what an existential challenge for a people really looks like, I recommend you learn about this, for example:

‘Colonial Frontier Massacres
in Australia, 1788-1930’
c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassac…

5) Until the point at which politicians (and this does not just apply to the UK!) recognise how migration is normal, they will:

- Forever provide the wrong ‘solution’.

- Fail to address what really are the problems.

- Fuel xenophobia, division and hate.

All that the casting of migration as a problem will ever achieve is the fuelling of populism which, in turn, can fuel authoritarianism and much worse. Politicians who continue to choose playing with this fire to pander to a fringe hoping for political gain are failing everyone.

And that is before we get to the impact the climate emergency is very likely going to have on human movements in future.

Which brings me to a final point for the purpose of this thread:

6) A position like the one Braverman set out today is a position of enormous privilege. What makes people so sure that this is a privilege they actually have? Just consider this recent news as one example of how quickly things can change: bbc.com/news/world-eur…

So … as Enoch Powell is trending on here and far right groups on Telegram are reportedly celebrating following Braverman’s speech, congratulations to her for proving all my points. Again.

All I can say (again) is that human history teaches us that human movement has always defined us. The more progressively we approach it, the better. And no: this does not equal having no rules. All it does is ask for a human approach to what is a normal part of human life. /end

A quick PS: as is often the case, those who oppose immigration tend to twist whatever one says into something else. I am not having it: I make no argument for open borders and this is not encouraging the movement of millions to the UK (millions do not want to come to the UK).

These tropes being employed again and again underscore my point: they work because migration is cast as a problem or even a threat. I suggest: what if we approached migration as what it has always been: a completely normal part of human existence - and shape policy on that basis.

That does not mean open borders: it means centring people. It does not mean no immigration rules: it means no hostile environment (which doesn't work anyway). It does not mean ignoring problems: it means recognising what the UK's problems really are and addressing them.

The hostile environment has shaped UK immigration policies and public discourse for well over a decade now. It has not improved anything for anybody. So even if you disagree with what I say overall, perhaps that one fact at least is one you can ponder for a minute. /endPS