Slate: “Why Immigration Pushed Britons to Brexit”

Last week voters in England and Wales choose to leave the European Union in a nationwide referendum commonly referred to as the “Brexit” vote, with many voters claiming immigration fears as a top decider for them. The aftershocks of this referendum have been far reaching. In response, Prime Minister David Cameron, who opposed Brexit, offered his resignation, the Labour party is in turmoil, Britain’s credit rating has been downgraded, the British pound fell to a thirty-one year low against the dollar, the euro fell, and global stock prices have plummeted.

Many are offering their views on what exactly caused so many voters to want out of the European Union when many economists and financial leaders warned that it would not be a prudent move. Slate examines former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s role in opening up Britain’s borders to immigrants beginning in the late 1990s. Britain soon received roughly twice as many immigrants in the United Kingdom as had arrived in the previous half-century. Britain additionally become a highly sought-after destination for less-skilled European immigrants, due to the structure of the UK’s economy and its public policies, as well as the free movement of peoples, one of the core principles of the European Union. This, combined with loss of economic opportunity in many areas of the United Kingdom and the availability of public benefits for many recent immigrants, fueled an anti-immigrant backlash.

Many Leave campaigners, including Boris Johnson, the former London mayor, claimed that the EU was preventing the UK from enacting immigration controls. In the run-up to the vote, however, London’s new mayor, Sadiq Khan, who was for the Remain campaign, objected to the scapegoating of immigrants and said of his Leave opponents that it wasn’t so much “project fear, it’s been project hate as far as immigration is concerned.”

Tony Blair weighed in post-Brexit vote, acknowledging the role that high immigration numbers played, but framed it slightly differently:

The strains within Britain that led to this referendum result are universal, at least in the West. Insurgent movements of left and right, posing as standard-bearers of a popular revolt against the political establishment, can spread and grow at scale and speed. Today’s polarized and fragmented news coverage only encourages such insurgencies — an effect magnified many times by the social media revolution.

While the Leave campaigners promised to swiftly reduce the number of immigrants coming to Britain from other parts of Europe, with claims that  a vote to leave would “bring down the numbers” by 2020, afterwards, however, the Leave campaigners adjusted their remarks: “Frankly, if people watching think that they have voted and there is now going to be zero immigration from the E.U., they are going to be disappointed,” Daniel Hannan, a prominent Leave advocate and member of the European Parliament, admits now.  

The Brexit vote has already given rise to an increase in xenophobia and reports of abuse against immigrants. Meanwhile, many eligible UK nationals, unsure of what lies ahead for the United Kingdom, are busy applying for duel citizenship.   

Both Sides of Brexit

Marketplace: “Immigration a concern amid looming Brexit vote”

On June 23, the United Kingdom will hold a referendum—referred to as the “Brexit” vote—to decide whether Britain should leave or remain in the European Union (EU). The referendum comes after Prime Minister David Cameron bowed to pressure from his own Conservative MPs before his general election last year and said: "It is time for the British people to have their say. It is time to settle this European question in British politics."

Immigration is an important issue in the referendum, as the EU guarantees the free movement of people between the twenty-eight member countries. Many Brits are worried about the record influx of immigrants who have come to the UK. Last year, there was a net inflow into the UK of more than 330,000 immigrants with half of them from elsewhere in the EU. Elisa Padilla from Spain, who has lived in London for three years, is concerned about the EU referendum. “It is a bit scary,” she tells Marketplace, “because underneath it all, I feel there is some sort of rejection of immigrants. English people don’t want more people from abroad coming here.”

While some claim that immigrants are affecting public services like healthcare, education, and housing, Italian immigrant Daniela de Rosa, who runs an Anglo-Italian website, is surprised by the referendum. “I wouldn’t have believed when I moved to London eleven years ago that one day someone would question our staying in Britain—as Europeans,” de Rosa tells Marketplace.

Deporting the 2 million EU migrant workers already in the UK wouldn’t make economic sense since they pay more in taxes than they take from the government and many dispute their supposed drain on resources. Michal Zdunczyk, a printing equipment engineer from Poland, disputes the charge that EU migrants are putting Brits out of work. “We basically fill the gap where the British people will not accept those jobs for that kind of money,” Zdunczyk tells Marketplace.

Gisela Stuart, a Labour MP and Vote Leave chair, says that British people are feeling the strains of “uncontrolled migration” and should vote leave in order to take back control from the EU. “As an immigrant myself, I am conscious of benefits immigration brings to this country," she says in the Guardian. "I have been very clear that I would like to see the introduction of an Australian Points based system—something that would also serve to end the discrimination inherent in the current system. But the fact of the matter is that the democratically elected UK parliament is prevented from doing any such thing because of the EU’s obsession with open borders.”

Prime Minister David Cameron claims it would be “madness” to try to reduce the number of migrants to the UK by voting to leave the EU and Hilary Benn, the UK shadow foreign secretary, says that a vote to leave the EU will not put a stop to the high levels of immigration, as foreign workers are needed in the country. “Immigration into Britain will continue whether we stay or go, as the Leave Campaign have now admitted,” he says. “And anyone who thinks that voting leave will bring the numbers down significantly will in time be bitterly disappointed.”

While many view the Leave Campaign as anti-immigrant, support for Brexit comes from many unusual sources including many chefs and curry house owners, predominantly from Bangladesh, who want to leave the EU since they claim current immigration laws and EU-mandated salary requirements make it extremely difficult for them to hire the skilled workers for their restaurants. Four or five of Britain's 12,000 curry houses are closing their doors every week, says Oli Khan, vice president of the Bangladeshi Caterers Association. "It's not that we think Europeans shouldn't have a chance in Britain, it's just that we feel the country should choose who it needs, what kind of skills they need, so that industries like ours are not short handed," Khan tells CNN. Meanwhile, the rest of the EU waits nervously for the outcome.

NY Times: “European Union to Consider Requiring Visas for U.S. Travelers”

The days of visa free travel for Americans to the European Union may be over. While Americans take for granted the ease of traveling without a visa to many European countries—while, conversely, many Europeans travel to the US visa-free under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP)—the European Union is threatening to change the requirements if the US government does not agree to include additional European member states, including Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland, and Romania, in the Visa Waiver Program. Although the deadline for the decision was this week, and has now been moved to this summer, the timing is not ideal, as the New York Times explains: 

The escalating dispute comes at a time when Washington is especially concerned about security, in the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Europe and the presence of suspected terrorists in the flow of migrants to the Continent out of the Middle East. Should the commission decide to move toward imposing visa requirements, it could be a blow to trans-Atlantic relations just before a visit to Europe by President Obama and could complicate negotiations on other issues, including a proposed trade deal.

Security concerns, however, haven’t affected certain European officials who are pressuring Washington to include the additional countries in visa-free travel. “Over the past months, all sides have intensified their efforts in order to reach tangible and concrete progress,” Mina Andreeva, a spokeswoman for the commission, said in a statement. “Our goal is full reciprocal visa waiver with our strategic partners,” she said.

The Visa Waiver Program currently includes thirty-eight member countries, and the program enables eligible citizens of approved countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of ninety days or less without first obtaining a visa, as long as they apply and are approved under the ESTA program. Last year additional security measures were added to the Visa Waiver Program.

In Bulgaria, the economy minister, Bojidar Loukarsky, reportedly told local news media in 2014 that his country’s support for a trade pact with the US was contingent on visa-free travel to the US for his country’s citizens, while Marietje Schaake, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, disagreed, telling the New York Times: “No matter what happens with visas, this should not impact trade negotiations with the United States as immigration plays no formal part in those talks.”

Artur Habant, the spokesman for the Permanent Representation of Poland to the European Union in Brussels, said it’s a matter of fairness, as US citizens can travel to Poland visa-free. “Polish governments have been lobbying for a long time with the U.S. authorities, in Congress and in the administration, to eliminate this obstacle in traveling to the United States.” US officials, however, are concerned that countries such as Romania have not met the requirements to be included in the VWP. 

The Syrian Migrant Crisis

The horrific images of the drowned Syrian boy, three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, as well as images of refugees stranded in the Budapest train station and other tragic news reports including the seventy-one migrants who suffocated to death in a refrigerated truck in Austria, all have led to renewed calls for more action to be taken on behalf of approximately four million displaced Syrians.

“The migrant crisis in Europe is essentially self-inflicted,” Lina Khatib, a research associate at the University of London and former head of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, said in the New York Times. “Had European countries sought serious solutions to political conflicts like the one in Syria, and dedicated enough time and resources to humanitarian assistance abroad, Europe would not be in this position today.”

Europe, Iceland, St. Louis, and the Pope Offer Help

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany is investing six billion euros ($6.7 billion) to cope with the migrant crisis, France has committed to receiving 24,000 migrants, and Britain has announced a plan to accommodate 20,000 Syrian migrants.

In addition to these actions by major European nations, one of the first countries to offer increased help came from Iceland, whose population is just over 300,000. After the government pledged to assist just fifty Syrians, author and professor Bryndis Bjorgvinsdottir asked Icelanders on Facebook to speak out if they wanted the government to do more. More than 12,000 people responded to her Facebook group, “Syria is calling,” to sign an open letter to their welfare minister, Eygló Harðar. “I think people have had enough of seeing news stories from the Mediterranean and refugee camps of dying people and they want something done now,” she said to Iceland’s RÚV television. Icelanders offered to house refugees and provide clothes, assist in job training, and give language lessons.

Demonstrating how strongly the plight of Syrian migrants have affected people all over, another grass roots offer to help has come from St. Louis. Greg Johnson, a Presbyterian pastor, said that St. Louis should welcome at least 60,000 migrants, citing the city’s “track record of welcoming Muslims into our city and trusting them with our communities.” Johnson pointed out that when St. Louis previously accepted 60,000 Bosnian refugees, the city hugely benefited. “Entire neighborhoods saw revitalization, new businesses were started, and the city’s decades-long decline in population slowed. Our region is better for their having joined us.”

Pope Francis has also called on every European parish, religious community, monastery, and sanctuary to take in one refugee family.

What Is the US Doing?

Despite a prescient call by senators earlier this year urging President Obama to allow at least 65,000 displaced Syrians to resettle in the US—a move which was derided by some at the time—there is only likely to be a slight increase in the quota of Syrian migrants, unless changes are made.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, who signed the letter urging Mr. Obama to accept more Syrian refugees, said in the New York Times: “We knew of the mounting problem for the humanitarian issues, the moral issues.” And in BuzzFeed she said: “Europe should clearly take the lead because they are close in proximity, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take part, and doesn’t mean some countries in the Mideast like Saudi Arabia shouldn’t take some refugees as well.”

Eric P. Schwartz, a former assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, and now dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, said presidential action is needed for any changes to come about. “The folks who lead our humanitarian work in the government are the best in the world, but you need the president of the United States and the secretary of state, but the president in particular, to speak out about our responsibilities here and to define the challenge,” he said in the New York Times. Increasing the number of Syrians granted asylum to 50,000 on an emergency basis would also send “an extremely powerful signal to Europe and to the world.”

UPDATE: 9/11/2015. President Obama announced plans yesterday for the United States to take in at least 10,000 displaced Syrians over the next fiscal year. This comes after mounting criticism that the US is not doing enough to assist the approximately four million displaced Syrians. Responding to this announcement in Buzzfeed, Paul O’Brien, Oxfam’s vice president for police and campaigns, said: "The White House’s pledge is a start but it just scratches the surface...The U.S. can and must do more to help ensure that thousands of Syrians fleeing violence have the safety and security they need."
 

Reuters' The Wider Image: "Isle Landers"

The worsening migrant crisis in Europe has led to increased attention paid to the thousands of refugees and migrants making the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea. For the past decade, Reuters photographer Darrin Zammit Lupi has been documenting their journeys to Malta, which receives the greatest percentage of migrants per population than other country in Europe:

When I started covering this story, most people arrived on boats carrying about 30 people. The trend has changed in recent years to larger vessels and dinghies, carrying anything between 100 and 400 migrants: men, women - many of them pregnant - and children. I’m amazed at the contrasts between people on different boats. Some arrive in a relatively good state of health, the men clean-shaven, indicating that they’ve possibly only been at sea for a couple of days at most. Others can barely stand on their own two feet, and have to be lifted ashore, often to waiting ambulances. When a boat has been at sea for several days, the debris left behind once the immigrants have disembarked is a nauseating sight: old water bottles, food packaging, empty fuel tanks, torn clothing, shoes, excrement, vomit.

His photos show capsized boats, sunburnt and damaged faces, and one woman who gave birth shortly after being rescued at sea. '''I was cold. Everybody was afraid. After some time, people started suffering hallucinations. Our skin was peeling away with the fuel and sea water. I was very sick…I kept thinking of my unborn child,'" she said. Another photo essays documents life for Afghan, Iranian, and Sudanese migrants living off food scraps and with no electricity in two abandoned factories in the economically-depressed port of Patras, Greece, as they try to find a way to Italy and the rest of Europe. One is twenty-six-year-old Azam from South Sudan, who has already had multiple failed attempts to stow away on ferries, but said: "'I want to go to northern Europe and find a decent job and live a good life...I'll never give up.'"

The Guardian: "UN says 800 migrants dead in boat disaster as Italy launches rescue of two more vessels"

A shipwreck this past weekend off the coast of Libya has led to the death of 800 migrants and has prompted calls for the European Union to address the worsening migrant crisis in Europe. The boat, which set sail from Tripoli and is one of many unseaworthy vessels that human smugglers use, contained nationals of Gambia, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Eritrea, Mali, Tunisia, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh and Syria, and included children between the ages of ten and twelve. With only a reported twenty-seven survivors, it is the worst such disaster in the Mediterranean Sea. Italian authorities arrested a Tunisian man who is believed to be the captain of the boat as well as a Syrian national, who were charged with human trafficking and the captain also charged with reckless multiple homicide. The overall migrant death toll in the Mediterranean Sea this year has already surpassed 1,500 victims—a drastic increase from the same period last year. The record number of migrants including children seeking haven in Europe is reminiscent of the US/Mexico border surge and crisis last year.

Italian rescuer Vincenzo Bonomo told La Repubblica: "'It was a sight that broke the hearts of even men of the sea like us. I saw children’s shoes, clothing, backpacks floating in the water. Every time we saw a shoe or a bag, any sign of life, we thought we might have found a survivor. But every time we were disappointed. It was heart-breaking[.]'"

In response, the European Union agreed after emergency meetings to launch military operations against the networks of smugglers in Libya deemed responsible for sending thousands of people to their deaths in the Mediterranean in addition to increasing maritime patrols as well as naval search-and-rescue missions. Anas el-Gomati, a researcher at the Sadeq Institute, a Libyan think-tank, questioned the effectiveness of the European response: "'Military action is a deterrent; it’s not a substitute for a coherent and robust policy...It will do nothing to stop the flow of migrants coming from sub-Saharan Africa and address the reasons as to why they choose to take a perilous route such as the western coast of Libya.'"

Nigerian refugee Hakim Bello, who previously survived the dangerous sea voyage and now lives in Berlin, called the Mediterranean Sea "the deadliest border in the world" and tried to explain what motivates migrants to undertake the dangerous journey: "We all have different reasons for doing it: some people think they’ll find a better life in Europe, others just want to get away from a war zone. But everyone feels they have no other option."

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of Malta said: "'What happened on Sunday was a game changer...There is a new realization that if Europe doesn’t act as a team, history will judge it very harshly, as it did when it closed its eyes to stories of genocide—horrible stories—not long ago.'"

UK Prime Minister David Cameron's Immigration Speech

A week after President Obama announced his executive actions on immigration reform, UK Prime Minister David Cameron made his own immigration speech, saying: "Immigration benefits Britain, but it needs to be controlled."

Citing the dramatic increase in immigration since 2004, Mr. Cameron proposed to "reduce the current exceptionally high level of migration from within the EU into the UK" by returning net migration to 1990s levels, when "proper immigration controls meant immigration was in the tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands."

To achieve this, he proposed to restrict time that EU-job seekers can legally stay in the UK to six months unless employment is found, change the alleged overly generous British welfare system so that those who claim benefits, tax credits, and child benefit must live and contribute for a minimum of four years, and increase residency requirements for social housing to four years.

Moreover, to decrease the level of undocumented and non-EU immigrants in the UK, Mr. Cameron pledged to continue to make "Britain a much harder place to exist as an illegal immigrant" by stopping undocumented immigrants from opening a bank account, obtaining a driver's license, and renting a home, as well as penalizing colleges who don't do enough to prevent foreign students from overstaying their visa.

Mr. Cameron made his self-admitted "radical" proposals after his failure to reduce immigration numbers, a promise he made before the 2010 election. 

Germany has warned that any attempt to stop the free movement of EU workers will not be tolerated, and Poland reacted with strong disapproval to Mr. Cameron's proposed four-year timeframe before foreign workers would be eligible for welfare benefits.

A Guardian editorial also criticized Mr. Cameron's use of the "stereotype of immigrant scroungers and its belief that unchecked immigration is one of the biggest problems facing Britain. This flies in the face of the evidence, which points to the fact that EU migrants put in more than they take out financially; that they use public services less than British citizens because many leave their families at home; and that the proportion of jobless EU migrants is tiny."

When it comes to the possibility of Britain leaving the EU if these issues cannot be resolved, Mr. Cameron said, "I rule nothing out." In the meantime as his immigration proposals are considered, Mr. Cameron wants to do more mentoring to help people with "'interview skills or CVs or just giving people a bit of confidence.'" Presumably, though, he does not mean immigrants since they have received "disproportionate numbers of jobs" in the UK.