The EU and immigration
Excessively high immigration to developed countries such as the UK (which I don’t believe does occur anyway), is a symptom of a wider, human problem, which the EU helps cure.
While some who wish to reduce and control immigration do so out of xenophobia, most simply feel we need control to prevent the problems that high immigration causes. They talk about the pressure it puts on public services, on house prices, on general quality of life in the UK.
Firstly, I should note that I do not agree with this assessment of immigration’s impact; evidence doesn’t support a lot of what is claimed, and I’ve never felt in any way that the presence of immigrants in an area I’ve lived in has negatively affected my quality of life.
However, when you’re talking to someone from a completely different part of the country who argues adamantly that immigrants have destroyed their home town and ruined the lives of all who live there, quoting stats at them wont change their mind.
I think, though, that there’s another important angle to consider. Take everything that Brexiters claim to be true: immigrants put pressure on our public services, and continued immigration will cause our towns and cities to be transformed into concrete high-rise jungles, crammed with people.
From the perspective of mankind as a whole (as opposed to just British people), closing off our borders doesn’t make the situation better. The immigrants who live here ALSO have to deal with the poor public services, poor living conditions etc. The fact that they still choose to come here though (leaving their home towns, communities, and in many cases their families behind to do so) means that even these conditions, which are worse than normal for us British born, are better than normal for those coming into our country.
The problem isn’t immigration, it’s that people in many countries do not have to same kinds of opportunities we have, or the same standards of living that we have. Immigration is just a symptom of this problem.
The UK closing its borders isn’t a solution. Yes, we could decide that we in Britain only care about our own, restrict immigration, and leave other countries to deal with this problem. I however see no reason to be concerned about the well-being of fellow Brits over the well-being of foreigners.
The solution, rather, is to reach a position where those in other countries have no reason to come to Britain, other than a desire to experience our culture, or to work in a particular industry that our country specialises in, because they have the same opportunities and standards of living in their own countries.
This is part of what the EU tries to achieve for its members. Part of the reason we pay so much in to the EU, more than we take out ourselves, is because we fund the growth and development of poorer countries. The EU funds infrastructure, education and research, promotes trade, and encourages foreign investment. The poorer countries in the Union didn’t decide to join to EU so they could lose a lot of their workforce to other countries and sponge off the rich parts of Europe, but to help develop them into countries that themselves are attractive, prosperous places to live.
This argument won’t convince those who think the UK and its people are inherently better than other countries and their people, and that we should look after ourselves above all others. However, for all those who are well meaning, but have been persuaded that immigration isn’t sustainable: closing our borders won’t solve the problem that we as humans face, but will simply shrug our responsibility, and probably slow down the rate at which the actual issue is solved. If we want to solve the true problem, staying in the EU is a step in the right direction.
(N.B If you have particular knowledge of the projects the EU funds, and feel they’re a waste of money, I’d be interested to hear… I have no special knowledge of specific examples of where the development budget is spent. The point remains though that the debate we’re having about immigration has the wrong focus.)
