With the Russia-Ukraine war over a month underway, the need for open-mindedness concerning refugees has never been greater. Yet, why have we failed once again to react to the surge? Our dangerous door-slamming mentality has never been so strong, and it is time for us to face something that our government seems to protest: change.
With statistics like 62% of Brits being unable to speak a second language, titles such as “most monolingual country in Europe” and headlines such as “UK woman told to pay extra home insurance to host Ukrainian family” and “UK politicians request visa scheme for Ukrainian students and academics” we are delving deeper and deeper into the nationalist narrative we have been writing for decades. But when it comes to welcoming those in need, you would think our mentalities would shift. Of course, the blame here lies not with the British public, after all over 100, 000 Brits have offered to take in Ukrainian refugees. Instead, we should turn to our government, notably Priti Patel, for action.
The latest reports state that we have accepted 12,000 Ukrainians under visa schemes, which is a great, if not a delayed, response but if we delve deeper into the figures stating that over 43,000 applications have been made, the flaws in our system become apparent. Looking at the influx of refugees to neighbouring countries to Ukraine, it is clear that we have some work to do. It is evident that geography plays its part but the main factor behind our embarrassingly lower intake is our nationalist Brexit mentality that is now dangerously affecting the lives of others.
The question of migration is hardly a new one. Back in 2018, we were pretty low on the list of welcoming countries when it comes to migration. The problem is, that we are so embroiled in weaving the narrative of the “us” vs the “other” that we lose sight of what’s important, the people. Now, with our newly released Rwanda plan, the wave of right-wing nationalism is forcing yet more people away and into a potential new world of danger. The days of "Britannia rule the waves" may be long gone but the mindset certainly is not. How might we view the world differently if English weren’t a global Lingua Franca? Would the rest of the world see us as we see them or has our powerful and destructive history confused patriotism with supremacy?
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