50 years ago, British MP Enoch Powell had cuttingly commented about the foreigners pouring into the Great Britain and the lax laws against immigration by the then government. “It is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre,” he had infamously quoted. Cut to the present day, things seem to be going in the same direction with the almost hostile attitude of Theresa May towards immigrants, especially Indian.
Second woman to hold the office after Margaret Thatcher, May has never hid her resentment towards the liberalisation of immigration laws. Even back when she was the Secretary of State, she commissioned big lorrys with “GO HOME” painted on their sides to drive around Indian-dominated parts of the place. Although she argued that it was only for the illegal immigrants, it was pretty clear who her target audience were. And now she has thrown all caution to the wind and calling out clearly that Indians must go back home and stop making “life unfair” for the low-wage workers. “Someone who finds themselves out of work or on lower wages because of low-skilled immigration, life simply doesn’t seem fair,” was what she said to be exact.
Even though there really aren’t any economic impacts faced by the country, this racism towards immigrants is startling. In fact, after the Brexit vote, the crime rate against people of color in Britain spiked by almost 41%! This in itself shows the kind of danger that Indians are facing in the months, to come if not years. No more is London a reference for the rich diversity of culture and people, no more can we visit our relatives across the borders with ease. British companies are also now, by law, required to submit a list of their immigrant employees. Truth be told, Indians might soon have to pack up and leave if such situation persists, even the ones who were born in Britain or are there for their education. Students have been another cause of debate when the issue of immigration arises. May vehemently believes that students are also a part and parcel of affecting the economy. There is of course no basis for such claims because this group forms the best and brightest of the nation, helping Britain’s economy grow. But the immigration task force is hell bent on including the innocent graduates too under the brand of “immigrants.”
The Chancellor Phillip Hammond though has a different view when it comes to the immigration status of students. He is at battle now with the Brexiteers that students must be removed from the list. He stands by the research that shows only a fifth of people in the sample think students count as immigrants and that 59 per cent are opposed to efforts to reduce their number.
Even if the students are given leeway, Britain still stands to be a risky investment for Indians now. There was a hope for the change in the visa policy after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his British counterpart in September to discuss how the revamped policy might affected Indians living in U.K. But May gave false assurances of support towards India and its initiatives. It may be that Theresa May has such qualms about immigrants due to her strict conservative upbringing, making her suspicious of foreigners or it may be something entirely different. Either ways, London is about to undergo a radical change that will definitely not have the desi flavourings anymore. Whether or not it is a wise decision to shut its borders to uplifting foreigners is within the discretion of the government of the country that for the most part built its foundation on the wealth of colonizaton.
