IMMIGRATION and the SENSE OF OWNERSHIP

IMMIGRATION and OUR SENSE OF OWNERSHIP

Many open-border anarchists and capitalists are keen to attack the indigenous population for its supposed "fear" of incomers or its "envy" of them. That is to suggest that any objection on their behalf is actually a psychological weakness, rather than a rational concern. What is rarely acknowledged is the way in which the sense of ownership -- the natural proprietorial sense, common to all human beings and held by all indigenous people, over their living spaces -- is being lost. These two short comments sum it up.

In the minds of such disappointed, independent, but sometimes struggling people, the question is: "What can we call ours?" If you are very rich, you can buy distance from all these problems. If you're not, you can't, and the sense that British people are entitled, in this non-financial sense, to own the streets and parks and public services and culture around them is very strong. That ownership is stolen if there are drunks in the park, muggers on the streets, and people who can't speak your language filling up the housing or the hospital beds.

Charles Moore, "Blair believes mass immigration is good for Britain -- do Britons?"
The Daily Telegraph, 16-4-05.

Which brings me back to the new immigrants. They are for the most part adults who have had their formative experiences in other countries. When my sister-in-law's sister begins working here she will pay her taxes and become a useful member of the community. Perhaps that is enough. But should it be? It seems to me that the most urgent question to ask about any fresh immigrants is how can we expect them to have a deep sense of loyalty to an idea of Britain if their sole reason for being here is economic.

The men who dream of moving from Lahore to Leicester, the women who pray that an arranged marriage will transport them from Bangladesh to Brick Lane, are not coming because they have any affinity with what might loosely be described as British values.

They seek to come for the simple reason that it is better to live here than where they came from. That is an entirely honourable and understandable reason. But it is ludicrous to suggest that the only impact this has on our country is economic.

It is not something that most people will admit to pollsters or even to their friends. But I suspect that the reason that so many people cite immigration as a concern is not simply the uninformed suspicion that they are being cheated of homes or social security. The figures appear to suggest the opposite: that immigrants benefit the economy. What really frightens them is the fear that their country is being slowly stolen from them by people who do not have a stake in it.

For all the talk of how immigration has benefited Britain there are many who are not convinced. And the reason, I think, is not that they do not appreciate Indian food or their local Sikh GP, but because they feel that this does not feel like their country.

Asylum and immigration are two separate issues, but what they both share is that they involve the arrival of adults from other countries into Britain, adults who, like the first generation of Asian immigrants, are unlikely to think of this country as anything other than a place to come to work.

Sarfraz Manzoor, "It's about feeling you belong here",
The Guardian, G2 sec., p.5, 27-4-05.