Britain should welcome Hongkongers, but not the ‘good migrant’ narrative – The Guardian
Ministers swell with pride as they speak of profound ties of history and friendship, while polling shows that a substantial majority of Britons are in favour and newspaper headlines are overwhelmingly positive.
Immigration has always been a contentious issue in Britain. So why, as the UK opens a path to citizenship for millions of Hong Kong residents, is it different this time?
Hong Kong Chinese are seen as a model minority, successors to the status of Ugandan Asians: a thrifty, entrepreneurial and family-oriented community who will skimp to send their children to private schools and boost Britains economic fortunes, while quietly demonstrating that other ethnic minorities could be equally successful if they worked a little harder.
Journalists have been briefed that Priti Patel, daughter of Ugandan Asians, sees this as personal, and a headline in the Times made the link explicit: Hong Kong crisis: Ugandan Asians offer golden example.
Britain is doing the right thing. But the good migrant narrative coalescing around the Hong Kong Chinese is risky for them as well as for other British people of colour.
The impulses behind this narrative combine the imperial nostalgia that helped power Brexit, an importing of US conservative politics, and a racialised caricature of why the Asian tiger economies Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea have been so successful.
First, the imperial element. Hong Kongs achievement is seen as an extension of empire, based on the attractions of the English language and rule of law. As the Adam Smith Institute fellow Sam Bowman put it: under British rule, it enjoyed property rights and the rule of law, which made it a magnet for Chinese refugees fleeing the communist regime.
There is a grain of truth in this account, though it ignores the crucial geographic and economic facts that underpin Hong Kongs position today. The territory is the conduit between global capital and Chinas largely closed financial system. This role will continue to fuel Hong Kongs economy even if many of its people leave for Britain, and it is not a business they can export with them.
Both Hong Kong and Singapore adapted elements of their colonial heritage and made them work for their economic benefit. Both places have also deployed colonial laws to repress their people. Last September, the Hong Kong democracy activist Tam Tak-chi, a former radio presenter known as Fast Beat, was charged under a sedition law, the Crimes Ordinance, brought in by the British to curb dissent. If were going to remember imperial history, lets do so in full.
Second, being generous to Hongkongers neatly complements the Conservative partys new obsession, a hawkish attitude to China. The China Research Group, launched last year by a group of Conservative MPs, makes valid criticisms of Chinas human rights abuses and Beijings cavalier attitude to international law. But the launch of this group is also a signal of a pricklier and more combative turn in British conservative attitudes to Beijing, echoing the hostility to China in US Republican circles.
Third, there is a simplified version of the tigers story that emphasises the natural abilities of hardworking people allied to Confucian culture. This is a modern-day version of old-fashioned stereotypes about colonial races.
In 1915, an Australian management consultant who had just toured factories in an Asian country fretted about the quality of its workforce. The workers, he concluded, were a very satisfied easy-going race who reckon time is no object. The country in question was Japan, and the story, told in Ha Joon Changs Bad Samaritans, is a reminder of the fluidity of the cultural narratives we use to explain the world.
The success of places like Hong Kong and Singapore has to do with effective governance and astute economic policy decisions, such as containerising their ports earlier than competitor nations and focusing on export-oriented industrialisation. Harnessing the talent and efforts of their labour force is a part of this story. But this, too, is a consequence of policy rather than innate genius. An exceptional education is part of the answer here: Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea all rank among the highest-performing school systems in the world, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Hongkongers will reshape our societies in ways that we cant predict. Postwar Commonwealth migration, including the arrival of Ugandan Asians, helped bring about a reckoning with race relations that sought to tackle Britains deep-seated racism. More recently, eastern European migration was exploited to drum up anti-EU sentiment.
One of my closest friends is the son of migrants from Hong Kong and Singapore. His Hong Kong Chinese mother fulfilled one part of the immigrant dream by working as a nurse to put her son through the best (private) education she could afford. She was baffled, to put it mildly, when my friend pursued an erratic career as a film-maker and visual artist rather than choose a more secure and lucrative profession.
The point of this anecdote is that people are people, with all of the complex desires and varied talents that this implies. It is risky to assume that an infusion of Hong Kong migration will give Britain an entrepreneurial rocket boost. Worse, a handful of cherrypicked success stories could easily become a stick to beat others with.
Hongkongers seeking a new life in Britain are not economic assets. The reason to welcome them is, simply, because it is just. And their freedom should include the freedom to be a slacker.
See the original post here:
Britain should welcome Hongkongers, but not the 'good migrant' narrative - The Guardian
- How we searched for solutions to our migrant crisis hundreds of miles to the north in Toronto - Chicago Sun-Times - December 30th, 2024 [December 30th, 2024]
- NYC migrant crisis: For a migrant father and his sons, a year of struggle, fear and hope in New York - Newsday - December 30th, 2024 [December 30th, 2024]
- Operation Sluice and the migrant crisis as preparation for full-scale aggression - StopFake.org - December 30th, 2024 [December 30th, 2024]
- Adams says Dems missed the memo on migrant crisis and it hurt the party - PIX11 New York News - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- 'I welcome the border czar in Chicgao': Activist sounds off on illegal migrant crisis in the Windy City - Fox News - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- The real cause of the migrant crisis is neither migrants nor smuggling gangs - William Clouston - GB News - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- Fox News finds a way to tie UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting to migrant crisis in New York City - The Independent - December 10th, 2024 [December 10th, 2024]
- GOP lawmaker on migrant crisis: The left is being mugged by reality - MSN - December 10th, 2024 [December 10th, 2024]
- GOP lawmaker on migrant crisis: The left is being mugged by reality - Fox Business - December 10th, 2024 [December 10th, 2024]
- Eric Adams may be New Yorks best hope for tackling the migrant crisis - UnHerd - December 10th, 2024 [December 10th, 2024]
- NYC Mayor Eric Adams will meet Trump's border czar and discuss migrant crisis next week - MSN - December 10th, 2024 [December 10th, 2024]
- Fox anchor baselessly ties the shooting of the United Healthcare CEO to the migrant crisis - Media Matters for America - December 10th, 2024 [December 10th, 2024]
- Battenfeld: Michelle Wu the new national face of the migrant crisis, but could she pay a price? - Boston Herald - November 24th, 2024 [November 24th, 2024]
- Lefty Mass. gov to phase out hotel rooms for illegal immigrants to address over $1B migrant crisis costs - New York Post - November 24th, 2024 [November 24th, 2024]
- Exclusive | NYPD classes canned over migrant crisis budget cuts to be reinstated adding 1.6K cops by next fall - New York Post - November 24th, 2024 [November 24th, 2024]
- Laken Riley's alleged killer Jose Ibarra flew from 'ground zero' of migrant crisis to Georgia - Fox News - November 19th, 2024 [November 19th, 2024]
- Migrant crisis in the Canary Islands: A record-breaking year - Murcia Today - November 19th, 2024 [November 19th, 2024]
- Not a chance in HELL it works! Keir Starmer told to forget new plan to tackle migrant crisis - GB News - November 19th, 2024 [November 19th, 2024]
- Battenfeld: Massachusetts will get no relief from migrant crisis thanks to Maura Healey - Boston Herald - November 12th, 2024 [November 12th, 2024]
- Is Italy's plan to outsource migrant crisis to Albania falling through? - Firstpost - November 12th, 2024 [November 12th, 2024]
- Channel migrant crisis on course for 40,000 by year's end - as almost 33,000 cross so far in 2024 - GB News - November 12th, 2024 [November 12th, 2024]
- Smash the gangs is just Keir Starmers version of stop the boats. It wont solve the migrant crisis - The Guardian - November 12th, 2024 [November 12th, 2024]
- Migrant crisis as 600 risk everything to cross Channel so far this month - Express - November 5th, 2024 [November 5th, 2024]
- Fox Business anchor pushes Trump's lie that "the illegal migrant crisis ... has taken over" Aurora, Colorado - Media Matters for America - October 12th, 2024 [October 12th, 2024]
- Nantucket's migrant crisis handling called out after quiet island rocked by wave of violent attacks - AOL - October 12th, 2024 [October 12th, 2024]
- FITZPATRICK: Migrant Crisis Forcing Small-Town Americans To Take Matters Into Their Own Hands - Daily Caller - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- Spanish centre-right at odds with government over migrant crisis in the Canaries - EURACTIV - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- New York Closes Randalls Island Migrant Shelter, a Symbol of the Crisis - La Voce di New York - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- Its time to break the stranglehold on the migrant crisis debate - The Spectator - October 4th, 2024 [October 4th, 2024]
- Gilbert Bigio: Israels Man in Haiti and the Architect Behind the US Migrant Crisis - Mintpress News - October 4th, 2024 [October 4th, 2024]
- Putting up barriers will not solve the migrant crisis - EURACTIV - October 4th, 2024 [October 4th, 2024]
- Kamala Harris Shoves the Migrant Border Crisis in Trumps Face - The Daily Beast - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- Opinion | How the Migrant Crisis Strains Whitewater, Wis. - The Wall Street Journal - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- What will happen to Europe if it cant control the migrant crisis? - The Spectator - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- Israel's invasion of Lebanon could spark another toxic European migrant crisis - Evening Standard - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- Top Adams aide overseeing migrant crisis response hit with federal subpoena: reports - amNY - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- Vivek Ramaswamy to host town hall in Springfield, Ohio on migrant crisis - Fox News - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- Follow The Money: Funding The Biden-Harris Migrant Crisis - The Daily Wire - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Investigation will expose Biden-Harris admin over migrant crisis: AFLs Gene Hamilton - Fox Business - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- JUST IN - Netherlands To Declare State Of Emergency Amid Illegal Migrant Crisis And Will Ask For Opt-out From EU Migration Policy - GreekCityTimes.com - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Ohio residents plead for help amid migrant crisis: 'I want out of this town' - KEYE TV CBS Austin - September 12th, 2024 [September 12th, 2024]
- Residents of Springfield, Ohio attend city council meeting to share frustration about migrant crisis hitting their community - Fox News - September 12th, 2024 [September 12th, 2024]
- Exclusive | The US migrant crisis, explained: Special NY Post video report breaks down how we got here from the border to the Big Apple - New York... - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Republican Lawmakers call on Acting Governor Bill Galvin to address migrant crisis - WWLP.com - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- EU migration policy is getting tougher: the 3 new tactics used to keep African migrants out - The Conversation - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- Chicago struggles to cope with mass influx of migrants sent from Texas - EL PAS USA - May 28th, 2024 [May 28th, 2024]
- New York Begins a New Wave of Evictions From Migrant Shelters - The New York Times - May 28th, 2024 [May 28th, 2024]
- Your City Doesn't Have a Migrant Crisis Yet? Just Ask Denver for its New How-To Guide. | FAIRUS.org - Federation for American Immigration Reform - May 28th, 2024 [May 28th, 2024]
- Poland's New Government Continues Migrant Pushbacks on Belarus Border - Balkan Insight - May 28th, 2024 [May 28th, 2024]
- Migrants and advocates brace for stricter rules in NYC shelters as evictions loom - Gothamist - May 23rd, 2024 [May 23rd, 2024]
- DEMANDING TRANSPARENCY FROM MIGRANT CRISIS CONTRACTORS The Warwick Valley Dispatch - wvdispatch.com - May 23rd, 2024 [May 23rd, 2024]
- Biden should know that the migrant crisis is also in Massachusetts - The Boston Globe - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Spiked buoys and razor wire: Texas tackles the migrant crisis with brutal border defences - The Telegraph - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Exhibition shows how photographer Dorothea Lange was so good at 'Seeing People' - NPR - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- On the Arizona Border, Even a Slow Day Is Busy - The New York Times - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Biden and Trump to host dueling border visits on migrant crisis - FOX 47 News Lansing - Jackson - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Denver to close migrant shelters in effort to save $60 million amid budget deficit - Denver 7 Colorado News - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- The Migration Crisis in Central America: How Domestic NGOs from Panama Are Central to the US Migration Strategy - LSE Home - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Chicago Officials Tackle Migrant Crisis, Rapid Resettlement from Shelters to Homes Sparks Tension and Concern - Hoodline - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Surge of migrants causing strain on border resources - LEX 18 News - Lexington, KY - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Denver Congresswoman Introduces Legislation to Address Migrant Crisis and Reform Immigration - Citizentribune - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- New York's $2.4 Billion Not Enough to Solve Migrant Crisis, Governor Warns - Newsweek - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- Hochul's $233 billion budget to maintain migrant aid, avoid tax hikes - POLITICO - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- The Migrant Crisis On The Border And The Hill : The NPR Politics Podcast - NPR - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- Proviso Suburbs Are Regulating Unscheduled Buses As Migrant Crisis Enters Harsh Winter - Village Free Press | - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- OTR: Mayor Wu weighs in on migrant shelter crisis in Mass. - WCVB Boston - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- New York Gov. Hochul To Propose $2 Billion to Deal With Migrant Crisis - The Messenger - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- Hochul reveals $233 billion budget proposal - Spectrum News NY1 - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- Gov. Pritzker wants state lawmakers to backfill $160 million that went toward migrant crisis - NBC Chicago - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- Many Older Immigrants in New York Are Struggling: 'I Have No Future' - The New York Times - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- Chaos, Fury, Mistakes: 600 Days Inside New York's Migrant Crisis - The New York Times - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Want to Solve the Border Crisis? Legalize Immigration. - The Daily Beast - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Migrant crisis: Work permit waits leave some in limbo - The Boston Globe - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Bus drops off asylum-seekers in Fox River Grove; migrants were told they had arrived in Chicago - NBC Chicago - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- NYC Mayor Adams Says He Can't Get Meeting With Biden Amid Migrant Crisis: 'It Baffles Me' - The Messenger - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Working Class Perspectives on the 'Migrant Crisis' - The Texas Observer - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- Denver's migrant shelter capacity, already at its highest ever, sees 300 more migrants arrive in a single day - Denver 7 Colorado News - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- The EU isn't serious about tackling the migrant crisis - The Spectator - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- November saw nearly quarter of a million migrant encounters amid new border surge - Yahoo News - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- Arizona National Guard, CBP responding separately to migrant crisis - KGUN 9 Tucson News - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]