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Edited by Fern and Charlotte in January 2022 and by Maddie in January 2023.
For our part in this Archives project, we saw that there was a severe lack of primary sources. We knew there was a reason for this, and not just that people preferred news articles to refugees telling their own stories, so we decided to investigate further. We found the vast majority of easily accessible primary sources were either on Youtube or published by large news corporations
Whilst this may seem like a good thing at first, with an increase in visibility given to British Refugees, Britain has a serious bias and perspective problem with the media.
The media in Britain must present themselves as impartial, without bias. This is of course problematic for reasons which have been discussed many times – nobody can be free of bias and by not acknowledging your bias you just allow it to grow. The BBC brings this to the next level however, as seen in our first source, with a man who works for refugees explaining that so many hate crimes happen that one refugee could not report them all to the police if they tried, and a man calling refugees “economic scroungers” being given equal weight in the argument.
The other sources are by Channel 4, a News station generally seen as left wing by the public. Whilst the portrayal of refugees is much more sympathetic on this channel, there are still problems rampant with how they report on them. By the nature of a large news channel reporting on a specific migrant, there are issues that need to be addressed. Even politicians get nervous when cameras are shoved in their face, and that’s part of their job description! A refugee who only wants to live a normal life, must give a vastly different interview when questioned in a comfortable setting one-on-one, versus being surrounded by a camera crew, being told to tell his story. He may miss out parts of his story that are important, but would paint him in a bad light, or he may miss out parts of his story that would make him seem sympathetic, but would embarrass him too much due to the stark reminder that his words are going on television.
We must talk about what we don’t see as much as what we do see on television. We don’t see the planning, the questions being asked, a lot of the time we don’t see the interviewer. In many cases, the words of the interviewee are translated into English, which as anyone familiar with translated media will tell you, gives a lot of wiggle room to make someone seem sympathetic or villainous.
We came to the conclusion that whilst a large amount of interviews from news stations is certainly better than nothing, especially in the context of the material reality of refugees and when they’re treated with sympathy, it is nowhere near good enough to tell and capture the stories of the migrants that they talk to. We went to Social Media next, and whilst I know from my past searchings that there are many refugees and migrants on social media, even some that I have personally interacted with, it is much harder to find them than it is to find traditional media online. Social Media is an invaluable resource when it comes to bottom-up storytelling, and whilst it is not without its pitfalls (The public nature of it, for one), it must be considered as a real resource going into modern radical histories.
Sources & Explanations:
Where are England’s asylum seekers living? – BBC Newsnight
This video is a useful source to examine the ‘impartiality’ of the BBC. This video does, to its credit, platform advocates of refugees who shed a light on the amount of hate-crimes, stating that there are too many for one person to report happening to them. This piece of reporting falls through, however, when in the name of unbiased reporting, it also uncritically gives platform to a man who paints with a broad brush that migrants are “Economic Scroungers”. Whilst the BBC does not endorse either view, by platforming these views, they are propogating a belief that causes material harm to a marginalised group in our society. We are not asking for censorship, but are certainly asking for a media more honest in its self image.
Thousands of Afghan refugees already stuck in UK asylum system
What life is like for migrants who arrive on UK shores
These sources are by Channel 4 News, a traditionally more left-wing source, who has been quicker to platform the causes of the marginalised. These are no exception, with both generally placing a focus on the conditions migrants have to go through (For example, being detained as soon as they make landfall), and the views of the people in the system. This is also not without its flaws, as discussed above. We would recommend each of these sources are viewed, as they are valuable in seeing how the media treats refugees.
Social Media:
As explained above, we initially wanted to produce our own primary sources, but when that proved itself unfeasible in the timeframe that we had, we turned to social media. These accounts are third party, but in general deal with refugees in the UK in a positive way, publishing interviews with refugees from time to time, but their primary goal being sharing positive ways to get involved in making Britain better for migrants.
- The Refugee Council – Twitter – Website
- Scottish Faiths ACtion For Refugees – Twitter
- UK Welcomes Refugees – Twitter – Website
Sadly, even with this positive help by ground-up organisations and top-down media franchises, the status of refugees in our country is not secure in the slightest. If one were to search “EDL twitter” or “EDL Facebook”, there are a large amount of accounts, most fairly active, with very little official pushback from elected governments or from the corporations these accounts are hosted on. Our ruling party is constantly making things harder for the most marginalised in society, and refugees are no exception. We would urge anyone reading this article to look for local organisations to you, and see how you can help.
Refugee Agency portrayed in media
Prepared by Izzy & Alexei, January 2023
Refugees can regain agency by sharing and publishing their stories, and social media can be used as an essential tool to do so.
https://www.unrefugees.org/news/oscars-2022-five-powerful-movies-about-the-refugee-crisis/ : This source provided by The UN Refugee Agency lists five film recommendations centred around refugee stories. Each recommended film includes a link to their trailer and the website linked in this archive has a brief summary of each recommended film plot.:
Art therapy with asylum seekers and refugees: the New Art Studio
: This website looks at the power of using art as therapy for refugees and has a few examples of the art which some refugees have created which are now having the opportunity to be exhibited in a London gallery.
Black Mamba Boy – Nadifa Mohamed (2010)
Synopsis: Aden, Yemen, 1935; a city vibrant, alive, and full of hidden dangers. And home to Jama, a ten year-old boy. But then his mother dies unexpectedly and he finds himself alone in the world. Jama is forced home to his native Somalia, the land of his nomadic ancestors. War is on the horizon and the Italian forces who control parts of East Africa are preparing for battle. Yet, Jama cannot rest until he discovers whether his father, who has been absent from his life since his birth, is alive.
And so begins an epic story by Booker-Prize nominated author Nadifa Mohamed. Jama travels north through Djibouti, war-torn Eritrea and Sudan to Egypt and from there, aboard a ship transporting Jewish refugees just released from German concentration camps, across the seas to Britain and freedom.
One boy’s long walk to freedom is also the story of how the Second World War affected Africa and its people; a story of displacement, family and hope.
Available to buy at: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/black-mamba-boy/9780007315772
A Q&A session with the author is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZUtHYJl1bc
Synopsis from Shelterbox Book Club email dated 10/11/2021
Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mamba_Boy
Food Means Home – a British Libraries project
Synopsis: For those newly arrived in the UK, adjusting to unfamiliar surroundings and making new connections can feel daunting. Louise Sidibe, Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children Lead for Leeds recognised this, having spent decades working with young people in Leeds. She saw firsthand how the comfort of cooking, eating and sharing food was a reminder of home and could help with this period of change.
With an idea to help comfort others arriving in the UK, a group of talented individuals used their skills and knowledge to recreate some of their favourite dishes. With our support these recipes have been collated into a recipe book called Cooked with Love: World recipes without borders and gifted to foster families. We hope it can show how we can all continue to learn from each other regardless of background, and that our differences can be embraced and celebrated.
Available to download for free at: https://www.bl.uk/projects/food-means-home