The Government has used people seeking asylum and refugees as scapegoats for their own failures ever since immigration became a political debate, but this tactic has been exacerbated throughout the pandemic. From exploiting the country’s economic fears by suggesting that the country’s shortfalls are due to those seeking asylum, to using Covid-19 as an excuse to backtrack on promises made for refugees, the Government has failed to support some of the most vulnerable people in the world.
The late French theorist of mythology René Girard describes a scapegoat as an individual or group that serves “to polarise the community’s aggressive impulses and redirect them toward victims that may be actual or figurative, animate, or inanimate” – the British Government clearly fulfils this definition.
The taxpayer’s money rhetoric
Home Secretary Priti Patel, Minister for Immigration Compliance Chris Philp, and MP Nadhim Zahawi, have all used people seeking asylum and refugees “to polarise the community’s aggressive impulses” by claiming that this vulnerable group of people are draining ‘the taxpayer’s’ money.
A statement on the shocking scenes at Napier barracks. pic.twitter.com/OUqPNydlyh
— Priti Patel (@pritipatel) January 29, 2021
The excuse has regularly been employed by the Napier Barracks which have been used as accommodation for men seeking asylum: at the height of the pandemic, 400 men were housed there. It is widely accepted that immigration is more feared during an economic crisis and the pandemic has worsened many economic fears. The Governments’ claims that people seeking asylum and refugees are draining the ‘taxpayer’s money is a clear example of these scapegoating tactics.
“At a time when the country is in great economic crisis due to the pandemic, the taxpayer rhetoric plays on the public’s fears.”
The Government’s amplification of people seeking asylum as exacerbating economic fears diverts the public’s attention away from their own poor choices. Clearsprings Ready Homes – the management company of the Napier Barracks and other accommodation for those seeking asylum – were paid £68.7 million for their work in 2020. Clearsprings have repeatedly abused their contracts yet the Government continues to pay them obscene amounts of money.
The ‘taxpayer’s money’ then, is being used to pay for the company’s profits. The Government has scapegoated the people seeking asylum for using the taxpayer’s money, consequently deflecting blame away from their own poor choices. The taxpayer is an anonymous figure who simultaneously represents an honest British citizen – they are the personification of the reward for people’s hard work.
The Home Office has forced the ‘us vs. them’ mentality with the ‘honest taxpayer’ forming the best of the ‘us’ and the figure that the ‘us’ must protect. Of course, the ‘them’ are the people who have escaped unimaginable horrors and are seeking refuge in the UK. At a time when the country is in great economic crisis, the taxpayer rhetoric plays on the public’s fears. Crucially, it will dramatically increase anti-immigration sentiment for some people.
Refugees: The victims of the Government’s policies
People seeking asylum and refugees are actually some of the ‘victims’ of a government that treats people seeking asylum inhumanely and uses Covid-19 to renege on promises for refugees. Girard explained that the victims are often the ones who are scapegoated and refugees and people seeking asylum are no exception.
“Covid-19 was temporarily ‘solved’ for holidaymakers but remained a problem for people who desperately required a safe place to live.”
In March 2020, the Home Office used coronavirus to halt their refugee relocation scheme for 8 months until November. This meant that refugees who had been promised sanctuary in the UK were left stranded. Campaigners justifiably criticised the government for prioritising holiday travel over refugees as they worked to satisfy holidaymakers but failed to allow to allow some of the most vulnerable people in the world safety in the UK. Covid-19 was temporarily ‘solved’ for holidaymakers but remained a problem for people who desperately required a safe place to live.
An excuse to alienate people seeking asylum
Covid-19 was also used to alienate people seeking asylum from the instructions and provisions for the rest of the country. Chris Philp claimed that some of the men in the Napier Barracks seeking asylum were “refusing to self-isolate.” But self-isolation was impossible for people who were forced to share a room with 14 other men. Again, the Home Office tapped into some of the key fears and frustrations of the pandemic to further cast the men seeking asylum apart from the country’s values.
All of the Government’s claims against people seeking asylum and refugees overlook that these people could help alleviate the work shortages in the UK immediately. Some of these people were health workers in their home countries and could be integrated into working for the NHS against Covid-19. Yet the Government has ignored this potential and continues to cast them as outsiders scapegoated for the country’s fears.
Immigration is no longer the country’s main focus but the Government seems intent on reinforcing this focus as a way to divert attention away from their own failures. The Government must stop blaming some of the most vulnerable people in the world for the country’s problems. They must take responsibility for their own actions and behave in a more morally palatable way. The Government must accommodate those seeking asylum more fairly and fulfil their promises to refugees by providing sanctuary in the UK.
Lauren Powdrell
Featured image courtesy of Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.
