Jungle highlights need for proper immigration debate

Yesterday (Tuesday, 23 September) on Channel 4 News, a UN spokesman compared the clearing of the French ‘jungle’ migrant camp to Darfur, saying that the situation needed to be put in perspective. While it’s true that the massive displacement and humanitarian catastrophe in southern Sudan doesn’t attract nearly as many headlines, the 'jungle’ site needs to be considered on its own unique merits.

Illegal immigration isn’t just France’s problem but Europe’s and if any country should be at the forefront of developing the continent’s response to migration it’s Britain. Migrants from Afghanistan are hardly risking their lives to enter the UK solely for economic reasons (and even if they were what would be so wrong in that?). Had the coalition not gone to war on their homeland, creating exceptional circumstances, they wouldn’t be on our doorstep today. What they are fleeing from is far worse than what they are running to thanks, in part, to our intervention.

While I fundamentally believe in the free and unrestricted movement of people, in the real world in which we live today, this isn’t practical. But images of rickety boats filled with human cargo, trafficked Africans, tantamount to slave ships, are shocking and disturbing and tell of the sheer desperation of human beings.

Splashes like The Daily Express’ front page (‘Keep Out, Britain’s Full’) play to the alarmists and stifle any rational debate on immigration policy. It turns people on either side of the spectrum in to extremists and reduces the discussion to simple terms. Migration is a complex issue and as long as we allow agenda-driven media like The Express and The Mail to frame the debate, we’ll be confined to narrow, biased bantering when what is required is a thorough national discussion.