This was on telly last night, made for quite interesting viewing. If you get the chance, watch it. The documentary explores the ups and down of immigration, those in favour, those against, racism suffered etc.
It gave a potted history through the prism of the corner shop of UK immigration over past decades. I myself am probably/possibly a product of Indians and Pakistanis coming across in the 60s/70s. However, on watching the documentary, it struck me that these people came in through official routes. The Indians and Pakistanis were invited to come during the 60s/70s due to labour shortages. People of Indian descent were also accepted (under asylum seeker status) due to the Idi Amin instigated expulsion of Asians in the early 70s, as were Iranians after the revolution in the late 70s.
I suppose what I'm driving at is, unless I'm missing something, those fleeing the (real and significant) Idi Amin and Iranian situations came to the UK through formally arranged routes. This thread isn't about whether it was right or wrong to accept these people in, we all hold different views on that, however what can't be argued against is the manner in which they did come in.
For me, this is immigration working as it should. People sneaking in on boats isn't.
BBC Four - Timeshift, Series 16, Booze, Beans and Bhajis: The Story of the Corner Shop
The growing and shifting fortunes of the British corner shop over the past 70 years.
www.bbc.co.uk
It gave a potted history through the prism of the corner shop of UK immigration over past decades. I myself am probably/possibly a product of Indians and Pakistanis coming across in the 60s/70s. However, on watching the documentary, it struck me that these people came in through official routes. The Indians and Pakistanis were invited to come during the 60s/70s due to labour shortages. People of Indian descent were also accepted (under asylum seeker status) due to the Idi Amin instigated expulsion of Asians in the early 70s, as were Iranians after the revolution in the late 70s.
I suppose what I'm driving at is, unless I'm missing something, those fleeing the (real and significant) Idi Amin and Iranian situations came to the UK through formally arranged routes. This thread isn't about whether it was right or wrong to accept these people in, we all hold different views on that, however what can't be argued against is the manner in which they did come in.
For me, this is immigration working as it should. People sneaking in on boats isn't.