odespinner

If you take a taxi in Belfast you’re bound to enter into a conversation with most drivers. One subject that frequently comes up is immigration. The typical opinion is that immigrants have it too easy. Immigrants get preferential access to housing and social services and they don’t work for a living. That’s the typical view, no differentiation between illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees and economic migrants. There may be an element of truth amongst all the prejudice. Asylum seekers probably do get housed and fed quicker than others who may have been on the housing waiting list for years. Illegal immigrants are most likely part of the black economy where they won’t need official documents in support of national insurance and social security. Who would deny refugees a safe refuge? If my family were fleeing from a war-torn country I would be relying on the  kindness of strangers.

But that sort of attitude doesn’t get much support from those looking for scapegoats.