Brexit & Bregret a “Foreigner’s Perspective”
Right now, as a foreigner, my immediate reaction as whilst writing this is… why bother writing your opinion, because nobody cares. And I assume that this is how many other so called foreigners/ immigrants/ ex-pats feel in Britain today. That they are not welcome and don’t matter.
I am deeply disturbed how something like Brexit could have such a dramatic and immediate effect, that displays of hatred towards migrants have become both common and acceptable overnight. Even though I know (hope) that this opinion isn’t shared by the majority, the conscious awareness makes living in Britain uncomfortable for an ex-pat and something I would never have dreamt of being true in Britain, which in my opinion is core strength for this country.
Although my family is British and run back in England as far as you could trace ancestry, I am South African born. Since Thursday I too have been exposed two separate incidents of hate because I am a “foreigner” and that I “should go back to my country”. The first was the most hateful from a group of youths, but it didn’t affect me as much as what happened yesterday morning whilst shopping. I have a four year old daughter born in England. In the supermarket, she was excited that she got a new puzzle , she leaped with joy and said to a lady in the aisle, “look what my daddy got me – a new puzzle!”. The lady very calmly said to her, “Well I’m sure you will have lots of fun building that back in your own country!”, looking up at me.
I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it. The generalisation we’ve seen in the media is that most of those voting leave leans toward lower-class, but I should point out that this was clearly a well-off and educated women. Her comment wasn’t something like the hateful rhetoric that you’d expect which is often seen displayed by Britain First, her comment was calm and collected... and it cut through me like sword.
I understand the fears of the British when it comes to migration and respect that. However the path that’s being dictated now, even if it is by a minority, is influencing general culture and setting up a very ugly and disturbing landscape for the future of Britain.
I know still some of you reading would this say, if you don’t want to be here or feel uncomfortable… go! Well, many of you would also know that the first employees to leave a struggling company, are the best ones. Your best migrants aren’t here just for the money and what is happening now, will most likely scare away those who are truly contributing, that are highly skilled … and can easily find an alternatives to the UK … and what you will be left with, is exactly that you feared most.
Unfortunately, I will be one of those migrants leaving the UK – not because of what I just wrote, because I truly and deeply hope that the positive British values I once experience would prevail. My reasons for leaving are purely economical, and although I could try and slug it out, the business I setup would simply not prevail outside of the EU thus I will be moving my business and 20 jobs to the Netherlands, fortunately four of my British staff has agreed to relocate with me. I still feel passionate about this country and the decision was a truly difficult and heart-breaking one to make.
And with regards to migrants, maybe Steward Lee (the 41s best standup ever) said it best:
I do still dream however, that by some miracle, we won’t trigger Article 50 and remain in the UK and that all of us reflect to understand what the true reasons for this national divide really is, and find a positive way to console them.