varnam

There was a program on NPR few weeks back saying that some British are moving out of the country and living as immigrants in other countries as they are fed up with many things. One of the problems cited by them was the influx of immigrants.

Now a recent Economist poll in which 74% of the people said that too many immigrants are coming to Britain. The most important problem cited was that immigrants put too much pressure on public services.

Most damaging for Britain's enlightened self-image, the nation has risen to the top of the European xenophobes' league. A Eurobarometer poll earlier this year found that 41% saw immigration as one of the two biggest problems faced by the nation�??16 points more than in any other European country. Forget unemployment, terrorism or crime: the real threat comes from the man with the battered suitcase.

Hostility to those who do not come openly to work is not new. Even in 2000, before the asylum panic, just 12% believed that genuine refugees should be accepted unreservedly�??the lowest number in Europe. But Britons are more blasé than other Europeans about the effect of immigration on national harmony. Of those who reckon there are too many, only a quarter worry about racial balance. �??Britain has become a multicultural society; it just doesn't want any more people to come in,�?� says John Solomos, who follows the subject at City University in London.

What seems to have happened over the past few years is that immigration has become associated with refugees and illegal entrants rather than with migrant workers. That is not surprising, given the rise in asylum claimants that began in the late 1990s. Numbers are down, but it does not matter: perceptions have shifted. [Out with the new (subscription reqd)]

Accompanying the article was a graph depicting the most despised immigrants. Iraqis lead the list followed by Pakistanis. This was followed by Romanians, Black Africans, West Indians, Poles and to my surprise Australians whereas Indians do not feature at all.