A display of compassion on a scale unmatched in British history took place 100 years ago this year, when Britain opened its doors to a quarter of a million refugees from Belgium fleeing the German advance at the start of the first world war.
A poll for Refugee Week, which this week (16-22 June) celebrates the contribution that refugees have made to Britain over the years, found the public startlingly unaware of this. Only one person among the 2,000 polled by YouGov correctly identified the movement of Belgian refugees in 1914 as the biggest single refugee flow from one country in our nation’s history.
Others chose Jews fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe on the Kinderstransport, Ugandan Asians finding sanctuary from Idi Amin in the 1970s or people fleeing conflict in Iraq or the former Yugoslavia. The list serves as a reminder that Britain has opened its doors to those fleeing war and persecution throughout our history, each new intake of refugees enriching our culture and contributing to our economy.
As we debate what is meant by ‘British Values’ and whether they should be taught in schools, we can feel confident that for most people in Britain these values include offering a place of safety for people fleeing persecution. Our need to stand up for the underdog, it seems, goes further than simply cheering for the losing side (including, alas, our own) at sporting events.
Pride in Britain’s tradition of protecting refugees remains strong throughout the population, with nearly seven in 10 (68 per cent) saying that Britain should be proud of our nation’s history of offering protection to refugees. Just 15 per cent disagree. This cuts across mainstream politics with Labour, Liberal Democrat and Tory supporters all expressing pride in refugee protection in near-equal measures. Leaders of these three main parties have all voiced their support for Refugee Week this week.
Many of those seeking refuge in Britain are fleeing countries where basic rights, taken for granted in the United Kingdom, are not respected. They seek safety in Britain precisely because those rights are respected here: they are the ‘British values’ that we hold dear. Most people in Britain, if asked, would have a pretty clear idea of what those values are: respect for free speech even if you do not like what is being said; tolerance of others’ beliefs; democracy and the rule of law.
The history of migration to Britain is full of examples of people fleeing persecution and finding a place of safety, going right back to the Huguenots. Our value of tolerance has protected people once they have settled here. It would be naïve to say there has never been conflict – a prejudiced few have always sought to blame new arrivals for one social problem or another – but the majority view has been to reject prejudice.
That migrant history has also been one of integration. Over the course of that history we have worked out what is required and what is not. Respect for the law, the ability to speak English, and the desire to contribute positively to society are seen as pretty self-evident common-sense foundations.
Minorities in Britain have been protected by our value of religious tolerance and distaste for prejudice; they have also been expected to adopt those values themselves. We can, and should, be intolerant of intolerance. Teaching this basic British value in schools is part of their role of preparing children for life in the adult world.
Throughout our history we have accepted new arrivals into our communities. Most of those Belgians who arrived in Britain 100 years ago went home after the war but many other refugees have stayed here and made their lives in Britain. They have enriched our culture while integrating and adopting our values. That this has worked has been a result of successful integration: welcoming people to the club provided they agree to play by its rules.
It may be that this value of ‘fair play’, from the country that wrote the rulebook for so many major sports, is what underpins our tradition of refugee protection. It demands of us that we offer protection to those who have been treated unfairly. And it demands of those who come here that they too play by those same rules – in by doing so, promotes the integration that has, by and large, secured popular support for welcoming those most in need to our shores.
———————————
Steve Ballinger is director of communications at British Future. He tweets @SteveBallinger