Being an immigrant in the UK isn’t all doom and gloom

In response to the article from Friday, the 14th of October, I never knew how hard it was being an immigrant until I put it into words, I would like to propose an alternative view and my own personal take on life as an immigrant in Britain.

Last week’s article spoke about how being an immigrant is never fun and because of Brexit it really sucks right now. However, speaking as an immigrant who immigrated here as a pre-teen, I struggled to understand its point of view.

Unlike the author, it was never my decision to move to the UK. Although it was challenging, I’m happy to say that I’ve had a smooth transition, primarily due to the UK’s hospitable nature. Having made the decision to come to the UK out of one’s own volition, it is unfair to state that one has had to make the UK their home as if one has been forced into the decision. In reality, the author chose to study in a country that he claims to dislike so much.

I personally find Britain to be an extremely accommodating and multicultural country

Although the article talks about the chauvinistic rhetoric and the jingoism that Britain portrays, I personally find Britain to be an extremely accommodating and multicultural country. My father came to this country as a skilled worker and I vehemently disagree that the UK seeks to bar foreign expertise. In addition, the deportation of EU citizens was brought up. This is something that has not be ratified at either table making these statements careless scaremongering. Even if a deal had been reached, it would have to be mutually beneficial.

In the time I’ve been here, I have felt nothing but welcome and have never really experienced discrimination of any form from the British people or system. This is not to say that I haven’t come across bigoted ‘douchebags’ of all nationalities but this, unfortunately, is a part of life as people fall in all parts of the spectrum. Instead, I feel I have been presented with many opportunities that I would not have received elsewhere. The article has generalised the entire population based on a few encounters and thus insulted many who are more than welcoming.

I am not trying to devalue the opinions or personal experiences of the article’s author but I feel the generalisation of the anti-immigrant view of the British people is more few-and-far-between than the article leads people to believe.