It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to
Lef Apostolakis responds to Aayush’s response (left)
During this conversation we have touched upon two topics, each with its own complexities, each in need of far more discussion than allowed in a couple of pages. One is the difficulties associated with immigration, the other one is the tensions that Brexit has intensified.
Starting with immigration: it is a difficult process. Whether voluntary or not, it involves abandoning a life and building a new one someplace else. Of course it’s not all bad, or bad at all for many migrants, yet it remains difficult. But since I’ve left home I realised I’ll never be happy in any one place ever again. There will always be something missing, whether that’s the Greek food and hospitality, or the English efficiency and organisation. And then there’s also those things I don’t think I could ever go back to.
So yes, we migrate “out of our own volition”. So what? Does making this decision disqualify us from ever discussing it again? Should we just shut up and keep our chin up in fear of being called ungrateful? I think not. No one knows the choices we’ve had to make. You make it sound like we came to your home uninvited, ate your food and spat it out with disdain. But in reality we came to an overpriced, overhyped restaurant. I came to study in the UK but let’s not fool ourselves, everything I got from this country, education included, I either earned or paid for.
It’s not bad, or bad at all for many migrants, yet it remains difficult
Now regardless of our contrasting feelings on immigration, one thing is undeniable, the climate in the UK has definitely changed post-Brexit. During the two weeks before and after the referendum, reported hate crimes increased by 41% according to figures released by the Home Office. The government keeps attacking foreign doctors, students and even taxi drivers: particularly when it comes down to Europeans in the UK – immigrants with a particularly privileged status in this county. Although no one has straight-up said that there will be deportations, the absence of guarantees is stressful. I, for one, do not appreciate my livelihood being dangled like a carrot in front of the EU.
The point I was trying to make was that emigration is not easy. It takes a toll on you. It’s usually the better option and can in fact be pleasant and lead to a fulfilling life (it often does, which is why we’ve been doing it since prehistory). But that doesn’t ever make it an easy process, and Brexit really hasn’t helped
