Over recent weeks, we have watched with growing concern reports of anti-migrant protests, intimidation and attacks across the UK, including here in Scotland. While the latest events have attracted widespread attention, they are not isolated. For months, we have seen demonstrations targeting hotels housing people seeking asylum, alongside a steady normalisation of hostility towards migrants in public discourse.
At Citizens Rights Project, we know these events are not isolated. They are the result of narratives that have been allowed to take root over time.
In May, at our Europe Day Conference, we reflected on the theme From Migration Narratives to Lived Realities. Throughout the day, we explored how the language used to speak about migration shapes the everyday experiences of migrants and the societies we all share.
Words matter.
Too often, migrants are expected to justify their place in society by demonstrating what they contribute. The reality is that migrants make enormous contributions to the UK’s economy, public services, culture and communities every single day. But that is not why they deserve respect. A person’s dignity and human rights should never depend on their economic value or any measure of contribution.
When migrants are constantly discussed as numbers rather than people, when their worth is measured only in terms of economic contribution, when policies are designed without considering the realities of people’s lives, and when public debate reduces human beings to problems to be solved or controlled, it becomes easier to forget our shared humanity.
And when dehumanising narratives become normalised, they pave the way for emboldening some people to turn words into acts of intimidation, hatred and violence in our streets.
Migration is part of the human experience. People move for many reasons: for love, for work, for education, for family, for safety, for opportunity, or simply because they want to build a life somewhere else. Human mobility is neither new nor exceptional. It is something that has shaped societies throughout history, including our own.
The answer to division cannot be more division.
We reject attempts to pit communities against one another or to treat some people’s dignity as conditional. Human rights, safety, and belonging should never depend on nationality, race, religion, or immigration status.
At times like these, we are reminded why our work goes beyond providing advice and support. It is also about defending the principle that migrants are not abstract concepts, statistics, or political talking points. They are people.
And people deserve to be treated with dignity, respect, and humanity.
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