OPINION: Why we must confront the rhetoric driving this anti-refugee trend
As British Jews we understand the global importance of supporting displaced people, writes Rabbi David Mason
An incoming President who promotes the ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory and has a history of playing into antisemitic tropes. A campaign where he referred to refugees – a protection status introduced after the horrors of the Holocaust – as an “invasion” and “infestation”. It’s evident that Donald Trump’s victory last week should raise concern for Jewish communities on both sides of the Atlantic.
Here in the UK, I’m proud to lead an organisation partnered with the US-based international refugee protection agency HIAS. Initially formed in the late 19th century to help Jews fleeing persecution and poverty in eastern Europe, HIAS now helps refugees all around the world, led by Jewish values and history. With Trump promising to close the US border, and threatening to deport millions of people, their work has never been more urgent.
From across the pond, it might be tempting to ask – why should Trump’s policies on refuge and asylum concern us? But as British Jews, we understand the global importance of supporting displaced people. Many of our parents and grandparents received sanctuary in this country, but not always welcome. We fear that a Trump administration will offer refugees nothing but hostility.
This appointment of Stephen Millar this week – who was instrumental in the policy that separated 5,000 migrant children from their parents, during the first Trump administration – sets a troubling tone.
Trump’s pledges aren’t just an isolated issue: they are part of a worrying global trend. At a time of record displacement, refugee rights are perhaps needed now more than ever before. But across Europe, populist and far-right governments have been abdicating their responsibilities, and rolling back protections. Many will feel further empowered by a Trump administration. And while the new UK government has rightly scrapped the Rwanda plan, we need to ensure that they can hold strong against populist pressure to back a deterrence-only approach.
There are strong connections between UK political figures and the rise of the far-right in the United States. With politicians like Nigel Farage having consistently backed Trump’s hostile refugee policies, there’s a risk that such sentiment further influences British politics. As Trump himself has acknowledged, “what he (Farage) is doing is sort of what we did a few years ago.”
We must also confront the rhetoric driving this anti-refugee trend. In the US, Trump has referred to immigrants as “poisoning the blood of our country” – language reminiscent of the 1930s. This rhetoric has consequences. In Trump’s first term, antisemitism and hate crimes rose, with extremists empowered.
We saw the impact that such inflammatory rhetoric has in England and Northern Ireland this summer: when we see racist narratives utilised by politicians, we need to call it out. And just as we refuse to tolerate antisemitism in wider society, we have to stamp out any racist or Islamophobic language within our own community.
So, in this troubling time, what are the answers?
As a community, we must continue to draw on our values and experience to show solidarity and compassion with displaced people. And we need positive stories about refuge and asylum to be amplified – both by the press, and the Government.
Providing welcome must remain something we are proud of. This has to be matched by reforming our asylum system, so refugees have a fair chance to integrate and rebuild. At HIAS+JCORE, we see every day what displaced people can do, if they are given the opportunity – just like our community did after arriving, often as refugees, in the 19th and 20th centuries.
There’s no doubt that this is a difficult and unsettling time. But as Mark Hetfield, HIAS’ President, reminds us: “We’ve been through this before. Together. And we got through it, staying true to our values.”
- Rabbi David Mason, executive director, HIAS+JCORE
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