LOVE LETTERS TO TANZANIA: This is why Brexit frightens many

What you need to know:

  • Usually, extremists laid low, voicing radical views mainly when protected by police or in groups of equally bigoted radicals. Overnight, posters with anti-immigration slogans appeared, nothing original.

The international media are awash with reports about Britain’s planned exit from the European Union. The issue is too complex to predict the effects on remaining member states, military alliances, trade, and cooperation with African nations.

The credulous, idealistic mind of this columnist is pre-occupied with what economists consider a fringe issue: how the referendum revived xenophobic currents. Did fear mongers, blaming migration for ills of British society, influence some “yes” voters?  Police said hate crimes rose by over 50 per cent in four days - a reminder that some value their pre-eminence in our interconnected world above human rights. They abuse Polish immigrants and tell residents of perceived “foreign” appearance to “go home” – even children, for whom Britain is home.

The EU not only built economic cooperation, but also global citizenship through crisis responses and humanitarian aid. It reduced prejudice and promoted democratic principles. Tens of millions of refugees from outside the Union were accommodated through member states’ collaboration over decades. What now?

As a student, I rented a flat in the shadow of the steelworks in Germany’s industrial heartland. In the dead of the night, you could hear the gigantic operations - flaring furnaces, the screech of metal on metal. Occasionally, the ground shook, presumably when massive beams of steel were dropped. Every eight hours, an army of workers marched out, visibly exhausted from back-breaking shift-work, but pleased to earn a living despite high unemployment - amongst them many from other countries, originally invited by authorities to address labour shortages.

Refugees chose the region, grey and crowded, because it held the hope of work and cheap rent. Underground coal mines and steel works attracted men not fluent in German, but ready to work incredibly hard, any shift of the 24-hour cycle.

The area was multicultural. Dwelling at the bottom of the food chain in a rich nation served as equaliser between Germans and those born elsewhere. I learnt about their heritage, why they left home, and where to socialise and dance outside my cultural peers’ realm.  Boy, did we dance!

Mostly though, it was not romantic. After overnight shifts in the disco where, instead of dancing, I cooked French fries, the revellers went home, I picked up my pay and went to school. Cheap rents also enabled a small, extreme political party to maintain headquarters nearby - extreme enough that citizens wanted it banned, not “unconstitutional” enough for authorities to act. Their xenophobic agenda blamed migrants for all woes, vilifying neighbours who had earned their place in society.

Usually, extremists laid low, voicing radical views mainly when protected by police or in groups of equally bigoted radicals. Overnight, posters with anti-immigration slogans appeared, nothing original. The glue was still wet when we left for or returned from work before dawn, so it was easy to peel off and place propaganda where it belonged: in the bus stop rubbish bin. Why should Eddie from Ghana feel unwelcome, or Fatimah worry about her safety? A friend from Gambia saw the placards mainly as a waste of resources. Indeed. Xenophobes were ineffective, as long as we stood united. However, sometimes brutes succeeded in intimidating and hurting asylum seekers, where citizens ignored hateful “opinions”. 

25 years on, the region scarred by war and with a pulse of steel has matured. Members of Parliament include sons and daughters of Turkish migrants once marginalised. Extremists still march occasionally, albeit outnumbered by ten times as many people in counter-demonstrations. Democracy is alive and citizens unite against divisive forces. But for how much longer?

Isolated hostilities do not justify generalisations about British proponents of Brexit. But hatred, once aroused, can be infectious. Refugees escaping persecution, war or abject poverty are members of our global community. Europeans must not forget their own traumatic World War 2 experiences and how the world opened its doors and helped.

The ultimate aim of Unions is harmonious and just co-existence despite differences. This may require sacrifice. Less emphasis on military strength and more vigilance against those who incite hatred, be it intentional or not, is needed. Unions, regardless of their flaws, are necessary, not just in Europe.

The author is a freelance writer, working in Australia as a program leader in education and expert teacher