Channel 4’s new refugee reality series should never have been made

As I watched the archetypal occurrence of Channel 4’s caller bid Go Back To Where You Came From I couldn’t assistance but despair astatine however acold the UK has fallen. 

Go Back To Where You Came From is based connected a palmy three-season Australian amusement which primitively aired successful 2011.

This caller mentation sees six ‘opinionated’ Brits with varying views connected immigration acquisition the travel galore asylum seekers instrumentality to the UK and has been slammed arsenic ‘Place successful the Sun’ meets ‘Benefits Street’.

It promises an ‘unflinching look astatine the information of immigration’ and a ‘bold and timely’ introduction into the ongoing alarmist and progressively toxic statement astir migration successful the UK that has thrown the astir susceptible successful our nine nether the bus. 

When I archetypal heard astir the bid conception I instantly felt uneasy. The thought that the wide nationalist needs to spot white, born-and-bred Brits who speech and look similar them look the trauma that hundreds and thousands of radical endure each time to muster a semblance of empathy is… bleak to accidental the least.

My thoughts were echoed by respective online.

As enactment by Amnesty International, the amusement is ‘deeply disappointing’ and they rightly telephone it ‘sensational’ TV. 

Steve Smith, main enforcement of Care4Calais, echoed: ‘You can’t mimic the acquisition of war, torture, persecution and modern slavery done the sanitised lens of world TV.’

It begs the question – are Brits lone susceptible of having their minds changed done a challenge-style world show?

The amusement introduces our radical of six, divided into threes. 

In radical one, we person British Pakistani Muslim Bushra alongside Dave and Chloe (with the second 2 being migration sceptics) arriving successful the Syrian metropolis of Raqqa.

Group 2 has a akin set-up with pro-refugee dependable Mathilda journeying crossed Mogadishu successful Somalia with Nathan and Jess, who bash not consciousness the aforesaid way.

What follows is the accustomed eye-rolling trauma porn – a Western radical of travellers poking, prodding and gawping astatine the section people, successful daze astatine their circumstances and astatine the acceptable with their accustomed quips similar calling Mogadishu a ‘s**thole that f**king stinks’.

What we spot of the cities is reminiscent of to the quality erstwhile reporters are sent unrecorded connected determination to war-torn areas wherever struggle has erupted. 

For me, the astir glaring omission was the deficiency of discourse provided to the formed of the amusement oregon viewers astir Britain’s historical engagement successful these regions.

The RAF has been straight progressive successful airstrikes successful Syria and the UK is an arms supplier to Saudi Arabia, which has a nonstop engagement successful the devastation successful places similar Yemen (another spot which produces millions of refugees).

Does the UK’s involvement, for amended oregon for worse, not warrant immoderate work for the civilians impacted? It’s not a question instantly posed during the archetypal episode.  

I felt astir uncomfortable watching Bushra, a Pakistani Muslim similar myself, thrown into the amusement arsenic a balanced dependable and forced to perceive to Islamophobic tirades from her chap Brits who person conflated respective issues to marque anyone who doesn’t look similar them the enemy. 

At 1 constituent Dave tells Bushra: ‘Where I’m from, I bash accidental things sometimes similar “oh that person’s a Muzzo”, that’s conscionable however we talk’ and erstwhile pushed backmost connected it helium reiterates ‘it’s lone a joke, this is the problem, successful Britain, we utilized to beryllium capable to accidental what we wanted.’

At another, Chloe warns that with unchecked migration ‘Britain volition beryllium a hellhole afloat of radical wearing burqas. Islam volition person taken over’ unbothered by the thought of being called ‘racist’.

For anyone tuned into the governmental ambiance implicit the past decade, it is wide to spot however we got here. We person Nigel Farage lasting successful beforehand of billboards of refugees, and utilizing dehumanising connection similar ‘swarm’.

Just past twelvemonth helium was seen arsenic ‘stoking’ the UK riots, provoked by the tragic murders successful Southport, by claiming the ‘truth’ of the perpetrator’s individuality was being withheld amid a flurry of conspiracy theories implicit them being Muslim oregon an asylum seeker.

Shows like I’m A Celebrity platformmed him. At the time, determination was pushback from the different jungle contestants astatine immoderate of his views, which intelligibly did thing to determination the public, who not lone voted him a runner-up but past made him MP. 

I can’t spot however this amusement offers thing antithetic speech from indulging successful the exploitation of refugees and feeding into the communicative that everyone indispensable beryllium their traumatic backstory to springiness their beingness immoderate benignant of value. 

In the archetypal episode, we conscionable 1 pistillate who discusses her forced matrimony and hard experiences, which animate a fewer moments of self-reflection from our onlookers. Bravo. 

But clip and clip again the amusement offers a acceptable level for radical to happily spew their racist views – reiterating their stance that refugees could beryllium ‘rapists and paedophiles’ and that we’re going to go a backwards Islamic authorities successful the adjacent fewer years (to sanction a few).

Hearing the tirades deed adjacent to home, arsenic I americium definite volition beryllium the lawsuit for galore Muslims who are already acquainted with the derogatory connection flung our way. We don’t request a TV show, oregon a surrogate similar Bushra, to punctual america of the insults and precise existent threats we’ve faced for years portion going astir our day-to-day life. 

It is precise uncommon that immoderate benignant of rebuttal oregon reasoning I person tried to connection my attackers successful the past has really changed their minds oregon made them halt and think. 

So it’s hard to recognize who this amusement is for, and adjacent much troubling to wrapper my caput astir wherefore it is necessary. 

Those already connected the broadside of asylum seekers and refugees volition not larn thing new.

And portion determination whitethorn beryllium a fistful of intolerant radical whose eyes whitethorn beryllium opened, the information this benignant of programme is needed to advocator this connection is horrible and perpetuates the thought that our media needs to pander to them.

The occasionally poignant moments successful the occurrence are not capable to insubstantial implicit the information that this is dystopian TV astatine its finest – and a wake-up telephone that this state has crossed the Rubicon erstwhile it comes to intolerance.

There are a fistful of different films, shows and documentaries that connection an penetration into the beingness of refugees which look little trivialising. Amnesty International has a database of almighty abbreviated documentaries.

There’s Netflix’s The Swimmers astir 2 Syrian refugees who swam the Mediterranean oregon movies similar For Sama which is disposable connected Channel 4.

As for GBTWYCF, possibly our 4 naysayers volition beryllium genuinely moved to alteration their views by the end.

But if cosplaying a perilous vessel travel to UK shores connected camera is the lengths that they person to spell to then, frankly, I don’t attraction astir the self-actualisation of 4 radical who initially look blessed for my household and assemblage to beryllium driven retired of the state and radical astir the satellite to endure due to the fact that of their ill-conceived prejudices.

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