Has Brexit changed the notion of "What it means to be a foreigner?"

[Giugiaro]

What it means to be a foreigner?

Just wanted to recap on a thread I created back in May 2012 about the notion of being a foreigner and if someone from abroad could adapt oneself to be more like a local, thus being accepted as one by the local society, or if a visitor/outside connection could be regarded more as a companion and less as an outsider depending on a set of acquired characteristics.

Things have changed plenty since 2012, and with just a few weeks before the UK is set to leave the EU I was curious to read the discussion again and decided to bring it up again to the current scope.

I've since travelled four times to the UK and have visited both Alsace, Spain and the city of Berlin. Overall my experience with the locals has only had friction with the French in Colmar (which understood German better than foreigner's French) and the Spanish in Madrid (those guys are the moodiest lads I ever knew and look like they're constantly thinking of spitting in your plate!).

Last year I didn't feel any animosity for being an outsider visiting the country, both in Berlin and in London, though capitals aren't exactly the places where you would feel the most pressure from locals towards foreigners. But I did feel some uneasiness from the people I talked to when I told my next visit to MCM London Comic Con would depend on how Brexit would eventually go in March.

But back in 2016, I had one of the worst experiences with outside entities when in the aftermath of the EU Referendum the School of Arts and Media unilaterally cancelled my Erasmus contract with the University of Salford without much of an explanation. I tried to contact them given it was too late to change to another institution but all I got was radio silence. I still kept receiving e-mails from the University in preparation for my arrival, but when I confronted them with the message from the School of Arts all I got was confusion and more silence. Thus losing the only opportunity I had to study abroad...

From your experience, do you think the notion of being a foreigner has shifted in the past years? Has Brexit raised the bar, completely removed it or just created a more defined division between nationals over their attitude towards foreigners?

What about elsewhere, both inside and outside the EU?

 

[TheSeeker]

I'm from the UK but have been living in Belgium for twenty years. When I first left in 1998 it was an exciting time and continental Europe seemed the place to be. At the time it felt like everyone I met was on an Erasmus exchange or seconded away from home for work. Being from the UK or Ireland was seen as cool and interesting, the culture, the music, the energy, the attitude.

Over time my feeling of what counts as "home" has slowly shifted from Wales to Belgium. A by-product of becoming older I suppose. It's quite good fun to point out to colleagues here who complain about migrants that I'm an economic migrant.

In a strange way it's the UK that now appears to me as a foreign country. So much has changed in the time since I left. I find many things so baffling. In fact the best guide to my own country is a German comedian called Henning Wehn. He seems to be able to explain all these changes with a foreigners eye which is now so like my own.

Brexit was the tipping point. I became Belgian in 2017. Looking at the political situation and the raw aggression that has come out of the woodwork, I'm not sure I would ever think about going back now. It's also made being British something of a joke. When people hear my accent in French I keep having to try and explain it all to my dentist, doctor, colleagues, friends and really have no idea what to say.

 

[Groningen]

With Brexit some Brits take nationalism to a new level. Also some Dutch nationals do not feel at home anymore in the UK. Just Google: Luyendijk hate England.

 

[si404]

With Brexit some Brits take nationalism to a new level.

Indeed, those blue-and-yellow flag-waving nutters are on a level beyond - that hardcore EUnationalism certainly didn't exist openly until the result came in. And these hardcore EUnationalists want us to continue favouring Europeans in our migration policy, and scapegoating Asians, Africans, Americans and Australians for the unpopularity of, not EU migrants themselves as individuals, but the opening of the floodgates with no means to control it.

We not only remain one of the top European countries for our positive and welcoming national attitude to migration, but have increased it now we're getting rid of our awful implementation of free movement of people (that the EU wouldn't let us change to the sorts seen elsewhere in the EU - Cameron asked, and was refused). It doesn't help that Remain-supporters continue to spin Brexit as a nativistic uprising (tell Leave-voters why they voted), and the still-preferential treatment of EU migrants as humiliating (imagine how those people who've been treated as 2nd-class migrants who are less welcome than, and as scapegoats for, white Europeans must feel...) - they rightly want foreigners to feel welcome, but if you keep saying "loads of people don't like you and our government will treat you horribly" despite that not being that true on either count (sure, we could do better on both counts), it's unlikely they will feel welcome!

 

[HH]

A senior colleague was asking about nationalities in our office yesterday, because he wanted to say something about our multi-nationalism in an article. It was rapidly evident that none of us had a clue what official passport everyone else has - we know we have people from around the world, but many have multiple nationalities and even when you know where someone grew up it doesn't always mean that that indicates their official nationality.

Anyway, I was rather heartened by this fact. In my opinion it's how it should be - nationality should not matter; it's all about the individual.

However, I do not pretend that we are in any way typical.

 

[TheSeeker]

but the opening of the floodgates with no means to control it.

Never understood this argument. The UK already has the means to control EU immigration but chooses not to enforce it. Try moving to the Netherlands or Belgium as an EU citizen without a work contract, proof of study or proof that you can support yourself. Without registering at the town hall with any of those things you will be asked to leave or be deported after 90 days.

The UK could do the same but for some strange reason refuses to.

 

[TheSeeker]

Anyway, I was rather heartened by this fact. In my opinion it's how it should be - nationality should not matter; it's all about the individual.

Totally agree. I represented Wales in a diversity event at my office in Antwerp two years ago. It was quite amazing to see so many different nationalities. India was by far the most popular stand as they had cooked some great food. I was lucky to get a lot of freebie promo stuff via the Welsh representation to the EU in Brussels. Belgians were very surprised to try Welsh beer

 

[HH]

Never understood this argument.

That's because it isn't an argument. It's an article of faith. Belief does not require any application of logic and cannot be swayed by it.

 

[Giugiaro]

I also couldn't understand very well immigration and visiting policies in the UK. I always had to go through border checks when leaving or arriving in Portugal for the UK, as if going to the United States, Brazil or Turkey, but the UK only enforces checks when entering the country!?

I do understand the differentiation that exists at airports between EU nationals and non-EU nationals, having Passport checks done separately for each case unless something goes wrong with the EU Passport. Going in without an EU Passport meant going immediately through the international border check, which is a pain to go through...

I have the feeling that after the 29th of March I'll also be obliged to go through customs and visa checks both ways...

 

[NSEFAN]

The UK could do the same but for some strange reason refuses to.

Because for that to work properly, it requires people to be able to prove who they are (i.e. National ID system). But this is, apparently, the mark of an oppressive authoritarian regime.