Tuesday 17 July 2018

"The majority of migrants around the world travel and work legally. They are football stars, actors and entrepreneurs"


Nada Tawfik

Talking of BBC pro-mass global immigration reporting, there's an absolute classic on the BBC News website at the moment from BBC New York/UN reporter Nada Tawfik:
In 2016 all members of the United Nations agreed that no one country can manage international migration on its own. Co-operation and a coordinated approach was needed. And now, after six rounds of negotiations, they have come up with this: The Global Contact for Migration. It's not binding, but it's the first time there's a comprehensive agreement that sets out a fairer and more humane approach to the issue. 
Louise Arbour, UN Special Representative for International Migration: If it's well-implemented it's good for everybody. It preserves state sovereignty and their right to decide your migration policies. It will reduce the chaos of irregular dangerous migration. It will increase access to safe legal pathways, for instance to the labour markets that have deficits in human resources and that will need foreign workers.
The majority of migrants around the world travel and work legally. They are football stars, actors and entrepreneurs, and while they make up 3% of the global population they contribute most than 9% to global gross domestic product. But with the rise of nationalism there's been more of a focus on the challenges rather than the benefits.
(Clips of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage juxtaposed with images of children behind bars and migrant vessels in the Mediterranean, accompanied by ominous music)
Amb. Juan José Gómez Camacho, co-facilitator of negotiations: The global migration today is based on believes, is based on perceptions and is based on misinformation, so we need to move it to one that is based on evidence. Once it is based on evidence we all as countries can make all the policy choices that are necessary.
(Image of watchtowers in the US, accompanied by sad music).
The United States pulled out of the vote in the process. The Trump administration said America alone would decide its policy, and Hungary claims the deal encourages migration which threatens their stability and security. Still the UN is taking a victory lap, saying the overwhelming consensus proves that international co-operation on the toughest issues is possible.
The structure of the report, the language used, the choice of images and music and the one-sided selection of talking heads all add up and suggest heavily biased reporting. The remarkable quote used in this post's headline is really quite something though.

4 comments:

  1. I suppose one could break down and weep copious tears. But on balance, it's probably best to laugh.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Football stars! Actors! Entrepreneurs! Welcome!

    [The rest of you stay where you are]

    Sounds like a 'migration policy' that many in the West could live with!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol...but they all claim to be would-be football starts, actors and entrepreneurs and people like Jenny Hill believe them.

      Delete
  3. The video showed migrants as black and brown- clearly showing their racist bias. And to add to the racial stereotype, she mentions FOOTBALL.

    ReplyDelete

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