Immigration, Integration and Security in Great Britain

Sunday’s New York Times Magazine has a lengthy article discussing Britain’s efforts to strike a balance between freedom and security in its efforts to confront new domestic “terrorist” threats posed by “radical Islamists.” The article notes divergent approaches taken by the US, France and Britain:

“Britain’s approach — tightening up law enforcement for all its citizens, while trying to ensure that Muslims feel represented in every step of the process — differs from that of both the United States, which has focused on border control and electronic eavesdropping, and France, which relies on infiltration and an aggressive investigative judiciary. But its basic problem in fighting terrorism is the same one that all Western countries face. Britain is trying to clamp down on its Muslim communities and empower them at the same time. Clamp down too hard, and you alienate the people you want to win over. Empower communities indiscriminately, and you give free rein to people it is foolish to trust.”

Concerns about the integration of immigrant groups drive the article. The article describes the British situation thus:

“For many years, Britain has had a well-deserved reputation as the European country that best integrated its new arrivals. For one thing, it had rich immigrants as well as poor. Many Muslims — not just Arabian playboys but also East African businessmen — arrived with some capital, hired their fellow exiles and educated their families. Britain’s tradition of local democratic institutions, like town and city councils, means that anywhere an immigrant population settles, a class of political leaders grows out of it. There are now several Muslims in Parliament and even in the House of Lords. The contrast with France, where 1 in 10 residents are Muslims but there are no Muslims among the 577 deputies in the National Assembly, is stark.

But over the past quarter-century, Britain has seen a dispiriting tendency toward segregation, or resegregation. Young newcomers have not found a niche in the service economy as easily as the arrivals of 40 and 50 years ago did in the industrial one. Others, born in Britain, have cast about for identities other than the British one they were raised with. “

The fear of a failing model of integration fuels related concerns that Britain will be unable to effectively curb the threat of “terrorists” on home territory. While helpful in reminding us that integration is important and dynamic, the article also illustrates the potentially distorting effects of analyzing integration through the lens of security.

Here is the full story.

-jmc