University of Glasgow researcher Christopher McMillan says racist attacks are increasing in EU countries and the SNP and Scotland should show leadership in the fight against it
THE UK’s membership of the EU is in a precarious position. It wasn’t supposed to be, this was supposed to be a slam-dunk, but did anyone ever really think that? David Cameron apparently did, given that he initiated the referendum and staked his reputation, job and party’s credibility on his ability to convince us to Remain.
But what a crushing, car crash of a 'debate' this has been. Forget for a moment the entertaining blue on blue masochism, and remember that these Etonian buffoons 'run' the country. Enter a Tory PM and chancellor who want to Remain but whose party wants to Leave; a Labour party that wants to Remain with the aim of reforming an institution that refuses to reform, even when faced with the exit of a key member.
Add to this a Labour mayor of London who prefers to share a platform with a Tory than with his party leader. Meanwhile, Cameron, like a shit Nick Fury, is forced to assemble a bunch of super zeroes from New Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens to save us from the imminent economic 'bomb' should more than half the country express their democratic right and vote Leave.
For the meantime, the SNP broods in its fortress of solitude at Holyrood, unwilling and unable to support the same hyperbolic rhetoric and histrionic claims that it believes cost it and Scotland independence.
For the meantime, the SNP broods in its fortress of solitude at Holyrood, unwilling and unable to support the same hyperbolic rhetoric and histrionic claims that it believes cost it and Scotland independence.
But while our party leaders spew sound bites – and the SNP just spew – in towns and cities across the EU, so-called 'vigilante' attacks on migrants and refugees have increased dramatically over the last few months. The Bulgarian Government has been accused of turning a blind eye to its 'migrant hunters' whose idea of civic duty involves binding the hands of their captives and subjecting them to racist abuse on camera.
In the Nordic countries of Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, a far right anti-immigrant group calling itself 'Sons of Odin' invokes the Norse god and undertakes 'migrant patrols'. In central European countries such as Hungary, volunteer militia patrol the country’s newly erected border fences, while in Germany the Cologne sex attacks fuelled a rise in 'hunters' and attacks on refugees.
Paris, too, witnessed a street battle between vigilantes and migrants after the former attacked their camp. The most recent publicised incident occurred in Saxony and involved a 21 year-old Iraqi, a mentally ill patient who was 'restrained' (i.e. repeatedly punched) by a 'self-defence' group who tied him to a tree until the police came.
The vigilantes, who see themselves as participants in a civic cause, choose not to wait. Merriam-Webster defines a vigilante as a member of a volunteer group that seeks to apprehend and punish criminals when the law is deemed ineffective. This term, applied often by a timid and somnolent mainstream media, is clearly inappropriate.
But while our party leaders spew sound bites – and the SNP just spew – in towns and cities across the EU, so-called 'vigilante' attacks on migrants and refugees have increased dramatically over the last few months.
These 'migrant hunters' are racists and their attacks hate crimes, and therefore against international law. What with terrorist attacks, chronic youth unemployment in Iberia, an impending debt crisis in Greece, and bodies washing up on Europe’s shores daily, the EU admittedly has its hands full and has apparently little time or intent to bilaterally condemn this developing racist ideology.
No EU country has shown leadership on this alarming crisis, but the opportunity is there for someone to take responsibility and call attention to the rise of racism within a union the UK is currently a member of.
Humza Yousaf claims that the SNP "wants to play a full role in moving Europe forward"; apparently it’s just not that keen on playing a full role in safeguarding the UK’s continuing membership in order to do so.
For several years the SNP has promoted itself as a force for progressive politics in the UK, which it doesn’t wish to be part of; why, then, hasn’t it proposed a progressive programme for the EU, which it does want to be part of?
The SNP has wasted an opportunity to be the guiding force it pledged to be when it became the third biggest party in Westminster, the 'unofficial opposition'. According to Yousaf: "With the SNP as the government in Scotland and a bigger force than ever at Westminster, there’s never been a better time to make our voice heard in this process."
But instead of promoting its vision of Europe – which the party admits 'is not perfect' – SNP MPs and MSPs insipidly reiterate the vague party line that they want to make a 'positive case' for remaining, which amounts to making no case at all. Except for an odd appearance by Nicola Sturgeon to highlight the similarities between project fear 2014 and project fear 2016, the SNP has all but sidelined itself.
No EU country has shown leadership on this alarming crisis, but the opportunity is there for someone to take responsibility and call attention to the rise of racism within a union the UK is currently a member of.
The SNP and much of Scotland could and should make a significant and balanced contribution to the EU debate, and stridently condemn the EU’s growing intolerance of migrants and refugees, or 'people', as many prefer to call them.
But I fear the SNP and Scotland are stuck in a constitutional catch-22 and all too aware that a vote for Remain is a vote against indyref 2. Given the thousands of activists and supporters the SNP is able to mobilise, its Remain campaign has been predictably lamentable.
Moreover, the enduring drive for Scottish independence suggests that the question of EU membership will not fade in the event of a vote to Remain, and just as in Scotland where other vital issues such as inequality have been deferred, the worrying advance of European racism will likely remain unchecked as the economic and immigration debates rage on.
If after independence, Scotland, as the SNP claims, aspires to play an important role in the EU then it will not only have to engage substantially more than it has, it may also have to explain why it made so little effort to keep the UK in it.
Picture courtesy of Giannis Angelakis
Check out what people are saying about how important CommonSpace is. Pledge your support today.
