Wednesday July 2, 2014
The British Prime Minister David Cameron opposed Jean-Claude Jancker as the next president of the European Commission because he is a person that has always believed in and articulated a vision for a closer, more integrated union between the 28 member states at a time when Cameron is attempting to bring powers back to London from Brussels. Both he and key members of his Conservative Party, unlike their Liberal Democrat minor partners in government, do not want anything more than an economic union and are totally opposed to further EU member states political and social integration.
At present Britain, as an EU member state, to a large extent is legally tide to the policies and directives issued in Brussels by Members of the EU parliament and Commission which have direct effect in all EU member states. David Cameron’s long fight to reform the EU wide Human Rights Act 1998 spearheaded by the current Home Secretary Theresa May, has not also gone so well as they have hampered his Party’s commitment to cutting immigration numbers and to this day, the row over giving British prisoners the right to vote is still raging. Cameron and all the other Party leaders have also been under pressure since losing the European elections to an anti EU and immigration Party, UKIP, for not managing immigration and migration from within the EU. Free movement of people, goods and capital are the foundation stones of the EU today but the British Prime Minister no longer thinks this is viable as he argues internal migration must be managed.
David Cameron in a recent interview with the British daily broadsheet The Daily Telegraph stated that he was determined that Britain should not be committed to and should not commit itself to an “ever closer union.” This was the basis of his renegotiation of Britain’s membership of the EU and one that he appeared to have lost with the election of the former Luxembourg leader Jean-Claude Juncker who is committed to exactly bringing about this closer political and economic European integration.
“Our businesses value the single market. But they find the degree of European interference in our everyday life excessive. People are worried that Britain is being sucked into a United States of Europe; that may be what some others want, but it is not for us,” David Cameron said in his interview with the Sunday Telegraph.
The other issue of grave concern for the British Prime Minister was that while he supported the Free Movement of EU citizens to take up work across Member States, he did not believe they should qualify for free benefits. This is something they are entitled to so long as they are a worker or can prove they are genuinely seeking work in the UK. David Cameron made it clear that this was not only his intention but that of the British public at large.
“They see decisions being taken far away, rather than by their elected representatives in parliament. And they worry that European rules have allowed people to claim benefits without ever working here. As a result, democratic consent for Britain’s membership has worn wafer thin.”
This weekend’s news headlines were dominated by Britain heading for the exit as an EU Member State as a result of the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission President despite their Prime Minister’s objections. However, after a phone call to congratulate him on his election success, David Cameron stated that he can still “do business” with Juncker but this was after reassurance from Juncker himself and other EU member State leaders such as that of Sweden and Germany to listen and address Britain’s concerns in Europe.
The European Union is home to over 500 million people and there is a sizeable ethnic Somali Diaspora community living across most of the member states such as Holland, Great Britain, Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Denmark and France. More are entering Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain as refugees. However, the UK has become a destination of choice for most ethnic Somali European citizens from the Scandinavian countries, Holland, France and Belgium. The rising anti-European Union feeling within the British press, people and government officials like the Prime Minister David Cameron worries them.
Mohamed Ali (not his real name) came to the UK from France after the Veil ban in his adopted home and was encouraged to settle in London due to the rising tide of Islamophia in France. He does not intend to ever return to France but fears he may be forced to if the British Prime Minister is able to alter the Free movement of Persons laws within the EU which currently allows him to live and work anywhere in the EU he pleases so long as he is able to work or support himself and family financially.
“France is Europe but legally not in Europe. I have seen so much racism in France that I can’t see myself ever going back,” said Mohamed who now resides in East London with his wife and 3 year old son. “I used to work since coming to London but now I am unemployed and it is people like me who Cameron wants to send back because he thinks we are benefit spongers.”
Asha Mohammed Jama is a Somali Swedish single mother of 4 who has been living in Birmingham, Britain’s second city, since 2009. She has worked part time from then until 2011 as a cleaner in a local school. She is worried that, with the current political emphasis on welfare tourism from EU migrants within the UK press, her future entitlement to social support from the state may be at risk.
“I am working hard to look for a job and with no help with childcare. I am stuck. The talk about UK leaving EU or restricting European migrant workers’ rights really worries me,” said Asha through an interpreter. “I like Sweden but it does not offer me or my children the opportunities they need. We are people too and we want our children to do well like children from Britain.”
One of the key ethnic Somali European groups to benefit from the Free Movement of persons rules in Europe has been the business community. They were attracted to the UK because of the larger markets, diverse communities and the ease with which they could establish themselves.
“In Holland it is impossible to open any business without lawyers, accountants, advisors and reading a million regulations no matter what type of business you wanted to open,” said Abbas Mohammed a London Taxi driver who has a business management degree from a Dutch University. “In England I opened and sold a restaurant and work as a self-employed taxi driver within the 6 years I have lived here. In terms of opportunities, Britain is the best in Europe.”
In Bristol there are many ethnic Somali European Union citizens working living and investing in the city. Many have arrived to do business but others have come to join their families who had sought refuge from the Somali civil war in other European Union states. Saed, not his real name for the purposes of anonymity, is a Dutch Somali with 3 children who came to the UK to join his sister and older brother who are from Sweden and Denmark. They all live in Bristol and live 20 minutes apart.
“When we all got our citizenship from our new homes we all wanted to live together in a country where we could all find jobs and our children can learn their religion,” explained Saed. “My family was separated by war and scattered across Europe and America and now we all reunited in Bristol. For my family and me it is Thank you to European Union.”
Claiming asylum in the UK and the wider European Union community has become difficult according to aid agencies and the increasingly hostile reception perpetuated by myths about refugees have had a profound impact on the protection offered to refugees according to the UNHCR. Britain is no exception with an Immigration focused 2015 general election to come, many successful Somali refugees in the UK and those still awaiting a decision are worried about Britain’s more hostile tone towards the European Union and the EU national leaders promise to listen to Britain’s concern this week after Jean-Claude Jancker’s election to the EU’s top job. Many of the successful asylum seekers and those hoping to join them, have had their decision or are awaiting a decision from the European Court of Justice whose rulings takes precedence over UK and other member states legal rulings. Although used as a last measure, the European Court of Justice has halted the deportation of many Somali asylum seekers to Mogadishu which it deems still unsafe to return anyone to at present.
“The UK government did not believe I am from the tribe I said I was and they said I was not in danger if they returned me to Somalia but the European Court did not agree with them and I am here now,” said a refugee who did not want his identity revealed and who is now living in London.
“I was refused by the UK immigration tribunal and now I am awaiting a decision from the European Court of Justice,” said another man who also did not want to be named. “If UK leaves EU or Human Rights law is changed to please the UK then I will worry.”
The Somali government has received a great amount of support from both the EU and the British government which hosted 2 international conferences on Somalia. Both have contributed and still remain committed to providing development and humanitarian support and assistance to Somalia and its people. At present EU Foreign policy is uncoordinated and member States are able to act flexibly on their own agendas and both often complement each other according to experts. If Britain was to leave the EU the worry for the fragile Somali government would be losing key allies and supporters where both do not agree.
In light of the staunch opposition from the Labour Party, the official opposition in the UK and Conservative Party’s minor coalition partner the Liberal Democrats who are committed to Europe as well as business leaders, it is unlikely that David Cameron will pull the UK out of Europe. Whether or not he will get concessions on treaty changes that raised the concerns of the ethnic Somali Europeans as well as others from other states such as Poland living in the UK is up for debate but what is clear is that Britain’s threat of exit is been taken seriously by Brussels. This only increases the worry of the ethnic Somali European population in Britain as their future will be uncertain until this matter is resolved. This could be a long wait.
