How and why was immigration blamed for the real and perceived crimes of British Asians, many of whom had been born in the UK?
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According to Arun Kundnani, the discourse around immigration in Britain evolved into a means of indirectly blaming British Asians, specifically Muslims for societal problems, even when these issues were unrelated to actual immigration status. This shift emerged prominently after events such as the 9/11 attacks and the 7/7 bombings in London, which intensified the perception that cultural differences, especially within Muslim communities, led to crime, extremism, and a supposed lack of integration into "British values." Kundnani explains that many British Asians were born in the UK, meaning they were not immigrants but second- or third-generation citizens. Despite this, political and media narratives increasingly associated them with foreignness, positioning them as perpetual outsiders. Integrationism, which encourages assimilation into British norms, served as a structure to address these communities as if they were still adapting to British life rather than fully British citizens. This view masked their legal and social status, turning cultural or religious differences into markers of "otherness" and targets of suspicion.
This narrative of blaming immigrants or associating British-born Asians with immigration issues was further driven by incidents, such as the riots in Northern England in 2001. Politicians and commentators argued that Asian communities were self-segregating, which created the perception of enclaves resistant to British values. As a result, political discourse began to shift from supporting multiculturalism to promoting community cohesion policies that implicitly targeted these communities for their perceived failure to integrate. Kundnani emphasizes that this shift allowed extensive societal concerns about cultural change and economic shifts to be directed at visible minorities, particularly Muslims, who were often described in racialized terms. British Asians, many of whom had long been part of British society, were lumped together with recent immigrants and held accountable for various social problems.