OPINION REBECCA BAIRD: Trip to my local Arbroath supermarket was reminder that fear is fuel in immigration tensions.

“I clutched before I thought. I’m not proud of it, but denying it would be dishonest. Last Monday, I went shopping at my normal Arbroath supermarket.

Only this time, it was a little different. Because there were about 30 males standing outside the shop with their trolleys and messenger bags.

They were all around my age, wearing black joggers and thin waterproof coats. They appeared exhausted and weary from the impatience of mutual waiting.

And they were foreigners. I could tell from the murmur of non-English discussions.

I clenched before thinking. I’m not proud of this, yet denying it would be dishonest.

My emotion, or terror, caught me off guard.

Fear that may represent the current milieu in the UK, where prejudice is prevalent – on our televisions, radios, dinner tables, and in government offices.

The bad discourse surrounding asylum seekers and immigration cannot be avoided.

I do my best to tune it out and stick to my values. But this is how bias works: it seeps in between the crevices. Writing this, I’m terrified again – not of those men, but of the minefield I’m going through.

Fear is weaponised by both sides

Tensions over immigration have recently reached new highs in Tayside. The anti-immigrant protests in Dundee and outside refugee motels in Perth have demonstrated how much people on both sides of the debate care about the subject. In times of such strong rhetoric, fear is the fuel.

Right-wing extremists are exploiting ordinary people’s fear of the unknown to gain support for views that blur the boundary between community concern and blatant racism.

And the left-leaning counter-protesters are undercutting their humane attitudes by humiliating anyone who dare to seek discernment or express concern about the impact on communities.

I’m not not scared, but I’m afraid to admit I’m worried at all, lest that be weaponised. It’s a mess. My truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Empathy is easy from afar

It’s because I’m pro-immigrant and welcome these men.

 

When I looked at individual features, I noticed vestiges of dad jokes and teenage shyness, as well as shadows of traumas I can’t comprehend: traumas of war, dictatorship, and displacement, as related to The Courier this week by three asylum seekers in neighbouring Perth.

I imagined how disorienting it would be to find yourself at an Arbroath supermarket, thousands of miles from your family, trying to find anything to eat that could seem familiar but all of the labels are in a language you don’t understand.

I imagined how infantilising and frustrating it must be to be herded around with a group of strangers, shuttled to the store, and left waiting in the rain like a kid on a school trip who just wants to get home.

And I realised how horrible it must be to have some oblivious woman like me gaze at you like you’re a spider in the bath, only for a split second before she rearranges her face. Be terrified of what her fear means for you.

‘Will these people change my life?’

But, while I believe all of this, I can also embrace another truth: it is reasonable to feel suspicious when confronted with the unexpected.

Not everyone in the world means well. And the sudden entrance of dozens of strangers in a tiny village is sure to raise eyes and enquiries.

It ultimately boils down to one question: Will these folks change my life? On this occasion, nothing altered in my life. I got my shopping done; they got theirs.

I knew in my heart that the most, if not all, of those men were here to pursue a better life and give back to our community in exchange for it.

I regret averting my look because I was taken aback. I didn’t grin as I ran past. I suppose doing the right thing is not always easy or convenient.

But simply rubbing along, segregated, is not going to work. Tension thrives in silence, and bitterness grows in misunderstanding.

I believe it is acceptable for all of us, residents and visitors alike, to feel uneasy or terrified. Asking people to be unaffected by uncertainty is unreasonable.

The scariest scenario, however, would be if our society did nothing to assist people in need.

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