When someone hears the UK home secretary speaking about “stopping the invasion on our southern coast”, they might be forgiven for thinking Britain is at war. Suella Braverman’s description of refugees landing at Kent as an “invasion” is an unprecedented comment from a government minister speaking in parliament.
Many in the Conservative party have traditionally distanced themselves from more outspoken right-wingers – Nigel Farage, for example – who have regularly spoken of the “invasion” of asylum seekers. Even the former home secretary, Priti Patel, who promoted a “turn back the boats” strategy and spearheaded sending migrants to Rwanda, was careful to avoid such dehumanising language.
Invoking invasion metaphors is dangerous precisely because it assumes the motives of a population whose experiences, backgrounds and migration stories are complex and often traumatic. Depicting refugees as an invading army – or a flood that threatens to sweep over the nation – represents them as a marauding force bent on aggression.
