The EU Referendum is more than about remaining or leaving

I came to the UK for the first time when I was nine years old with my mum and younger brother. By the time we had settled in Tony Blair and his newly elected Labour party was in government and it was a time of great opportunities. At the time I was far from understanding the significance of this change in British politics or the policies that shaped millions of people's lives in the consequent years to come. My brother and I, with absolutely zero English at the time, were just trying to figure out how to fit in at school and my mum working two jobs whilst taking English as a Second Language (ESL) course. You see, at the time a foreigner was able to enter the UK on a student visa and bring along dependent children, and at the same time work to support themselves. The economics of such a situation today will not obviously hold up because housing prices, living costs and general availability of resources is set so high against the economic migrant. The 'burden' is too great.

Nevertheless, despite my mum working non-stop, us moving around constantly and changing schools, we slowly became engaged and immersed in British life and adopted the culture, the history, the politics and the life that was available for us then. 

Yes, I didn't know what custard was, or know why children called their grandmother 'nan', or why lunch was called 'dinner.' Not knowing the language meant there was initially a huge barrier for me to understand these everyday simple things until much later, and by then I had grown a sense of  wariness about asking about such obvious things that British children would normally grow up with at home. Even though my mum had said our English was improving much faster than her's all three of us didn't know any better. There was a sense of pride in me but also a fear that I will be found out as a phoney so there was always, still to this day, a strong willingness to teach myself and learn everything I possibly could myself as a way of 'catching-up'. 

Outside of formal education system (which was tough to begin with but Wherever we lived our local library (Paddington especially comes to mind) was our haven, where we'd spend weekends reading and then checking out the maximum number of books, which was 15 then. So much of our childhood is wrapped up in time spent at Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens roller skating, feeding ducks, running around in the playgrounds. Another time, we lived near Fulham Broadway and our local swimming pool and sports centre was a mandatory weekly visit where we paid a pound to swim all day in the massive splash pool with whirlpools and giants slides! And later, as I got older I roamed around the (free!) art galleries and museums of London, stripped off any pretension or studies in 'important' art work to know any better but to just enjoy everything I see. I spent days walking around Ladbroke Grove, Portobello and Notting Hill-not understanding that the area was one of the best places (then) to experience different cultures, aesthetics, food and music. I never took for granted the that fact that we were able to move to this weird and wonderful country that gave us such a huge array of opportunities, which gave the foundations of the lives we are able to build for ourselves today, and will continue to shape us, and even our children into the future.

And this is why I'm writing this very extended piece. Today I see the immigration issue in the UK through the eyes of someone who was an immigrant, and who has benefited in immeasurable amounts from having started my life here. I see young families from various Eastern European countries at the park, in the swimming pools, at the school gates and in supermarkets, and it looks really familiar to me. That subtle appreciation for life and what it offers them. I realise that many people have fallen through the cracks of immigration policy in the UK and many married couples have been failed by attempts at controlling immigration. The current system is far from perfect. And so is the governing framework of the EU. But I think it will be such a shame if thousands of families are denied a chance to immigrate to the UK and start a life that would offer so much opportunities.

And as much as there are larger macro economic issues to consider and ways of tackling them, I hope with all my heart that at least with respect to the immigration issue, the people of the UK extend their borders and hearts even more so than ever for people across Europe. Because there will be many children of such immigrants in 20 years time with a lot to be grateful for, just like me.