A poster campaign which aims to demonstrate how immigrants are contributing to British society is appealing for public donations to help fund a national rollout in the UK.
The “I am an Immigrant” campaign, organised by MAX (Movement Against Xenophobia), is hoping to change the negative stigma surrounding immigrants in society as the UK prepares for a General Election this year.
MAX is a campaign that is linked to the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants , which provides its secretariat. JCWI is an independent charity.
It was created as a response to “increased anti-immigration rhetoric occurring in politics and the need to shed positive light on immigrants and the social, economic and cultural prosperity they bring to the nation”, according to the crowdfunding website that is being used.
“With the 2015 General Election, the language and the rhetoric will only get worse.”
A minimum of £44,000 is required for the campaign to go ahead and organisers are turning to public donations in order to raise this money.
At the time of going to press, MAX had raised over £19,000. The total has now reached over £30,000. If it is successful, the posters will be displayed nationwide for two to three weeks before the General Election in May this year. The campaign will run digitally anyway.
At a time when international students have also been a topic for political debate recently, Shreya Paudel, the International Students’ Officer at NUS, welcomed the campaign.
“I am an Immigrant” is a very necessary campaign in this political climate,” he said.
“At a time when the world should be coming together in the light of the benefits of free movement and the positive effect it has on education, many British politicians are blaming immigrants, including international students. We definitely need the positive stories of international students to touch the popular imagination.”
Posters will feature a photograph of an individual, with the bold headline “I am an Immigrant”, alongside their occupation and a sentence describing how they are contributing to society.
In order to attract the largest possible audience, organisers are targeting the rail network and are aiming to occupy 300 escalator panels on the London underground and 550 posters in train stations across the country.
