By Mohammed Sinan Siyech

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Earlier this month, the UK witnessed protests calling for tighter immigration laws. The protest, which took place in central London, featured polarising figures such as convicted criminal Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, as well as French far-right politician Eric Zemmour and Elon Musk, who addressed the crowd virtually.
The crowd demanded that Britain be protected from immigrants – in particular those seen as Muslim – and their impact on rising prices.
Such anti-immigration campaigns are not limited to the UK. Other Western nations are also wrestling with immigration-driven discontent. This includes Australia, where thousands of people came out in protests last month, as well as the United States, where immigration raids have taken place across the country.
Politicians on the far right vociferously voicing their grievances have certainly played a role in the rise of anti-immigration sentiment. In the UK, Conservative Party politicians such as former home secretary Suella Braverman and current party leader Kemi Badenoch, as well as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, have for years sounded the alarm over immigration in the country.
Yet, this steady stream of anti-immigrant rhetoric does not necessarily correlate with tougher policies on immigration. For example, despite the Conservatives being in power for 14 years, net migration levels during that time were more than two-and-a-half times what they were in 2010, when the Labour Party was in power.
Similarly, despite its anti-immigration views, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government has announced it will provide 500,000 work visas for non-EU nationals in the next three years. That is in addition to a pledge of 450,000 such visas between 2023 and 2025.

This trend is also noticeable in non-Western countries such as Japan, where despite anti-immigration protests, which Musk supported, the government has been pushing to increase the number of foreign workers.
Clearly, there is a contradiction in politicians calling for fewer immigrants while loosening labour laws. In reality, the situation is complex.
Many countries keep their doors open to immigrants despite the prevailing anti-immigrant antagonism for a good reason – to meet labour demand in sectors such as agriculture, construction and nursing. Local populations in many countries are unwilling to engage in the hard labour such work requires – work that often does not pay much above minimum wage. As a result, businesses in these countries have to rely on imported workers.
Many advanced economies also struggle with low birth rates. Take the European Union for example. The total fertility rate for the region as a whole has for years fallen below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman of childbearing age. Population ageing will force countries to rely more heavily on taxes from a smaller pool of young people, thus leading to greater strain on citizens.
Inevitably, immigration is seen as a solution. Businesses are permitted to bring in foreign workers, who also help fill the country’s coffers by paying taxes. If labour laws are tightened, the loss of low-wage labour will simply leave jobs unfilled or lead to a rise in business costs.

Countries seeking to arrive at real solutions to protect citizens should look to countries like Norway, which has high rates of union membership, lower immigration levels and relatively muted anti-immigrant sentiment. This includes higher pay in blue-collar industries and better worker protection, which in turn generate more interest among citizens for those jobs.
However, corporations seeking to maximise profit by exploiting workers and keeping wages low often oppose such policies.
Finally, anti-immigration protesters often blame immigrants for high housing prices, increasing the costs of living and difficulty accessing health services. However, other factors play more decisive roles.
For instance, more than a decade of Conservative-led funding cuts to Britain’s National Health Service has wreaked more havoc on its financial health than immigrants have. Newcomers not only pay a hefty annual health surcharge of £1,035 (US$1,400) per person but also make up a large proportion of healthcare workers. Similarly, construction companies in the UK have been accused of deliberately limiting house construction to keep demand high and supply low, thereby helping their bottom line.
Low birth rates and a lack of workers willing to take up difficult work for low wages are the main drivers of high immigration levels. Meanwhile, cuts to public services and artificial shortages enabled by corporations play a significant role in driving up prices. Without addressing these issues, anti-immigration protests are likely to continue.