A contestant on one of Channel 4’s most controversial shows ever has admitted he doesn’t think it’s actually paid off in bringing people together about one of the most important issues this country faces.
Go Back To Where You Came From began airing earlier this month, and has faced immense backlash for putting six ‘opiniated’ Brits with varying views on immigration in the situation asylum seekers around the world face as they attempt to make the deadly journey to the UK.
Showing them how vulnerable and desperate people must be to flee their homes and often separate families to try and find a better life here, the programme attempts to give viewers an ‘unflinching look at the truth of immigration’.
And while it may have done that, from showing horrific scenes from refugee camps in Somalia and war-torn Syria, according to one of the contestants, it hasn’t brought people together at all.
Go Back To Where You Came From has been widely condemned and slammed as ‘A Place in the Sun’ meets ‘Benefits Street’, with Amnesty International calling it ‘deeply disappointing’ to turn horrific real-life experiences into ‘sensational’ TV.
Nathan Rimmington, a 32-year-old dad from Yorkshire, opens the show saying: ‘Supporting illegal immigration is like supporting rape and murder,’ and makes his thoughts on immigrants travelling in the back of vans heard loud and clear.
As a haulage business owner, he fears being fined £10,000 if one of his vans has an illegal immigrant inside, and was adamant on his views.
But since the experience hearing from those facing war, FGM, poverty and immediate danger in Somalia, Nathan admitted he now feels some sense of empathy – but doesn’t think the show has been successful in bringing people on either side of the debate together.
‘My opinion hasn’t changed to the point of opening borders and letting everyone in, but I understand more now about why they’re doing it, as opposed to being naïve and just thinking the stereotypical stuff of them coming here for benefits,’ he told Metro. ‘I now understand why they’re doing it, but I haven’t got an answer to how we can stop it or make it easier.’
Talking about the Channel 4 programme as a whole, which also sees a GB News regular and a former The Apprentice star as contestants, he said: ‘I think it’s opened a lot of ears and it’s made people talk. But the thing is, you’ve got two ears and one mouth, so you should listen twice as hard as you speak with this show, because you’ve got to listen to it from my side, and you’ve got to listen to it from all the contestants’ sides, because we’ve all got our own opinions.’
‘It’s got so many people talking about the topic because it’s such a yes or no topic, there’s no in between,’ he went on, saying the ‘left people are against the right and the rights are against the lefts.’
Stressing that ‘everyone’s entitled to their own opinion’, he insisted that this show could never have helped people meet in the middle, despite the topic being life-threatening for immigrants and refugees.
‘It’s such a diverse topic, you’re never going to be in the middle,’ he said.
When grilled about comparing illegal immigration to ‘rape and murder’, and asked if he regrets his comment, Nathan said: ‘I never regret anything I’ve said, but I’ve learned from what I have said.
‘I went into this show so open-minded, and when I said that, I meant it like, it’s all illegal, where do you draw the line where something is illegal and where something is not?
‘I went on this show wanting to change my own opinions, and learn from it. I was a big sponge going in.’
His motivations also came from facing a possible financial loss of illegal immigrants entering the country in one of his vans.
‘What I can’t understand is, if they come across on the Channel, or if they come across by air, or if they come across by rail or sea, then nobody gets a fine, but as soon as they jump into lorries, the companies get fines.
‘So I wanted to know why they were doing it, I wanted to know if the people that are jumping in these lorries know that they could impact my life as well as they put in their own life at risk.’
He claimed that was his only intention with his views on illegal immigration, saying that he otherwise ‘couldn’t care less’ because ‘it didn’t affect [his] personal life’.
Immigration Nation
Immigration Nation is a series that aims to destigmatise the word ‘immigrant’ and explore the powerful first-person stories of people who’ve arrived in the UK – and called it home. If you have a story you’d like to share, email [email protected]
And despite gaining some understanding, and starting the journey unsure of what to expect or whether his mind would in fact be changed, some of Nathan’s views remain firm.
At one point in the series, Nathan is educated on female genital mutilation, and learns of the horror of the practice.
Recalling that conversation with a woman who had been through it, he said: ‘I can’t believe what those women have been through that we spoke to in the refugee camps, and what they’ve gone through since being children, it’s just horrific, absolutely horrific.’
Talking about the moments that catalysed his change in opinion, he continued: ‘I’ll never forget any of the kids we met while we were over there because it is just wrong – I’ve learnt more now that life is a lottery and luckily I got a good ticket whereas these people didn’t, seeing all these kids… I’ll never, ever, ever forget that, it’ll stay with me till the day I die.’
He went on: ‘Every time there was something to do with kids it broke my heart, because my son’s biggest worry is making sure he has enough coins for Fortnite, whereas these kids are literally fighting for their life. So that’ll always stay with me.’
Not only have his views and empathy now somewhat changed, but he’s sparked conversation with those around him after telling friends how ‘horrendous’ things he witnessed were.
‘I tell my mates, you don’t know how lucky you are,’ he said.
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