THE Scottish Refugee Council (SRC) has hit out at the BBC and Sky News for their “dehumanising” and “unacceptable” reporting of the refugees trying to cross the English Channel.
Earlier in the week both news channels broadcast pictures of refugees in small dinghies live from the ocean as they tried to make the journey from Calais to Dover.
The SRC has slammed the TV channels for trying to make a “spectator sport” out of “a deeply traumatising, perilous and humiliating experience”, adding that the mass evictions and worsening living conditions in northern France are coinciding with this increase in people attempting to cross the Channel.
READ MORE: 'This is perverse voyeurism': BBC under fire for channel crossing report
Sabir Zazai, the SRC’s chief executive, told The National: “We are not easily shocked, but we have been horrified and appalled by this week’s media coverage and political scapegoating of people seeking safety across the English Channel.”
He added that the damage the media had done both to these
people and refugee efforts in the UK had been “enormous”, before blasting the “truly unacceptable reporting methods [used] by the BBC and Sky News”.
Following one small boat which seemed overloaded with refugees, BBC reporter Simon Jones told viewers: “We have seen them trying to get water out of the boat, they’re using a plastic container to try to bail out the boat ... it is pretty dangerous, just the number of people on board.”
READ MORE: Sky follows BBC's lead with 'vile' report on Channel crossing
Zazai said that “the real crisis here is the dehumanising coverage of people crossing the Channel in the press”, adding: “The refugee journey is not a spectator sport. It’s a deeply traumatising, perilous and humiliating experience.
“What people need is empathy and support, not misdirected fear and suspicion.
“We are not being invaded. People have sought safety at our border for decades. People move, it’s what we do.
“We should be proud that we are a safe country for people to rebuild their lives. Instead, the behaviour of influential media and politicians this week has been shocking. Force and scapegoating is never the answer.
“We need practical solutions and safe, legal routes to save lives.”
Both BBC and Sky News have defended their reporters’ actions. A BBC spokesperson said they had endeavoured to cover the story sensitively and it was a “stark illustration of the significant risks some people take to reach the UK”.
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