A video shared online by a US traveller has triggered a heated debate after he claimed that he could not spot a single British employee at London airport.
In London, a US man filmed himself saying he found no British employees at the airport, only Indians, a claim that stirred heated discussions.(Instagram/immi.grateful)
(Also read: Indian man claims deportation from UK after 30 years, friends see him off at airport: ‘They are deporting him’)
The viral clip
The video, posted by an account named Immigrateful, shows the man walking inside the airport while recording himself. “I just landed in London. I’m at the airport. And I keep walking around the centre of the airport where the restaurants are and everything. I don’t see any British people working. Not one. Every single one of them are Indians. Every single one of them,” he said.
The traveller went on to insist that questioning the absence of British staff was not racist. “There are going to be people out there that are going to be like, Oh, this is racist to say. It’s not. It’s absolutely okay to ask the question, how did Britain, the country that literally was the pinnacle of freedom in the West, the country that gave us democracy and free speech, turn into what it is today? Absolutely zero. Zero British people working. And this is absolutely wild to me,” he added.
He also compared the situation with his experience back home. “Especially because I’m an immigrant myself. If I walk around the United States, I want to see Americans. I don’t want every person that I see and works to be somebody else.”
Take a look here at the clip:
Overlay text on the clip read, “No British employees in the entire London airport. Zero.” The caption simply said, “Not a one.” The video has since garnered more than 5 lakh views.
Divided reactions
The clip prompted a flood of responses, with many users pushing back against the traveller’s observations. One user wrote, “This is what diversity looks like. London is multicultural and that is something to celebrate.”
Another commented, “If you are so upset by it, maybe you should avoid travelling here. The UK thrives because of immigrants.”
A third remarked, “It’s bizarre to complain about workers when they are doing their jobs perfectly well. What does it matter what their ethnicity is?”
Some, however, echoed the traveller’s concerns. “He’s just asking a valid question. It is strange to see so few British people in their own country’s main airport,” one user argued.