Thread: This isn't a jibe at BBC, they are trying to put a balanced voxpop together on a highly contentious subject. What concerns me is how certain words and phrases "migrant crisis", "mass migration", "sudden influx", etc are so mainstream. 1/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53925209

The language used, by pro-refugee groups as much as anti, has an important role in shaping the debate, but also can contribute to a lot of the hostility which has seemingly become a feature of it. I do it myself, we all do, but it is something we need to be aware of. 2/

What is often missed in the need to get a point across in a day and age where soundbites rule is that we are talking about human beings, people with lives, loves, hopes and dreams. Through our use of language though we risk turning them into props to make a larger point. 3/

A lot of people see a phrases like "migrant crisis" and "influx" for example and immediately they create a negative impression. As I said pro groups do the same, just look at images of asylum seekers wearing outfits covered in UN logos as if they have a sponsorship deal. 4/

I'd suggest that we need to look at how language is used, deliberately and unintentionally, to frame a debate which is far too complex to boil down to catchphrases and to start remembering that at the core of this are people, both from within as much as without a host country. 5/