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Britain’s immigration reality TV show slammed as ‘voyeuristic and nauseating’

Go Back to Where You Came From retraces journeys of asylum seekers crossing the Channel to reach the UK

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French officers stand on the shore as migrants attempt to cross the English Channel to reach the UK on a dinghy near Calais, northern France, on January 15. Photo: AFP

Britain’s newest reality television show has been slammed as “insensitive”, “voyeuristic” and even “nauseating” for recreating with six Britons the often fatal journeys made by thousands of refugees to the UK.

Bluntly titled Go Back to Where You Came From, the part-documentary, part-reality TV show by Channel 4 follows the group of six, who hold strong views both for and against immigration.

They are divided into two teams, with one dropped into one war-ravaged Raqqa in Syria and the other sent to Mogadishu in Somalia.

Over four episodes which launched on February 3, they “experience some of the most perilous parts of the refugee journeys” according to Channel 4 – although they travel largely in armoured vehicles.

The outspoken views of some participants, as well as the show’s format, have been criticised by viewers, charities and some media.

Amnesty International UK called it “deeply disappointing” and “sensational”.

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