Back in July 2024, Channel 4 announced a new reality show that almost made me pinch myself… Twice. The bizarre and tone-deaf series titled Go Back To Where You Came From, is a social experiment that promises to “challenge how British people feel about asylum seekers and immigration.” But let me be crystal clear: what Channel 4 is really doing here is broadcasting an exercise in colonial nostalgia wrapped in the guise of a thought-provoking documentary. This isn’t a bold commentary on immigration, it’s a dangerous, exploitative, and ultimately misguided display of privilege that misses the point by miles.

Now, months later—and with the show due to air on 4 February 2025—it’s time to take a proper look at this highly problematic show and exactly what it will consist of.

Six opinionated Brits are going on an extraordinary journey to find out why asylum seekers are coming to Britain.

Will it change their minds about people coming to the UK?

Go Back To Where You Came From, coming soon to Channel 4. pic.twitter.com/WqArAd4xvH

— Channel 4 (@Channel4) January 13, 2025

Based on an Australian series that first aired in 2011, Channel 4’s version takes six British participants—each with opposing views on immigration—and drops them into some of the most dangerous and desperate regions on Earth. The participants will witness firsthand the harsh realities faced by refugees and migrants. Starting in Somalia’s Mogadishu and Syria’s Raqqa, two cities battered by years of war and suffering, these participants will supposedly “experience” the terror, poverty, and near-constant threat of violence that asylum seekers endure on their perilous journey to the UK. If you thought this was an attempt to humanise the refugee crisis, think again.

Never in the history of British television has this been done before…

GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM !!

📺 @Channel4 in February @Minnow_Films pic.twitter.com/6s3zO4Bl37

— Bushra Shaikh (@Bushra1Shaikh) January 13, 2025

The show is set to air on 4 February 2025, and the decision to commission this series is a direct response to the ongoing immigration crisis in the UK. As Liam Humphreys, the show’s creator, said: “Immigration remains one of the most controversial and divisive topics in the UK,” citing the record number of people crossing the English Channel illegally in recent years. The show, he argues, will provide a “unique and compelling perspective” on the refugee experience. A perspective that, let’s be honest, is entirely centred on a group of privileged Brits stepping into the shoes of people they have so far only seen as statistics, not human beings.

What is wrong with Channel 4? A simple Google search (or common sense) would tell you exactly why people have to flee their home countries. You’re making a programme borne out of hatred and wilful ignorance disguised as ‘patriotism’. https://t.co/Pan7hNbwC1

— 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐢 𝐆𝐫𝐚y ⭑ (@courtenaywrites) January 15, 2025

Now, let’s be real: this reality show isn’t about empathy, it’s not even about education—it’s about exploiting misery for ratings. It’s the kind of spectacle that positions “the other” as something to be observed while reinforcing a hollow narrative of Western superiority. The tagline alone, “Go Back to Where You Came From,” feels like a punch to the gut—a slogan designed to provoke, manipulate, and stir up an already toxic atmosphere around immigration.

Among the cast are Chloe Dobbs, a politics graduate from Oxford University and paddleboarding business owner, and Dave Marshall, a Nottingham-based chef turned TikTok personality who, according to the press release, was “gobsmacked by the poverty” he witnessed in Syria.

We’re supposed to believe that witnessing overcrowded refugee camps and dodging missiles will somehow spark an epiphany in people who have spent their lives at the top of the privilege ladder. The show isn’t about learning from others; it’s about reaffirming the belief that the UK—and its citizens—are somehow above it all.

I can finally reveal what I was up to when I disappeared for a month last year…

Very excited to announce this incredible show – Go Back to Where You Came From – will be coming out very soon on Channel 4!

Can't wait for you all to see the crazy experience we went through!… pic.twitter.com/RnJvSmHdbM

— Chloe Dobbs (@DobbsandPolicy) January 13, 2025

Here’s the thing, we’re tired of this performative empathy. It’s the kind of thing that turns human suffering into an object of voyeuristic curiosity. Watching people travel to dangerous areas to learn about poverty and violence from a safe, TV-ready distance only reinforces the belief that these problems exist to be observed, not solved.

The truth is, the refugee crisis isn’t a reality show, it’s a human rights issue. And if Channel 4 were genuinely interested in educating its audience, it would have done so by featuring the stories of those affected, rather than pandering to the misguided notions of a few Brits who think a short trip to the world’s worst war zones will give them the keys to understanding asylum seekers. It’s time to stop pretending that this type of exploitative spectacle is educational.

The only thing this show proves is that the entertainment industry’s obsession with controversy and spectacle trumps any genuine attempt to spark meaningful social change. Channel 4’s Go Back To Where You Came From isn’t a breakthrough moment for understanding immigration, it’s a regressive step that undermines the very real struggles of those who have been displaced by war, poverty, and violence.

It’s time to hold the media accountable for the narratives they promote, and this “experiment” should be called out for what it really is: a disturbing attempt to profit from the pain of others.