M.I.A has opened up to Al Jazeera about the controversy surrounding her latest video, “Borders”.

The clip, which was self-directed, depicts a series of difficult scenes from the refugee crisis – including people clambering up wire fences, and being herded across the ocean on overcrowded boats. It’s led by the lyrics: “Borders, what's up with that? Politics, what's up with that? Police shots, what’s up with that?”

“The reaction has been extreme as always, with most of my work,” the rapper told the news channel, when asked about the controversy. “It has weeded out a lot of hate with neo-Nazi groups and people thinking that it's causing white genocide, and that's what I'm promoting.”

“Obviously, on the other side, I have had a tremendous amount of support from my fans and other people who feel that it's important for artists and musicians to speak about current affairs, and things that actually affect our society.”

M.I.A, full name Maya Arulpragasam, was a refugee herself while growing up – fleeing from Sri Lanka to Britain when she was nine years old. She went on to explain how “positive” the experience ultimately was, and that she “couldn’t find anything bad” about multiculturalism. “I think integration is a positive thing," she explained. “I think integration can be positive and I'm a product of that... It has a valuable contribution to culture. Creativity especially is thrived out of something like that.”

“I have to be part of something that helps find a solution where multiculturalism and integration work, rather than being a problem.”

The video has also caused controversy with Paris Saint-Germain football club earlier this week, who claimed that the singer “unduly took advantage” of their popularity by wearing one of their team shirts. M.I.A shared their letter, which threatened legal action, on her Twitter account. “If they want to come after me on a T-shirt, that’s crazy to me,” she told Noisey. “It’s not even a big enough fight to me this year.”

“I’d much rather spend my time going to Calais and inventing a football team out of the immigrants and getting PSG to pay for it if they really care about it all so much, rather than being in court fighting over a T-shirt.”