Once again the lead story on all news channels is the migrants. Today it is the turn of the Calais and all of the TV crews are there. Due to the strike of the ferry workers, desperate humans fleeing from conflicts like in Syria or poverty, tried to board trucks and cars to escape the inhumane conditions. Our TV crews were there to film their desperation. Our politicians talked tough and the PM promised more resources not to help or feed but to prevent them from entering. These included sniffer dogs, scanners and personnel. Everyone is claiming that it is not their responsibility to help and it should be UNHCR or the first country these people had entered. In the meantime these people must live like animals in shanty town in the jungle, where there are no facilities or basics such as food or water.
These desperate people are often dismissed as economic migrants as though search for better life for themselves and their families is a bad thing. However, not all are economic migrants and have escaped with their lives from conflicts, wars and natural disasters. Yes, some of them have also been victims of the traffickers, to whom they may have paid money. But that only makes them victims of greedy and often cruel and brutal criminals. These criminals do not hesitate to torture and even kill for their own protection.
With the prominence given to the coverage you would think there are tens of thousands of migrants waiting to invade our island country. The fact is that there are only 3000 people who are living in the shanty town in the Calais. Compare that to the tens of thousands arriving in Italy from Libya, via the Mediterranean sea. So far this year approximately 60,000 people have been rescued from the sea. The rescue only started after incidents of drowning including drowning of 800 in one incident. So where are these 60,000 people? They are obviously in Europe but not in the UK. Clearly, other European countries are doing their fair share of helping these people except the UK.
It is often said that we are an island nation and we can’t help everyone. The reality is that we are not the only island nation as every country considers itself to be an island within their borders. No country has flexible borders which expand or contract according to rise or reduction in the population. Even Australia, a country of whole continent, claims to be an Island.
A recent report by the United Nations said that there are nearly 60 million displaced people in the world. When this figure is mentioned politicians and pundits often say that Britain can’t take 60 million people. They miss the point that majority of these people are internally displaced in their countries, due to war and natural disasters. Others are mainly living in the neighbouring countries. Like Syrians in Turkey and Afghans in Pakistan, the two countries with highest number of refugees in the world.
The reality is that the vast majority of refugees stay in or around their country. Same applies to the economic migrants that they tend to stay in the neighbourhood. Only a small number venture far afield and they mostly do that on the invitation of the host countries. There is a myth that there are vast numbers of illegal migrants. Often it is assumed to be migrants from non white countries, in reality there are probably Austarlians, Newzelanders, Americans and Canadians but raids are mainly carried out on non white businesses and areas. Fact is that there is no concrete evidence of the kind of numbers banded about by the media and the politicians.
Unfortunately, immigration discussion has taken over the previously common topic of weather. Furthermore, colour, ethnicity, race and more recently religion has become a factor in the migration debate and policies in Australia, EU and North America. Those presenting the endless programmes and debates on the immigration do not bother to look behind the headlines. There are no explanations given beyond the recent past. As I stated earlier that even the economic migrants prefer to stay in the neighbourhood. No one is willing to say what’s gone wrong, why are these migrants risking life and treasure to travel to strange lands.
We need to look back and consider what has changed. What happened to the economies of the regions from which these people are fleeing from? What happened to the jobs previously available to migrants?
If we look back, in 1992 Iraq employed more than a million foreign workers. Libya at the time of western intervention employed as many as 2.5 million foreign workers, a vast majority from Africa but also from South Asia. Libya also provided economic support to African nations in the African Union. Syria, while not employing as many foreign workers, nonetheless had thousands of domestic workers. Syria had also hosted Palestinian refugees and Iraqi refugees during the Iraq occupation. The sanctions in Iran, which also hosts a sizeable community of Afghan refugees, meant Iranians seeking work elsewhere while they could have been providing jobs for the foreign workers.
Clearly the wars and conflicts in the Middle East and Africa and natural disasters such as famine, droughts have had a devastating effect on the local economies. Millions of Jobs have disappeared from the region. No wonder desperate people are risking all for work, better life and security. The remaining economies of the Gulf region could pick and choose labour and get away with low wages and unsafe and unhealthy conditions for workers. Israel, “the only democracy in the Middle East”, refuses to accept African migrants but continues to invite well off westerners to settle in the country. The rich are also welcomed by the western economies. While rich are good for the economy and growth, you need people to fill jobs created by such investment.
The fact is that many of the people knocking on our shores are educated and professional people. Like the Syrian teacher, interviewed by Krishnan Guru Murthy of channel 4 news. He was English Literature teacher in Aleppo. Now he is living in the Jungle in Calais in France. He unsuccessfully tried to get on to a lorry yesterday and alleged that he had been beaten by the French Police. There was also a 65 year old man who got injured while being removed from the lorry; he had previously worked in the Middle East and now desperate to find a job.
The reality is that Europe needs migrants for economic growth but political considerations come in the way. It is time to have a sensible immigration policy to assess status of migrants and to recruit foreign workers needed to grow our economy. Such a policy will stop exploitation and misery of fellow human beings. It is time to stop talking about humans as statistics and to start seeing them as human beings.
The media, which criticises other countries for mistreatment of migrant workers, should start providing public information about the real factors behind immigration. It should also stop giving false myths that the immigrants are only after benefits. Helping immigrants with sensible and thought through policies, without consideration of their colour, race and religion will be mutually beneficial. It will also return Calais to what it should be, a day trippers haven for purchase of booze and fags. Find Update Here
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