A punch in the gut - European Migration Forum

[Little Miss Sunshine]

I decided to write this post (and inadvertently starting a thread) thanks to dear Fragile Bird, who asked me to do so after reading a short status on my Facebook wall. She said stories like this need to be heard, and I couldn't agree more. Thankfully, these stories aren't mine - I am just a messenger here. But I feel they must be shared.

I am currently doing a traineeship in one of the EU institutions and, as duty would have it, this morning I attended the first meeting of the European Migration Forum. This ongoing two-day event has as its main goal the discussion of effective measures, from the civil society's standpoint, to ensure the protection of migrants and refugees and to provide them dignifying living conditions in the host countries, while at the same fighting migration issues such as smuggling and trafficking. Today's introductory session had a full auditorium and quite a bunch of notable, expert guest speakers.

The experts were, as usual in this kind of events, articulate, to the point and accurate in their facts and figures regarding migration-related challenges and issues. The usual commonplaces were said - how the new European Commission places migration extremely high in its agenda, how the numbers of migrants and refugees undertaking perilous journeys through the Mediterranean Sea are staggering, how there should be more cooperation between EU institutions, Member States and non-governmental actors to find ways to tackle these issues, etc etc etc.

And then, three guest speakers took the floor and had the auditorium in the palm of their hands. They were the true experts in the "worst" possible way. They had no figures, no stats, no institutional discourse - they were the true experts because two were refugees who undertook that journey themselves, and the other one was a seafarer who had participated in several rescue missions in the Mediterranean.

You could hear a pin drop while they were speaking.

The boy, a refugee from Nigeria now living in Italy, had left his country due to the religious conflicts in the area. He told us he had seen his father being shot in front of him before he fled for his life. He described, to the best of his ability, what no one else on sitting in front of him could even imagine - the terrifying journey of crossing the Mediterranean sea on a wooden with 50 other people, with no expertise whatsoever on how to operate a boat (the person doing so had been told 3h before the basics on the spot and was wished good luck, that is all folks). He mentioned the people who would commit suicide right there, right then, by throwing themselves into the sea because they didn't believe there was any hope for them - and full grown adults crying like babies at the sight of this, for the same fear lived in all of them. He told us how they got picked up in Lampedusa and how they were dumped into an abandoned military facility, slept on the floor and were treated like cattle by the competent authorities. He told us no one even asked them if they were okay, they were a number. They gave them the 500 euros foreseen in the law for refugees and told them to be on their way. He asked us all to, when making our decisions, not ignore the human dimension and dignity of this all. "We are all humans", he said. "We don't come here because we just feel like it, we come here because we want to live. It is not easy to leave your country, your home behind but for us it might be our only chance to survive. We just want a dignified life".

The chairman of the Forum thanked him for his testimony and commented how hard it is to go through these hardships. At that point, I had tears running down my face and all I could think of was "You don't know how hard it is. None of us knows because we weren't there". That is the simple truth. The people in that auditorium work care and gather to try and push for better solutions to these problems, but the fact is that none of us knows how horrifying and hard those journeys are.

Then it was the girl's turn. Now a spokesperson for an NGO focusing on young migrants, she shortly told us about her journey as an unaccompanied minor refugee from Eritrea who ended up in Sweden through a smuggling net. "People pay all they have to smugglers to take their kids to a safer place. But suddenly everything they own is not enough. What do you do then? You have to find a way if you want to give your kid a way out of there", she explained. She recounted boats full to the brim with refugees - pregnant ladies, elderly people, little children - and all the abuses, raping and misery they went through on their journey. "When approaching Europe, the "captain" said he would just go for a smoke and would be right back. Turns out he had another boat, with his colleagues on board, nearby waiting for him. So he hopped on their boat and said "that's it, goodbye guys. Just go straight to your left and you'll be there!" - leaving 300 people who wouldn't know how to handle a boat to their fate. She also said she was getting tired of speaking in conferences, "because we talk and talk and talk, and I share these stories, and I don't see any significant changes in the way the powers that be are handling this".

Last but not the least, the seafarer told us about his missions on the Mediterranean Sea. He showed us a video, filmed on the spot during one of those missions - and by then half of the room was either crying or looking extremely uncomfortable. The video showed a boat full to the brink with refugees, mothers holding out her children to the rescuers so they could be saved first, the rescuers' attempt to maintain order by asking everyone to respect the "one person at a time" procedure - only to have people trying get out of that damned nutshell of a boat all at once. People would fall into the sea in the process, which is way more dangerous in terms of rescue. That was nonetheless a successful mission, he said, because they managed to save everyone - including the ones who fell into the sea. And he proceeded to tell us about the night where his ship ran into a rusty boat that had capsized in the middle of the Mediterranean with 500 people on it. The searchlights looked for any signs of life - and out of 500, only two people were (barely) alive.

I won't be lying if I tell you that this was probably one the most eye-opening moments in my entire life. A true punch in the gut, if you will. Hours later, I am still thinking about the looks of discomfort around that auditorium. I told Fragile Bird a little discomfort can go a long way - and I sincerely think it was beneficial for the decision-makers in that room to feel uncomfortable. It's not about numbers and stats only. It's first and foremost about people, about human dignity, about humanity. If they didn't know that before, I hope they will now. I hope they didn't forget about that discomfort during the lunch reception, at the very sight of profiteroles and quiches. I hope it sticks with them and that they remember it every time money or ulterior motives try to speak louder.

I know it will stick with me.

PS - For those interested, the event can be followed via webstreaming.

[Fragile Bird]

Thank-you for posting this, Sunny!

We live in a world where immigrants are more and more unwelcome. Many of us live in countries where immigrants work under the table doing jobs that the citizens of the country have no desire to perform, yet those same citizens demand that borders be sealed. Last week while on vacation I had the opportunity to talk about various issues with people who told me they weren't against immigration, they were just against queue jumpers, like Mexicans sneaking across the border. Yet from what they said I am sure many of those people elected politicians who were making immigration very very difficult.

There are enormous humanitarian needs around the world we need to face and yet very little seems to be done.

Perhaps we can have a discussion here about what boarders believe should be done to alleviate the immigration crisis. What is being done in your country?

In Canada the government has moved more and more to commoditize immigration. Immigrants have to meet very strict standards with regard to education and health. They have to show they won't be a burden to Canadian society, so people with existing medical conditions are unwelcome. Our present government cancelled health care for refugees, a decision that had to be challenged in court by refugee support groups. And we used to have a family reunification program, which worked as slow as molasses, but now the government has suspended that program. The government announced it would take in 10,000 Syrian refugees, by 2016, and the rumour is only Christians need apply. Another 3,000 refugees from Iraq will be accepted as well.

[The guy from the Vale]

Switzerland's latest migration policy changes have been rather drastic. And in the entirely wrong direction imo. Even worse, there's an entire political party that exploits the Swiss' xenophobic sentiments and thrives based on those. Minaret bans, a constitution that enshrines second-class treatment for non-citizens (who make up almost 20% of Switzerland's permanent residents) in court, and the suspension of the Schengen treaty guaranteeing free movement between Switzerland and the EU have been the result. On a more personal level, I know several people from the Balkans (often second- or third generation refugees) with corresponding last names who had absolutely no chance of getting an apartment or a job in Switzerland simply for their last name giving away their "Yugo" descent.

Simultaneously, in Germany, where I live now, Pegida rears its ugly head, supported by the up-and-coming right wing party AfD.

In both contexts, raging against "refugees and asylum seekers" is common, blatantly ignoring any context for those people's migration, treating refugees like scum for having escaped hell, and then wondering why these people fail to become integrated into society.

I used to think Europe was better than that, that we had learned something from the chauvinism and racism of the first half of the 20th century. It seems that I was wrong. And while I despise this development, I simultaneously know of no other place where things are really better right now. It's... rather depressing.

[Altherion]

It is indeed tragic, but the most plausible thing that can be done about it is improve the places they are coming from. There are two cold, hard facts that work against making it any easier for people to immigrate.

First, one of the consequences of having the government provide social services (e.g. healthcare) to everyone is that the number of people who can be supported without contributing the average amount is finite. These people generally do not have any marketable skills and often don't even speak the language of the place they are going to. The vast majority of them will be competing with the poorest people already there for the lowest tier jobs. In fact, if you read your first testimonial from the perspective of somebody who is from below the middle class, I suspect the first reaction of many will be "Holy crap, they gave each of them 500 euro? Just like that? Just for showing up? When was the last time anyone gave me 500 euro with no strings attached? And instead of being grateful, they are complaining about being treated like a number." Actually, even a member of the middle class is quite often "treated like a number" -- you have to have a lot of money before that fully goes away.

Second, their culture is different from that of the place they are going to and quite often not in a good way. For example, consider a pair of brothers born in, say, France, whose parents were immigrants from, say, Algeria. The brothers were French citizens -- France paid for their education, health care, etc. -- and despite having better lives than the vast majority of people in Africa (and at the expense of France, no less), their gratitude was expressed in the form of joining various criminals and eventually shooting the staff of a French satirical magazine. I've chosen a deliberately extreme example, but there exist people like that -- they comprise a very small fraction of the newcomers, but not small enough to be negligible. A much larger fraction periodically riots and burns cars and public buildings and such.

So while the immigrants are indeed human beings and, in an ideal world, it would be best to treat them with the corresponding dignity, in our world it is extremely unlikely that this will be done. I suspect that in the wake of recent incidents, immigration to Europe will become harder, not easier.

[Suttree]

It is indeed tragic, but the most plausible thing that can be done about it is improve the places they are coming from. There are two cold, hard facts that work against making it any easier for people to immigrate.

3. MYTH: Tackling poverty and lack of development in migrant-sending countries would reduce migration to wealthier countries

FACT: Social and economic development in poor countries leads to more migration, not less, at least in the short- to medium-term. While migrants are often portrayed as poor and desperate, it takes significant resources to migrate over long distances. Hein de Hass, co-director of the International Migration Institute at the University of Oxford has pointed out that it also takes an awareness of opportunities elsewhere, which usually only comes with a certain level of education and access to modern media. Increased development produces a larger section of the population with the aspiration and resources to migrate.

First, one of the consequences of having the government provide social services (e.g. healthcare) to everyone is that the number of people who can be supported without contributing the average amount is finite. These people generally do not have any marketable skills and often don't even speak the language of the place they are going to. The vast majority of them will be competing with the poorest people already there for the lowest tier jobs.

In the US the data has long since debunked the "take our jobs" myth and clearly shows that immigrants are a net positive to the native born population. Are things so different in Europe?

As for being a large drain on social services, that made the myth list as well. Here is a recent study from University College London

Our findings are remarkable. Recent immigrants - those who arrived after 1999 - have provided a consistently positive and astonishingly strong contribution to the UK’s fiscal health. Between 2001 and 2011, immigrants from the European Economic Area (EEA – the EU plus three small neighbours) contributed 34% more than they took out, with a net contribution of about £22.1 billion.

At the same time, recent immigrants from non-EEA countries made a net contribution of £2.9 billion, thus paying into the system about 2% more than they took out. Overall, immigration to the UK between 2001 and 2011 therefore provided a positive net contribution of about £25 billion. And don’t forget that this occurred over a period in which the UK had run an overall budget deficit.

In contrast, over the same period, the tax paid by natives amounted to just 89% of the welfare they received. This works out to an overall negative fiscal contribution of £624.1 billion.

For example, consider a pair of brothers born in, say, France, whose parents were immigrants from, say, Algeria. The brothers were French citizens -- France paid for their education, health care, etc. -- and despite having better lives than the vast majority of people in Africa (and at the expense of France, no less), their gratitude was expressed in the form of joining various criminals and eventually shooting the staff of a French satirical magazine. I've chosen a deliberately extreme example, but there exist people like that -- they comprise a very small fraction of the newcomers, but not small enough to be negligible. A much larger fraction periodically riots and burns cars and public buildings and such.

Xenophobia FTW!

[Altherion]

As for being a large drain on social services, that made the myth list as well. Here is a recent study from University College London

That study is talking about a completely different set of immigrants. From the same link:

Finally, our research also points out the strong educational background of immigrants who come to the UK. For example, in 2011, 21% of UK natives had a degree, compared to 32% and 38% for EEA and non-EEA immigrants respectively. Similarly, about one in two native-born individuals fall into the low education category (defined as those who left full-time education before 17), while only one in five EEA immigrants and one in four non-EEA immigrants do so.

The people in the original post are extremely unlikely to have college degrees when they arrive. In fact, it's much more plausible that many are illiterate. This is basically a third argument against them: wealthy European countries can take their pick of immigrants from various places. Why would they choose the poorest, least educated and most culturally dissonant?

[Larry of the Lawn]

Why would they choose the poorest, least educated and most culturally dissonant?

Because they're refugees?

[Suttree]

That study is talking about a completely different set of immigrants. From the same link:

The people in the original post are extremely unlikely to have college degrees when they arrive. In fact, it's much more plausible that many are illiterate. This is basically a third argument against them: wealthy European countries can take their pick of immigrants from various places. Why would they choose the poorest, least educated and most culturally dissonant?

Dude, doubling down on your nonsense is not a good look.

[Free Northman Reborn]

So what is the logical end result being asked for here? To have an open door policy for all migrants? Why would anyone stay in Nigeria or Somalia then?

[Suttree]

So what is the logical end result being asked for here? To have an open door policy for all migrants? Why would anyone stay in Nigeria or Somalia then?

Totes, because we all know there is zero middle ground between a sensible approach to immigration and uprooting 183 million people in one ginormous mass exodus.

[Little Miss Sunshine]

First of all, my first and foremost point was to share something I've witnessed today and that I thought it was worth sharing and thinking about. No matter our views on what should or should not be done, I will say again that a little discomfort can go a long way - I felt that while sitting on that room, listening to those stories. I felt it was good for people (like me, I will admit it) who go every day to a cozy office, dressed up in a fancy and smart way and who are responsible for policy improvements and changes, to actually put a face and a true account on all those facts and figures burocracy seems to drown us in. The whole purpose of that introductory session - which, as the name promptly indicates, was an introduction to policy-making workshops in the afternoon aimed at finding better ways to tackled these issues - was to remind policy- and decision-makers of the human dimension of migration challenges. That was also my intent when sharing this with you all.

Second, there is a huge difference between refugees and economic migrants or even social tourists. They stressed that several times during the conference, although I may have overlooked it on my OP. Refugees flee their home countries due to conflicts (political, religious, etc.) - most of the times, as one of the speakers said, it's leaving or get killed. There is no other option for them. They literally leave in order to survive. One shouldn't look at their degrees or lack thereof in order to grant them asylum - I would like to think someone woun't do that to me should I ever find myself in that situation. The problem is that all three cathegories get mixed up, often on purpose, for the sake of a politicized xenophobic discourse, as theguyfromtheVale pointed out. They are not the same thing at all, and for each situation there should be a different set of measures and different approach. Most important than that, there is the need for better information - for migrants and society alike. The ex-refugees pointed out that many of them don't even want to apply for asylum protection because of the stigma that society will inflict upon them - most people won't distinguish between a refugee and a social tourist, or won't even know how to do so.

As a middle class woman, it doesn't bother me that refugees get 500 euros, or whatever amount they get. IMO their situation completely justifies it. It's a different matter when we are talking about social tourism. Again, different measures for different issues.

And as Suttree rightfully said, there is a huge difference between a more sensible approach to migration and an extrapolation of what it means to facilitate asylum provisions.

I wanna thank you all for your comment so far :) keep them coming!

[The Fallen]

I've asked several times before and haven't gotten an answer, but I'll ask again. Why is it that immigrants have such a hard time in Europe? You don't see that time kind of inability to assimilate here in the U.S.. Of course, immigrants can be themselves here; wear traditional clothing, practice their religion, isolate themselves if they so choose to (which none of them do, at least here in NYC). And yes, we have our fair share of bigots and xenophobes too.

[Mentat]

In the US the data has long since debunked the "take our jobs" myth and clearly shows that immigrants are a net positive to the native born population. Are things so different in Europe?

Take into account that unemployment levels in Europe (specially southern Europe) are indeed much, much higher than in the US. That said, I don't think refugees take jobs from Europeans.

I live in Spain, which is one of the main gateways to Europe from Subsaharan Africa. Many African people try to land in southern Spain or the Canary islands in one of their barely seaworthy boats or jump the fence which separates Morocco from the two Spanish colonies of Ceuta and Melilla (i think the continued existence of these Spanish autonomous cities in Afirca is ridiculous, but that's another matter). Fence jumpers have made the news quite a lot recently because of accusations of police brutality against them. The immigrants assault the fences (which are in themselves dangerous, being high and topped with sharp shards) in waves of many hundreds of people in hopes that some of them might get in. The border police is tasked with 'repelling them humanely' which is a nigh impossible task, so Spain has instead started deporting them by just throwing them out. This has led to complaints by EU officials, who say it's not in accordance with EU policy and that some of those immigrants might be refugee applicants. Spain argues that it lacks the resources to deal with the amount of people trying to get in and that the EU offers no legal or material support.

Once inside the country these subsaharan immigrants tend to (that I can see) work in Spain's rich underground economy (which they're definitely not to blame for...) and are usually exploited in rural areas where they are employed as illegal agriculture workers or by mafias that use them to sell pirate copies of DVDs or fake replicas of purses/clothes. While they're a small % of immigrants in Spain they're very visible (mainly because they're ethnically distinctive).

I agree a coherent and humane EU policy is needed that helps these people before and after their immigration. While improving living conditions in the places they live may augment immigration, I also think it helps immigration recipients as immigrants will be wealthier, better educated and more able to attempt to immigrate in a legal way. I certainly wouldn't blame someone for not waiting until this happens, though.

[Mentat]

I've asked several times before and haven't gotten an answer, but I'll ask again. Why is it that immigrants have such a hard time in Europe? You don't see that time kind of inability to assimilate here in the U.S.. Of course, immigrants can be themselves here; wear traditional clothing, practice their religion, isolate themselves if they so choose to (which none of them do, at least here in NYC). And yes, we have our fair share of bigots and xenophobes too.

My guess would be it's mainly the much higher unemployment level here (around 5% in the US right now vs. over 20% in most of southern Europe). Together with the fact that immigrants must jump many bureacratic hoops to get a job legally, this often leads to them working illegally doing shit jobs and getting payed very poorly. This also has the effect of them being perceived negatively by many locals. Finally it may be that your view of immigration in the States might not be the whole picture. Mexican illegal immigrants in southern states might have a much harder time than immigrants in NYC, who might be better educated or have more resources (though I don't know this, please don't take offense if you are an expert in the field or something...).

[JoeyBanana]

So what is the logical end result being asked for here? To have an open door policy for all migrants? Why would anyone stay in Nigeria or Somalia then?

My impression of the OP's "logical end result" is that it's probably supposed to be an improved treatment of refugees by the EU and the individual member states.

So those people who are already or will inevitably get into Europe regardless of the current immigration laws or any future changes (for better or worse).

It's quite impossible to argue against that, I hope.

[Jo498]

The US was never an ethnically homogeneous society as most European countries used to be. And It's not that the US has no problems with Latino immigrants. Of course they have had a corresponding underground economy as described above already for decades. The US is also considerably more spacious and richer than southern European countries, so it can absorb some kinds of immigrants more easily. There are not so many people in Spain who need their private pools and huge gardens maintained.

[Filippa Eilhart]

if we're speaking about refugees specifically, this infographic is quite interesting. The total number of asylum applications in the world in 2013 was just over a million. Almost half of that was in the EU, compared to only 6.5 % in the US. France itself has almost the same amount of refugees as all of the US. (230 000 vs 260 000 people). I think it might explain the difference in approach between the EU and US (and the specific example of France). The unemployment figures quoted by Mentat are another factor of course.

[baxus]

Perhaps we can have a discussion here about what boarders believe should be done to alleviate the immigration crisis. What is being done in your country?

Our economy is being thoroughly destroyed so no immigrant would ever want to come here ;)

Kidding aside, there are some migrants coming through Serbia but mostly just passing through on their way to Western European countries.

Our institutions are extremely poorly prepared to deal with them so only a handful are given room and board, leaving most of them to fend for themselves.

It gets especially difficult during the cold part of the year, when temperatures get well below freezing and those poor people must sleep in abandoned or ruined buildings and outhouses.

To make things even worse, most of the migrants going through Serbia are from countries with a significantly warmer climate (Syria, Libya etc.) so the winter feels even harsher to them.

They tend to group in areas around the Serbian-Hungarian border, waiting for their "connections" to come and smuggle them into Hungary and further on their way.

If not close to the borders, they gather in those few shelters that are available to them if they're lucky enough to get into one or in the area around it if they're not.

It must be said that, while there are people who help migrants out with food, winter clothing and/or whatever they can, there are those who are afraid of or annoyed by them.

There are no reported cases of migrants being physically attacked and hurt that I know of, but there have been cases of people trying to shut down existing migrant shelters and preventing new ones being built in their communities.

As a whole, the way we, as a nation, handle this situation will definitely not be in consideration for our nation's finest hour.

[Free Northman Reborn]

Is it true that many native Italians don't want to live in southern Italy anymore because it is so overrun by immigrants? And that Northern Italy in fact wants to break away from the South, partly due to this problem?

[Jo498]

Northern Italy has had factions who want to break away from the South for decades, because of the Mafia and the economic problems of Southern Italy. Think of a country consisting of Oregon and Mississippi.