 |
Those
were the words of Victor Orban, Hungary’s Prime Minister as he addressed
journalists at the European Union headquarters in Brussels on Sept 3rd,
2015. At that time in the history of Europe and the Middle East, the
immigration crisis was at its peak. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of
desperate immigrants from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and some parts
of Africa and South America were making perilous journeys across the North
African desert and Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe and possibly North America
…if they could push their lucks that far. Indeed, the number of those who have
perished on that route would never be known.
Between
2014 and Jan. 2017 when President Donald Trump took office as the 45th
commander-in-chief of the United States, BBC recorded that the EU region alone
had taken in almost 2million refugees into their borders while millions of
others remain or were sent back to Turkey as part of some political and
economic deals. Turkey alone would hold over 4 million Syrian refugees among whom
are those who have not hidden their penchant to take any available opportunity
to “escape” to Europe where life is apparently free, better, rosy and full of
opportunities.
Germany,
France, Italy, Greece and UK are the top five EU countries who have taken in
these numbers of immigrant, graciously or grudgingly. It is so hard to tell.
One curious thing about these five countries is that since 2014 since the
immigration crisis assumed an exponential dimension, a wave of nationalism has
seriously swept through these countries, sometimes with tsunami level gusto,
displacing well established pro-EU governments and political parties. Those
parties and their political leaders who survived such epic routing and turbulence
have had their popularity reduced and are barely clinging on to power and
influence with the tiniest shred of residual goodwill. EU skeptics and radical
anti-EU politicians and activists found a rallying point in the collective
anti-immigrant rhetoric and singsongs. Buoyed by the sophisticated terrorism
propaganda and fearmongering of the Islamic State of Syria and Levante (ISIL)
otherwise known as Daesh, the time for islamophobia as symbolized by the
massive opposition to the inflow of Muslim immigrants from all other parts of
the world into Europe and America couldn’t have been righter or more ripened.
Any
casual observer along the annals of history will tell you that fear is the most
potent weapon of mind control and mass compliance. Professor Ian Buruma of the
Bard College NY in an article published in The Globe and Mail newspaper in
December 7th 2015 analyzed how from time to time, prominent
political leaders retrospectively seen as master demagogues such as Adolf
Hitler and Donald Trump have successfully to a state of art used fear of the
other persons to drive public support for their own personal ambitions. We
respond to fear because it is a basic instinct of self-preservation. These
fears are even more pronounced among the privileged who sees their enviable
place and positions in the rung of humanity as constant target of those below
them. From the “Jews shall not replace us” chant of the early 20th century Europe
to the “Muslims shall not replace us” of the early 21st century
America, the cry remains the same, just with different subjects. Attribution
Theory tells us that when we think something is wrong, we look for another
thing or person to attribute it to. Blame game is a coping mechanism for us all
…white or black or brown or yellow or green.
Anti-EU
and Islamophobes within them well understood the sentiments of these game and
they did a good job to stoke the fear among EU citizens …even EU Muslims. They successfully
upturned the firmly entrenched pro-EU ideologies which had for some decades
appear to be infallibility as evidenced by how well Brussels seems to have
always been able to find workable solutions to every national question among
its members in the past but now being severely threatened at its weakest seams.
In
Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s long-established firm grip of the German coalition
government and people was shaken when her party, The Christian Democrats (CDU)
was disastrously trounced in the 2108 regional elections of Hesse and Bavaria,
places that had hitherto been seen as her strongholds. In a statement
indicating her intention not to seek a fifth chancellorship in the 2021
elections, she was quoted to have stated that the results as a “clear signal
that things can’t go on as they are”. Europe is just never the same again.
German media reported that her fortunes and that of her party nosedived “since
her decision to keep Germany’s borders open at the height of Europe’s migrant
crisis in 2015. The subsequent arrival of more than one million asylum seekers
left the country deeply polarized and fueled the rise of the far-right”,
the Guardian reported. In Italy, nothing could have showcased the rise of
nationalism and barefaced populism and the people’s impatience with Brussels
more that the rise of Matteo Salvini, a far right, Eurosceptic and leader of
Italy’s Northern League. Salvini has been however disgraced out of contention
in Italian politics when his power grab attempt backfired in August 2019,
sending him into the cold political oblivion of northern Italy. Pro-EU elements
lost the #BrExit battle to the “leavers” in UK during the 2016
referendum, a sharp contrast to the 2014 anti-nationalism win in the Scottish
independence referendum. Few years before that, Anders Behring Breivik claimed
to have jolted the consciousness of Norway, EU and the world to the cultural
usurpation of Europe embodied by increased Muslim immigrant population across
the continent by killing 77 people in Oslo and Utøya camp island. Several other
mindless incidents abound in different places across the western world.
However,
and of course, the story of the relationships between immigrants and local
populations was and is not always that of hostility and animosity. Some
sections of media have reported enormous show of warmth and acceptance by many
local communities who continue to welcome settlers of all skin colors and
religious shades with open hands and hearts in numerous ways that keep
rekindling the dying flicker of hope in our collective humanity.
 |
| Syrian migrants cross under a fence as they enter Hungary at the border with Serbia, near Roszke, Aug. 27, 2015. Photo by Bernadett Szabo/Reuters |
The
political turmoil of that crisis as well as its present reverberations makes
one wonder why Muslim immigrants who have reported increasing discrimination
and outright attacks in Europe and other western countries continue to aspire
to reach and become a part of Europe. On the surface, their conservative
beliefs and their lifestyles seem to be in perpetual conflicts with the very
secular and “godless” foundations upon which these free and democratic
societies are built. In fact, the very sustenance of the economic prosperity,
political empowerment and technological advancement that the immigrants aspire
to enjoy and contribute to contradicts the cultural and religious leanings of Islam
...or so it seems. That foundation is called FREEDOM…. Both on an individual
and social scales. Some enlightened political agitators refer to it as LIBERTY.
For instance, homosexuality and same sex marriage, nudity and alcohol
consumption, and many other forms of civil rights are some of the legally and
constitutionally protected expressions of the personal liberty guaranteed by
western democracies. These rights however are not recognized or protected in
Islamic tenets, democracies and governments across the world. Such tendencies
are even punished. At the risk of sounding overly apologetic about these
issues, one can draw a causal relationship between the economic and
technological exploits of developed countries and the liberties enjoyed by the
citizens therein. Liberty allows and promote citizens aspiration and
contribution to scientific, political and economic exploits in a way that
stimulate health competition for the greater good.
The
curious question therefore is to ask what the motivates immigrants from Muslim
countries to choose western democracies that seems not only to be at odd with
their religious and cultural sensitivities but also seems to be actively promoting
such acts and practices which would be ordinarily be expected to be considered
“haram” (i.e. sacrilege) for them. On the surface, the reasons suggested
by Islamophobic and nationalists conspiracy theorists appear to suffix: they
are here to either cause bloodshed because they hate us or it is all a part of
the grand plan to dilute and replace white supremacy with some substandard race
that is bereft of the glorious qualities of the Caucasians. In fact, the latter
is the favorite excuse of hate groups such as Nazis, alt-rights and other white
supremacists across Europe and America.
However,
taking a deeper look beyond this puerile scaremongering battle cry, I think
what primarily motivates Muslim immigrants to live and settle in western
civilizations is exactly what motivates the rest of us: liberty with peace. Yes,
there are other reasons but they happen to be secondary. We basically all want
to live in peaceful economic prosperity. Unfortunately, Islamic governance in
recent times across the world has not proven to be able to guarantee such and
people would naturally go to such places where they can find such. Mention any
country that still observe conservative theocracy and see how they all surely reflect
economic and educational discrimination, ethnic struggle for domination,
weaponization of poverty, suppression of women’s rights and alienation of
foreigners. With the notable of exception of UAE and Qatar who have consciously
loosened up their otherwise typical sharia codes …at least for non-locals,
citizens of many other Islamic countries continue to realize that religious piety,
adherence and the promised economic prosperity attached to Sunna (i.e. the way
of the prophet) are not automatic nor does one lead to the other. As a result,
the yearning for better life keep piling more and more with the younger
generations. And if such aspirations would have to be realized in the land of
the kaffirs (the infidels), then so be it.
This
phenomenon must have led to the growing unease for far-right elements such as
Prime Minster Orban who rhetorically quipped in back in 2015 why “For
example, to arrive from Syria in Hungary, you have to cross four countries, all
of which are not as rich as Germany, but stable. So, they are not running for
their lives there already.” Those four countries that Mr Orban was
referring to include Turkey, Armenia and Macedonia with significant Islamic
population that these immigrants can be expected to integrate into easily. On
the other hand, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE are examples of wealthy Islamic
countries that should ordinarily have attracted Muslim immigrants and would
probably have no financial qualms doling out public welfare to settlers just as
less prosperous western countries do. However, the immigrants know the truth
that the personal liberty and economic opportunity that are open to all in some
western nations simply do not exist in these Islamic states.
For
instance, since the 70s children born to foreigners on the Saudi soil are not
entitled to citizenship unless they could trace any of their paternal lineage
to Saudi citizenship. Even if your mother were to be a Saudi, she must provide
evidence of her own paternal Saudi lineage upon your attainment of legal age
status. This is even more weird considering that the Islamic holy book, The Al
Quran Surah Al-Hujuraat (Verse 10) postulated that “the believers are but
brothers, so make settlement between your brothers. And fear Allah that you may
receive mercy” but Saudi Arabia the custodian of the hadith and the Islamic
cultures as well as other Islamic governments do not see things this way. The
laws are just way too stringent than what is obtainable in western countries. Similar
narratives surround citizenship rights for foreigners in many other Muslim nations
and since your which many of your rights and privileges are predicated upon
your status, you had better consider country where you and your children would
fare better.
So,
what has been the purpose of this musing? It is simply to stimulate some deep
reflections among us all especially in this covid-19 period which has shown us
that we are afflicted by the same collective and instinctive desire to live in
peace and good health above all things. It is also to lay the facts bare so
that we can all make of it what we may. The ability to connect the dots that
are scattered across the different space and times of the world makes us a
better-informed citizens and human race at once. That way we could see beyond
the scale of skin color, religion, language and accent as well as nationality
that imperial politics and mutual strive for dominance have given us. When all
these labels are stripped away, at the root of it all, we all want the same
thing and we all are the same thing afterall…humans.
Author's Note: This post has already been published on "The Oluswagger Experience" podacst. You can find it on apple, google or spotify podcasts.
Comments
Post a Comment