As I write, and more than likely as you read, boats of migrants from Myanmar are trying to reach shore somewhere, but no country wants to accept them, for once they reach shore, it’s harder to send them back and some no doubt have and will die at sea. They are Rohingyas and some Bangladeshis, a Muslim minority in Buddhist Myanmar fleeing persecution. An L.A. Times headline said it well “Migrants Stuck in Web of Rejection”. In the recent past we’ve witnessed tragedies of migrants from Somalia and Libya trying to reach Europe through Continue reading “Refugees, Refugees, Refugees”
Category: Poverty
Charting a Course
Four NGO’s have banded together to fight inequality: Action Aid, Greenpeace, Oxfam and Civicus. All joined to bring attention to the lopsided concentration of wealth, what we often call the 1%, something they see as undermining efforts to combat global poverty, environmental degradation and social injustice. In their statement, the four said, “We will work together with others to tackle the root causes of inequality. We will press governments to tackle tax dodging, ensure progressive taxes, provide universal free public health and education services, support workers’ bargaining power, and narrow the gap between rich and poor.” The statement also declared that “Decisions are being shaped in the narrow interests of the richest, at the expense of the people as a whole.” Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, a long-time activist in these causes puts it this way, “Corporations writes the rules, pay the politicians, sometimes illegally and sometimes via what is called legal, which is financing their campaigns or massive lobbying. This has got completely out of control and is leading to the breakdown of modern democracy.” Ben Phillips of Action Aid said that “…we need to shift power away from the 1% and towards the rest of society to prevent all decisions being made in the narrow interests of a privileged few.”
Perhaps these organizations and their spokespeople are idealistic, perhaps they are asking for too much, but they are positing an idea, almost a dream, and as thus are charting a course for many to follow.
A Sad Story
Ruwan Rangana, from a small village in Sri Lanka, paid the equivalent of $1500 to be able to go to Australia. He traveled clandestinely about 3 weeks in a leaky trawler with dozens of others. But when he reached Australian waters, the boat was intercepted by the Australian Navy. A law passed a couple of years ago gives them the right to turn back boats of asylum seekers without their ever reaching Australian soil. This kind of fast track processing, sometimes no more than a phone call to a border official, enables them to say they have met the requirement and can legitimately deny asylum. The offshore fast tracking, however, is decried and criticized by several human rights groups. Once back in Sri Lanka Rangana was arrested, and was fortunate not to end up in jail because he was bailed out for $45, a heavy sum for his family which makes about $300 a month. When the case is disposed of, he probably won’t face a jail term, say the lawyers involved, but be given a fine around $750, something very stiff for a poor family. Now with no savings and no job, Rangana does odd jobs, barely making ends meet. Yet, he keeps hoping to try again to go to Australia despite the odds, because he feels that even were he to die at sea, it is better than to waste away in poverty.
With variations, some far worse, it is a sad story repeated thousands of times in any number of countries. It underlines that immigration laws in Australia, Europe, the U.S. or many other countries, are made by politicians mindful of their own concerns, not by statesmen and women interested in solving a big human problem.
The Face of a Baby
The first baby born in Hungary January 1, 2015, was news and had his picture in the paper. Because Rikardo Racz is Roma, also known as gypsy, the picture attracted the attention of Elod Novak, the deputy leader of a far-right party. He posted a picture of himself with his wife and three children on Facebook decrying the presence of the Romas, with statements such as the fact that to him they were multiplying and will soon make people like him a minority in their own country. The post triggered s torrent of both condemnation and approval and reflected the racism—and anti-racism—currently at work in the country.
Not long before this incident a Roma baby in a village south of Paris was denied burial by the mayor. In this case the mayor of a neighborhood village shocked by the refusal offered a spot in the cemetery of his village.
There’s something foul and pernicious about the use of a baby to vent one’s prejudices. It happened with Roma babies, since Roma are a shunned and unwanted minority and presence in several European countries. No doubt it happens in other countries about the babies of any of the many groups who are discriminated against. When racism shows its face through that of a baby, it’s time to ask ourselves how we would react to the babies of minorities or even to those we hold prejudices against.