“It’s
no surprise. It’s natural to look for something better, and Portuguese people
always emigrate. It’s a habit of ours since the 16th century…We are
the conquistadors. When things aren’t good, we go where it is best. We’ve done
it for generations.” (The Guardian.23/12/11)
The
headline in the tabloid set out the agenda for the new year. It stated in bold
front-page letters that MIGRANTS DO TAKE BRITISH JOBS. It then claimed that the report affirmed what
it had been saying all along. It went on to say that “immigrants snatched
160,000 jobs from British-born workers in just five years.” Does the use of
the word “snatched” mean that theft was committed?
In
another article on the same tabloid page another headline read-3,000 British
workers go for 36 jobs at South Pole. It went on to say that “unemployed
Britons are willing to travel to the ends of the Earth to find work-after it
was revealed record numbers of tradesmen are applying for jobs at the South
Pole.” In this report there is no mention that British workers were “snatching”
jobs from anyone at the South Pole.
In
many European Union member states there is regular media menu of
anti-immigrant, angry, xenophobic headlines about jobs been taken by
immigrants. In sections of the same media, unemployed Europeans, like the
Portuguese lady quoted above, see no dichotomy between the European
anti-immigrant attitudes and her and her generation having to emigrate to other
countries in search of a life. How can they be so intellectually obdurate as to
lack understanding that their emigration to other countries is no different
from people in those countries emigrating to Europe for a similar reason, to
better themselves?
In a
special report on Greek emigration, The Guardian highlighted the
departure of young, educated, highly- skilled Greeks to Australia, the
United States, Russia, China, Iran and beyond. The word exodus was
used to describe the haemorrhage of young Greeks leaving to search for a life
denied them at home.
Helena Smith writing from Melbourne,
Australia describes the arrival of Greek emigrants; In scenes reminiscent of
the great gold rush at the turn of the 20th century, the men and women have travelled to
the other side of the world in search of a better life. Unlike the Greeks of
old, however, these new émigrés are noticeably accomplished, with
hard-earned degrees won in some of the toughest fields. They’re all university
graduates, engineers, architects, mechanics, teachers, bankers who will do
anything for work. (The Guardian 22/12/11)
Her
description of the Greek arrivals in Australia is an apt description for many
of the modern emigrants departing depressed areas of Europe. But what few, if
any of the leadership, in the respective European Member states seem to realise
is that emigration is the loss of an asset, the energy band of society. But,
not just the energy band of society but the young, skilled, healthy, talented
and idealistic that are needed if economies and societies are to be renewed.
This is an asset that the European Member state’s taxpayer has invested in only
for it to be a lost asset. The countries receiving those emigrants are getting
an asset for free. Just watch the development of those economies that get this
energy band of emigrants for free.
Sadly,
few if any European Member state leaders are shouting STOP to this loss
of talent and energy. And in not shouting STOP one is left to
wonder, as in the past, are they silently relieved seeing them leave, because
their leaving is a social safety valve for the political structures they are
leaving behind.
Some
Irish people are resigned to seeing their young leave. Like the Portuguese lady
comparing herself to the conquistadors, there is a tendency in Irish society
for people to resign themselves to say; we are always migrating, as if
it was the divine will that the Irish should always be migrating nomads.
Emigration is not of divine origin, it is caused. Lisa O’Carroll, writing in The Guardian,
put the present cause of Irish emigration in the following terms, Corrupt
politicians, greedy builders, lax financial regulation, incompetent banking
management and hubris at all levels of society during the Celtic tiger years
have all been blamed for this disaster, which will leave Ireland’s economy
scarred for years to come. (2/4/11)
The
Irish Times, like other media outlets, tends to present modern emigration
from Ireland as it did in the 1950s, 1980s, a temporary economic glitz. It
seems to give the impression that emigration, coercive, economic migration, is
a temporary phenomenon. One frequently hears and reads the expression, well,
it’s a temporary situation until the economy gets back to normal in
Ireland. A recent example are the
remarks of an Irish emigrant in the Middle East; We have an income here,
which is the most important thing, especially as the daily new from Ireland
gets worse and the EU bid to resolve the debt crisis slides into disarray. When
the time is right to go home we will, but for now, we are making what we can of
our time here, rather than wishing it was somewhere else. (Irish Times,
4/11/11) It sounds like the old song, It’s a long, long way from Clare to
here. Hopefully, returning won’t get further every year. But evidence and
history seem to contradict an easy return.
As
if the recent economic boom in Ireland was normal. It wasn’t a normal
situation. It was abnormal economic boom due to the benefits of Ireland’s
joining the European Union and foreign direct investment. It wasn’t an indigenous led economic boom.
Emigration is a good indicator of the flow of investment. The movement of
people indicates the flow of investment. In the recent past investment has been
leaving Ireland. Really, the sovereignty of small populated, newly independent
states, like Ireland was thin anyway long before the International Monetary
Fund arrived.
The normal economic situation in
Ireland since the foundation of the state has b(een an annual average
emigration of at least half of those coming into the labour market. This
indicates a failure of an independent state, Ireland, like many newly
independent states, to offer the population an opportunity to access the
economic band and generate a way of life for themselves and society
generally.
One wonders how indigenous populations of
Canada, Brazil, Australia, Russia, the United States, Argentina, Angola, New
Zealand, China, Iran and others view the arrivals of new emigrants from
European failed economies? Do they see the arrival of European emigrants
as invaders, conquistadors, burdens on welfare, health and housing, taking
local’s jobs as the arrival of emigrants in Europe are seen by the European
tabloids?
Everyone
knows the way to the airport (Dublin): Emigration has replaced property
speculation as the number one topic of dinner party conversation. (The
Guardian, 2/4/11)
James
Taplin, an emigrant in Dubai, speaking to The Irish Times put emigration in
context when he said;
To the Government, those who
emigrate are just numbers. We make the unemployment figures look a little more
palatable. But we are fathers, husbands, uncles and sons. We are lovers and
brothers and corner forwards on the local team. We are friends and neighbours,
but above all we are human beings. We are never just a number.(13/1/12)
I
agree.
13/1/12
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