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MIGRATIONS |
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| International
migration affects every country and is now at the centre of a growing debate. About 3%
(175 million people) of the world's population live outside their country of birth. While
most leave voluntarily in search of a better life, more than 10 million are recognised as
refugees by the United Nations. Rather
than the erection of barriers to keep people out, Kofi Annan has called for "better
management". What
are your views on migration? Should migration be regulated? Is enough done to protect
those fleeing persecution, or are asylum systems abused? Is better management possible? Your
comments: International
Migration is a consequence of globalisation. We are becoming a "one world"
State. This is all very positive and hopefully the United Nations will be an International
Government, producing the "better management" that Kofi Annan is referring to.
At that stage freedom of movement for everyone will be in the same way as it is within
existing Country borders today. This will mean that wherever we are, there will be the
good, the bad and the ugly. Perfection!
Money
and businesses are allowed to travel where they like - taking every opportunity they can
find. People aren't. It is sheer hypocrisy. Britain needs millions of new people in order
to do the jobs no one wants and pay the national insurance to fund pensions of those now
retiring. I welcome all immigrants - they have enriched my life enormously Migration
to make a better life for yourself is great - we need more nurses, teachers etc. Migration
for the social services of another country to make your life better is despicable. When the
migrating population threatens to overtake the majority from the native population, that
is a problem. People native to a country have a right to protect their language, their
culture and their customs from outsiders. Migration
is only part of the issue. When people are faced with a changing world and a change in
customs and their way of life are being over run by a different culture, there will always
be friction. Remember nothing ever stays the same. Things will change were you live, the
only question is, will you be part of the future or not?
As a UK
resident I strongly believe that tough regulation is required. We are totally swamped by
immigrants, both legal and illegal. We have done our bit for the genuine cases, but now
it's time to say "enough is enough" and close the borders to everyone. Having
read some of the stories and comments on this site, it seems that when immigrants are
given the opportunity to work and make a life for themselves, the outcome is positive for
all concerned. The problem therefore seems not to be migration itself, but the
infrastructure to help people help themselves. We must not forget however to allow our
indigenous citizens the opportunity to help themselves also, as there is nothing that
breeds resentment like additional people pouring into an area with existing poverty and
homelessness. The UK must urgently address it's domestic housing problems if it is to have
any hope of allowing immigrants to contribute to society, and of avoiding conflict. There
isn't a single group of people on Earth whose ancestors haven't migrated from somewhere.
Migration is part of life and can revitalise communities as well as promote understanding
between peoples. However, no community can absorb sudden mass movements of people without
problems. The World has to tackle the reasons why masses of people want to migrate in
order to quell those movements. Birth control and education would do more to prevent mass
migration from poverty than any attempts to manage that migration.
As an
American, we are all considered immigrants. People who live here sometimes risk much to
get here: by boat, river, etc. Though regulation is needed, it should be done moderately,
as there is plenty of room in this country for more. That is what makes this country
great, we are immigrants, and we cannot close our doors to other immigrants, or we are not
living up to the standards set by our forefathers. Having
read some of the stories and comments on this site, it seems that when immigrants are
given the opportunity to work and make a life for themselves, the outcome is positive for
all concerned. The problem therefore seems not to be migration itself, but the
infrastructure to help people help themselves. Migration
is only part of the issue. When people are faced with a changing world and a change in
customs and their way of life are being over run by a different culture, there will always
be friction. Remember nothing ever stays the same. Things will change were you live, the
only question is, will you be part of the future or not. The vast
numbers of people who want to leave the least desirable places in the world to live, have
the power by sheer numbers to overwhelm the most desirable places. The only solution is to
control the flow so that the most desperate can find refuge without causing injury to the
nations generous enough to take them in. More and
more people are becoming political pawns and potential weapons of conquest. If a group
cannot conquer by means of force, and further its own they now attempt to invade quietly,
to further their own beliefs, and to make gains for those who are of the same group. When
people choose to apply to come to a new country it should be made certain that they do so
with knowledge of, and loyalties to, that new country, and to its new ideals, particularly
as regards secular governments, and essential human rights and freedoms.
I am an
American woman, who after being widowed in 1993, decided to live my lifelong dream of
spending time in Europe. In 1995 I moved with my two young daughters (ages seven and 11)
to Estonia for what I believed would be a few years. I currently live in Riga, Latvia
where I am writing a book about my life. I wanted my children to see past the American
dream and understand as well as feel comfortable in different cultures - to expand their,
and my, worldview. It's been an amazing journey and I have no plans to ever return to
America full time. I'm
often asked how I could have left a rich country for a poor one. Interestingly I don't
perceive myself as having done that at all. Rich and poor are subjective terms that are in
the eyes of the beholder and I feel rich and fulfilled in my choices and lifestyle.
Watching the Baltic region grow from a former Soviet country into an EU candidate country,
throwing off her old identity and healing has mirrored my own growth and healing and I
feel absolutely at peace and fulfilled with my life here. I belong
to the small city of Quetta in Pakistan. I moved for higher education to Karachi when I
was 18 years old. After that, in search of a good life, I came to the Middle East. Though
financially satisfied, I never forget the memories of that small and peaceful town, where
all people lived in harmony with love. I came
from England to work in California three years ago. I actually got my work visa through on
9/11. One minute I was celebrating getting it, next friends were asking why I wanted to
go. I have never regretted it. Of course leaving everything you know and everyone you love
is hard. I was fortunate. I did not have to leave - I chose to. It is truly hard and
lonely sometimes for me, yes, but I can go back if I want to. How much harder it is for
those I work with who can never go home. For all its faults, America is a still a nation
of decent, kind people, who welcome strangers with a hospitality the unhappy and
vulnerable are very, very grateful for.
I am a
Canadian woman who went south for the winter about six years ago and never went home. I am
married now to an American and living in Tennessee. When I left Canada, it was just to
escape that winter. I had a very hard time every winter with the darkness of the weather
and depression. I lingered here because it was so nice to feel normal and eventually met
my husband. I am so lucky to have him and so glad I found him, but I hate to think that
these kind of 'life or death' lifestyle choices are not so easy to make. I would not have
been able to immigrate without an American husband or a lot of money. I think eventually
the world will be a place we all share and can freely move about. Originally
from Belgium, my family started travelling around in the early 80s, when I was five,
taking us to Spain, the UK, Germany, and Luxembourg. After my university degrees in the UK
I lived in the Netherlands. Now my parents live in the US, and I am back in my country of
origin, Belgium. What strikes me is how the vast majority of people here would never even
dream of leaving their beloved country. They all think it's nirvana. I was
born in communist Poland, but was taught the love of freedom from our Catholic priest (the
one place the government had no control). I spent three and a half years in a refugee camp
in Latina, Italy before being accepted in the US. I am so proud to be an American. I went
back to Poland last year and was so happy to see my once beautiful country begin to
flourish again. Nothing in the world beats freedom. My
family and I immigrated to America from Iraq just before the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. In
an age where most Iraqis were disillusioned while living in a state of manufactured
consent for Saddam's grim dictatorship, we decided to leave the country knowing that Iraq
had an equally grim future on the horizon. Since our departure, my father attained a PhD
and is a currently a university professor, my sister and I recently graduated college, and
my mother earned her master's degree. Thanks to my father's intuition, we are able to live
comfortably - far away from the horrors of war. I wish to someday return to my beautiful
native country of Iraq and help their efforts, but my one true home is America.
I am an
American, but I cannot get my wife, a young Mexican, into the US. So we moved to Canada
near the US border. I cross every day to work in the States as an attorney and she lives
illegally in Canada. Maybe I am illegal too. We live very well and have been happy for the
last four years in Canada. Living in the US is not such a big deal anyway. We are building
a home now in Mexico and I can drive there through the US but my wife must fly over the
US. We moved
from beautiful Cape Town to London six years ago as we were approaching 50, white, and
could not make adequate provisions for our retirement in South Africa. As British
descendants, we fortunately had full British citizenship. The UK has been good to us and
we have a growing, profitable business and a number of properties that we rent out. All
this grew out of £10,000 and hard work. We still yearn for Cape Town and visit annually.
We'll spend six months in the UK and six months in Cape Town when we retire. We could
never have achieved this in South Africa and we are very grateful for the opportunities
presented to us in Britain. It would be truly perfect if Britons would adopt the
cheerfulness, optimism and goodwill to all that is inherent to South Africa's rainbow
nation.
I 'm
glad to read all these success stories. I've been working with refugees for two years now
and for most of them it wasn't a success. Some of them have become friends and I'm really
sad they don't get the opportunity to build a life here. Some have waited for two years
before knowing they had to leave the country. Another one had to leave two children
behind. Another was a child soldier. A refugee centre is not a happy place. I hope
everyone visits one some time before taking a stand on the whole refugee debate! I am
lucky. Though I am not living in my country of birth, Egypt, I had the luxury of choosing
to live in another country for a few years, and again I have the luxury of living a good
life back home. I spent most of my life abroad and got to know people who have left their
country for the better life. In Saudi Arabia I had a Filipino housekeeper. She had an
economics degree and yet opted to work in homes abroad, and leave her kids back home to be
able to support them. I got to know Lebanese and Egyptian plumbers who were college
graduates, again in search of a better life for themselves and their families. Here I am
talking about third world nationalities migrating to developing countries, not even
developed countries. There is a huge discrepancy between developed and underdeveloped
nations. This discrepancy is on the increase.
Our
family should figure in the Guinness Book of Records. We are five children (born in India
to the same parents) and we all have different nationalities - Indian, Canadian, French,
American and British. I left India in 1976 during the emergency crisis and I quit a very
cushy governmental position. I don't regret being in France where people respect highly
educated people (I have two doctorates) and I am a respected university professor. It took
some time to learn French though. By the way, my wife is a Polish expatriate who quit the
communist regime in the 70s. For our children, totally used to this multicultural
situation, travelling is very simple. It's so natural for them to have grandmothers in
India and Poland and aunts in New Jersey, Toronto and Blackpool, while they are French! I
migrated to London from India on a work permit and have never felt alone because there are
many who speak my mother tongue here. This city has a huge migrant population who live
equally among the native people. We moved
from Germany to the US because we have three children, and in Germany that meant living
with constant aggression against our family. We have been here three years now, have loved
every minute, nobody has ever made any disparaging remarks about us, and our only hope is
that we can stay in this beautiful, friendly country and have our children grow up as
Americans.
Sixteen
years ago my wife and I left Germany for a better life in the UK. We settled in nicely and
were extremely proud to be able to afford our first house. Life is demanding, yes, but it
will be everywhere. Here, in the UK, I did have a realistic chance to improve and to
further educate myself. I am now in a well-paid position and was able to fulfil my dream
of becoming a respectable person. I did leave my country because of her restrictions.
Germany was always over regulated and restrictive. Of course, the UK has her negative
sides too, but people tend to disregard the good sides she has to offer. I am most
grateful to be allowed to live here, to have been able to learn the most powerful language
in the world and to have learned the most two important words in my life: personal
freedom. Thank you Britain. I
migrated from El Salvador during the war. I wanted to stay alive and live in peace. I
graduated college and I am currently raising a family of three. All worked out for the
better. I am planning on becoming a volunteer advocate for the elderly once I am retired. I moved
to Canada in 1976, when I was just 18, from Pakistan. At 22, I got married to a Pakistani
and started a family here. I have two daughters and have settled very well here. Will I
consider going back to Pakistan? Let's put it this way, I went back home in 2001 for two
weeks, after 21 years, and I came back after a week. I love Canada and am glad I was given
this opportunity to move here. I am a
Turkish Cypriot. Like other Turkish Cypriots, I have been a citizen of a couple of
different countries. At the age of 17, I "fled" Cyprus for the USA for a better
education. Everything they say about the US is true - you can be successful if you work
hard, buy three cars, and have two kids and a dog. On the other hand, you can't have a
soul. You are "integrated" into the system and you lose your individuality. So I
fled again. This time to the UK. I quite like the kindness, tolerance and cheerfulness of
the people of this land. Nevertheless, we always want more! And now, I am
"fleeing" to Spain/Portugal to find some passion, and escape the formality of
the modernised people of Northern Europe..
Ten
years ago I left my country, Iran, illegally due to my military record. I walked over the
border and entered Turkey. It took days to reach Ankara with no food. The US embassy in
Ankara was nothing but helpful to make my case successful. Ten years later here I am, next
week I will be a citizen of the US and on May 1 will graduate from university. I am very
thankful and appreciative of the situation that I am in right now, who knows what I would
be doing if I was in Iran now. I love Iran and I always will, but unfortunately the
country is in the hands of oppressive leaders. My
grandparents left Poland and settled in France to work in the pits. Since then, two
generations were born in France. Most of us have returned to Poland to visit but no one so
far has moved back. Born and
bred in the UK, I currently live in the Netherlands and enjoy a much better quality of
life than I did in my increasingly backward and repressive homeland. Though, sadly, things
are deteriorating here as well. I tried living in the US - my father's country - for six
years but left unable to stand its political stance, obscene gap between rich and poor,
and general insanity. UK and Dutch housing is expensive, so shortly, I am retiring to
France where for the price of a two bedroom apartment in central Manchester I can get a
40-acre estate. I was
born in England and after university lived in Japan for three years. I then studied in
Australia for one year. I have now been back in the UK living and working for two years.
After having experienced life abroad in two very different cultures for four years I find
life in the UK draining, exhausting and miserable. The high cost of living, the long
winters, the materialistic attitudes, the total and utter lack of morals, the transport
nightmare, the NHS, the cost of a dentist, the rising council taxes, the expected overtime
and the inability to be able to afford a one bedroom run down 'cupboard' property has left
me disillusioned and sad. The thought of having children and bringing them up in the UK
fills me with utter dread.
My
father was born in Indonesia and moved to the Netherlands, Curacao, Canada, and finally to
the USA which is where we live now. There are many problems with our country which I as a
first generation American can see clearly, but I am very aware of the fact that my father
found open arms here, was able to work hard and educate himself, marry into a family that
had been here for 300 years without feeling inferior, and eventually rise to be upper
middle class with two college educated children, three cars, a nice house, and good
neighbours. Having started as an immigrant day labourer, this is quite a testament to our
system, imperfect as it is. I am an
Indian living in the UK. At first when I came to the UK at the age of 17, I hated it. It
was then that I realised how nice it is to live in India. However, living and working
(hard) in the UK has made me a prosperous person, which I might not have been in India.
There are opportunities here, unlike there. Last
Thursday my boyfriend left the UK for Zimbabwe. He has spent the last two years earning a
living and paying his own way for everything, unlike so many youths of today who have no
motivation to work and so scrounge from the government (my own brother is a typical
example). Despite all our efforts for my boyfriend to stay in this country the Home Office
wouldn't allow it, even our local MP couldn't make any difference, let alone help from a
solicitor. It seems ridiculous that even though his own mother lives in the UK and he
would be going back to a country where he is a likely target for persecution being white,
the government still refuses to allow him leave to remain. I hope last night's programme
on Panorama has opened people's eyes to what the situation is like in Zimbabwe and even
though I don't know what the future has in store for my boyfriend, if it wakes up the
government's eyes enough for them to allow more people from Zimbabwe into the UK, then it
is a starting point which has long been overdue.
I moved
from Scotland to Strasbourg, France in 1994. A year later I moved back to Scotland and
lasted nine months before coming back to Strasbourg. A few years later I moved to
Switzerland and absolutely love it here - due largely to the huge ex-pat community. Will
be moving to Munich, Germany for a few months and then to Paris. However, after several
trips to South Africa I know that's where I want to live and one day I'm sure I'll get
there! Would I ever move back to Britain? Not a chance! The transport system is a joke,
the standard of living is low, the streets are dirty, the NHS is a joke. Need I go on? My great
great grandparents moved to Russia from Britain to fill a job placement. My great
grandparents fled during the Russian Revolution to Yugoslavia. My grandparents left
Communist Yugoslavia for Canada. I am the grandchild, a truly grateful Canadian with no
intention of leaving anytime soon. Having
been born and raised in Zimbabwe, I left in 1984 after deciding that I could not live with
a dictator - Mugabe. I'm grateful to South Africa, my adopted country, and pleased to live
through all the changes that have happened here in the last 10 years. I could not imagine
being anywhere else - although it took several years to feel that we belonged here.
I was
born in Tanzania and lived with my family all over Africa for eight years, ending up in
Nigeria. Then we went back home to Karachi, Pakistan, luckily just before the economic
crash in Nigeria. After four years there, we then moved to Brunei, where I stayed for six
years until I'd finished my A levels - and was then sent to LSE, UK to do my degree - and
now somehow I've ended up in Auckland, NZ for the last four years in a top job, happily
married to a Kiwi and very settled, until the travel bugs start biting again! Then who
knows where else my destiny will take me!! I moved
from the Netherlands to live in the USA for a number of years. I'm so pleased to be back
here, though. I'm really appreciating the openness, liberal values and sanity of my fellow
Dutchmen. Back in
October 1953, I was smuggled out of Communist Hungary and eventually reached the USA 3
years later. It not only saved my life but enabled me to make a pretty good one for myself
and, later, my family. As long as one is ready to work and not go on welfare, there should
be no obstacles to cross borders.
I am
Taiwanese and I've moved from Taiwan to the Philippines, then to the US, and am currently
living in Sweden now. Along the way I picked up a Filipino immigrant card, a US driver's
license and social security card, and now a Swedish residence permit. The world is so
small, I ran into people who know my friend's friends in France, an American who lives on
the same street with my friend in San Mateo, California, a Swede here who I went to
college with in Texas, and an old high school friend who now works in Kenya. My landlord
is a Canadian citizen but Cantonese by origin; one of my professors is from Sunderland.
The world is so small that everyone is connected to everyone in one way or another. The USA
is my third home during my lifetime, hopefully the last one. I was born in India (Simla)
then moved to Pakistan after the partition of India when India obtained its freedom from
the British. I migrated again from Pakistan to the USA in 1993 for political asylum with
my family. We came
to the US seventeen years ago from India for higher education. My initial plan was to go
back after finishing my studies and getting a few years of job experience. But I fell into
an excellent trap! After I started working at NASA I felt I wouldn't find a more exciting
job anywhere else. However, I love India and visit the country almost every year.
I left
England for France ten years ago, and was relatively content with La Vie Parisienne.
However, 2002 found me VERY homesick for the land of red telephone boxes, cheerful,
positive people, friendly, local pubs and quality TV. I moved back to England - it lasted
a year - and now I'm back in Paris. My point being that sometimes it's better to keep
dreams of our motherland AS dreams. My
grandfather came to New York in the late 60's. Originally from Co. Mayo he first went to
Leicester to work coal mines, and then travelled to the States and joined the fire
department where he worked for 20 years and retired. He came with nothing and now owns two
houses in NY and Florida, and put 10 kids through college. Last
year we applied to emigrate to Canada. If we are successful, it will be the second time in
my life I will be an immigrant. My husband and I want a better life for ourselves and
especially for our two children. If we stay here, I cannot see our children being able to
afford to buy a house and they will look forward to a lifetime of debt in the UK due to
the high cost of everything. We pay £££ for our taxes, but we see no improvements in
services such as schools, police, hospitals, public transport. Sound familiar?
I am a
Dutch citizen and moved to the USA in 1976. I lived there for 24 years and returned to
Holland in 2000. I still don't feel "at home" and at times aspects of Dutch
culture and government disgust me. I find the environment small minded, bureaucratic,
rude, unfriendly to strangers, obsessed with petty things, xenophobic, afraid to take
responsibility for their own happiness. I very much miss New York and the friendliness an
openness of the people there. And yet, I love smelling the scents of my childhood, being
near the sea, going everywhere on bicycle. I love the countryside on a sunny summer day. I
guess I'm torn between two cultures. I moved
to New Zealand from India in 2002. It is 17,000 km away from India. The only reason for me
was and is to have an international higher education and quality experience at an
international level. I must admit that the decision to leave India gave me tremendous
exposure and is playing a vital part in developing my personality as I am only 22 years of
age. I'm a
Brit married to an American for the past 15 years. As a marital compromise, every five
years or so, we move across the Atlantic living in either the UK or US. America does offer
a higher economic standard of living, but I feel the quality of life is higher in the UK.
Everything I love is in the UK (family and friends, culture, beautiful countryside, access
to Europe, a vast transportation network, decent education system and a decent and
free-for-all medical service). Due to move back to the UK this year. Really can't wait. I have
moved from China to France to California, to where I am now: Canada. In my mind, there's
no question about it - I've now found a country to call my own. I am
writing from Bolivia. Originally from London I have lived in other places, principally in
Denmark when I was much younger. Why Bolivia? Almost by accident and because I cannot
afford to live in England. Eight
years ago I moved to the UK (legally) with my two young children and started a new life.
Although everyone around us was very kind and supportive, I also had a big cultural shock
- the UK was so different from the country my grandmother told me about! After 8 years I
am back in Hungary with my family, and I am hoping I will stay put here now. Although
people in the UK fear that there will be a big influx of people from Eastern Europe, once
we join the EU, I would not worry. In a few years time there will be a huge reflux as
well, when people realise that there are better old-fashioned, solid values still in
Eastern Europe. For us, close family ties and emotions are a lot more important than for
people in the UK. I now have an appreciation for Hungary I would have never have had
without leaving it for a few years, and I am particularly pleased I have a lot more to
offer here to my teenage daughters in "real" values. My wife
and I moved from India to the US on a work permit in 1999. We had a total of $3000 when we
came here. This is truly a land of opportunities. We are comfortable today. We bought a
house and have two cars. Something I could have never have dreamed of in India. However,
the process of obtaining a green card is a nightmare. I only wish I had come here 10 years
earlier.
I came
to the US from the USSR in 1988. My family were refuseniks, so when we were finally able
to leave the USSR it was a great feeling. I still get a goose bumps when I return home
from travel and see the American flag. Thank you USA for welcoming my family and me and
for opening opportunities for us that others can only dream about. In our case we are
proof that in the US you can be anything you want if you work hard. We started from
nothing with $600 in our pockets for five people. Now we lead a very happy and comfortable
life. Our entire extended family is here. The most amazing thing is that from day one
people here made us feel welcome. We were never second rate citizens. People went out of
their way to help us. Thank you again. Now it is my turn to repay my country and people
for the their kindness. Through
my moves from Stockholm to Barcelona, London and now Tokyo I've collected a Swedish
passport, a Spanish driver's license, a UK university degree, and a Japanese residency
permit. Despite all my papers I remain a proud Swede at heart but going back there for
vacation is a bureaucratic nightmare that really obstructs everyday activities. I am 25
but I can't buy alcohol as I lack the official ID card and the old type passport is not
valid at the notorious Systembolaget (state-run liquor stores). For the same reason I am
not allowed to rent videos, use my cash card in a shop, or even sometimes enter
nightclubs. If I, a Swede, have these problems in my home country, I wonder how all the
foreigners visiting and living there are coping with the Swedish red tape galore.
Vanessa
Åsell wonders how foreigners cope with Swedish red tape. Speaking as one of those, it's
fairly easy. Having moved here with my family for work reasons, the first thing to sort
out was resident permits and personal numbers (without which nothing happens). But once
this is done, sorting out things like doctors, dentists, schools, insurance and bank
accounts is easy. Life here is relaxed, the people friendly, the cities clean and public
transport cheap and reliable. You get used to things like Systembolaget and its odd
opening hours, and then wonder why anyone would want a deregulated system for selling
alcohol. You also get used to recycling and the emphasis on the environment. There's also
a good sense of society and community here (even in Stockholm), and you start to wonder
why other countries are so different. And no, we don't want to go back to the UK. I have
lived in Milan, Monza, London, Sydney, Los Angeles, and now in Barcelona. I still haven't
found my place. I am in
the process of selling up and moving to Thailand. I am retired and can afford to live
there without working, something I can't do here. I am also sick and tired of being
marginalised in my own country. I was
born in the UK but moved to the USA in 1994 when I was 22. I love it here - truly the land
of opportunity. I miss the UK, but it's so depressed and the cost of living is
astronomical. Life here in the US is very different. Less stress, a much higher standard
of living and the people are friendlier. Pity about the president though.
I was
born and brought up in Sierra Leone by a Guinean family, in a town called Makeni in the
Northern Province. I left Sierra Leone for Guinea just before the rebels could enter
Makeni in 1990. When I left Makeni for Conakry, Guinea, there was a huge influx of people
coming from Kono, where the RUF first struck. It was a Friday when the RUF entered Koido
killing everyone that came their way. While in Guinea, life was not as bad as before.
After a while, I decided to travel to the Gambia, and later on return to Guinea Conakry.
In 1999, I left Guinea for Spain. When I arrived in Spain, I applied for asylum, but I was
refused and repatriated to Senegal. Then I came back again, and I was promised a
residential permit for almost four good years which was in vain, but finally, I have got
my residential permit. I moved
out of Pakistan in 1997 for employment in Dubai. I regretted every single minute as the
apathy of the world is most visible in the Middle East where people from poorer countries
are fuelled by riches from the West. I am a third class citizen with no rights and will
never have any. Professionally they consider us slaves even when my colleagues and I have
outclassed the gentry of this land and the West. Do I have a life? No! Am I happy? No!
What else is there to say. I am living in a city revered by the West as modern, but where
repression and exploitation is rife. I moved
to Dubai in 1979, and have loved every single minute of living in this wonderful, clean,
modern and crime free country. The UAE rulers are modern thinkers, extremely tolerant, and
provide so many people of differing nationalities, who after all choose to come and live
here, of their own free will, with every possible amenity for a good and prosperous life.
I will never return to the crime ridden streets of UK. Siraj, may I suggest purchasing a
one way ticket back to Pakistan, if you are so unhappy living here!
I left
Romania four years ago and moved to Canada. Although Canada offers me a much better life,
I think I will return to Transylvania (province of Romania). I find that the people in my
country, although they have a very hard life they enjoy the good moments in life a lot
more. What can I say but thanks to the Canadian people for letting me experience their
culture. But unfortunately for me I believe in the phrase: "There's no place like
home." I left
my native Germany seven years ago and haven't been homesick at all. For the last five
years I've been living in London. EU citizens can work in any EU country, which means much
less bureaucracy than in the US. I consider myself human in the first place, female in the
second, and German by a long way off. Nationality shouldn't count so much - there is more
that unites us than what separates us! My
family and I emigrated to Canada two years ago and it was the best move we could have
made. The standard of living is better than Wales, my wages are double even though I have
taken a more junior position and the threat of redundancy is remote unlike the UK. The
schools are better run with none of the bullying problems that my daughter experienced in
Wales. The streets (apart from Toronto) are clean, and the people polite. The only
downside are the neighbours down South!!
I left
Ireland for Italy three years ago. Instead of the green hills of Wicklow, I now live in
Milan, a dirty, smoggy, fast and unfeeling city in the middle of an industrial heartland.
The cost of living is very high here and you have to be careful when doing business that
people pay you on time. And yet I wouldn't go back home for a million euro. Here I feel
somehow secure and 'at home', even though I'm clearly not. I think that some emigrants
simply feel like fish out of water in their home country, and these people fit in better
as foreigners than as natives. I am a
Mexican living in Germany for the last four years. I hold a good job and have a pretty
high living standard, which in Mexico, with the same job level, I could never expect to
have. Whilst I miss my country very much, I love Germany because it offers a more stable,
safe and open environment than Mexico. And Germans in general are really nice people. I was
born in the US but moved to Denmark when I got married to my Danish husband. Learning the
language has been difficult, and sometimes still I get "culture shock", but I
wouldn't go back to the US if someone paid me. It is so much cleaner and safer (the crime
rate for the entire country is lower than for the city which neighboured mine in the US).
I get a rate of pay and benefits (health, unemployment, pension) that I would only have
dreamed of getting in the US. I never was patriotic before moving here, now I can actually
say that I love my country and I am proud of it!
I was
born in the US but returned to the land of my grandparents. I fully support migration
because skills that are nearly worthless in one's native country can become invaluable in
another. Thus people who would be a burden on society in one place can become productive
members of society elsewhere. Furthermore, adapting to a new culture forces people to
grow. I agree with the British study last year which revealed that ethnic problems arise
when ethnic groups fail to interact/integrate with the other ethnic groups around them.
Consequently, programming that helps people understand the cultures of the ethnic groups
around them is vital. I have
legally come to the US from Mexico. It took a lot of patience, but I am able to hold my
head up high, unlike the millions whose first act in America was to break its laws. I'm
very disappointed at the new "don't call it amnesty" amnesty plan. Perhaps I
should have just sneaked over the border and waited for this after all.
I'm an
immigrant living in an immigrant country. Israel has been built and shaped by waves of
immigrants from its very beginning. I come originally from the former USSR - the source of
the latest wave that has changed dramatically the society of Israel. My personal
experience has not been as traumatic as one could imagine. Being relatively young, I
undertook the whole process a lot easier. Moreover, the path has been trodden by my
relatives, who had previously settled in the Holy Land. According to their account, the
conditions they suffered were gruesome and unkind. The strangers in the strange land. In
the early nineties Russian immigrants were generally despised and disrespected, due to the
general knowledge of the government subsidies and money grants, which were widely
considered to be unearned. There are lots of problems that still arise and remain largely
shared by immigrants to a new country. Sometimes it's hard to imagine all the possible
variety of difficulties one faces when moving his home several thousand miles away. I have
moved from the UK looking for a better life in Dubai - a true paradise, and I will likely
stay here for good. Apart from constant sun and clean air I enjoy a much higher standard
of living than I had in the UK. Salaries are 30-50% more than in the UK. The journey was
not easy, but UAE authorities do their best to accommodate new migrants. People migrate
from all over the world to UAE in search of a better life, it is worth the trouble.
I am
English and a retired policeman. I now live in Japan and have done so for some eight
years. When I retired, I was unemployable (although being highly trained and qualified
with university degrees.) No one in England wanted to know. I was welcomed with open arms
in Japan. My standard of living is possibly double that of England. I work one quarter of
the hours that I had to in England with double the remuneration. I wouldn't want to return
now to England. Xenophobic, impolite people, filthy streets, a transport system which is a
joke, lack of respect for others. Why would I want to return? I agree
with Paul Waller. I have had a similar experience since I returned to the UK in 2000 after
moving to South Africa in 1975. The UK has nothing to offer, third world medical service,
yobs on every street corner, and all Brits do is moan about everything. I am going back to
South Africa where people enjoy more of life than two weeks a year eating fish and chips
in Spain. I
confess I am one of those fiercely patriotic but sadly realistic Nigerians. I loved my
country and would have preferred to stay there for the rest of my life. But I realised
that I could not achieve my full academic potential if I stayed in Nigeria with its
present vulnerable academic conditions. So when I had the opportunity to emigrate and
study at Oxford, I took due advantage of it. I suppose that living in a foreign country
has made me realise just how similar we human beings are and has destroyed any possible
stereotypes I may have possessed about the British. Having said that, I am always saddened
by the anti-immigrant/asylum seeker rants one seems to hear everyday. We are accused of
trying to 'take over' the country! Strange to say the least. Not
everyone moves for purely economic reasons. I moved to Russia from the UK, because the
social norms here are more humane. Is it a "better life"? Well, yes - it is a
real life, and not an ersatz version made up of game shows, store cards, celebrity
obsession, acquisition-mania, PR lies and political spin doctors. Neither financial
betterment nor romance motivated my move. Thatcher said "let them go to live in
Russia if they don't like it!" Thanks for the advice, Mrs T - at least there's no
chance of meeting your type here. |
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Britain needs millions of new people in
order to do the jobs no one wants 
