My person experience of moving to a new
country on the other side of the world has made me realise that I am a
fortunate immigrant.
I am white, British, a native English
speaker, and fairly adaptable and self sufficient. For
someone like me Australia is not strange; its intrinsic British empirical past still
runs deep in a modern Australia which is a mixing pot of immigrants. Many of the names are so familiar and
transplanted from all over the UK it’s easy for me to forget I am so far away
from home.
I can easily fit into Australian society primarily
because I am white, the language is no barrier, and until I open my mouth could
easily pass for a European native although a British accent is so common I feel
like no stranger.
However, anyone of colour, even if they are
second or third or even fourth generation Australian, while very much a part of
Australia as a county of immigrants, could easily be mistaken as someone who
has just stepped off the boat (or more likely the plane) and of questionable
visa status. I do not have this
potential prejudice to overcome.
Furthermore, I am lucky that I am the
holder of a permanent visa with the option of applying for citizenship after 4
years, thanks to the fact that I am married to an Australian citizen (albeit
one who puts his UK status first which is fair enough as he was born in London). Many recent immigrants from anywhere over the
world have restrictions imposed on their visa status such as where they can
live and work, and the type of work they can do, and some arrivals are
restricted to work for a sponsor giving them an incredible uncertainty about
the future in the even that employment comes to an end for any reason.
The fact remains that the transition is,
for me, an easy one. I am perfectly
aware of the fact that the opportunity to make a new start at this stage of my
life with no restrictions placed on me is incredible good fortune particularly
when I come from a relatively western country in the first place where previously
I had a secure employment. My employment
sector is currently going through tough times and if I to find myself back home
I would be unlikely to be able to find well paid work very easily.
It’s true that I am not able to find work
as a lawyer and my current job is not exactly stretching my intellect but I do
enjoy the environment and the people I work with and the wages are very
good. In time there may be an
opportunity to take on more responsibility however the lack of responsibility
is a bonus at the moment.
My new status as an immigrant has led me to
consider the immigration history of my home country not least because of the
anger that is being stirred up both in the UK and here about immigration, in an
attempt (in my view) to demonise immigrants.
In the UK, in our tiny little country off
the north west coast of Europe, we have a rich tapestry of people who can trace
their ancestry to all corners of the world, and who are as much a part of the
fabric of our nation and society as a ginger haired Celt. The UK continues to think of itself as
separate from Europe, not just in terms of division from the mainland by the
English Channel and the North Sea but as different from other European
countries. Sadly some people believe we
are the superior power we were for but a moment in years gone by but those days
of exploration and empire (if indeed they ever really existed) are long gone.
Britain would not be such a rich and
diverse country without its rich and diverse population descended from
countries from all corners of the globe.
Some immigration is of course connected to old days of Empire, when we
ruled India, parts of the West Indies and a few countries in Africa (often with
brutality and arrogance but let’s not allow ethics to overshadow those halcyon
days). However conquest of foreign lands
does not explain all waves of immigration, some dating back centuries.
The Chinese are not famous for their
propensity to venture to far flung lands despite the fact that we all know
there has always been a Chinese restaurant in every town in Britain (probably
the world) since time began, but in fact the Chinese have been leaving China
and coming to countries like England since ships sailed from the far east. There is a huge Chinese immigrant population
in western Canada (I can’t speak for the US) and here in Australia dating back
to the Gold Rush in the 1850s and of course both these places are slightly more
accessible to north east Asia than a tiny island country off the coast of north
east Europe.
Jamaicans and other West Indians were
encouraged to move to the UK in the 1950s to work on the railways, the
underground and the buses, and are as much a part of the fabric of our society
as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, as are the Indian immigrants who
contribute hugely to our country bringing colour and spice in the way we relied
on explorers to bring back exotic tastes of Asia centuries ago.
In more recent decades, with more
restrictions on immigration in western countries, we now experience a wave of
immigrants moving to safe havens from countries where they are persecuted,
tortured and killed by reason of their race, creed or political beliefs. This was once recognised as a humanitarian
stance to take, as a world to take responsibility for persecuted or displaced
persons and help them make a life for themselves free from fear. Sadly there is plenty of evidence, from
almost every western country with no exception known to me, that politicians in
these privileged countries are increasingly and incessantly seeking to
stigmatise these seekers of asylum, turning my fellow countrymen in both my
home country and my adopted country against them, encouraging them to treat
them with disdain, distrust and disbelief.
We should remember that for as long as people could communicate and travel, people have migrated to live in other parts of the world. It’s what we do and we do it for all sorts of reasons, whether our work just took us off travelling and we settled far from home, or whether we set out in search of a better life and found it somewhere else. Thousands of years ago, any one of us may have been slaves and taken by force and settled somewhere far from home with our masters. It is worth remembering that a couple of thousand years ago, we were more likely to be born into slavery than born free.
Migration is not new and it is not usually
a means to infiltrate and take over a host country although the British and
other European countries have very good reason to fear this as a motive having
been well practiced at it themselves.
The vast majority of people, and I would say those people that do
emigrate to a strange country, with strange people who speak a strange
language, are brave and likely to contribute much to their host country. There are always the rotten apples and there
always will be but whole swathes of good people, ambitious for their families
and their futures, should not be tarnished with the brush of the few.
I am a fortunate immigrant. I cannot even pretend to know what it is like
to be so terrified, to have suffered so much, that I feel my only option is to
risk my life and that of my family, to have the slimmest chance of a reasonable
future, or even a future at all. This is
incomprehensible to me. The fact that I
cannot in a million years even imagine the desperation that leads someone to
risk everything leaves me in no doubt that I am, indeed, one of the lucky few.
We had an opportunity (rare even for
westerners at our age) to make a new start on the other side of the world and
much of our decision was based on economics.
I am not fleeing from terror or persecution, but I am seeking a better
life, a better job, and a better home. I
am not necessary looking to make my fortune but travelling has made to view
life in a different way. Life in
Australia is better for us, for now. I
am more than fortunate to know that if that ceases to be the case, I can turn
around and go home.
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