Whats missing in the global debate over refugees Yasin Kakande
I am an immigrant from Uganda
living in the United States
while waiting for my asylum application
to go through.
Migrants do not enjoy
much freedom of movement
in our world today.
This certainly applies to those
who are desperate enough
to navigate choppy
and stormy seas in boats.
These are the risks my cousins
from West Africa and North Africa face
while trying to cross over to Europe.
Indeed, it is a rare
but fortunate opportunity
for a migrant to address
a gathering like this.
But this also signifies
what often is missing
in the global debate over refugees,
migrants and immigrants,
voices of the disenfranchised.
Citizens of many host countries,
even those that previously
welcomed newcomers,
are uneasy about the rising
numbers of individuals
coming into their countries.
The immediate criticism
is that the newcomers upend the stability
of social welfare and employment
in their countries.
Uncertain and skeptical citizens
look towards politicians
who are competing against each other
to see who can claim the prize
of the loudest voice
of populism and nationalism.
It is a contest of who
is the toughest on migrants,
the most willing to impose travel bans
and the most eager to propose
projects in building walls.
All these restrictions simply address
symptoms of the problem,
not the causes.
Why are they coming?
Migrants can share perspectives,
if only politicians
would be willing to listen.
In Dubai, I chronicled injustices
and inequalities inflicted regularly
on the migrant labor force.
As a result, pressures
from the governments
of the respective countries
led to me being forced out of my career
as a journalist in the Middle East.
I was deported to Uganda,
where economic deprivation
puts everyone at the risk of starvation.
I fled Uganda to come to the United States
in the hope of sustaining a voice
for my brothers and sisters
who experience a more
serious plight as migrants.
My father told me he was not happy
about me writing a book
that risked deportation and unemployment.
He had been diabetic for many years
when I still worked in Dubai,
and my salary was always sufficient
to pay for his treatments.
After I was expelled,
I could not afford
to sustain his treatment,
and even in the last days of his life,
I could not afford
to take him to a hospital.
As I carried his body in my hands
to lay it in the ground
in June of last year,
I realized I had paid a profound price
for amplifying my voice.
The act of speaking up against injustices
that are multilayered is never easy,
because the problems require
more than just rhetoric.
So long as gold mines, oilfields and large
farms in Africa continue to be owned
by foreign investors
and those vital resources
are shipped to the West,
the stream of African migrants
will flow continuously.
There are no restrictions
that could ever be so rigorous
to stop the wave of migration
that has determined our human history.
Before border controls can be tightened
and new visa restrictions imposed,
countries that have long received migrants
should engage in a more open discussion.
That is the only practical start
for reconciling, finally,
a legacy of exploitation,
slavery,
colonialism
and imperialism,
so that together, we can move forward
in creating a more just global economy
in the 21st century –
one that benefits all.