The big news story where I live at the moment is 'Operation Stack'. The roads in Kent are blocked up with trucks upon trucks trying to get through the port of Dover and into Calais, and vice versa. But there's a problem. There are strikes in Calais, blocking access to the port from both land and sea. The media is, of course, covering this, but I'm getting increasingly uneasy listening to the BBC's reports, as well as the response from inside Britain.
What's really getting to me is the focus of the reporting. Every time the report begins by mentioning 'industrial disputes' in Calais (actually over job security: a huge workforce has found out that their employer has been bought out, but their jobs are not guaranteed, making the anger very understandable), but very frequently that favourite buzzword from the recent UK general election appears: migrants.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there is a migrant problem, in case you hadn't heard. There are thousands of the bastards there in Calais wanting to come to Britain, and the crazy, crazy fools are balancing on truck axles, or trying to hold onto the Eurostar. Some are even trying to swim the channel, all for life in the UK. Each and every day I'm hearing about more and more of them dying. And it's not just between Dover and Calais. Holiday makers in Greece, enjoying the weak Euro, are complaining about migrants appearing by the boat loads on the beaches, coming across the Mediterranean. And that's just those who survive the perilous crossing in unsuitable, vastly overladen boats.
But here's the problem. A word has seemingly disappeared from all media, and even governmental communications regarding this crisis. I cannot honestly recall the last time I heard the word 'refugee' applied to those on the European side of the Mediterranean. Apparently boats leaving Libya, a country still in dire straits following the bombing and subsequent fucking off by the British, French and Americans, contain migrants. Apparently people who are prepared to risk life and limb to get across the English channel are migrants.
A dictionary definition of the word migrant can be 'a person who moves from one place to another in order to find work or better living conditions.' I wonder, how many of those coming from Libya, or from Syria, are coming to Europe in the hope of landing a decent job. That's worth death, surely, to get some extra cash in your pocket, and financial security? Although there are, of course, people who will employ illegal immigrants in many countries, those coming across open water in dangerous conditions don't seem like people wanting a dream job in a richer country. To me, they seem like people fleeing for their lives.
I have heard interviews with Syrian people on the Greek islands, saying that the camps they are currently living in are a form of hell, but it's safer than living with Daesh, and I don't blame them for saying that. These people had a home, and they didn't want to leave, but circumstances became so harsh that it became leave or die. And flight was then the only option. And those crossing the Med. are just trying to get away from war-torn countries, to get their families out of there. These people are NOT migrants looking for an income. They are refugees. They are people who are fleeing for their lives, and begging to be treated as humans while doing so. To me, they are people who deserve what help we can give them, after the damage we have helped to cause in their homes.
But, I'm sure many people not reading this will try to counter my statement by the age old 'well why are they trying to come to Britain, if all they want to do is get out?'. I can tell you why. Britain has not yet lost the image of having a phenomenal welfare state. Those of us inside the system can see the welfare state balancing on a dangerous precipice under the current Conservative government, but the outside world does not realise this. When, as UK volunteers in Palestine, we explained the reality of our supposed utopia, I did see shock on the faces of my Palestinian friends. Britain still is believed to be a place where a person can come, and get somewhere to live, get healthcare for free, and get support to find a job. If you're going to flee to anywhere, and attempt to support a family, wouldn't you pick the place rumoured to be favourable?
Yes, I did just say that there are people wanting to find work among these refugees. And that's because they want to support their families. But that is not their reason for leaving. That is purely to do with survival, and not wanting a life of violence, hatred and bloodshed. And yet, these refugees arrive in Europe after a harrowing ordeal, looking for compassion. Instead they find disgusted holiday-makers, annoyed at their view being spoiled. They find closed borders and people saying that they have 'no room' in a country not torn apart by bombs and infighting. Put yourselves in their shoes, and imagine what it must be like to think you've found a haven, and to only find more hatred?
So this is a message to the media, and all those reading it. Stop telling us that these people are purely migrants, moving around and lusting for Europe. Remember the word refugee. These are very real people, who are frequently fleeing from horrors we cannot even imagine. I know there is no easy solution to the current crisis, but we can do one thing: we can treat these people as people. They are fellow humans, who are just looking to live, and largely dream of one day returning home. They deserve to be treated with dignity, and they deserve our sympathy. Let's stop demonising refugees and degrading them, even more than they are already.
