Night after night, it seems some rickety boat and/or one overfilled to the gills has sunk with results of human tragedy. Children, women and others unnecessarily have seen their graveyards, watery ones to which they have often died painfully and well before old age. Most of those fleeing worldwide are from the Global South; failed or poor states like Afghanistan, Pakistan, in Central America or in Western Africa, such as troubled Niger that is so much in the news. They are mostly former European colonies, many of which one might argue have not found formulas from India to Singapore to certain Caribbean islands to break enough out of a historical legacy, sometimes directly ongoing from the miserable fallout of colonialism, neocolonialism, slavery and indentured servitude. If they had, they might have become sustainable and not motivated relatively huge refugee outflows from their countries. And finally, there is a need to create useful conditions to put the human smugglers out of business.
In one recent case in Europe, Greece’s coastguard seemed not to care enough to be able to deal with a sinking ship filled with refugees, including from Pakistan. That country along with notable others represents one the most challenged states. Unfortunately, it has not only suffered from the after effects of colonialism that deserve sympathy. But its leadership has chosen the wrong “boat” for its people’s development in the post-colonial period.
For India, it may have refugees going to the West, but not significant as a portion of its population. With its massive 1.4 billion people, it generated only 50,00 illegal immigrants per year to the US Contrast this to the millions coming over the Mexican border to America. As well, based on the the Times of India reporting, if British tuition fees for international students were more reasonable for Indians, possibly a third less Indians would illegally be headed to England by way of its dangerous Channel waters.
Yet, with anti-refugee sentiment rising around the world, especially in Europe think about this. if the West, in particular is nearly closed down as it might be one day to those truly fleeing poverty and desperation, will for example, very large numbers of Pakistanis normally headed for the West be redirected to India? And be added to new flows of refugees already in Pakistan then redirected to India, too? And would Islamabad use, as the Belarus government was accused of, and weaponize refugees and send them packing in serious numbers to its neighbor. Any such tactics applied by Pakistan could undermine Indian security.
Further, would Islamabad through redirecting masses of refugees, hide elements with them that would be happy to cause havoc within Indian society? For now these are possibly too many questions that are hypothetical, but then so was Russia invading Ukraine or what Belarus tried.
Therefore, in the meantime, it is crucial that the West and others increase the number of refugees they allow in with safer and administratively streamed means provided for their entry and societal incorporation. The lack of alleviation of the numbers displaced roaming around in the South is becoming a “massive time bomb” much more to the stability of countries like India in the future and Turkey, now already holding 3.6 million refugees according to the UN – and the overall North, eventually. Also, unless such countries under pressure that are the source of major flows are encouraged to follow successful models of development, like India’s and beyond, the current crisis of 100 million displaced according to the UN could look like a picnic in not so many more years. Not to forget that increasingly harsh and even bizarre western legislation like UK laws to send illegal refugees to Rwanda, are not substitutes for proper laws and development. As well, so-called liberal interventionism as seen by the West in NATO attacking Libya only generates major refugee fallout. Just ask Europeans, too.
How big is the problem getting? The UN also reports such displaced numbers have been growing by about 20 percent a year. Wars by or promoted by the global North in Ukraine causing millions of Ukrainian refugees, add pressures and distractions not to give enough attention and resources to those coming from places like Afghanistan and Pakistan or to Africa, like Niger or Mali. No coincidence, the last two extremely impoverished states may find themselves in war. And such a powderkeg in Niger blowing would likely generate more refugees if the Western African union were to invade Niger. That is the West’s, hair-triggered ECOWAS “proxy” to physically shoot and invade to restore a failed and unpopular democratic government in Niger? Go figure.
But then what is it for the West to do sensibly, instead of facing widening refugee flows and trying to get legislative, angry mad at the throngs of suffering saying, “Please let my children and us in and live.” Why bloody not instead of being so selfish and paranoid for the low unemployment West towards those many ambitious to succeed but at first to live?
Beyond that, the so-called civilized West needs to be more invested in supporting development such as in education using mobile device technology better. India is a big booster model of this by spreading digitalization through Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government’s incredible advances on this, which it is sharing with others and currently promoting through the G20 it chairs this year. While working as a volunteer in an Ecuador school, attended by mostly kids from families of the poor, I saw first hand the need for such advances in such developing countries too.
Western civilization currently and by legacy will be judged by how it treats the wretched of the earth and the South in general. It is reaping what it sows to some extent. Refugees do not exist out of a vacuum that wipes out the memory of colonialism and neo-colonialism – or, governance determined to head in the “wrong” development direction, partly due to inappropriate western model signaling and aggression. It is time to end the blame game on the refugees themselves. Indeed, it is now time to end the so-called developed world’s overall “mad” refugee policies. And those states generating major numbers of refugees, should be looking to global success stories like India’s, having histories and empathy more compatible to them than much of the West.
Peter Dash, an educator was an Associate at the Africa Research Program, Harvard University and did volunteer work for Africa connected NGOs. He resides in Southeast Asia.
