No need yet to flee from SA in a rubber boat
I know Europe is far from South Africa, and the refugee exodus might seem a million miles removed from our daily lives, but the crisis has me thinking.
As one watches how, day in and day out, thousands of refugees are risking their lives just to flee their country of oppression, I have to ponder that maybe things are not all that bad here in South Africa.
I write about refugees and migrants because maybe we need to start thinking a bit more positively about our country and its people – and hey, the Rugby World Cup has started, so go Boks!
We also need to make a point of clarification that we need to discern between a migrant and a refugee, since it seems even the international news is getting a bit confused.
A migrant is a person who makes a conscious choice to leave their country to seek a better life elsewhere. Before they decide to leave their country, migrants can seek information about their new home, study the language and explore employment opportunities.
Refugees, on the other hand, are forced to leave their country because they are at risk of, or have experienced, persecution. The concerns of refugees are human rights and safety, not economic advantage.
Some are forced to flee with no warning and many have experienced significant trauma or been tortured or otherwise ill-treated.
So, what the world is witnessing is mostly refugees fleeing to Europe, because most of them have have been forced to flee in a hope of a new future.
Ever considered how utterly desperate you must be to willingly climb into an unstable boat to cross the vast Mediterranean in the hope that someone will rescue you?
You are talking of extreme danger and discomfort and having to face the possibility of yourself or your loved ones dying.
Yet, despite these odds, refugees are daily fleeing from countries in North Africa and the Middle East, such as Syria.
Sure, some are migrants who are hoping for a brighter future, but many are tackling the dangerous journey because they cannot or don’t want to return to their homeland.
Shockingly, it is estimated a record 156 000 refugees/migrants have entered the European Union in August. According to the bloc’s border agency, Frontex, this takes the total for the year to more than 500 000.
Germany has prepared for as many as 800 000 asylum-seekers this year, and some officials say that may be an underestimate.
Our President has blamed the crises on Nato countries, saying that before Nato interference in Libya and the subsequent killing of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011, there were no refugees flocking to European countries.
He said the systematic bombing by Nato forces undermined the security and caused conflicts that are continuing in Libya and neighbouring countries.
He feels that Europe caused the crisis and must, thus, address it.
There has been the counter argument, that ”dictators” are to blame for North Africa’s woes, undermining democracy.
Whatever the truth may be, the reality is that our life in South Africa is not so bad if you weigh it up against the humanitarian crisis.
Sure, a lot of people have been leaving South Africa, but they are leaving on a plane, sipping red wine and with cash in their pockets. They are not fleeing in the middle of the night on a rubber boat!
Yes, we do have crime and Eskom and Nkandla, along with the EFF, but at least we still have a President who does not read the same speech twice, like Robert Mugabe.
At least, for now, it seems South Africans are not yet desperate enough to hide their children in suitcases to smuggle them into a foreign land, just so that they can survive.
In fact, South Africa, like Europe and America, is a country that both migrants and refugees (especially from Africa) flee towards, in the hope for a better tomorrow.
This has also resulted in South Africa’s labour market being flooded with migrants from neighbouring countries, but this is the price you pay if your land manages to shine (if Eskom has not pulled the switch) like a beacon in the darkest of nights.
Our country struggles with many issues, but chin up, at least we are not adding to the global refugee crisis.
