Refugees, Immigrants

The European Union, USA, Australia and other first world countries have one thing in common: they are attracting people from developing and third world countries. Why? Those people are not just fleeing from dictatorial regimes but poverty and social unrest. In spite of the unfamiliarity of target countries’ cultures, laws, religions, and lack of their traditional community, they will risk their lives to travel legally or illegally to get away.

If they manage to be accepted as immigrants, they will find that they may not easily become part of their new social environment, and everything in which they are different from the general population will be very visible and may cause friction. As a result they will stay close to other immigrants, which will make their own wish to integrate even more difficult.

The population of the host country will see the steady influx of immigrants from foreign cultures increasingly as a threat to their own culture, as they fear a dilution of their inherited values. Instead of helping the newcomers and locals to understand each other, as is happening to a large extent in Australia, they prefer to express their resistance to this “intrusion”. Actually, it is a pity, as the infusion of new cultures and even races can only be of benefit, as it will create innovation on the one part and an influx of new genes in the other.

I suggested a solution to this problem elsewhere, and won’t go into detail again here.

In my view, the best way to reduce the number of people who want to leave their own country for “a better world”, is to create that better world where they live. This would be a win-win solution. It reduces the pressure on infrastructure, such as essential services, schools, hospitals, etc, that a sudden increase in the rate of population growth brings about, and it will improve the economy and reduce poverty in the countries of origin. That means that the effort both economically and diplomatically will reflect positively on the “donor” countries.

With politics at present being preoccupied with ‘navel gazing’ for the sake of the next election, an outward looking idea like this doesn’t even seem to enter the minds of the politicians.

If, for instance, the EU were to look at the changes that are occurring in the Middle East and North Africa with a view that this is an opportunity to assist countries in those regions as a whole to collaborate with each other in a way somewhat similar to that which took place in Europe after WWII. Then the solution to the economic and social problems resulting from the political upheaval towards democracy could be found earlier rather than later. That solution could even include the formation of a ‘Levantine Union’ (http://on.fb.me/aDxFyp), a society of peoples somewhat similar to the EU, but having the chance to learn from the EU’s mistakes of the past and present. The EU was created for the sake of peace, and in that regard has been successful. If a Levantine Union could achieve peace between peoples that feel aggressive to their neighbours because of ‘nationalistic’ tendencies, then such a Union would achieve the desire of those very same peoples.

The external assistance given must, however, be very sensitive to the cultures and religious preferences of the peoples. Humble advice is always welcome, the acceptance of difference is essential on both sides. All discussions and negotiations must be on an equal footing as suggested by Habermas in his methodology for ‘communicative action’. Thus ‘true consensus’, as discussed in my book ‘world without war’ (http://amzn.to/hAGSBH), can be found for the formation of constitutions for each nation that can fit into the overarching constitution of this new society of peoples without the need for a risky ‘overlapping consensus’ as suggested by John Rawls (The Law of Peoples).

Living in a peaceful region will eliminate the main reasons for its inhabitants to want to leave. At the same time it will reduce the temptation of members of the EU to build walls around their territory to prevent the influx of unwanted immigrants.

The next step will then be to use the successful example of it to create a similar society for the peoples in the Sub Saharan region, and again along the East coast of Africa, and on the West coast as well. These regional societies will grow like the EU did, as they will be attractive institutions for other countries. It will reduce poverty, the breeding ground of terrorists, and will ultimately achieve a world without war.