Yes, Europe is not the heaven illegal immigrants are made to believe

Migrants crowd an inflatable dinghy as members of the Italian coast guard approach them off the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea on April 22. PHOTO: REUTERS

NAIROBI: The current migrant crisis in Europe should be a concern not just to European countries to which the immigrants are running but to all other countries especially in Africa. Thousands of migrants are reportedly arriving in Europe daily, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, with a few from Africa.

The images of men, women and children in holding camps in Europe are disturbing. These people fleeing war and persecution in their countries of origin and running to places where they believe they would get a home and peace. The image of the two-year-old Syrian boy whose body was washed up on the Turkish beach after the boat smuggling the family to Europe capsized should be disconcerting enough for the world to seek ways of averting such crises in future.

While the problem of migrants to Europe has reached alarming proportions in recent past, causing a humanitarian crisis and posing a security threat, the story of citizens of developing countries seeking refuge and better lives in Europe and America is not new. Many young people, especially in Africa, harbour dreams of living in Europe because they believe they would lead better lives there.

Sell property

Parents have been known to sell property and drain all their resources to send their children to Europe in the belief that their families would eventually gain materially from the migrant. This story of ‘heavenly Europe’ is one that Alain Mabanckou’s novel, Blue White Red (translated 2013) tells so convincingly.

Blue White Red, tells the story of Massala-Massala a citizen of the Republic of Congo who leads a peasant life in a little village. One of his village mates, Moki, returns home for vacation from France where he lives. Moki is the envy of many young men and women in his village who see his as the ideal life – designer clothes, polished French, and his talk about the divine life he leads in France. His parents and brothers are treated like gods for having a son and brother in France.

Massala-Massala’s greatest desire is to live in France like Moki and he seeks the latter’s help to achieve this. Through the help of an uncle Massala-Massala is able to raise the air fare and Moki stands as a guarantor to invite and host Massala-Massala in France. His dream of leading an idyllic life is finally within reach and his father is certain that with a son in France, the family’s suffering would come to an end.

Unfortunately, when Massala-Massala lands in France, he quickly discovers that what Moki had shown him and other villagers back home was just a façade and his life in France is far from successful. Moki lives with tens of other young men, all illegal immigrants like him, in dejected structures in the backstreets of France. None of them has a stable job and they have to scrounge to survive the tough streets.

Massala has to learn how to survive as an illegal migrant and join the ‘underground’ to avoid arrest. In addition, he not only has to take on a new and fake identity but he is also quickly inducted into crime to earn a living – one of the more experienced immigrants shows him how to cash stolen cheques. Going back home is not an option because he and others like him have to maintain the illusion of success for those they left behind.

Blue White Red is a mockery of the conviction of many people in developing countries that Europe is the land of milk and honey. Massala-Massala’s experience exposes the lie that every immigrant into Europe will automatically escape poverty and uplift the lives of their families back home. Mabanckou’s message is that while young people are free to dream and desire better lives for themselves, they should not be deceived by superficial demonstrations of achievement by those who have travelled and come back home. One cannot just drop out of school, like Massala-Massala does, and hope that relocating to Europe will offer them a comfortable life.

Risk their life

Yet, the novel also raises fundamental questions regarding the real causes of migrants. Why would one risk their life, and those of their families, to embark on a journey of the unknown as seen in the current case of migrants to Europe? If poor countries put their houses in order, nobody would be interested in leaving their homes and families behind for a foreign world. Africa needs to cultivate an environment that is safe and conducive for citizens to develop their potential without the constant threat of war, starvation, economic recession, and disease.

The novel questions the worth of the money paid to smugglers or the resources that families waste to get their children to Europe. Is life in Europe worth the pain that immigrants go through? Is the possibility of facing a shock like Massala-Massala does worth the risk of losing one’s life or those of their families at sea? Why would one want to leave their country to face horrible weather, racism, fear of being discovered by the police, and poor pay in back breaking jobs?

Blue White Red is, in a sense, a call to Africans to stop idealising Europe and a reminder to the concerned parties to make their countries worth living in – to inspire confidence in the citizens about the need to stay put and achieve their dreams right at home. However, this can only happen if these countries are rid of the corruption that eats into the dreams of hardworking and ambitious young men and women.