From South Africa Corespondent Hassan Isilow…

CAPE TOWN – This weekend was yet another grieving one for the Somali refugee community in the Western Cape. Three of their nationals were murdered in robberies at different Townships around Cape Town. According to activists working with Somali refugees in Bellville, the first Somali national was killed at his shop in Kraaifontein on Tuesday. The second was also gunned down in a robbery at his shop in Khayelitsha on the outskirts of Cape Town on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, the third was killed on Saturday, while delivering goods at a shop in Philippi Township. The deceased was identified as 30 year old Abdi Mohamud. According to family sources, Mohamud was shot while offloading goods at a shop in Philippi.

“After he was shot, he ran to his bakkie and attempted to drive off, but the robbers followed him and continued shooting at him until he died inside the van,” Mohammed Ali, a relative related by telephone.

In recent crime statistics Philippi Township was categorized as the most dangerous place to live in, with the highest murder cases in the country. Efforts to contact the Police in Phillippi for a comment where fruitless as no one answered the phone.
On a related note, activists working with Somali refugees in the Western Cape report that there had been relative calm in the region for the past three months, leading to a welcome reduction in the attacks on Somali nationals. The last major attacks on Somali shopkeepers were recorded in May and June when over 25 Somalis were killed in different Cape Townships.

Somali traders claim they are deliberately being targeted around the country, mainly because of business jealousy from local traders. They also believe that xenophobia is still behind the opposition they face from community leaders. “Many local community leaders still believe that foreigners are here to take jobs from them,” said Sheikh Abdi Rashid Afi of the Somali Community Board (SCOB).

Denial

In June an independent peer review report released found that Government was in denial about xenophobia. “The elevating group felt that the south African Government is not doing enough to address the issue of xenophobia and pointed out that there is even an element of denialism on behalf of some officials,” the report titled, Implementing the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Views from Civil Society’ stated.
The report was released by the AMP Monitoring Project to the Pan African Parliament in June. The AMP is run jointly by the SA Institute of International Affairs, the Centre for Policy Studies and the Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project. South Africa’s last peer review report – the South African Implementation Report II (SAIR II) – in January 2011, stated that Government did not pay enough attention to xenophobia.

“It is noteworthy that SAIR II devotes a whole section to xenophobia, which introduces further responses from Government to xenophobia and acknowledges the role of civil society in taking a lead on the issue. However, it is poorly written with inadvertent repetition and was clearly assembled in a hurry,” the document stated.

A wave of violence against foreigners swept through South Africa in May 2008, leaving at least 67 people dead and tens of thousands displaced. Since then, several reports of pockets of violence against foreigners in different parts of the country have surfaced in the media. The report gives South Africa’s dealing with xenophobia a red rating, which means “no progress has been achieved on addressing the issue; or very little progress has been achieved and the Government does not seem to be on track to complete it in the near future”.

From Mexico Corespondent Dori Rangel…

While world attention is focused on the U.S. plans to build a fence or wall along the border adjacent to Mexico, monitoring, land and air Increases each day in an effort to prevent the crossing of illegal Immigrants from different countries. What is sometimes left out is another border in Mexico Known as, The Forgotten Frontier – the border between Mexico and Guatemala in recent years has become a high risk crossing point.

Information released by WikiLeaks and published in Spain by in the newspaper “El Pais” said: while the U.S. has 30,000 agents along the border with Mexico, only 125 Mexican police are protecting the border with Guatemala. The Police are “ineffective or corrupt and people abandoned by the state for centuries, have decided to accept the protection of powerful criminal groups such as Los Zetas,” they add.

While the 3,000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico is guarded by 30,000 U.S. agents (10 officers per kilometer), Mexico only has 125 officers for 1,000 kilometers from the southern border (eight kilometers a police officer), “Mexican officials repeatedly confirmed that they have no human resources to lead efforts to effectively along the southern border, “notes the information.

The border region shared between southern Mexico and Guatemala has a length of about 956 km.

Most of these people go to Mexico in order to reach the United States. The documents of most of the transmigrants put them in a position of helplessness and vulnerability, making it difficult to keep tabs on the conditions they endure on their journey. Migrants and transmigrants face serious risks in the migration process and are exposed to situations that endanger their lives, physical integrity or threaten their migratory project: assaults, robberies, accidents, injuries, rapes, extortion, cheating, and smuggling.

Migration, drug trafficking, arms trafficking and the violence stemming from organized crime are part of everyday life on the border and have created a series of efforts by both nations.

This institutional situation must be added the existence and proliferation of criminal groups, known as Maras and the Zetas, criminal groups operating in both countries. These gangs have emerged and develop in the context of poverty, unemployment and marginalization in which millions young and whose conditions facilitate the presence of a large number of veterans who participated in the civil war in Central America, and the presence of youth who have been deported from the U.S. and who are unable to readjust to life in Central American societies. These situations lead young people to join gangs that are inevitably associated with organized crime, violence, drugs and abuse of immigrants, among other crimes.

Human trafficking is another risk factor for migrants, who are often deceived by smugglers, who say they will lead those interested to the U.S., but in fact abuse the ignorance of many and leave them in the Mexico. Women and children are particularly vulnerable to trafficking, as they face the additional risk of being mixed up in prostitution.

Representatives of Mexico and Guatemala signed an agreement to improve migration policies between the two Nations; the agreement was drafted for the violations of human rights of undocumented Central Americans in Mexico.

At the end of last year, the government of Guatemala requested Mexico to improve its internal security, citing the disappearance of at least forty undocumented Central Americans, including many Guatemalans, kidnapped by organized crime. Commitment between the two countries to strengthen cooperation on migration and safeguard the rights of Central American immigrants who pass through Mexican territory en route to the United States.

 In Central America, each year about 300,000 undocumented people leave through Mexico, where at least 9,000 immigrants are victims of some form of abuse. Central American governments in Mexico have called for greater respect to immigrants and personal security guarantees to the harassment of criminal gangs.

The massacre of 72 undocumented Latin Americans had ​​a strong impact on public opinion; several activist organizations have urged the Mexican government to protect illegal immigrants passing through Mexico and purge of corruption in the institutions of migration, as 18,000 immigrants were kidnapped in 2009 alone.

All this for pursuing a dream, the American dream, a dream that becomes a nightmare for many immigrants trying to reach the United States. Those who make it across Mexico could be exposed to the fate of the northern border, but that’s another story…

Immigration reform in the United States is a hot topic after Arizona’s legislation, legislative addendum, subsequent boycotts and protests, and the promise of the Obama Administration to address the topic, but there are some salient points of interest being ignored in this debate, or at least being marginalized. Illegal immigration and illegal aliens are two very different subjects, although they’re being treated as the same, and must be differentiated before solutions can be proposed.

Illegal immigration refers to the illegal entry of individuals into the country, with those individuals intending to live within America’s borders, and illegal aliens are those that are in the country illegally; note that illegal aliens do not have a method of entry attached to their illegal status. This is an important distinction, as a large number of illegal aliens within the country begin their stay legally through visas or other means and overstay their welcome. Since they enter legally, defensive devices such as stricter Border Patrol, a giant wall, or others have no affect on this group of people – only the enforcement of the terms of their entry and stay will determine their ability to remain within the country.

While non-immigration illegal aliens are a problem, the fact remains that illegal immigration is commonplace, especially from Central and Latin American countries, and it taxes the services and stability of many states both Southern and Western. However, these very same states often depend on illegal immigrants for cheap labor that is also of illegal status, using these individuals to perform manual work most American citizens would rather not perform, and so both the employers and the local enforcement bureaus tend to gloss over the details of workers’ citizenship.

Besides the low wages and poor living conditions that result from illegal immigrant labor, one of the main concerns of these workers is the stability of their family at home, and they often send large portions of their income to their nation of origin, but rarely go home because of the difficulty involved in crossing the border. If these workers, who come to America often simply for work, had a legal ability to bidirectionally cross the border for the purpose of seasonal farm work, it’s highly plausible that the number of permanent illegal residents would sharply decline – in fact, it’s been tried before. The implementation of a Bracero-esque Program would set minimum wages and living conditions for these temporary immigrants, while still maintaining them as cheap labor, and make the border process a more fluid operation, allowing foreign workers to get what they both want and need, while also satisfying farmers’ and manufacturers’ desire for cheap labor en masse.

While the Bracero Program was not perfect, it provides a window of opportunity to solve the needs of both parties in the modern enforcement stalemate, without resulting to violent and racist actions. To address the illegals, regardless of point of entry, who wish to remain in the country, a nationalization process should be implemented, but not without significant cost and time investment by those very same individuals. If, after a certain period of residency in the country, illegals wish to become citizens, they would be required to file paperwork, pay a portion of their backtaxes owed, pay a non-trivial fine, submit to a background check, and be placed in a watchdog program for a specified time period – after clearing these obstacles, these individuals would then be allowed to proceed with the process of naturalization. By providing a pathway for citizenship to those that have entered illegally, the fear of government, and the strain on public services, would substantially decline.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, immigration laws must be better enforced outside of border areas. All public services – schools, hospitals, welfare, and any other government program – should require proof of citizenship, as these services are paid for by taxes that are often not a concern of illegals. Asking for documentation of legal status for opt-in behavior is a far cry from demanding a demonstration of status at random and at will, and would not violate federal or state laws, or the Constitution. Additionally, not only must the border be properly tended to, via either manpower or technology or both, but work visas, and other legal means of entry, must be actively enforced, deporting those who have illegally overstayed their welcome, ensuring they are not evading scrutiny.

Only through a multiprong, legal, nondiscriminatory approach will America be able to address the ever-growing problem of illegal immigration and illegal aliens. While the implementation of workstay programs, nationalization paths, and the enforcement of legal access to services will not be universally popular, it is nonetheless important and far more humane than the majority of current practices. The United States is a nation that was built, and continues to thrive, on immigrants, and it is ludicrous to pretend otherwise. Perhaps reforming the current laws and practices will require substantial time, money, and the implementation of technology, but America’s future success and stability depends heavily upon the importation of individuals, intelligence, and a strong work ethic.

From Kyle Brady…

Kyle can be found on his blog, on Facebook, via email, or on Twitter.

From Mexico Corespondent Dori Rangel….

A strange mix of feelings runs through my body whenever I think about immigration. It’s difficult for me to process the large number of thoughts and images that come to mind, as well as the many stories I’ve heard since childhood. Throughout my life time there seems to have been a never ending stream of people who have left behind what was most important – their families, their homes, their Mexico – in hopes of a better life.

Years ago, when I was still a student, a group of my friends came to me with news that someone offered them employment in the United States. It was legal work in a carpet factory that offered a high salary for the average Mexican. It was for a period of 6 months with an option for another 6, and offered both food and lodging.

I listened in amazement at their enthusiasm, as many of my friends were educated, professional people with stable lives. I felt my goals were here in Mexico and so I passed. Regardless of my personal take on the matter, many of my friends and colleagues were intrigued. Soon enough, more than 25 of them decided to take the job offer.

I remember a couple of friends sold all their possessions, even their own beds, to cover the cost of making the move north to America. When the big day arrived, they made their way to the airport to leave for the United States, everything they owned packed into a suitcase.

The man who had supposedly hired them all and processed their visas for a fee however, never arrived. They waited for hours, and eventually discovered no one was coming. No tickets were issued in their name, no contracts ever existed. All been conned out of what little money they had. With broken dreams they returned to the city, many having lost their life savings, along with their faith in most anything at all. Some even found themselves homeless.

There’s no doubt, it’s difficult to find good work in Mexico. Not everyone has the luck or the opportunities. Sometimes people with college degrees, work under the command of people who haven’t studied past high school.

I studied pharmaceutical chemistry in university, but to this day I haven’t been able to utilize my degree. The chemistry sector is saturated in Mexico. These days I run a small business and work for the government part-time.

Years ago, one of my best friends decided to try his luck in Canada. He called and told me I should come as well, as there were many jobs available and the overall standard of life was high. I discussed it with my family and eventually, the anguish of being unable to obtain a decent job furled my decision to go. This in spite of the suffering my children would have to endure.

I sent my documents and after a time was approved to legally work there. Not long before going, my mother suffered a stroke. It was our original plan for my mother to join us, but now she couldn’t and I no longer had the support of my mother to care for my children. I never went to Canada and today I’m still in Mexico.

The lack of jobs and further still the high quantity of low paying jobs, are the main factors in that lead many to choose migration as a solution to hardship. This choice then triggers a series of consequences.

What it does is in fact create a greater sense of desperation in the economic sector and worse still, a false dream of America; one that does not import all the risks and dangers involved in a “jump to the other side.”

Among the many of consequences is the disintegration of entire families. Before it was only the men, brave, despereate and adventurous, but now many women go alone. More often than not, it’s done for the love of family. Children stay behind under the care of an immediate family member, but who can replace the figure of a father or mother? Absolutely no one.

Another result of the nearby border is many young Mexicans simply choosing, from day one, not to study or build a life in their own country. In leaving Mexico behind, many lose a sense of identity, do not have U.S. citizenship, and are often not even recognized as Mexicans.

In the end, Mexican immgrants are often exposed to unscrupulous people who pack them away in trains and trucks, leaving them without food or water. When they reach the other side of the border extortion, discrimination, beatings, sexual violence, abductions and even murders are often waiting for them. Few manage to achieve the American dream, and those who manage to do so lose some of their roots.

Through all of this, the one question I keep asking myself is, “Why are we doing this to ourselves?” 

We were created to be free and equal, and our dedication to making things better for ourselves and our families is what makes us human.  But why do we suffer for wanting a better life in a country other than our own, instead of making our lives better here at home? We can do it, each and every one of us. I know we can…. all we have to do is try.

From Serfie Turkoglu…

If you are a child, immigration looks like an adventurous journey. You feel newborn, an alien among strange faces in an unknown country. You never look back and question your past, because you’re too busy adapting yourself to a new and mysterious life. When I came to Turkey from Bulgaria as a child, my past life was just a story for me. Thinking of Bulgaria is like digging up a distant memory buried within the farthest reaches of my mind.

I was born in 1987 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. My parents are Pomaks, Bulgarians of Muslim faith. Before Muslims were subjected to the assimilation policy, which includes changing Turkish names to Bulgarian ones, converting people from Islam to Orthodoxy, and forbidding the traditional dress of Muslims, they lived in their lands in peace with Bulgarians side by side. They were neighbors and had – and still have now – good relations with each other. There was no difference among them except for their faiths and religion was never singled out as an issue.  They had much in common with each other. They spoke the same language, lived in the same villages, worked in the same fields, attended the same schools and learned the same history.

I don’t know why the state was disturbed by Muslims and imposed the assimilation policy on them during these times. They didn’t attempt to take power or create havoc in the community. On the contrary, it was the attempts of the state to clear off Muslims that created chaos in our society. Whenever I ask my grandfather about the events happening in our village, he gloomily tells me about the destruction of the mosques. The mosque in my village was partly destroyed and shut down, so that people could no longer worship there. Moreover, circumcision was illegal and Muslim families had to have their boys circumcised secretly. Women were not allowed to wear their traditional dresses. Everything related to Islamic culture was forbidden and those who didn’t comply with the rules were harshly punished. My parents tell me that at first, they endured these events. However, Bulgaria’s attempt to change the names of Muslims and forbidding people to speak Turkish was the final straw. (Although our family lived in an area where no one spoke Turkish anyway) It was one thing after another, after another, as they Bulgarian state tried to force my parent’s generation to forget their culture, tradition and identity.  Finally, my parents decided to leave.

I was a kid when these things were happening. That’s why I was not influenced by the chaotic atmosphere of my birthplace. I was interested in the fun parts of my life. My Bulgarian name was Elka and I was sorry that my sister’s name was more appealing than mine. I had many Bulgarian friends in kindergarten. I was raised in a mixed culture, which was a big pleasure for me. On the one hand, I was celebrating “bayram” with my family; on the other, I was painting Easter eggs with my friends. Neither they nor I was concerned with the faiths of others. The most important thing was friendship and we enjoyed it to the fullest. It was how things should be.

Life was fun only for children at the time. Grown ups were fighting with one another over identity and honor. My grandfather’s brother was killed in a fight between Bulgarian police officers and Muslims. There were many rebellions against the regulations placed upon Muslims and he was one of those seeking his rights. Bulgaria’s assimilation policy brought disorder, death, and horror to the people – and nothing else. The Muslims minority was soon discriminated against, since supposedly the anarchy was due to their existence. Therefore the Muslims immigrated to other countries, especially to those places where they could pursue their religion freely.

In 1992, when I was only 5, we left behind our house, our lands, our beloveds and our friends, and came to Turkey full of hope and promise. My grandfather said that we were Turks anyway and should be proud of that. When I asked him why we didn’t immigrate elsewhere, he told me that Turkey is like our hometown; our ancestors are Turks, and a result we should live under the Turkish flag. At the time, it sounded strange to me. How could I be a Turk if I didn’t even know how to speak Turkish? This question stayed with me for years.

The only thing I remember about the journey is the whistle of the train and endless railway line. My mother hid us under the blankets in order not catch attention. The first years in Turkey were great disappointment for us. Our luggage was kept in customs for six months and we had nothing to sleep on except for blankets given to us by neighbors. It was definitely a transition from wealth to poverty. In Bulgaria my family farmed their own land and lived in a big house, where all of us were happy. Now, we were penniless and my parents were unemployed. My grandfather spent all our money, so as to get back our luggage from customs. We started off with nothing.

The most difficult factor was language. We were total strangers to the Turkish people, as they were to us. We couldn’t communicate with them for months. I remember one day my mom went to the shop to buy yogurt. She didn’t know how to say it and tried to imitate milking a cow to the shop keeper. They gave her a bottle of milk, but she said “not milk” with her gestures. Only when one of our neighbors came to the shop to help her, could she buy the yogurt. Another similar moment passed between my grandmother and a neighbor. Needing some onions, my grandmother asked a neighbor and it took her half an hour to describe the shape of an onion. When I think about these events, I feel sorry for my family. Adaptation is much easier for a child, but what about a grownup? My grandfather still doesn’t know Turkish. Think about a person who lives in Turkey for 17 years without speaking the language. At first, I couldn’t understand why they gave up their entire life. What are all these struggles for? Now I see things more clearly. They left all they had behind for me; because they considered things enough to think about their children and grandchildren, and to provide us with a better life!

Three years ago, I went to Bulgaria for the second time. Seeing how my relatives live there, I thanked my family for immigrating to Turkey. The poor conditions of farmers in Bulgaria make people miserable. I never saw them in clean clothes; because they work from five in the morning to seven at night. Even more tragic, they’re never paid what they deserve. When they learn how comfortably we live in Turkey, they’re shocked. These people can’t imagine how one could spend more money on pleasures or pastime activities, than on food and shelter.

We now have a better life and it is thanks to sacrifices of my parents. A few months after we came to Turkey, my dad and mom began to work. In order to save money, they worked day and night. Sometimes I felt as if I didn’t have a mother, because I almost never saw her for a while. My sister and I got used to spending time with my grandmother. She was taking care of us and we weren’t allowed to go out. In the beginning, we were strangers in this country, so we felt as though we should be careful.

While my family was adapting to a new life, I was preparing to go to school and enrolled in kindergarten. At last I was to see my new world. My first day was a disaster. I was shocked to see that all these kids didn’t know a single word of my language. I still find it funny when I think of how I never thought that it was actually me who couldn’t speak their language. After school, I rushed to my grandmother and told her that none of the students could speak. She laughed at me and told me that I had to learn their language if I wanted to be a successful student. From then on, I began to speak Turkish at school. I was a successful student. Thanks to my teacher, I learned reading and writing in kindergarten.

Unfortunately, my success at kindergarten was not enough for Turkish elementary schools. I had to have an identity card, so as to be accepted into a primary school. That’s why I couldn’t attend the school immediately after I finished the kindergarten. I was in my blue school uniform, a notebook and pencil in my hand, when the director told me they couldn’t accept me as a student. I cried all day. I cried because I didn’t have this identity thing, something I had no idea about at the time.

The following year I was accepted to school thanks to my residence card. Now I was like the rest of the students – at least that’s what I thought. In my first year, when the teacher held a meeting about the class, he talked about my high grades in the classroom. I was the best student in the class and my dad was proud of me. However, the other children’s parents were disturbed by this. How can a foreigner know more than a Turkish student? This was the only question they asked during the meeting. My teacher was strictly against such discrimination and defended me, stating that my performance had nothing to do with nationality. I was successful because I studied hard. When I think about my school days, I suffered a bit at the hands of my friends’ discriminatory thinking. Whenever they got angry with me, they told me me I was just a “Bulgarian!” At first I was upset by such words, but I soon learned not to be.

The most humiliating moment came when I was in the 4^th grade. A kid was harassing my sister and in order to protect her, I hit him. The boy reported my actions to his teacher. I was called to their classroom. and the teacher began to shout at me. Who did I think I was? How dare I do such a thing? He pulled my ear and asked me for my school number. Preparing myself to say my permanent residence number, as I didn’t have a national ID card, he told me “You’re not even from here; you are just a visitor!”

This was the most humiliating moment of my life. Whatever a kid does in elementary school, no teacher has the right to treat a student like that. But I was a little child and couldn’t even tell my parents. I will never forgive the immaturity of this man.

Years passed. My parents got better jobs with salaries I was a successful student and took care of my sister, who was now in elelementary school. Five years after we came to Turkey, we were about to become Turkish citizens. I’d soon have all the rights of a real Turk, which made me very happy. Now that I had a national ID card, I could attend to scholarship exams. At the time, life meant only school for me. I never once went out of town in the five years we were there. Manisa was the only place I knew. So I studied hard to become a good student and make my family proud of me. Wasn’t this why they came to Turkey?

Mother, Father . . .  Thank you for coming to Turkey! I know you lost all your family and friends in order to provide us with a better life. I am doing my best to honor you.

There are many people who’ve experienced similar things like me around the world. Nowadays, almost nobody lives in their mother country anymore. People give importance to cultural diversity, so it is less difficult to be a stranger in a new country now. I often think of how all the difficulties we underwent all those years ago have so much meaning know. I am in one of the best universities of Turkey, writing this very article . . . and I owe this to my family. I have never thought of myself a stranger, because it’s not your birthplace, but your identity that makes you an individual. Thanks to my parents, I know who I am and for that I am grateful.