The tragedy of illegal immigrants

It was tragedy. Stark tragedy. Sixty persons herded into a hermetically sealed truck and driven across western Europe to what was to be their El Dorado. But they never reached their haven, at least 58 of them did not. Two barely made it. Fifty four young men and four women paid with their lives for wanting to lead a better life. That is the irony of this whole sorry and sordid misadventure.

But here in the UK where the truck with its human cargo was heading when it was searched on suspicion after crossing the English channel, they were mere illegal immigrants. That is how some of the media called them. They were human beings, however destitute and desperate they may have been. To the media they were mere cyphers, a cargo of illegal immigrants no different from the rest of the cargo on board that lorry- tomatoes meant for supermarkets in the UK.

So now Britain's politicians and numerous pundits including sections of the media are obssessed with two vital issues. Firstly, how to stop British hooligans better known for their brawn than any other attribute, from beating up people in other European cities and causing riots and public disorder, all in the name of football. Next, how to stop illegal immigrants and "bogus" asylum seekers from reaching Britain's shores.

One involves stopping some people from leaving the country. The other involves some other people, probably considered a breed even lower than British hooligans from entering the country.

The first does not really concern us. Let Britain and Europe decide how to deal with their social flotsam and jetsam, their brutish breeds. If the authorities want to confiscate the passports of these thugs who pose as football fans but only bring disgrace to the game or even lock them up and throw away the keys, the majority will applaud the action, however belated it might be.

But what about those who leave their countries in search of a safer or better life? Admittedly there are two or maybe three types of persons who want to leave the land of their birth and seek a new home. Some do it because they are persecuted or have a genuine fear of being persecuted. Such persecution can be by the state or by other groups of people who may not be as powerful as the state but are powerful in their own right and instil fear in others by the use of force or the threat to use force.

Some others believe that they can find a better life abroad and improve their economic condition. Still others wish to join their families or relatives abroad and seek ways, legal or illegal to achieve their ends.

If there are legal ways-and there are though they may not be easy- then there is no real problem. But not many can enter a new country to work or settle in this way, especially if one is from a developing country and moving to western states.

The problem is when those who fall into the other two categories seek a way out and are willing to resort to any means to get out of their country of origin. They become the victims of those who exploit this human condition for monetary gain.

All those who perished inside that truck which came from Rotterdam and crossed over to Britain were Chinese. But it is not only Chinese nationals who have suffered such horrible and agonising deaths in their search for a new life. Sri Lankans have died in similar circumstances in Europe. Others have been detected hiding in trucks or boats and have been arrested and probably deported.

Some in government here believe that the very news of such tragedies will act as deterrents and stop people from trying to enter foreign countries through illegal means.

They forget that desperation and the fear of persecution and death are a far mor e compelling force than the news of tragic failures. The organised gangs and racketeers who operate this illegal human traffick assure their clients of success, of taking them where they want to go.What they don't tell them is the real modes of transport the would-be migrant would be forced to use.

These operations begin in the country of origin of the prospective migrant. I know this well enough having seen over the years how Sri Lankan racketeers euphemistically called agents mislead their clients. After large sums change hands they are brought to another country and often left to fend for themselves while the "agent" disappears, often with the passport of the client.

Time and again I've seen this happening in Hong Kong where men and women are brought in by agents and left in the lurch. Some of these agents have three or four passports so that when they are discovered and sent off, they switch to another passport under a different name.

If countries want to stop this disgraceful traffick in desperate human beings, they must not only work closely together, there must the political will to do so. Often officials themselves are part of the organised racket. Immigration officials, some consular officers of diplomatic missions and criminal gangs are all involved in this dirty game.

Many times I have been told by Sri Lankans who have come to Hong Kong how easy it was to obtain passports in Colombo without going through the official process. Of course it costs much more. But one of them who had more than one passport promised to have a passport for me delivered at home in one day.

But it is also true that the western industrialised countries, like the heroic Nelson are holding a telescope to the blind eye and forgetting a crucial issue. Their own populations are ageing, their population growth is zero or a fraction more. Very soon they will be in dire need of people to do the kind of work their own people scoff at but migrants are ready to do.

It is only when they start realising the dangers that lie ahead for their own economies that they will relax their immigration laws and regulations, as happened shortly after the last World War.

Today globalisation allows the free movement of capital, opens the doors to rich industrialised countries to relocate their old industries and dump their goods in the developing world. But they fight tooth and nail against the free movement of labour.

Until that happens not only will globalisation be a one-way street, people will continue to try to get to countries with more opportunities. Who will benefit from all this? The racketeers, the gangsters and rogue officials whose greed and complicity make such movements possible, tragedies like what we have just seen and heard notwithstanding.

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