Leonella Pippi - 31.10.2017 12:02

Hier tauschen wir unsere Ideen aus! / Here we share our ideas!

Pietro maccabei - 26.01.2018 12:33

In my article you can find a reflection on the difficult choice migrants have to make. Sorry, you can see it in the right forum... I had uplowded it in Matirials long time ago but something went wrong

Is it really worth it?

By Pietro Maccabei, LSP/Assisi Italy

Over the last few years, migration to Europe from the African continent has increased incredibly, but even if   the reasons why these people travel to our countries are known, it is often difficult to understand what they believe they will find once they arrive here.

 To undertake journeys like those the migrants must face in order to arrive in Europe, about $ 5,000 are needed (a large sum of money considering the poverty status these migrants are running away from).

A question comes to my mind: why does a young man, well educated or with the chance to study, with a large sum of money (that he could invest in his future) decides to leave his own Country, undertaking a journey during which he risks  getting abused or  losing his life? A long and dangerous journey only to reach another nation that will hardly accept his asylum application and where he won't easily find work and won't be accepted by the rest of the European society? Is it really worth it?

This choice is justified in many cases by the illusions that these people often tend to have about Europe. Beliefs fuelled by European TV broadcasted in African countries and by the stories of those who have already experienced this kind of journey that, not to show to others that they have failed in the attempt to reach a better life, describe Europe as they would like it to be and not as it really is. The validity of these reasons, however, is getting weaker and weaker: it is enough to think that Switzerland finances TV programs, broadcast in African countries, describing how difficult the economic situation in our countries is, even for us, considered quite rich citizens.

At this point, the only plausible reason for dealing with such a situation is the search for freedom. As I said before, we know that often those who choose to undertake these journeys do not do it of their own choice, but because they are forced by persecution or difficult economic situations to leave and to abandon their home to reach a place where they will not be marginalized or persecuted for what they think or for what they believe in.

So the question that comes now to our minds is a bit different: "Is it worth doing all this for freedom?"

Migrants hosted by Centro Pace reporting their experience to the Erasmus group

Photo taken by Arianna Scarponi during the Meeting in Assisi

Regina Szatkowska - 07.02.2018 18:30

Pietro, I would like to respond to Your article. Point of view that You have so thoroughly analysed is quite true. We are very focused nowadays on trying to help immigrants sometimes without knowing their motives and only by mouthing platitudes without really understanding the problem. What You have written about a sort of "propaganda" might strongly influence their decision, but let's face one fact - wars and poverty are things that make a normal living impossible. Without peace and at least some sort of prosperity people cannot provide their families with food and proper education, let alone with assurance that war won't take a toll on them by taking away their lives or health.