Europe’s Migrant Crisis – Could This Be a Way Out?

Recently the world woke to the horrific sight of little Aylan Kurdi’s body washed ashore on a beach in Hungary. The unfortunate child was part of a Syrian family trying to escape the war in his country, in order to seek a better life abroad. The toddler’s fate pricked the collective conscience of the world, in particular that of Europe and we saw a sudden gush of emotion from EU member states, each scrambling to assuage their guilty feelings by opening doors wide.

At last count, Austria and Germany were ready to take in nearly 10000 refugees, while Scotland had offered a figure of 1000. The Finnish PM is reported to have offered his spare house to refugees while other European nations were still dragging their feet. The others would eventually, albeit grudgingly, take in refugees. But after that what?

The fact is, refugees or asylum seekers and immigrants have been trying to get into Europe for several months, even years, only the flow has increased of late. The writing on the wall was clear, however, other than seeking more funds and resources for Naval and Coast Guard patrols, there did not appear to have been a serious discussion on how to deal with the refugee problem. As it stands, the EU’s actions have now been overtaken by events and they have no option but to deal with the streams of humanity.

Under European Law, an immigrant has only to reach the shores of Europe after which he or she can apply for asylum from persecution at home. In fact, the Coast Guards of the EU’s Mediterranean countries are duty bound to rush to the rescue of a boat in distress. Greek Coast Guards have reported that boatloads of immigrants often take advantage of these laws by jettisoning the outboard motors of their small boats when within sight of Europe’s coast, knowing that sooner or later they would be spotted by patrols and towed to port after which they can commence the process of seeking asylum. Due to the ease with which movement can take place across EU states, it will be extremely difficult to keep track of the people once they enter Europe.

Germany and Austria have tried hard to project a secular and tolerant image through an effusive display of welcome and inclusion. On the other hand, it is well known that ethnic Europeans have long had a reputation for forming exclusive groups and perhaps even racist tendencies. That they are not particularly welcoming to non-EU immigrants is now established, according to a recent survey by Eurostat – the EU’s official statistics agency. According to reports, there have been large-scale conversions of Muslims to Christianity in Europe, which though voluntary, are being done to further strengthen their claims to EU citizenship, on the grounds that they would face persecution if sent home. In some countries, conversion by a Muslim to Christianity is punishable by death.

It would certainly be incorrect and unfair to doubt the good intentions of most European nations, who have indeed striven hard to help those in distress. Besides, those who have reached Europe must surely thank their Gods for the security and shelter provided them. However the reality of the future is yet to strike both immigrants and Europeans. According to Eurostat, unemployment figures in the EU and EA are around 9.6% and 11.1% respectively. These figures could change for the worse with large numbers of migrants entering various countries within short periods before European economies have a chance to correct themselves.

Already, the EU is showing signs of strain with various countries closing their borders to stem the flow of refugees, the largest since World War II. Hungary has closed her borders with Serbia, followed by Croatia’s closure of the Serbian border. Germany who till recently was striving to welcome refugees, has cut back on cash benefits, hastened plans for deportation and instead of housing benefits, a ticket back to the first country the refugees entered in Europe. The country of 81 million is expecting a refugee inflow of 800000. In other places, refugees are being interned in barbed wire enclosed camps designated for “aliens”.

The closure of Serbia’s borders with Hungary and Croatia has forced refugees into the forested areas of Bosnia where many uncleared landmines from the war remain, thereby increasing the risk for people fleeing from wars. Refugees are understandably reluctant to remain in Serbia, given the high unemployment figures in that part of Europe.

It does not take a great deal of intellect to see that there is a problem waiting to happen if this migration process remains unchecked. Will the host countries send the refugees back should peace return to their homelands? It is unlikely that any of the refugees would return even if asked to. Given the fact that Europe’s ethnic population is on the decline and that the two cultures are vastly different, two things could happen – the demographics of Europe stands to get altered and the possibility of clashes between the distinct ethnic groups becomes high. 

As more and more refugees move into new towns and cities in Europe, adjustment problems of religion, language, food and cultures are bound to surface. Given the unemployment figures, it will be difficult for the new residents to find jobs immediately, leading to a feeling of disparity among the newcomers and resentment among the local population on account of the additional financial burden that is bound to be imposed on them from increased taxes. Civic amenities like hospitals and law enforcement agencies will immediately feel the strain with the sudden increase in population. The possibility of terrorists sneaking in, under the garb of asylum seekers, also increases exponentially, another reason for the host nations to view applications for asylum under a magnifying lens, leading to a further feeling of alienation.

If one looks at the motivating factors for migration, the most common ones are: poverty, lack of jobs / opportunity, persecution on religious / ethnic grounds and war. It would not be incorrect to say that the worst sufferers are usually the poorest. As an extension, one can assume that poverty is possibly the chief factor of migration, for it is this that is compelling thousands of Syrians, Somalis, Libyans, Ethiopians, Senegalese, Bangla Deshis and others to leave their homes in search of a better way of life. If this could be addressed by giving migrants the possibility of reasonably well paying jobs and a decent quality of life in other countries, the stream of refugees into Europe could well be stemmed.

It is here that the prosperous Islamic nations have to play their part in improving the socio-economic conditions of poorer nations in Asia and Africa. It is time that the wealthier Islamic nations reached out to the impoverished and war torn countries of Africa and the Middle East with schemes of employment. Consider that there is a nearly year round requirement of construction workers in Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE and other Gulf countries, as well as, a requirement of skilled tradesmen like carpenters, plumbers, mechanics, drivers etc. With Qatar making a bid for the Olympics, there is a great deal of construction and related activity that would require large amounts of manpower. The Arab nations need to consider helping out by employing their poor brethren on these sites.

The European nations, could play a complementary role by setting up technical training and educational institutes in the Mediterranean littoral states of Africa and Asia in order to train personnel for employment in the Gulf and other Arab nations. The money earned could be plowed back to their home countries where it would raise the standard of living in much the same way as the Gulf boom helped thousands of Indians and other workers. The EU could even consider employing people from their former colonies as contract policemen and soldiers in much the same way as Britain employs Gurkhas from Nepal.

It is nobody’s case that this is an ideal or even the only solution, however unless European leaders start thinking out of the box on methods to resolve the current crisis and prevent future ones, the world is likely to see greater problems developing. Europe and the wealthy Arab nations have to work together to resolve each other’s problems.

A Revelation - My Eureka Moment

Way back in 82 or 83, a lecture on Transcendental Meditation by the great Swami Chinmayananda ji was organised at Shivaji. As young officers we were naturally detailed to attend. The Swami ji was a good orator and set about explaining the meaning of TM. He said "TM means simply doing nothing. Just relax! Let your mind free to wander".

My brain which had normally only two speeds, slow and stop, and was dreamily idling along, suddenly went into high gear as something familiar was recognised by some long dormant neuron.

That was my Aha moment. It suddenly struck me that I must be something of an expert in TM as I had indeed been doing nothing for years, the foundation of which had been laid no doubt in Class IV (Non Tech) and Kilo Squadron. It helped in Kilo to be completely spaced out as one went through various F*** fall-ins.

In fact my wandering mind helped so much that without giving it too much thought, I wandered dreamily into the Tech branches in Service despite the honest efforts of several Arts instructors in NDA. 

I guess the Gods of the Navy also needed something to amuse themselves as I carried on airily.

I continued to build up my expertise in TM as I went along through Service, letting my mind wander as the aforesaid celestial bodies continued to amuse themselves. Coming to think of it, maybe thats why they taught us Astro Navigation in NDA, so that whenever things went wrong we could always pass the blame on to Rigel, Deneb, Arcturus, Sirius, Vega or one of the other stars in much the same way as seasoned astrologers blame Rahu and Ketu for the resident ills.

As for getting out of unforeseen trouble, a repetitive pattern of run-ins with resident aspirants for the title of Tinpot Dictator led to a discovery - that no problem lasted more than 3 to 4 days till the next storm broke and one merely had to stay out of sight for that period for things to soothe themselves out.

I also learned a few more truths along the way - to remain out of sight as long as possible and when unavoidable to look busy, that a closed mouth and a blank expression worked better than a moving mouth and the Keen Kumar look. 

Most of all, I learned the following about my buddies:
(a) To let Sunil Jain do the talking, thinking and decision making without butting in. He continued without stopping in any case and did a good job of everything
(b) To let Akshai Malhotra do the sorting-out of others and smile appreciatively at his carvings and artistic aspirations, after which one could get work out of him
(c) To take all precautions and avoid coming under the influence of Rangarajan. Anyone who wanted Ranga to do something ended up doing it himself thinking that Ranga was doing it
(d) To let Anand Sonsale do the job. He did it better anyway
(e) To allow Vivek Chawla his share of grumbling without interruption. Because thereafter he did whatever you wanted
(f) To agree with Sabyasachi Sarkar's views on life, politics, society etc. There was no point disagreeing because you couldn't win any argument with him
(g) That it wasn't difficult to convince Chalapati to plan outings, picnics etc and make superb upma at the same time

My wife of course knew how to get the better of my shooting stars and soon enough began to prefix and suffix every statement with the line, "Are You Listening?" and "Have you heard?". Naturally my otherwise slow moving brain soon got hard-wired to recognise those phrases and to prod my head to nod vigorously thereafter, while simultaneously sending a FLASH signal "Jaise The" to my mouth. 

Suited me just fine anyway, to let others do the talking.

In fact today I often wonder, how I ever got here. The answer - you guessed it, TM in my own style.
(With due respects and apologies to Swami Chinmayananda ji and all my instructors, seniors, juniors, coursemates and everyone else who had sleepless nights on my account)

Teachers' Day

It is customary to honour one's teachers on 5th September every year, for they play such an important part in shaping lives, attitudes and perceptions of young people.

I would therefore like to attempt to recount as many names as I can:
The earliest teacher I can recall was Mrs Fullinfaw who ran the school in faraway Balasore in the early 60s. Balasore was where my father was posted and as there was no school, Mrs Fullinfaw volunteered to teach the dozen or so kids of various ages. She was assisted by her mother or mother-in-law, a rather daunting lady, and her three children Michael, Valerie-Ann and Nigel who were tasked with various chores in addition to spellings, tables and sums. I don't know if she ever got paid for her exertions, or whether she was a qualified teacher at all. However no one complained, since everyone agreed that Anglo-Indians were great teachers and the Mums were only too glad to get the brats off their hands for a couple of hours each morning. Maj and Mrs Fullinfaw later migrated to Australia.

The next teacher I remember vividly was Mrs Lunn in Mount St Mary's Delhi Cantt. She tried hard to slap some maths into me, without much effect. I was too frightened of her to remember anything else and preferred turning the page of my maths notebook over the last lesson, till some twerp snitched on me. Then there was Miss Victor in my next school, St Xavier's, a nice enough lady, but I was a hopeless case in maths and an assortment of beastly kids in class didn't make my life any easier.

We moved to Poona in '68 and I began to enjoy school for the first time, in St Vincents. Those teachers were the kinds that aren't made any more - Mrs D'silva, Mrs D'lima, Mrs Coutinho, Mrs Sundarjee and so many other names now fading from memory; the legendary Fr Oesch who could teach us anything from German, to Physics to the correct technique of Pole Vault; the great Fr Romauld D'souza, who went on to set up XLRI. I caught up with this amazing and dedicated Jesuit years later when posted in Goa, where he was leading a retired life while providing a guiding hand to the Goa Institute of management. 

My father retired from service in '72 and I shifted school for the last time to Loyola, Poona. Loyola had been set up by that immortal Jesuit, Fr R Schoch, and as anyone who has known him will vouch, it was a privilege to study there while he was principal. A most well read and far sighted person who could understand the pulse of people, who could speak on virtually any subject, while keeping his audience riveted - I doubt if there will ever be anyone like him. 

Fr Schoch had the unique quality of inspiring everyone around him - teachers and students alike, he mixed freely with boys encouraging even the shyest to open up. He had clear ideas on what was needed to develop young boys into responsible men and he lived by the school motto, "Men For Others".

The teachers of Loyola lived up to their chief equally well - Fr Clement, Fr Catao, Mrs Gonsalves, Mr Teranikar, Mr Contractor, Mr Swamy, Mr Mahamuni, and many other faces that remain vivid, while the names have escaped.

As I moved into college, there was the teacher of the Maths coaching class attended by Sharad Sohoni, Sanjay Shirole, Nitin Shirole and myself. I was certainly the weakest, but that elderly dhoti clad bare-foot man using only a roll down black sheet as a board, certainly knew how to teach. I have completely forgotten his name as we only referred to him as "Mhatarya" (Marathi for old man). For the first time ever, I began to understand and enjoy Maths. To him I owe my eternal thanks.

Having joined the academy, teachers came to be known as instructors and while they came and went, no cadet can ever forget the Drill 'Ustads'. How can any one who was at the academy during 1977 - 80, ever forget Sub Maj Guman Singh of the Grenadiers. His voice could carry right across the drill square and his inspiring speeches of just the right length and at just the precise moment to revive tired cadets were the stuff that could easily match the speeches of Col Nathan R Jessep (Jack Nicholson - A Few Good Men) and Sgt Emil Foley (Louis Gosset Jr - An Officer and A Gentleman).

One learns important lessons of life from others as well - parents, friends, seniors, juniors and even rank strangers. From the good bosses one learns good things, while from the rest one learns the difference between right and wrong.
I learnt an important lesson of life from a complete stranger, an auto rickshaw driver - I pulled out money to pay him, but he didn't have change. I rudely told him, in the manner of a brash young officer, that it was not my problem. He looked me in the eye and calmly said, "You look educated, now learn to speak with respect as well" and drove off, leaving me clutching the money.