“A new command I give you: Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34); and “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Matthew 22:39).
This Swedish woman, Elin Errson, refused to sit down after boarding an aeroplane until an Afghan man who was being deported was removed from the plane. According to Swedish Law, the aircraft could not take off and she was within the law to decide to stand. Some selfish people tried to assault her but she stood her ground. Then slowly, some other people joined her. The scene ends with the deportee being removed from the aircraft. I think we need more of such people – people who think beyond selfish nationalism to accept refugees the way they are. Uganda accepts everyone, even with the meager resources we have. And I know that Sweden is one of the most accommodating countries. I think in creating the world, God did not intend for there to be boundaries and borders. This is a humanity created to create wedges between societies. The real challenge of the more fortunate countries is to invest in growing a world where development is equitable, so that people do not have to run away from their countries. Without this, the Global North is joking – they should not expect migration to fizzle away.
According to the Wikipedia, “Historical migration of human populations begins with the movement of Homo erectus out of Africa across Eurasia about 1.75 million years ago. Homo sapiens appear to have occupied all of Africa about 150,000 years ago, moved out of Africa 70,000 years ago (or, according to more recent studies, as early as 125,000 years ago into Asia,[2][3] and even as early as 270,000 years ago),[4][5] and had spread across Australia, Asia and Europe by 40,000 years BCE.
Interestingly, the primary reasons for mass-migration in the pre-historic times remain as relevant as the reasons today: “Early humans migrated due to many factors such as changing climate and landscape, and inadequate food supply, and inadequate resources”. It is therefore in the nature of the genus ‘Homo’ to migrate when faced with livelihoods shocks and stresses. For the West to believe that mass migration will end by simply closing their borders is dystopian to say the least. As long as the grossly inequitable world that they have partly created persists, THEY CANNOT STOP MASS MIGRATION. In-fact one day, 10 million people will simultaneously cross to Europe and Europe will not have the capacity to do anything to stop them. President Bush started the current wave of chaos in the Middle East. His IQ and the entire intelligence machine that advised him could never predict that mass migration would be the ultimate result. Then Presidents Obama and Nicholas Sarcozy converted the situation into total anarchy – the unintended consequence of which was a mass migration – and guess to where – Europe and the Americas! If the Global North genuinely (and without sugar-coating) addresses the issues of equitable development even to a small but meaningful degree, and without draining poor countries of their resources while ‘pretending’ to give aid that does not result in real societal transformation, then there will be no reason for people to mass-migrate.
But as they say, every era in history sows the seeds for its own demise……. If the Global North sticks to their appetite for cheap resources at the expense of poor countries, then the current world order will implode. At the age of 25, Alexander the Great controlled 25% of the world in an empire that stretched from Greenland to Indonesia – he died of malaria after a week of continuous sexual indulgence. That is what happens when people have too many resources that they do not know what to use them for.
I 100% applaud this young woman for her selfless act. That’s why God allowed humans to develop a brain and rationalize things. And for the Englishman who tried to assault the woman, he is a very selfish man! The least he should have done was keep quiet. That was the work of the Cabin Crew not him! And that’s why I love the Swedes – they are frank, resolute and ‘un-bwogable’.
Story reachable on https://www.yahoo.com/gma/plane-passenger-refusal-sit-disrupts-afghan-mans-deportation-115503897–abc-news-topstories.html
Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
