Humane look at immigration, European version

Linda Heard, a British writer, shares what she has seen in her world travels, and how those in rich countries must come to understand the situation our world is facing, and how immigration is a symptom of the problem, but not the entire problem.

Fear, hopelessness and poverty are the drivers of illegal immigration. People everywhere want a life and who are we, sitting in our air-conditioned homes or offices with full stomachs planning our next vacations, to blame them?

A few days ago I came face to face with abject poverty. I came across a tiny white kitten on a street in Alexandria, and followed her in the belief she might need rescuing. It turned out that she belonged to a family of five (a couple and their three children) who didn’t even have mattresses or pillows to their name let alone a table, fridge or cooker. Their living area consisted of a room no bigger than a large cupboard and part of an open stairwell. The only food in evidence was some stale round loaves and an opened packet of white cheese. These are the kind of people who risk the waves clutching a dream.

None of their children had ever been to school because their father’s salary of LE120 a month wouldn’t cover even the miniscule fees. Yet, whatever they lacked in education was more than compensated by warm smiles and hearts that had opened to an orphaned kitten. For those Europeans who have hardened their own hearts toward people fleeing poverty or persecution, there may be a lesson here.

The entire article is here.