Emigration etc.

Canadian immigration authorities announced that as of the 1st of March citizens of Lithuania no longer need a temporary resident visa to visit Canada. I discovered the news on the website of the largest daily in Lithuania. It was published in the section "Emigrants", as if to suggest that Canada might become the next target country for possible Lithuanian emigrants. On the other hand, Lithuania boasts the highest rate of emigration per capita in the European Union, so the suggestion could be farsighted. Although we are allowed roam the vast expanses of Canada for up to 180 days, if we intend to work or study there, visa restrictions still apply. Yet, as one jolly commentator observed, it shouldn't be too complicated to find a job in six months...

Myself and a few friends of mine have been looking forward for the decision. One of them, a keen traveller, suggested to worm our way discreetly to the States across the Canadian border. If Barack Obama becomes the next president of the USA, we might as well. Yet our anticipation was not caused by intentions to move the country again.

"All animals are equal but some are more equal than others", wrote George Orwell half a century ago. In a similar way I am tempted to say that all Europeans are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Until 2004 Canada and the European Union had a reciprocal visa-free status for visitors, yet before Lithuania along with other nine countries joined the EU, we had to drop down visa requirements for Canadians. In return Canada was expected to do likewise, yet it was hesitant, since their politicians were afraid of a possible influx of illegal workers or refugee claimants. The only two remaining EU countries, which citizens will still have to queue in front of Canadian embassies, are Romania and Bulgaria.

I have to confess, it feels good to be acknowledged as a member of the club rather than a potential threat. Let them keep the restrictions for entering the a labour market, but at least it will be easier to see the Niagara Falls or Montreal. Of course, a few of us, while sightseeing, could and will look for work opportunities. After all, Vancouver and Montreal are constantly voted in various polls as some of the best places to live in the world. Even if just for 180 days. I guess, in a way the Canadian government could have been right in procrastinating the decision. Yet when the EU labour market is within two or three hours of flight for 50 Euros, a massive influx of illegal Lithuanian immigrants could hardly become a reality. Therefore it would be great if more countries stopped demonising us as cheap illegal migrants. Consequently, maybe more of us could realise that flying to other destinations than Lithuania costs almost the same, yet instead those trips offer new experiences rather than nostalgia, in which we seem to be stuck too often.

Recently I came across the fact that Estonians are the only ones from the Baltic countries who can apply for working holiday visas in Australia and New Zealand. I am amazed how they manage to avoid the segregation that continues to haunt Lithuanians. Although they are further from the geographical European centre, which Lithuania was boasting to possess before Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU, all the Estonians I have met seem to be a zillion times more European than Lithuanians. No wonder they are welcome even to such remote corners of the world. Or perhaps, as I have always suspected, their politicians exceed Lithuanian - ours are too busy with unsuccessfully trying keep the people in the country or win them back from the construction sites in the UK, mushroom factories in Ireland and orange plantations in Spain. The more they try to cage us in between Lithuanian borders, the more we seem tempted to leave.

In the meantime, the antiemigration campaign in Lithuania continues. A few weeks ago elite troops of Lithuanian businessmen, joined by a group of barristers and journalists, met with a handful of Lithuanians studying in the United Kingdom and were encouraging them to consider returning to Lithuania. Although everybody agreed that Lithuanian companies can't offer as competitive salaries as London City firms, among other supposedly attractive factors one barrister mentioned the possibility to meet Lithuanian prime minister and celebrities in person, while this might not be as easy to achieve in the UK. I'd rather watch the Niagara Falls. Or wander the streets of Vancouver. Even if just for 180 days.


Written for "Metro Eireann"

Finally.

"Human crisis or welfare tourism". The front page of The Irish Times supplement Weekend Review on the 21st of July. Alison Healy's story about 32 Roma adults and 22 children encamped on M50 motorway roundabout near Dublin airport.



It is Ireland's busiest road and Roma have been living here since early May. It took nearly three months to break Irish patience and now the story is all over the place: The Irish Times, BBC, The Observer, etc.

Like a refugee camp

According to The Observer, conditions at the camp have deteriorated over the past few days. The scene resembles the slums of an Asian city rather than 21st-century Ireland.

The air around the two camps reeks of human excreta and rotting food; children as young as two play in mud and filth; grass verges to either side of the families' makeshift shelters are covered in rubbish and colonies of tiny flies attach themselves to anything that moves. The tents they sleep in have been flooded during the recent heavy rains. A number of parents have even put down discarded posters from the last general election; one child could be seen last Thursday having a nap on top of a picture of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Last Thursday two children from the camps were taken to Temple Street Hospital in central Dublin following an outbreak of severe vomiting and diarrhoea. Non-governmental organisations campaigning for the Roma to stay in the state have claimed that there is a danger of disease breaking out.


Photo by J P. Ireland Photoline

In A. Healy's words, the conditions resemble a refugee camp, but when the people are asked why they don't take up a Government offer to be flown home, the answer is always the same. "I no want to go back to Romania. I die from the hunger in Romania. Here I have somewhere where I can sleep", says one of these Roma people in English which far exceeds many Lithuanians' and Poles' who have been flooding Ireland since 2004 - after being accepted to the EU.

Finito to welfare tourism

Unlike Lithuanians or citizens of any of 10 countries who joined the EU in 2004 Romanians and Bulgarians are restricted from working in Ireland unless they have a work visa or are self-employed, although they do have freedom of movement within the EU. They are not entitled to social welfare payments, child benefits or emergency accommodation.

It seems that Irish government has learned from its previous mistakes when in the years before my country had joined the EU hundreds of my fellow-citizens surged towards the generous embrace of the Celtic Tiger. Some of them on the claims that they've been blackmailed by gypsies were seeking asylum here (and I happened to witness such an interview in the Department of Justice as a translator). If their wives gave birth to a child prior the decision thanks to the newborn baby they would become residents of Ireland and thus get the right to work. The days of "welfare tourism" are way behind now.

Romanians are not among the supporters

Pavee Point - a group supporting Irish Travellers' in Ireland - seems to be have become the main voice in the fight for Government's intervention in the "Roundabout Roma" situation. "They don't need Hilton Hotel, they just want one chance to work", The Irish Times quotes George Dancea, director of the Roma support Group, which was set up by Pavee Point Traveller's Centre. Pavee Point is also calling on the Government to provide emergency accommodation for the group.

This call is supported by 20 non-governmental organizations, yet strangely (?) enough the Romanian Community of Ireland is not among them. Quite the contrary. The groups' chairman Vasile Ross points out that if the Government gives in to Pavee Point's pressure, more Roma will come. And some figures say that there might be about 2 mln of them in Romania alone. "This is how Roma work. They will try to gain access. Give them a finger and they will take both hands", says Vasile Ross in The Irish Times.

If you aspire for a job, you'll get one

Tolerance and bloodsucking slothfulness are two totally different things. Let me remind you that before my country had joined the EU hundreds and quite possibly thousands of Lithuanians arrived to Ireland seeking to work illegally. For cash, yet half the amount of the minimum wage, without paying taxes, blue-collar workers sweating in unbearable conditions in mushroom processing factories in the Northern Ireland, students with Master's degrees working as kitchen porters in order to save money for Ph.D studies, husband's leaving their wives back home and doing nightshifts while meditating how they'll make love again in the newly refurbished house, etc.

I've always believed if somebody wants to work and is prepared to work hard, one will find the job. Let me ask you then why those gypsies who beg on Grafton Street in the heart of Dublin city don't? Why they make their 8-year-old children beg (and I've seen this)?


Flights, benefits and possibly free housing offered... in Romania

A spokesman for the group on the roundabout confirmed to the BBC they had been offered free flights back to Romania by the Irish Government, but none of them wanted to return. They were also promised by the Romanian government that they would have health and education benefits and would be considered for free housing.

Romanian embassy officials in Dublin say they are embarrassed by the activities of the gypsies, many of whom are begging on the streets of Dublin. The embassy, according to The Irish Times, even doubts "Roundabout Roma" claims that their living conditions in Romania were unbearable. According to the embassy sources, the families had sold their houses to fund their trip to Ireland.

15 days left

On the 21st of July, at around 5.30 am, Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNBI) officers served immigration papers on 86 Roma people camping in Ballymun. The group have 15 days to make representations to Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan as to why he should not make a removal order, in which case they would be transported back to Romania.

New Irish Government faces a very tough challenge now. Ireland previously has made decisions which earned this country the name of a Celtic Tiger. The Gordian Knot on M50 is a test that questions Tiger's courage and determination. And the situation is being observed by 2 mln. Roma in Romania and the whole EU, who previously had doubts about accepting Romania to the club and I am convinced Roma people were one of the main reasons for these reservations. But let me remind just once again - tolerance and bloodsucking slothfulness are two totally different things.

If they don't like it here why don't they go back?

It was a very good point. The conversation took place in the USA, I think it was 2002. We were talking about America with Americans. Everybody had agreed on the imperfections and flaws of the country, i.e. dumb politicians, citizens' naivety, horrifying criminal situation. Yet despite constant grumbles the USA for many still is THE promised land - the country of unlimited opportunities and acknowledgment. In other words - you've had expectations, you've made it to get the visa (which for the citizens of my country, daring to cross the threshold of the embassy of the USA, is something in between Darwin's fight for survival and a sacrifice of one's privacy*), therefore please have respect for a country that has welcomed you, do the best you can and perhaps then it will indeed turn out to become your Eldorado.

I guess the same attitude could be applied in any country, be it New Zealand, Tanzania or Ireland. We all cross the borders with expectations - greater or smaller. And when the reality doesn't meet them we start to bitch. The cost of living, the amount junk food sold (and consumed), nasty weather, unpredictable public transport, filthy streets, knackers, junkies, beggars, narrow-minded press, boring music on the radio, tracksuits, spoiled kids, obese girls, binge drinking blokes... I could go on and on...

Some of us get trapped in this fussy list and forget the question posed in the beginning. If you nearly hate this place why don't you go back to Poland, Latvia, Slovak Republic or Lithuania? Oh... I see... The pay is ten times less and despite being the citizens of the EU many locals still behave as if they were cavemen?

Fair enough. Then ask yourself if your country would be as welcoming as Ireland (or UK, or Sweden or any other EU country that has its borders wide open for accession countries' labour force). Would it embrace and open its borders to thousands of foreigners: black, Chinese, Asian, gypsies, homosexuals, transsexuals, former criminals escaping their past, inexperienced students, unemployed elders, abrupt countrymen, losers trying to break through once again and illiterate cheep labour force unable to utter a single word in your language. The list could go on and on.

I can assure you my country is not ready for a tsunami like this. I remind myself about it now and again and that makes me stop my moans. After all perfect countries don't exist. As the saying goes, far away hills are always blue. Yet once you approach them you start to notice that even tigers have flaws. Therefore although it might be hard we should accept imperfections, try to live with them and learn to become more flexible. Then it is easier to notice that there are still plenty of good things around. And you might live happier ever after...


* the latter meaning that you have to submit heaps of documents stating your income and financial obligations, moreover you must participate in an interview that might strip you of any privacy and all of the above - for the cause of eliminating any possibilities you might chance to stay in the USA after the expiry of your visa