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Originally posted by gambiabev

Sister Omega and friends...I am away from bantaba for a week.....so you will be able to have your intellectual debate without interruptions from me!

I will be interested to read the postings when I return.

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Originally posted by twinkly

Is it really about how often we travel there?

Some people are concious, some aren't.....(not meaning to imply anything on anybody!)

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Originally posted by BornAfrican

Sitting in the streets of a poverty stricken African village, a young man dreams about a wonder land where streets are paved with gold and streams of milk and honey flow through inhabitants’ backyards. He has been betrayed by his kinsmen, earning a dime to buy bread is his daily struggle. He keeps on dreaming because his hopes are only cocktailed in his dreams. He sold the only plot of land left for him by his dead father and heads towards this “magnificent” land he could only see in his dreams. For the next few months, he put his life on the line by crossing the man-eating sand dunes of the Sahara. Finally, he found himself in a concrete jungle but found no roads paved with gold and no streams of milk and honey. Reality begins to unfold and the story continues….

I believe if many African immigrants to Europe knew what was ahead of them, they would have thought twice before leaving home. Immigration has always been part of humanity’s culture. The human society is an open society whereby we all interact. Ancient empires from Manding to Rome had always established business relations with other empires whereby their business communities interchange ideas which they take to their various lands to benefit their folks. Unfortunately, politicians have distorted this rich history of immigration. It has been replaced by stories of terrorists entering Europe and Africans coming in with diseases, while others come in just to live on state benefits. The present generation is completly brainwashed with regards to the pros of immigration.

Immigration is a big problem for Europeans today. But who are these immigrants who are the main problem(s). Looking at the standards set to dictate immigration in various European countries, one can only see that there is a clear distinction between immigrants who are from Europe and those who are from else where. Black African immigrants for instance are more likely to be deported to their countries of origin for even petty crimes. For instance I once watched a program on TV where a White South African was caught with cannabis on the street by a police man. He was warned not to do it again and the cannabis was seized. If I as a black African was caught in the same situation, there is a high probability that I will be deported back to the Gambia.

This week, we have seen the immigration laws the American congress came up with. Here in England, there is a heated debate on immigration. In fact, foreign doctors who are not from Europe are not to be recruited by the NHS (National Health Service), even if they are educated here in England.
France came up with the most radical laws which are even seen xenophobic.

Amidst all this “immigration madness”, I wonder where our faith is as African immigrants.
The young man sold his only plot of land left for him by his dead father. That’s the only physical reality he can hold on to. He has sold it and came to Europe. He has reached the point of no return. This is the situation for many African immigrants. Failed by our leaders, the world economic playground architected in such a way that some people will remain poor until kingdom come, the poor African man has no choice, but do exactly what his ancestors did when conditions are not favorable, and that is to migrate.

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Originally posted by Cornelius Hamelberg

BornAfrican writes :"I believe if many African immigrants to Europe knew what was ahead of them, they would have thought twice before leaving home"

True. We must have a real idea of what lies ahead and be prepared to face obstacles and setbacks. There are also many African would-be immigrants to Europe living in such abject poverty that short of death all else are minor risks that can be taken like a brave Mandinka warrior, and once those obstacles are overcome, the effort is well worth some of the problems and the pain endured.

Once he has regularised his or her residence he or she may pursue a higher education or start working. In Sweden for instance , he may begin to learn from scratch, to read and write. – just like everybody else. In time he might qualify as a much needed engineer or doctor for the folks back home

In any case consider this news item that African migrants remit approximately 32 billion dollars annually, back home. $32, 000,000,000 !
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/diaspora/artikel.php?ID=82675&comment=0

There is even a Sierra Leone short story about this, entitled “Back Home Abroad.” by Onipede Hollist:

http://www.sl-writers-series.org/shortstories/backhome.asp

Gambia and Sierra Leone are brothers and sisters and the best of neighbours.

Today,

we have many Sierra Leonean refugees in the Gambia, including a good percentage of our qualified teachers. Most of them have settled down harmoniously and will never feel as foreign in the Gambia, being among their own kind, contrasted with what they are likely to feel in Europe, sometimes being among another kind that could be unpredictably racist or resentful of people they see as arriving in droves, to live off economic systems that the European indigenes have laboured to create over a period of a thousand years.
And there was the slave trade, colonialism and the exploitation of Africa - so you want Salif Keita to sing a new melody entitled “ Pay-back time”? Yes? Today, such self-justification is regulated by law even in fortress Europe. Just as a Toubabu needs a visa to tourist-holiday in the Gambia, so too do we, to live in Europe for even one day.

Yesterday,

I went to school with several Gambians, such as the late John Ndow and Charles Jow, Ibou Janneh, Geoffrey Renner, Hilary Philotte, Mr. Jobe, and many others and friends in Sweden like Ousman Manjang…..
It is

One thing about emigration is that there are already people where we are gong, perhaps, relatives or friends and countrymen there to help receive us and help us settle down.

One world
One love.

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Originally posted by Alhassan

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Originally posted by Cornelius Hamelberg

BornAfrican writes :"I believe if many African immigrants to Europe knew what was ahead of them, they would have thought twice before leaving home"

True. We must have a real idea of what lies ahead and be prepared to face obstacles and setbacks. There are also many African would-be immigrants to Europe living in such abject poverty that short of death all else are minor risks that can be taken like a brave Mandinka warrior, and once those obstacles are overcome, the effort is well worth some of the problems and the pain endured.

Once he has regularised his or her residence he or she may pursue a higher education or start working. In Sweden for instance , he may begin to learn from scratch, to read and write. – just like everybody else. In time he might qualify as a much needed engineer or doctor for the folks back home

In any case consider this news item that African migrants remit approximately 32 billion dollars annually, back home. $32, 000,000,000 !
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/diaspora/artikel.php?ID=82675&comment=0

There is even a Sierra Leone short story about this, entitled “Back Home Abroad.” by Onipede Hollist:

http://www.sl-writers-series.org/shortstories/backhome.asp

Gambia and Sierra Leone are brothers and sisters and the best of neighbours.

Today,

we have many Sierra Leonean refugees in the Gambia, including a good percentage of our qualified teachers. Most of them have settled down harmoniously and will never feel as foreign in the Gambia, being among their own kind, contrasted with what they are likely to feel in Europe, sometimes being among another kind that could be unpredictably racist or resentful of people they see as arriving in droves, to live off economic systems that the European indigenes have laboured to create over a period of a thousand years.
And there was the slave trade, colonialism and the exploitation of Africa - so you want Salif Keita to sing a new melody entitled “ Pay-back time”? Yes? Today, such self-justification is regulated by law even in fortress Europe. Just as a Toubabu needs a visa to tourist-holiday in the Gambia, so too do we, to live in Europe for even one day.

Yesterday,

I went to school with several Gambians, such as the late John Ndow and Charles Jow, Ibou Janneh, Geoffrey Renner, Hilary Philotte, Mr. Jobe, and many others and friends in Sweden like Ousman Manjang…..
It is

One thing about emigration is that there are already people where we are gong, perhaps, relatives or friends and countrymen there to help receive us and help us settle down.

One world
One love.

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Cornelius,
I hope the Gambians on this forum reads between your lines. The generation you went to school with is quite different from thoes of today. You pointed out important issues of studying or working or doing both. Today the generation wants millions just over night, which is very impossible. You yourself is awear of the Gambian problem in Sweden and Europe for that matter. I hope people reflect upon the incidents of the past years and months to do as you said African migrants did before. You are also awear of the MOJA problem in Stockholm. I need not get into details about them. Today , we lack morals and good values so as to live healthly and honest lives both at home and abroad. The last statement does not apply to all but few. As the saying goes "one rutten potato spoils the whole bag"
By the way Con, you have been absent at the mosque for a very, very long time. You must come not only under Ramadan but as frequent as possible. We still have debates .

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