Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Say No to "Backway"!

Sadly, this ‘back-way’ thingy has become a voyage of imminent loss, transforming the Mediterranean into a sea of remembrance for dead dreams. So heartbreaking that our desire to get to Europe is resurrecting those forced journeys of the transatlantic slave trade, but this time we’re generously allowing ourselves to be smuggled. I cannot believe that some of the agents are our own, who’ll in no way take the risk, but can abet greedy traffickers and swindlers to create a holocaust of hopes.

Holding memories of friends, brothers and sisters who died on this unfortunate journey is a heart-rending nightmare. Now I don’t even go to ‘warga-warga’ games because it feels so lifeless and lonely. The other day I saw two formerly opposing soccer teams merging their two teams in order to have a complete team, sadly because the missing players have gone and are going gradually more.

Sometimes we blame the effect while closing our eyes to the cause. Sometimes we massage the truth or prefer to remain silent because we don’t want to be seen as if we don’t care about the youths. Others make it appear as if the ‘back-way’ is all there’s to offer. Some who were never there when these kids needed them the most will pay huge sums to set them out on this suicide mission, and to claim name about that (diiw sangam mo yobu diiw). Those discouraging the course are becoming sick and tired of the needless persistence.

Sometimes I feel I have figured out the driving force, but other times I wonder if this perilous challenge is truly a consequence of conditions or just desire-motivated decisions, especially when employed and skilled people split up with everything they have and leave. Sometimes I ask myself, rather than buying a pig in a poke, what if all that money was invested on something assuredly gainful - but wouldn’t that depend on the market and opportunities available - but aren’t opportunities supposed to be created? Good God, what a complex simplicity!

There are some who are just victims of deception, motivated by friends who pretend to be living lives that they want others to think they’re living. Some leave because they live with families that do not give those at home the exact copy of the love and attention they give to those abroad. Others including those stranded somewhere along the way dare because they want to command bravery (yeffi goor la), but if bravery means stepping in where angels fear to tread, I’ll rather remain a coward.

Those who are able to get there in one piece usually realise the delusion when it is already late to go back, but when they call home to dissuade the others, folks feel they’re insincere and should probably come back if what they’re saying is what it is. I wonder how long it will take to realise that the ones who’re keeping it real and telling us that the grass isn't always greener on the other side are in fact more sincere.

Granted, Europe can present many possibilities for immigrants to earn a prosperous living and to succeed in their economic and social objectives. However, Europe can also be very traumatic, especially when you get there illegally. Myself, I used to think that the God over there is more generous than the God down here, but that was before I got there.

I am not trying to kill dreams, and it’s not like I am okay or not tired of being poor, but the fact is, life is naturally tough and is under no obligation to give us everything. For that reason, no matter your condition, there will always be someone somewhere dying to have what you’re putting too small a price on. The important thing is to be able to serve a purpose and to overstand that those seemingly perfect lives that we want ours to be like are sometimes more of lifestyles than purposes.

Borom karaw bu nyul nyakul dara
Beye du raas demi guddi

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