How has Covid19 affected migrants? What helps?

Our era of Covid19 has been scary. I have felt a heightened tension throughout the lockdown. Tears well easily. Global uncertainty is the new normal. The only certainty is that there is more uncertainty and economic hard ship to come.

How has Covid19 affected migrants?  Here are some challenges I have become aware of. Please feel free to add your experiences to this blog in the comments below.

Panic reactions 

We all had to prepare for an unknown. Stay at home. Stay safe.  Be kind.   Free movement stopped. We  waited to be guided or dictated to. Reactions were varied. Panic buying relatively harmless; racial slurs and attacks harmful. Racial tension was real, particularly towards the Chinese. Trump called the virus, "The Chinese virus." People of Asian appearance were asked to leave buses or establishments.

"Outbreaks create fear, and fear is a key ingredient for racism and xenophobia to thrive." LancetVol395

 It was as if there had to be blame. If not the Governments then who?

Other experiences has shown that people have grabbed at opportunities to be kind. A Chinese migrant told me that she was afraid at first of racism as a result of Covid19, but instead people asked how her family in China were coping.

Visiting rights ended 

As migrants we count on keeping up connection with our family and loved ones by visiting or having visitors. About every two years I would feel a pull to "go home."  That pull may be  felt more frequent if your loved ones are unwell. Having visitors come to you helps postpone that pull. In a pre-Covid19 world the frequency of visits was determined by many factors. At the moment our visiting rights have stopped. Even if we win lotto we are unable to see our overseas loved ones.  There is no way to plan for a visit in the near future. We are all on hold. I feel so sad for those who have had the death of a loved one. I can't imagine the feelings they experience when there was no way to be where you would most want to be to share the grief. Our choices have been limited. We can do nothing but wait.

Support Network

I have promoted the importance of a migrant having a good support network in my book and blogs. This support network may be in the form of a neighbour, a colleague from a place of work, volunteering or group. A person or people who will look out for you and who you can look out for.  Covid19 is a time where you will appreciate the support network you have, or will realise that you don't have one. As migrants we can be inclined to 'not make a fuss' not appear to ask for anything. (We are like a guest in the home we have chosen.) With no support network a migrant may miss out on what is available to them.
It was great to hear that migrants helping other needy migrants, guessing that lack of knowledge or fear had prevented the needy from making them selves known. Giving and receiving makes both parties feel better.

Employment 

Will migrants be more likely to be unemployed? Maybe, but as a migrant you have the advantage of adapting, being flexible, and knowing what is most important to you. Your proven adaptability may make you the most desirable employee.

I have always said migrants are motivated. They have already shown they can adapt. They have moved themselves and their families from their country of origin to a new home. In times of economic hardship it may be that migrants adaptability makes them more employable.

How can we get over these challenges?

Strategies:

• Report any racism. If not to officials, to someone who cares. Having a good listening ear can take the burden from you and let others know that racism is happening. Focus on those that have not been racist.
• If you are lacking a support network then this is a time to build one up. Do something for a neighbour. Contact the local councils/libraries/help lines to find out what is available to help you.
• Keep  contact with your loved ones through Zoom, Skype, Messenger. Write a letter, it may take ages to get to the destination, but it will bring joy when it arrives.
• Accept that this is a time where there are no visits or visitors. A fallow field. An intermission from the plans of the next physical connection. We may treasure the freedom to connect all the more.
• Migrants are motivated. If you lose your job, present yourself as skilled, adaptable and flexible. Keep active by volunteering.

Positive thoughts to hold onto:

The whole world is living with uncertainty. Migrants or not there is a belonging in that uncertainly.

There are heightened emotions. We may need to look at how we are reacting to loosen the tension. Matt Heath in "Stressed out?" highlighted:

"The more we value the things outside our control, the less control we have" Epictetus

"The whole future lies in uncertainty so live immediately." Seneca

"If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it." Marcus Aurelius

I feel I have been fortunate during Covid19. I managed to see my family last December and I have been able to continue working. My insights could be narrow. Please feel free to share your experiences to help other migrants.

Other Links

Migrant Nik Dirga from America feeling torn between his two homes.

https://migrationdataportal.org/themes/migration-data-relevant-covid-19-pandemic

What is wrong with fitting in?

When I had been in New Zealand for about five years I was compared to another English migrant who “didn’t fit in as well as you do.” This got me thinking. I had worked hard at fitting in. I had listened more than talked with my husbands' friends and family, I had stopped telling jokes that had shocked, but still  laughed at jokes I didn't understand, I could even name most of the beloved All Blacks rugby team. I had tried to fit in as much as possible. I had  completed all the requirements possible to be an acceptable New Zealander. And yet I wasn’t. I felt like an observer, the polite guest who could only share my opinions in a guarded manner.  I had been trying too hard to fit in. I feared being a perpetual outsider.

A few years later I decided I am not nor will ever be a New Zealander. I am an English person who is enjoying living in New Zealand. I was different. I was an outsider, but that was okay. 

Brené Brown, one of the world’s greatest influencers in the realms of leadership and change, studies courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. Her TED talk is one of the five most-watched TED talks in the world. In an article Brown wrote for Oprah.com, Brown explains the difference between fitting in and belonging:

"In fact, fitting in is the greatest barrier to belonging. Fitting in, I've discovered during the past decade of research, is assessing situations and groups of people, then twisting yourself into a human pretzel in order to get them to let you hang out with them. Belonging is something else entirely—it's showing up and letting yourself be seen and known as you really are—love of gourd painting, intense fear of public speaking and all.
Many of us suffer from this split between who we are and who we present to the world in order to be accepted, (Take it from me: I'm an expert fitter-inner!) But we're not letting ourselves be known, and this kind of incongruent living is soul-sucking."

Many communities have a quirky member. In You don't need to fit in to belong Jenny Lind Schmitt describes a member of a Swiss village that is different to the rest of the community, but adds a colour and vibrancy to the community. Madame Cardozo doesn't fit in, but does belong. It was suggested by Schmitt that it was time that made Madame Cardozo belong.

It took time for me to feel a sense of belonging. The belonging came through work, the contributions I made to my community, reaching out for a support network where help was able to be given and received, being a parent of children growing up in New Zealand, volunteering in my children's schools, sharing life events with friends and my husband's family, being part of a church. Anywhere where my contribution or potential contribution was valued, that was where I felt a sense of belonging.

As a migrant, you will be different. It is likely that you will try to fit in, especially in the early years. This may be for survival mentally or physically. What is wrong with fitting in? There are levels of fitting in that are unhealthy. You need to be aware of the uncomfortable feeling that you are over-compromising yourself, 'twisting yourself into a human pretzel' just for the sake of fitting in. Will you feel a sense of belonging if you haven't been revealing your true self? Brene Brown thinks not.

Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.-Brene Brown

There will be a time when you will be accepted into your community. It will be the time when you, and your differences are recognised as providing a positive aspect to the community; the food you bring, the volunteering, the fresh insights, the comparative opinions, the acknowledgement that there is another way of being or doing that is not wrong, your artistic talents. (See a previous blog 12 Reasons why migrants make good artists.) At this time you will feel and enjoy the sense of belonging in your host country. Enjoy that feeling and be glad that you didn't sell yourself out too much when trying to fit in.