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

Careless talk costs lives. NZ mourns.

On Friday 15^th March 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand a man filled with hate shot and killed fifty people in two mosques.  Saturday morning my husband David and I spent three hours absorbing the TV coverage. Many of those killed and injured were migrants. There was a lot of talk about hate. We wept at the acts of compassion and love.

  

I came away wanting to know why someone would be so driven to carry out such a heinous act. Why would someone have so much hate? 

Like the world I am shaken that this has happened in gentle New Zealand. In our sadness we have to remind ourselves that the act on Friday was race motivated. Hate for a group that was different to the man who called the shots that day.

What do we know about hate?

1. We hate what is different. The Psychology of Hate by Get Psyched stated we form an in-group and an out-group. We turn to our in-group for survival.
2. Hate is driven by love and aggression. Love for the group you belong to and aggression for the group you don’t. You will probably feel that your in-group is right in all facets, and the out-group is wrong.
3. Hate is driven by fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear that those in the out-group will affect those in the in-group. The killer's manifesto apparently said that he feared that Muslims would take over the world, and  "He wrote about becoming “increasingly disgusted” at immigrant communities."  
4. Get Psyched suggested that we often hate other people who are achieving something we cannot or fear we cannot achieve for ourselves. Why would this man hate Muslims so much?  I wondered what the killer saw in the Muslim way of life that he felt he could not achieve in his? Like all religions Islam has obligations. Muslims attend the mosque for collective prayer, just as other faiths gather for collective prayer. Arranging your life so that you can pray at a mosque on a Friday, a western work day would take conviction. You would need a strong sense of identity. Maybe this man was missing that. Perhaps he hated the sense of purpose, faith and belonging he saw in Muslims. He envied it. I suggest he feared he would never have such conviction. Unfortunately for us, his hate gave him a strong enough sense of conviction to massacre fifty people.
5. We are not born with hate. Hate is learnt from our environment. When 9/11 happened in 2001, the Christchurch killer was five years old. In the following ten or so years anyone with a beard and brown eyes seemed to be suspected to be a terrorist. If our social conscience develops at seven, then he had enough racism in his environment to form an opinion. This man’s hate may have been fueled by extremists on line, but the racism was also reinforced by his encounters with people he engaged with face to face.

There was racism before the internet. Many of us if not all of us would have heard a racist comment in social gatherings, a workplace, a party, a bar, a barbecue, a family dinner. What did we do when we heard those comments?

Over the last few days we have been moved by compassion and grief. As a nation we have laid flowers and donated money. We have attended vigils. We have wept. We have felt helpless what more can we do?

We can show some practical aroha (compassion.)

Love and compassion is the antidote to hate. We can show compassion by being more informed about the group that is different to us. We already have learnt more about the process for a Muslim funeral.  The more you know about the out-group, the less you will feel they are the out-group.

What else can we do?

Halt the hate. Stop racist comments gaining traction. When you hear a racist joke or comment, you could respond with, "Those comments are a bit out of date," or, “I'm going to disagree with you on that," or, "I don't see it that way."

With racist jokes, you could say, “I'm feeling uncomfortable about the victim of the joke," or, “I can’t laugh about that." Another suggestion I was given recently was to ask the joke teller to explain the joke which would produce an accountable if awkward silence.

Racist comments are often flippant or careless. Said by people who care less. Let us give new meaning to, “Careless talk costs lives.”

  

New Zealand is showing unity and love at the moment. Racism in New Zealand has been highlighted. Soon the flowers will be cleared away. There will still be racism. We need to continue to show aroha by learning more about people who are different to us. We need to halt the hate. We need to stop the careless talk by speaking out.

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me."

Martin Niemöller

Kia Kaha (Stay strong) a tribute from Orewa High School, NZ. 

Moving tributes

Tongan Community play Abide with me in support of muslim families
"Welcome home" by Dave Dobbyn sung as Cantabrians gather.

Other links

Four things you should do following the Christchurch terror attacks, Saziah Bashir

'Were out voices not enough?' asks refugee who expereinced racism prior to mosque attacks

Give Nothing to Racism

Taka Waititi, a New Zealand film director, actor, comedian has put his name to a wonderful new campaign, Give Nothing to Racism. I hope you enjoy it.