A migrant's Journey: Arrival

Arriving to a new country might seem problematic and difficult on the one hand, but on the other, I think, that life isn’t a real life, and it’s getting really boring when you don’t experience something new every single day. And also there are always some difficulties and dilemmas that faces a person during the first days or weeks since arriving. Furthermore, Arrival can be the hardest part of a trip. It's late, you're jet lagged or road-weary, and everything is new and strange. You need an affordable place to sleep, something to eat and drink, and probably a way to get around. Whether it's the first stop on a trip or the fifth city in as many days, every traveler feels a little overwhelmed stepping onto a new street in a new city. The sense of excitement and potential for discovery ends up in the shadow of practical matters. It's enough to make you wish you were back in your home town. Although a lot of feelings arise within a person, it can be successful decision for the fact of the arrival to a new country because it can provide greater and better opportunities for higher level employment and the opportunity for your family to have a better life.

                       

In the excerpt from Kim Thuy’s book “RU”, she mentioned many issues that portray her entire life bibliography. One of the many issues that caught my attention, while reading the article was her story about becoming a ‘Canadian’. For example, “My first glimpses of snow banks through the porthole at Mirable Airport made me feel bare and defenseless”. This reflects my own experience when I first arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport; I was experiencing culture shock. Furthermore, Kim Thuy mentioned that she was wearing: “The short-sleeved orange pullover from the refugee camp in Malaysia and the loose-knit brown woolen sweater made by Vietnamese women still left me completely exposed” upon her arrival at the airport. On the other hand, my story was similar to her when I arrived at Pearson International Airport. Even though I was fully covered, the clothes that I was wearing were made for the coldest temperature that a very dry country can possibly experience, it wasn’t fancy like what an average “Canadian” would wear. I was having “goose bumps” all over my body due to the -24 temperature. On the bright side, it was one of my many great experiences while living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.   

A migrant's Journey: Borderlands

          In Manto’s story “Toba Tek Singh”, The story is set two or three years after the 1947 Partition, when the governments of India and Pakistan decided to exchange their Muslim, Sikh and Hindu lunatics, and revolves around Bishan Singh, a Sikh inmate of an asylum in Lahore, who is from the town of Toba Tek Singh. As part of the exchange of lunatics Bishan Singh is sent under police escort to India, but upon being told that his hometown Toba Tek Singh is in Pakistan, he refuses to go. The story ends with Bishan lying down between barbed wire: "There, behind barbed wire, was Hindustan. Here, behind the same kind of barbed wire, was Pakistan. In between, on that piece of ground that had no name, lay Toba Tek Singh”. In my opinion, I think that Manto’s story “Toba Tek Singh” teach us about the significance or danger of national Borders by explaining readers how unauthorized immigration can create Wars and asylum. For example, unauthorized immigration may be prompted by the desire to escape civil war or repression in the country of origin. Also, non-economic push factors include persecution (religious and otherwise), frequent abuse, bullying, oppression, and genocide, and risks to civilians during war. Political motives traditionally motivate refugee flows - to escape dictatorship for instance.

On the other hand, I think that it is important to note that the status of "unauthorized immigrant" may overlap with or be replaced by the status of "asylum seeker" for immigrants who have escaped a war or oppression and have illegally crossed into another state. If they are recognized as "legitimate" asylums by the destination state, they will then gain status. However, there may be numerous potential asylums in a destination state who are unwilling to apply or have been denied asylum status, and hence are categorized as "unauthorized immigrants" and may be subject to punishment or deportation. However, unauthorized immigrants may expose themselves to dangers while engaged in illegal entry into another country. Aside from the possibility that they may be intercepted and deported, some considerably more dangerous outcomes have been known to result from their activity. As an example, unauthorized immigrants may be trafficked for exploitation including sexual exploitation.

            To conclude, while reading and understanding Manto’s story “Toba Tek Singh” I think this story is hilarious. I am actually surprised that the story did not get Manto in serious trouble with the government as some of the conversations of people in the mental hospital seem to mirror the views of leading politicians of the time. Also, in any language "Toba Tek Singh" is a wonderful story that way transcends its setting. If you can read this without laughing out loud you must be in a very bad mood!

A migrant's Journey: Leaving

              In Khalid Koser’s novel International Migration, he discussed that there are “many reasons why women comprise an increasing proportion of the world’s migrants. One is that the demand for foreign labour… second, an increasing number of countries have extended the right of family reunion to migrants – in other words allowing them to be joined by their spouses and children” (Pg 7). In a view, this quote struck me because I know that people always think the grass is greener on the other side, and they have dreams that maybe they can't achieve in their homeland. As a result, many immigrants left their homelands because they felt that a better life was waiting for them in another country like Canada and United States. Also, some had lost their homes to disasters such as floods and earthquakes. Others left because there was not enough food.

 I'm in favor of immigration. The more the merrier, I say. When there isn't work for immigrants, they will stop coming. Likewise, one of the things that tells me that our economy is not in as bad a shape as some would tell is that immigrants continue to pour into Canada or into the United States. They all want a job, and nearly all find one. Within a short few years, most immigrants are an economic benefit to the Canada and United States. However, the immigration problem isn't that we have them. It's that the Government can't seem to find a way to sort out the few that come here to commit crimes. From the very beginning, immigration quotas have been a way to maintain racial or ethnic purity, and they still are today. Illegal immigrants are illegal primarily because of their ethnic background. We should be welcoming all who want to work, and sorting out the criminals. Instead, our system sends home the job seekers, and gives the criminals chance after chance to remain because of their rights in a criminal proceeding.

About ME!!!

          Hello/ Néih Hóu/ Bonjour/ Guten Tag/ Salve/ Annyeong/ Namaskar/ Privet/ Hola/ Komusta/ Konnichiwa/ Aloha/ Salam,

         My name is JEROME SANTOS, I am 21 years old.  I love sports and have played almost every sport that there is.  My favourite sport by far is Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). I was born in the Philippines; I was 10 years old when I migrated/moved here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I currently am in the Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists Assistant program at Humber College (north campus). If you want to know more about me just ask me in personal….. DON’T BE SHY