European Migration

I was surprised to learn that in Sweden, which was once a quiet and successful European country, and of course home to ABBA, there are now bombs going off regularly planted by gangs. About 30 explosive devices went off in a month with the police having foiled an equal number.

The gangs use explosives to extort from businesses, restaurants and hotels. Extortion aside, they are numerous other gangs which are engaged in the drugs trade.

This was shocking. Imagine explosives going off in the middle of the night set off by armed gangs which are also peddling drugs and creating a huge social problem. How did Sweden get to this stage?

Sweden was in the forefront of migration in the early 2000s. Now the number of foreign born living in Sweden stands at about 20% of the total population. Most of them are from the Middle East or Africa and mostly Muslims and poor. Integration of this group with the existing Swedish people has been a serious problem. My own view is that complete integration is an almost impossible task. They are racially and religiously different. How can integration be possible when there is such a vast difference between them as peoples culturally, racially and religiously.

They were allowed in on compassionate grounds, which speaks volumes for the generosity of the native Swedish people. It also made economic sense then as the population growth rates in Sweden and in the rest of Europe were declining and they needed an infusion of younger people to do the work that the Swedish people either didn’t want to or couldn’t do.

But the numbers blossomed uncontrollably and now, these new migrants form a large part of the gangs which are creating serious problems in the country. I can imagine how angry the native Swedish people must feel about this. Talk about biting the hands that have fed you.

Meanwhile in the UK about US$ 5.4 billion is spent annually on asylum seekers. At a time when the country is struggling to keep its NHS afloat and maintain its basic infrastructure which is falling apart, this huge amount of money is spent on people who have come into the country, some illegally, for their housing and food. Many again are from the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan. Integration again is a problem. It’s just that in the case of the UK, there is already a large Muslim population present.

Resentment is rife in Europe and there is growing anger towards migration and to the people who have come in.

But what can be done? Deport them? Their numbers are huge and a large proportion of them now have visas to stay in Europe. The birth rates are also higher for the migrants and so in about 30 years, they may well constitute the majority in Europe.

In the US, Donald Trump won the election on this issue alone and is taking steps to deport illegal immigrants, with huge support from most Americans.

Is Singapore immune to all this? We have brought in people from other countries. In our case most of them are either wealthier, well educated, younger and/or professionally qualified. So we end up having a different set of problems. We have migrants who can afford to have a better life, own properties or do better jobs than our local people in many cases. They are generally not the ones who cause any law and order problems. They are also net positive contributors to the economy and they come in legally and in numbers that do not affect the existing racial mix. How do you keep our locals happy in this kind of migration?

Not having immigrants may not be an option for us. Our local population is declining, ageing and there is a need to maintain and grow our numbers to keep the economy going and support an ageing society.

But how do we avoid the kind of backlash in Europe and in the US? Better integration? If so how? Even if efforts are made at this, how effective can this be? How do you ensure that migration does not antagonize your local people and avoid the current backlash in Europe and the US.

Perhaps being wary of and opposing people different from us or outside our space is a matter of instinct and hardwired into our brains because of how our  predecessors were. We were a tribal people. We lived, ate and died as part of a tribe. Being part of a tribe was essential to our survival. Belonging to a tribe to the exclusion of others may  well always be a part of our DNA. Excluding others outside the tribe ensured that the limited resources would always be available to the tribe to continue it’s existence. Being territorial and unwilling to accept and share with outsiders may well be inborn in us. Can we overcome our ancient upbringing?