A Talk With Fethi
Fethi is a 23 years old Algerian who has been traveling for the past three years from his homeland to France, the country he has chosen as his final destination. Now he is half way there, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he has been staying for the past year, out of which 7 months in Velika Kladusa.
In this city Algerians are one of the largest groups of migrants, together with Pakistanis and Afghans. All of them sometimes come across remarks of the public — at least through comments on social media — that they are, in fact, not refugees because the countries they come from are not in a state of war. Even if we don’t consider that the Talibans are once again active across large territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and if we neglect that over 5000 grenades were dropped on Afghanistan in 2018 (the highest number since 2004), these kind of remarks from the public should never be taken for granted.
The truth is, if we only focus on the strictly legal qualification of refugees, many people on the migrant route are not running away from countries engulfed with war. However, that does not mean that their safety was not endangered in those countries, it does not mean that their future was not in peril, it most certainly does not mean that those people should not have dreams to live a life that is more than mere survival in countries doomed to continuous instability and poverty. Ultimately, it does not mean it is OK to judge people who are leaving a place they no longer want to live in.
The ones who should show the most understanding towards these people are exactly people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, a small European country whose war ended a long time ago, yet its youth are still leaving the country in alarmingly large numbers. We can see many instances where people with well-paid jobs also decided to leave the country, and with them take their entire families. They are leaving because they have realized that life in this country is no longer good for them and their children. They are leaving because they know that somewhere west they have more opportunities and a brighter future. They are economic migrants. They are not illegal because due to the fact they were born in B&H, they can get a work visa in one of the EU countries. On the other hand, Algerians, and citizens of most countries east and south of Turkey, do not have such opportunity. Or if they do, chances of getting a work visa are equivalent to chances of winning the lottery.
The current migrations of people from Africa and Asia towards Europe are to a far greater extent characterized by the word “inequality” than the word “war”. The differences between the living standard of rich countries of the European Union and Africa or the Middle East are greater than they were 30 years ago (the GDP difference is 11:1 in favor of 15 richest countries of the EU). Given that today, thanks to technology development, people from poorer parts of the world are more aware of these differences. Equally as they are aware of how slow and uncertain the so-called transition is in their countries, with the ever present possibility of violence escalation, as it was the case with the north of Africa during the “Arab Spring”.
Let’s consider Algeria for a moment, a country whose economic indicators are rather similar to those of Bosnia and Herzegovina — the nominal GDP per capita is somewhat lower than in B&H, while the GDP at purchasing power parity is slightly higher. The political situation of the country, however, is far worse than the economic one.
For over four decades, the Freedom House organization has been publishing yearly reports about democratic freedoms in the world. Algeria is labeled as a country which is not free, with a freedom index of 35 out of 100. In comparison, within the same report B&H is considered as “partially free”, with an index of 55, while Austria as a “free” country has an index value of 95.
This indicator alone, without conducting any deeper analysis of the political and social situation in Algeria, tells us enough about the reasons why so many migrants come from this country. Not to mention that Algeria had its own civil war which, just as in B&H, started in 1991 and ended in 2002. The consequences of the war are still very much present. On top of all this, the same man is the head of the country since 1999 (their constitution was in fact changed two times so that he could be elected again), and he has practically not appeared in public in the last four years. Although many believe that the president is in a state of coma, or at best, immobile and physically incapacitated to work, however, he will most likely win the elections in 2019. He will win because the government controls the majority of jobs in the country and because the elections in Algeria, according to reports of international organizations, are far from democratic and fair elections.
Embedded in all aspects of life, the inequality between developed countries of Western Europe and North America on one side and the rest of the world on the other (with the exception of few countries of the Far East and the Australian continent) is the biggest challenge that the modern world must face. This is a task for the governments and politicians we elect. However, instead of solving problems, they are more and more invested in spreading fear among people, because it is known that the easiest way to rule is to use fear and hate.
What in no way contributes to a lasting solution is that we, the ordinary people, hate other ordinary people, who are only trying to find a way towards a happier life. This hatred most often arises from the fear towards those who are others and different. The fear is a result of the lack of understanding of the actual situation in which other people have found themselves and from which they come from.
By telling these refugee stories we are trying to improve this understanding among people and show that no man or woman can be reduced to only one identity — that of a refugee or a migrant — but that each of us, no matter where we are born, is a complex person who has a unique past, origin, emotions, dreams, and ultimately, the right to fight for a better future. About all this we talked with Fethi. This is his story.
Author: Amir Purić
Video: Edis Kadrić