In light of the policy analysis that Chelsea and I are working on, consciously and unconsciously, I have been following news stories covering homelessness in Portland. Last week, in class, we talked about the Portland Press Herald’s coverage of Arianna’s family and their journey from Tent City to an apartment in Lewiston (Billings, 2016). Throughout the semester, we've discussed policies that impact where homeless people are permitted to inhabit, and the social justice (or lack of) that comes from leveling tent structures.
My eyes have been peeled for publications of this nature, and I've become totally mesmerized by what is occurring in France, specifically Calais, and the connection between our community policy battles (despite our smaller scale).
The once small migrant camp has grown exponentially, and “houses” upwards of 7,000 individuals (Nossiter & Hicks, 2016).
There have been TONS of publications about this, however, about a week ago, the New York Times published a heavily photographed article that to me, captured the humanity of the crisis (Nossiter & Hicks, 2016). (I'm inserting a few of those photos here, and the link for further reading - absolutely worth it for those that missed this: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/27/world/europe/calais-jungle-france-migrants.html?mwrsm=Email&_r=0).
The magnitude of the refugee crisis in Europe is striking. However, there are related themes between the European refugee crisis and the housing battle in Portland: How to handle vulnerable populations as they seek stabilization on public lands? What policies will support human beings and the communities in which they live?
No one has an answer.
France has actually physically assembled a barbed wire wall around “the jungle” with the intent of preventing people from passing into Britain. Given land quality, over time, the wall’s structure will deteriorate. The measure is a far cry from preventing imminent migration to Britain, or providing any semblance of stability to the adults and unaccompanied minors inhabiting the tent city (Nossiter & Hicks, 2016).
Eradicating the camps has become a hot issue in France’s elections - yet accommodating human beings has not. Mayors in France have even created policies that prevent migrants from entering their towns and cities (Nossiter & Hicks, 2016). The hazing and shut out aren't unlike the experience of homeless folks in Maine (like Arianna’s family) who are shut out of housing opportunities due to stigma and prejudgement.
Despite the depressing and quite honestly embarrassing response in social justice and policy to this reality, there are reports of “guerilla social workers” taking grassroots action in support of migrants.
In an almost “Underground Railroad” fashion, a French Farmer has taken it upon himself to help transport and navigate 200+ being via train into Britain. When asked about his work, he states, “I don’t have a global solution, he said at another point. “But the state is not managing this properly. I think it’s my duty. And I don’t think it’s normal that children have to go through this…. Either I close my eyes, or I don’t,” he said. “These are people with no papers at all. That means they have no protection. I don’t see how we can be inert” (Nossiter, 2016).
The case of Calais is an extremity, but his statement applies to those who are homeless and marginalized everywhere. Either we close our eyes or we don't. No giant solution exists for the messiness of the current housing policy crisis.
We are arriving in a place where we need to open our eyes to suffering around us and accept one another - regardless of living conditions. We have to stop pushing “undesirable” populations into further suffering.
References:
Billings, R. (2016). Meet arianna, the little girl who lived in portland’s woods. Portland Press Herald. Retrieved from: http://www.pressherald.com/2016/09/25/ariannas-home/
Nossiter, A., & Hicks, T. (2016). Inside france’s ‘jungle’: Desperate migrants keep coming to calais. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/27/world/europe/calais-jungle-france-migrants.html?mwrsm=Email&_r=0.
Nossiter, A. (2016). A french underground railroad, moving african migrants. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/05/world/europe/france-italy-migrants-smuggling.html
Ellen - thanks for addressing this.
ReplyDeleteI find it so fascinating how quickly humans can forget, or alter, history for the convenience of the present moment. Contemporary society continues to honor and recognize the individuals who stood up against the Nazi regime and worked to help displaced Jews cross borders to safety. Even this past week there was an article in the New York Times about a French man who forged passports for Jews (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/opinion/sunday/if-i-sleep-for-an-hour-30-people-will-die.html). Then there was Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 children during the Holocaust (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/02/world/europe/nicholas-winton-is-dead-at-106-saved-children-from-the-holocaust.html). And let us not forget Mr. Schindler, of Schindler’s List, and Paul Rusesabagina, of Hotel Rwanda, who both saved roughly 1200 Jews and 1200 Tutsi’s, respectively.
Yet looking at immigration policy during WWII, it feels eerily similar to where we are today. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s website talks about how immigration policy tightened up and even when it was somewhat relaxed, there still were barriers:
“While some American activists sincerely intended to assist refugees, serious obstacles to any relaxation of US immigration quotas included public opposition to immigration during a time of economic depression, xenophobia, and antisemitic feelings in both the general public and among some key government officials. Once the United States entered World War II, the State Department practiced stricter immigration policies out of fear that refugees could be blackmailed into working as agents for Germany.
It was not until January 1944 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, under pressure from officials in his own government and an American Jewish community then fully aware of the extent of mass murder, took action to rescue European Jews. Following discussions with Treasury Department officials, he established the War Refugee Board (WRB) to facilitate the rescue of imperiled refugees. With the assistance of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the World Jewish Congress, as well as resistance organizations in German-occupied Europe, the WRB helped to rescue many thousands of Jews in Hungary, Romania, and elsewhere in Europe.
In April 1944, Roosevelt also directed that Fort Ontario, New York, become a free port for refugees. However, only a few thousand refugees were allowed there and they were from liberated areas, not from Nazi-occupied areas. They were in no imminent danger of deportation to killing centers in German-occupied Poland” (https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007094).
It boggles the mind that we can simultaneously honor the people who endangered or sacrificed their lives to save displaced WWII refugees, while ignoring the profound suffering of Syrians, Iraqis, Afghanis, and Sudanese refugees, to name but a few.
I wish I knew how to overcome this selective amnesia. I wonder if it’s even possible, or are we destined to only honor those who stood up for refugees, asylees, and homeless individuals, decades after the fact?
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ReplyDeleteNoah, you've said everything that I thought when I read through Ellen's post. My mind was going back to WWII and how people were being treated, and how the people who helped during that time are now celebrated. But why do why have to look back on things retrospectively in order to feel compassion for a disadvantaged population? We can't even just say it is specific to American culture and way of acting because as we see now and have known historically it happens globally and cross culturally :-( You would think or hope that a benefit of Globalization and internet access is that we are all connected to each other all the time and always able to tune in to anywhere in the world at our will, but it doesn't matter and a "them vs Us" mentality still perseveres
ReplyDeleteEllen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such an interesting story about what is going on in France. As I was reading through my first thought was how often we see a problem, solve the immediate consequences we are dealing with, and not think about the larger picture or what will happen because of your chosen solution. This is clear in the attempts to build a wall or clear out cities of people. This is so clearly short-sighted to me as the problem is still going to exist- just maybe not in your immediate line of sight. I tend to think about problems in a very big picture way and do not feel satisfied until I am dealing with the root cause with the largest effect.
However, the story of the man who created an underground railroad shifted my thinking a bit. He is honest that he doesn't see a global solution but that he needs to do something and can't just sit back and watch this happen. This is not working on the ultimate root cause, but what he is doing is still very important.
I guess ultimately it is a balance when working on solutions for a problem between short-term solutions and longer-term ones. If you focus on only fixing the issue through big picture long-term ideas, you often spend a lot of time planning for this while the issue is getting worse. If you only focus on short-term fixes, some people may be helped but the issue will continue with strength. It reminds me of the exercise we did in class last week where you are laying out root causes and effects and thinking about different strategies that are important for both ends of the tree.
Jana