Integration had better take place on this globe

In the recent weeks, I travelled to Bahrain. As soon as I reached the arrival hall, I noticed a big number of Sudanese families with big handbags and lots of language. It certainly did not look like organised tours for people on sightseeing trips.

When a friend picked me up, I asked him about the huge number of Sudanese at the airport. He informed me that these were all refugees fleeing war in Sudan. I had heard about the tensions there but I did not know about the catastrophic consequences of this civil war that has caused the displacement of millions of people internally and externally to neighbouring regions, and hundreds of thousands facing imminent starvation in the coming few weeks. Those at the airport were the lucky ones who could afford to escape the ravaging war.

I was deeply hurt that while social media was raging against specific targeted atrocities that were happening in the Middle East and in Europe, the Sudanese disastrous situation was not even mentioned, nor are we talking about other nations that are also subjected to acts of cruelty in their homeland. 

Now let us pause this scenario and look at what is happening in Europe. I remember some years ago when we heard about the Far-right party in France led by Marine Le Pen. There was some kind of a shiver that went down our spine, back then her party represented a small minority, so people were not that bothered. However, in the last European Union Parliamentary elections, the Far-right party in France made big gains, and so did Germany, who won more seats than the German Chancellor’s Social Democratic Party. 

Interestingly, many of the voters who voted for them were young people, the same young men and women who in the last elections of 2019 were voting for Green parties that were concerned with environmental issues. This time around, their concerns were financial, all related to expensive housing, rising fuel and commodity prices, high interest rates and of course at the head of all the worries comes the issue of migration and the social disorders caused by the influx of thousands of refugees.

One day we were discussing with friends the same issue, and some expressed their worry about Islamisation in their country. Although Islam is a religion based on peace and kindness, what people and governments have turned it to, makes many weary of the consequences. History is going through a turning point, many new stories will be written, if integration does not take place soon, there will not be many good stories to remember.