hafan
SBASSG Newsletters
Editor: Andrew Hammond - andrew.hammond@sihe.ac.uk
May 2004 - Iranian proverbs, recipe from Albania, articles by Sergio Garate and Humberto Gatica, Swansea World Stars, folk tale from Saudi Arabia, poem by Soleiman Adel Guémar ...
July 2005 - Chilean proverbs, recipe from Algeria, poem by Ghahar Asi (Afghanistan), Crisis in Zimbabwe, Facts about Asylum Seekers and Refugees, "woof-woof" and "miaow" around the world ...
November 2005 - Iranian idioms, recipe from Uganda, Crisis in Sudan, poems by Humberto Gatica and Soleiman Adel Guemar, fiction by Eduardo Galeano (trans. H. Gatica) ...
February 2006 - Lebanese proverbs, Sudanese recipe, How To Say I Love You in 20 Languages, Algeria's Mafia Regime, Iraqi Kurds in Wales Face Destitution, Obstacles to Claiming Asylum, UK Church Leaders Condemn Asylum Destitution, Know Your Strangers? ...
May 2006 - Refugee Week, recipe from Lebanon, farewell Charles Clarke, Martin Caton MP denounces Section 9, humour by Anihita Alikhani, Iranian poetry ...
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SWANSEA BAY ASYLUM SEEKERS SUPPORT GROUP c/o The Retreat, 2 Humphrey Street, Swansea, SA1 6BG www.hafan.org
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We are very pleased to be able to introduce the new newsletter of the Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group. SBASSG is a community group established in 2000, and run on a voluntary basis by asylum seekers, refugees and other local people. We organise regular get-togethers, day trips, educational courses, cultural events and fund raising activities. Our aims are to improve conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in the town, to assist families and individuals in crisis, and to improve the public understanding of refugee and asylum issues. We hope this newsletter will help to inform you of some of the work that we do, and also to spread information about the rich, vibrant cultures that we have in Swansea. Each issue will have articles about the diverse languages, literatures, cuisines and religions that are represented in the town. If you’d like to find out more, or feel you could contribute, why not come along and meet the group?
PUBLICATIONS
One way in which SBASSG raises funds is through the publication of anthologies of writing by refugees and asylum seekers. In 2003 we published Between a Mountain and a Sea and in 2004 Nobody’s Perfect, both volumes being collections of poems, short stories and autobiographical pieces, including work by writers born in Wales. The anthologies have been extremely well received, and have helped us to donate over £1000 to the Welsh Refugee Council’s Hardship Fund. This year, a third volume, Soft Touch, will be published, with the launch being held at the Dylan Thomas Centre on Wednesday 5 July 2005. If you would like to order any of the volumes, you can do so at our website, www.hafan.org. Conversely, if you are interested in writing a short piece for our future volumes, just get in touch!
IRANIAN PROVERBS
The two hands wash each other, and both hands wash the face
(Meaning: The community is the heart of life)
What arrives with the wind will depart with the wind
(Meaning: The pleasures of life are short)
For the ant, even the dew seems like a flood
(Meaning: Only an insignificant person is concerned with trivialities)
The neighbour’s hen always looks like a goose
(Meaning: Jealousy can distort the perspective)
Never walk towards danger with a faith in miracles
(Meaning: Prepare yourself for life’s eventualities)
For every grape there are a hundred wasps
(Meaning: Success will attract difficulties)
A drowning person does not bother about the rain
(Meaning: Always keep your problems in perspective)
One finger cannot lift a rock
(Meaning: Great things are achieved collectively)
FOOTBALL TEAM
Swansea World Stars is a football team which is not just about winning trophies. Banire Sy Savane, an asylum seeker from Sierra Leone, had the idea of creating the team in 2002, which SBASSG then helped him set up.
There are two main aims. First, the team provides single young male asylum seekers with something to do, helps them keep fit, gives them a purpose and a bit of structure in their lives. Depression and other forms of mental illness are common among asylum seekers. Second, it provides a way for asylum seekers and local people to meet and get to know one another. In the first season (2003-4), the team played against the Council's Housing and Recreation Departments, and against Swansea City Supporters Trust. In the second season they joined the Zebra League, consisting of minority ethnic teams, but this season they joined the regular Saturday league, to play against local and pub teams all over Swansea.
About half the players are African, and the other half Iraqis, mostly Kurds. Many of them are "failed" asylum seekers: their applications have been refused, so they get no state support or accommodation, but they can't be deported because their countries are too dangerous.
Swansea World Stars may not always win - in fact they usually don't. It's often a big hassle for Banire and his friends to get a team together every Saturday, and even finding the way to where the games are played often poses problems. Funding from Communities First helps a lot, but we could do with more local volunteers to play with us, train with us, and help with the practical stuff like giving lifts.
They’re a great bunch of lads - come on, everybody!
A PERSONAL VIEW ON MIGRATION
By Sergio Garate (a Chilean refugee)
I consider migration to be as natural as breathing, eating, drinking … as natural as nature itself. In the natural world, animals migrate north, south, east or west in search of food, warmth or a better environment. Humans in many respects are not that different. In fact, in tracing back human evolution, scientists have noticed many migratory waves over the millennia, expanding outward from that ancestral, primordial group, or clan, from East Africa to Europe, Asia and the Americas, resulting in the demographics of today.
The reasons for migration have not changed over the centuries. These days, people migrate seeking employment (what a crime!), a quest which translated into old world parlance would be for fertile land, fresh water or new hunting grounds. People are also migrating to seek asylum from oppressive regimes. In the old world, this would translate into migration for the purposes of safety; that is, escaping from a neighbouring clan or tribe. Environmental catastrophes of one kind or another have also, historically, been a significant ‘push factor’, forcing people to leave their ancestral lands.
Considering the contribution (economic, political, social, cultural) that migrants make to society, it is very difficult, in my view, to conclude anything other than that migration is a positive phenomenon. It is also my view that in the present electoral climate, many are finding it impossible to debate this issue in a pondered, educated or balanced way. There are political parties who, in making migration an electoral issue, cannot deny that they are playing the ‘race card’.
RECIPE FROM ALBANIA
Albanian cuisine has strong links with that of other northern Mediterranean countries. Like Greek, Turkish or Serbian cooking, there is a tendency towards spicy foods and an emphasis on meat courses. Popular dishes include tavë me presh (leek casserole), qofte të fërguara (meat balls) and rosto me salcë kosi (roast beef with sour cream), often finished off with akullore (ice cream) and kafe turke (Turkish coffee).
Pies are particularly common throughout Albanian. They can be treated both as snacks and as the main course of a meal, and can be filled with meat, cheese or vegetables. The following recipe for spinach pie is the favourite of local Albanian families.
Byrek me spinaq (Spinach Pie)
1 cup of olive oil
500g of frozen pastry
½ pounds of chopped spinach
1 cup of chopped feta cheese
½ cup of chopped onions
2 eggs
½ teaspoon of salt
(Serves 4)
Sprinkle the spinach with salt and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, brush a medium-sized baking pan with olive oil. Place two-thirds of the pastry around the inside of the pan, allowing the pastry to slightly overhang the sides, and then brush lightly with oil. Drain the spinach, add the chopped feta cheese, chopped onions and beaten eggs, and mix thoroughly. Tip the mixture into the baking pan, spreading evenly over the pastry. Then cover the mixture with the final one-third of the pastry, turning the edges over the upper layer. Sprinkle the pie with a little olive oil and bake for 45 minutes at a moderate heat (the pie should be cooked golden brown). Serve hot with yoghurt and salad.
A CALL FOR DONATIONS
SBASSG receives project support from Swansea City Council (to pay for the play workers at the drop-ins) and from Communities First (to pay for expenses for the Swansea World Stars football team). For everything else, we depend on public donations. If you, your friends, or your class at school are able to organise a fund raising event (jumble sales, cake sales, sponsored walks) we would be very pleased to hear from you. Should you have news of such an event, or would like information about how our funds are used, please contact our treasurer, Dr Tom Cheesman, at 07736408064 or t.cheesman@swan.ac.uk. One-off and regular cash donations are also gratefully received.
THE TWO BUFFALOES
A Folk Tale from Saudi Arabia
There once lived in a beautiful hut two buffaloes, one blue and the other white. The two buffaloes were the best of friends. They always did everything together, whether playing in the mud or foraging for fish in the local lake. Their only problem was a great tiger who had recently come to live in the neighbourhood. The tiger was very envious of the buffaloes’ beautiful home, but as long as the two friends were together, there was little that he could do.
Late one afternoon, the buffaloes returned to their hut after an unsuccessful day’s fishing. ‘I think I shall take a nap’, the blue buffalo said with a yawn. ‘Will you keep watch to make sure that I’m safe?’ The white buffalo promptly replied, ‘I should be very glad to.’
The white buffalo sat down to watch over his sleeping friend, a little drowsy himself after the hot sunshine. It was just at that moment that the tiger crept up to the doorway.
‘Come quick, come quick,’ the tiger said. ‘A fish has leapt from the lake.’
‘I’m most awfully sorry,’ the white buffalo said. ‘I’m busy.’
‘Come quick, come quick,’ the tiger said. ‘The fish is in the shallows.’
‘But my friend is asleep,’ the white buffalo said, tempted. ‘And I need to watch over him.’
‘Come quick,’ the tiger replied. ‘If your friend is asleep then you can eat it yourself.’
The white buffalo, his stomach rumbling, didn’t need further invitation. He bounded down to the lake as fast as his legs would carry him, but the fish was nowhere to be seen. Disappointed, he returned to the hut, only to find that the blue buffalo had also vanished. ‘The tiger must have escorted my friend to the lake,’ the white buffalo thought, laying down to rest. ‘I hope he’s safe. There are so many dangers these days.’ His eyes began to close, and just at that moment the tiger rushed in and gobbled him up.
The tiger felt very satisfied after his meal of two buffaloes. He looked round his new hut with pleasure.
WHY PEOPLE SEEK ASYLUM
The Chilean Experience (by Humberto Gatica-Leyton)
During the 1970s and 1980s, Latin America was in political turmoil. The level of poverty, social inequality and outside interference brought about a chain of military coups in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, adding to the dictatorships already established in Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. These obstructed the political, social and economic alternatives that the people of these countries had started to build.
Chile, through a democratic general election, had chosen a government that gave real hope for a better future for the working class, middle class, intellectuals, artists and especially for the more neglected areas of our society. However, the Chilean ruling class, multinational companies like ITT and EXXON, and the American government of Richard Nixon were not happy with the impending changes. They started to strangle the Chilean economy through the international markets and through boycotts, creating the conditions for the Chilean Armed Forced (the majority of the high ranking officers having been trained in US military academies) to intervene.
The military coup, led by Augusto Pinochet, shocked the nation and the world by its brutal persecution of the civilian supporters of the deposed government of Dr Salvador Allende. Chilean jails were not large enough to hold the quantity of political prisoners, and detention centres, concentration camps, centres of torture and interrogation and military courts were set up. Civil and human rights were trampled upon. Factories, universities and the administration of the country were occupied by people from or loyal to the army, navel or air force in an attempt to gain absolute control, making life in our country completely intolerable.
A number of organisations, like the Committee for Peace, began to work to help the relatives of political prisoners, of the executed and the disappeared. They also gave legal aid to prisoners who were waiting to be court-martialled, while at the same time attempting to find a solution for those thousand of people whose lives were in danger and for whom it was no longer safe to remain in the country. They started working with the International Red Cross and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in an attempt to allocate refugees. The UNHCR started knocking on doors in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and in the democratic countries of Latin America. The government of Harold Wilson was one of those willing to accommodate Chileans. Swansea was among many other British cities and towns that allowed us to come and survive, to start a new life in a safer environment.
THE POETRY OF ADEL GUÉMAR
Adel Guémar is a poet, journalist and civil rights campaigner from Algeria. Since seeking asylum in Britain, he has written a new collection of verse (Original Summer, forthcoming) and given a series of well-received readings, most recently in the Dylan Thomas Centre and the Swansea Institute of Higher Education. His poetry is known for its lyrical intensity, merging naturalistic imagery with highly condensed meditations on political events. The short lyric, ‘Scenarios’, with its yearning for freedom from state tyranny, is typical of his work.
Scenarios
I might have been born at the North Pole
and live moored to icebergs
among polar bears seals orcas and whales
in my igloo sleeping come the evening
to the song of sirens
in the heart of immensity
the sky at my side
touching the most distant
galaxies with my finger and returning
my eyes laden with pure beauty
great mysteries tamed
my beating heart sharing the rhythm
of a thousand suns and seven heavens
I might have been born anywhere
and be cramped in a gulag
or in a camp in Palestine
opening my eyes on nothing but holes
life-size cemeteries
I might have been born in Algeria
and believe in promises of liberty
witnessing the great hold-up
the victory of criminocracy
I might have not been born at all
and be the wind that goes with you
the corner of the sky you are watching
tired of earthly posturings
before continuing your journey towards
the horizon that calls out your name
(trans. Tom Cheesman and John Goodby)
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Newsletter July 2005 (No. 2)
It’s a great pleasure to introduce the second newsletter of the Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group. SBASSG is a community group established in 2000 and run by asylum seekers, refugees and other local volunteers. We organise regular drop-ins, day trips, educational courses, cultural events and fund raising activities. Our aims are to improve conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in the town, to assist families and individuals in crisis, and to improve the public understanding of refugee and asylum issues. We hope this newsletter will help to inform you of some of the work that we do, and also to spread information about the rich, vibrant cultures that we have in Swansea. Each issue will have introductory articles on the diverse languages, literatures, cuisines and religions that are represented in the town. If you’d like to find out more, or feel you could contribute, why not come along and meet the group?
CRISIS IN ZIMBABWE
The current position of Zimbabwean asylum seekers in Britain illustrates the plight of many national groups seeking sanctuary from tyranny.
Robert Mugabe has been continuing his so-called ‘urban renewal campaign’, which began in May of this year. Zimbabwean police, ordered in by Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party, have been burning and bulldozing townships, shops and markets across the country, often forcing people to leave their homes at gunpoint. The action has destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, and has been condemned by human rights organisations, who are concerned about the food shortages and poor sanitary conditions amongst the homeless. Democratic groups in Zimbabwe believe that Operation Murambatsvina (‘Clear out the Trash’) aims to break up communities where anti-government feeling is strong.
Nevertheless, the Home Office is still threatening to deport ‘failed’ Zimbabwean asylum seekers, many of whom have refused food in protest. The act of sending vulnerable people back to countries suffering economic and political turmoil is distressingly common in these days of deportation quotas. You can help by organising petitions and writing letters to the Home Office expressing your concern.
BOOK LAUNCH
The book launch for Soft Touch: Refugee Writing in Wales 3, the latest collection of work by local asylum seekers, refugees and others, was held recently at the Dylan Thomas Centre. The event was part of National Refugee Week, which aimed to raise awareness about asylum issues across Wales and the UK.
The launch attracted around two hundred people and involved a range of entertainments. We kicked off with a series of poetry and prose readings by some of the contributors to the volume. There were short speeches by such local dignitaries as the Lord Mayor of Swansea, Mair Gibbs, and the Welsh Assembly Minister for Social Justice, Edwina Hart. The evening ended with music, including sets by The Rivers of Joy Praise Team, The Anthill Jazzy Africa Band and Margot Morgan and Friends. A great time was had by all.
Soft Touch forms a useful introduction to asylum issues for the general reader, as well as an excellent resource for secondary school teachers. The collection is published by Hafan Books and can be purchased from Tom Cheesman at t.cheesman@swansea.ac.uk. All the proceeds of the volume will go to support the work of the Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group.
AFGHAN POETRY
(by Romisa Asadi)
Folklore remains an important literary form in Afghanistan. The public recital of folk tales, in which the spoken word is accompanied by music, is still a common form of entertainment, and serves to pass on traditional beliefs and customs to the younger generation. Folklore has also had a powerful influence on modern Afghan literature, in both the Dari and Pashto languages. Over the last few decades, poets and novelists have been combining discussions of contemporary political realities with images and narrative structures drawn from ancient folklore.
An example is the poetry of Ghahar Asi (1956-1994). Born in the Hindokesh mountains, Asi is known for his patriotic, politically committed verse that explored the possibilities of liberation for the Afghan people at the time of the Soviet occupation. As ‘My Lovely Region’ illustrates, Asi’s poetic approach has a timeless, mythic quality.
Ghahar Asi - "My Lovely Region"
My thought, my knowledge
You are my fiery love
My seventh paradise
My lovely region
Mountain and rock are its slave
Such an obliging sun and fire
Revolt is there like resurrection
Such rebel people
How hard the throat of
My territory roars
Martyrdom and desire
To the deaf ear of its stone
In each house is a Rostam
In each house is an Arash
For the day of judgement
There is bravery and archery
Such an honoured people
Such a proud people
My noble brow points
In the direction they tread
THE GOVERNOR AND HIS DRIVER
A FOLK TALE FROM NIGERIA
In Britain, we tend to think of folklore as a collection of tales about pre-modern societies. Yet in many parts of the world a more up-to-date kind of folk tale has developed, whose landscape is urban and whose characters are city dwellers. In Nigeria, for example, there is a dynamic body of urban folklore being circulated orally around poorer communities. These often treat the harsh political realities of the country, detailing the responses of everyday Nigerians to the exploitative, oppressive practices of corrupt party officials. The following tale, about a government trickster and a far shrewder civilian counter-trickster, is typical of the genre.
There once was a state governor who asked his driver to transport fifteen cases of beer to his family living in a village some kilometres from the city. After the driver had loaded the cases into the car boot, the governor cautioned him to drive safely, gave him a large tip and shook his hand warmly.
On the road to the village, the driver puzzled over the governor’s unusual friendliness. This was a man famous for his indifference to the people, his fierce treatment of staff and his refusal to part with a single naira of his enormous salary. It was not long before the driver started to wonder whether it was actually beer that he had in the car boot. As soon as he could, he pulled over and looked through the load, discovering that five of the cases were packed with piles of 100 naira notes. Here was more money than even a governor sees in a lifetime and could only have come from the state coffers. The driver knew immediately what to do.
After buying five cases of beer in a nearby shop, he went to the village to deliver a full fifteen cases to the governor’s family. He then took a circuitous route back, distributing money to the many poor people that he found in the settlements along the way, until all the 100 naira notes were gone. As he re-entered the city, he only hoped that governor’s family had not telephoned the politician to ask why they had not received the cash.
The driver did not need to worry. While he was out of the city, a coup d’état had taken place that removed the governor and all his corrupt officials from power.
CHILEAN PROVERBS
(by Humberto Gatica-Leyton)
It is surprising how similar proverbs can be in different languages. In adages throughout the world, one not only finds identical sentiments but also matching patterns of imagery. Here are a few Chilean examples with their British equivalents:
The dog that barks doesn’t bite The bark is worse than the bite
A fish dies by the mouth Careless talk costs lives
A bird in the hand is better than a hundred flying A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
A noisy river carries stones There is no smoke without fire
The shrimp that sleeps, the current takes away He that lies long abed, his estate feels it
Telling lies whilst eating fish require care Liars should have good memories
A lot of noise but not many nuts All talk and no action
Close your mouth and the flies won’t enter Into a shut mouth flies fly not
ANIMAL NOISES OF THE WORLD
(collected from local refugees and their friends)
One of the more amusing areas of comparative linguistics is the way that different languages express the noises made by animals. While some noises remain the same, others contrast markedly from one language to the next, as seen by the English ‘Woof Woof’ and ‘Miaow’. One might conclude from the following list that whereas cats can travel the world effortlessly, dogs will run into difficulties:
Country Dog Cat
Colombia Guau Guau Miau
Estonia Auh Auh Mau
Hong Kong Wo Wo Miau
Hungary Vau Vau Miau
Iran Hauv Hauv Mioo
Laos Voon Voon Miao
Philippines Aw Aw Miao
Romania Ham Ham Miau
Russia Gav Gav Myau
Taiwan Wang Wang Myau
Vietnam Go Go Meo
FACTS ABOUT ASYLUM SEEKERS AND MIGRANT WORKERS
(THANKS TO THE REFUGEE COUNCIL FOR MUCH OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION)
The allowance received by asylum seekers is only two-thirds of the income support allowance, leaving them below the poverty line. 85% of organisations working with asylum seekers found people who experienced hunger, and 95% found people who could not afford clothes or shoes (source: Oxfam).
43% of nurses and 31% of doctors in the NHS were trained outside Britain. As with catering and the construction industry, the health service wouldn’t function without foreign workers (source: Department of Health).
Migrant workers contribute £2.5 billion more in taxes and National Insurance contributions than they consume in benefits and public services (source: New Internationalist Magazine).
The vast percentage of asylum seekers coming to Wales are genuine. The top refugee-producing countries (including Somalia, Iran, Turkey and Sudan) are recognised as having serious conflict and/or poor human rights records (source: Institute of Public Policy Research).
European nations receive very few of the world’s refugees, most of whom live in the poverty-stricken Third World. For example, 4 million people have fled the conflict in Sudan, mostly to neighbouring countries like Chad. Wales has only 110 Sudanese asylum seekers (source: Refugee Council).
All asylum seekers are fingerprinted by the Home Office and obliged to report regularly to the authorities, making asylum application a poor strategy for law-breakers. Indeed, the police confirm that asylum seekers are far more likely to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators (source: Association of Chief Police Officers).
RECIPE FROM ALGERIA
(by Hassina Ghellache)
Algerian cuisine is rich and varied, with dishes such as chorba (lamb and bulgur wheat soup), merguez (spicy lamb sausage) and bourek (stuffed filo pastries). Vegetables are used in abundance, especially tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and aubergines. This variety of flavours is a reflection of the different peoples that have influenced the country: the native Berbers, Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Spanish Moors, Turks and French.
Probably the best-known Algerian food is couscous, a dish made from small pasta grains. Algerian people prefer fine-grain couscous to the medium-size grains sold in Britain. These are typically cooked in a special couscous steamer – a couscousière – that has a large pot at the bottom and a small pot, with holes, placed on top. You may be able to find a couscousière in some Halal shops. Otherwise, you can make your own by using a large saucepan for the meat and vegetable sauce, and by cooking the couscous grains in a colander or steamer on top.
Like Algerian food in general, couscous dishes are not over-spicy, but you can always add some harissa (hot chilli sauce). Traditionally, the seasoning used in couscous is an Algerian mixed spice called ras-el-hanout. I have included instructions on how to make ras-el-hanout in this recipe.
Cous-Cous Kabyle
1 kilo finely chopped lamb (leg steak or similar) Ingredients for Ras-el-hanout:
1 large onion – chopped into rings
2 courgettes – cut into quarters 1-1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 carrots – peeled and cut into quarters 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 potato – peeled and cut into quarters 1 teaspoon ground saffron
400g chickpeas 1-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 turnip – peeled and cut into quarters 1-1/2 teaspoon ground mace
800g small grain couscous 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons of tomato puree 1-1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons of ras-el-hanout 2 teaspoons ground ginger
500 ml water 2 teaspoons salt
Olive oil 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1. Rinse the couscous in water and leave to stand.
2. Fry the onions in a large saucepan until soft, then add the pieces of lamb and brown them.
3. Meanwhile, mix all the spices together to create the ras-el-hanout seasoning (storing the unused mixture in a tightly-sealed container).
4. Stir in the tomato puree and 1 tablespoon of ras-el-hanout with the lamb.
5. Cover with 500 ml of water, add the chickpeas and bring to the boil.
6. Place a steamer/colander on top of the saucepan and put the couscous grains in the steamer and cover.
7. Add the vegetables and 1 tablespoon of ras-el-hanout to the sauce and simmer for 30 minutes.
8. Take the couscous grains off the heat, add some olive oil and rub between your hands to make the grain light and fluffy. Then serve the lamb and vegetables on a bed of couscous.
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Newsletter Nov 2005 (No. 3)
Welcome to the third issue of the Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group newsletter. As you may be aware, SBASSG is a community group that organises drop-ins, cultural events, educational courses and legal advice for asylum seekers and refugees, and that attempts to build links between local communities. Our newsletter, which is distributed around schools, colleges, places of worship, political parties and charities, offers information about the diverse and vibrant cultures that we have in Swansea, as well as about the hardships and challenges that asylum seekers face. We are delighted at the positive response that the newsletter has received so far, and would be pleased to hear from you again (and to meet you at our weekly drop-ins). In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the new issue!
RECIPE FROM UGANDA
(by Jacky Aber)
The most popular foods in Uganda include rice, maize, millet flour, beans, cassava, meat, fish, sweet potato (slightly different from Caribbean sweet potato) and matoke. Matoke is made from green bananas, or plantains, and is popular everywhere but in North Uganda. They say that the taste of steamed matoke is similar to mashed potatoes!
Each tribe in Uganda has its own food, so there are many local delicacies to try. A visitor to Kampala is spoilt for choice, with food from all the regions on offer. People from the north of Uganda (where I am from) eat many types of bitter greens mixed with groundnut paste or simsim (the Arabic word for sesame) which is particularly nice with spinach.
Simsim and spinach
½ cup of sesame seeds
4 tablespoons of water
10 ounces of chopped spinach
1 tablespoon of butter/oil
Combine the sesame seeds and water in a pot, then stir in the spinach. Add water if needed (the spinach and seeds should cook in the smallest possible amount of water). Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the seeds are cooked. Add butter or oil just before serving.
SBASSG EVENTS
It’s been a busy summer for the Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group. Apart from our regular drop-ins, where the playgroup, legal advice provision and language teaching have been expanded, there are a number of events and campaigns that we have organised.
On a sunny Saturday in August, families and individuals from the refugee community gathered to enjoy a barbecue of spicy chicken and salads at Blackpill lido. Organised with the help of the Swansea Council, the event also attracted lots of people who were in the area sunbathing, swimming or walking along the coastal path, and many new friendships were struck up over food or games of football. Then, in September, SBASSG began a campaign against proposed government legislation to end the weekly allowances of ‘failed’ asylum seekers and to take their children into care. Finally, in October, we held a silent vigil at the Quakers Meeting House as a public statement of our concern for asylum seekers affected by current deportation policies, an event attended by councillors, Assembly Members and representatives of the local media.
Further events are planned for the autumn, not least a public meeting in Swansea that aims to offer information about the hardships and crises facing asylum seekers in our local community. Watch this space for more details!
AN IRANIAN WRITING ENGLISH
(submitted by Anahita Alikhani)
All languages have phrases, or idioms, that are tricky to translate. Expressions like ‘over the moon’ or ‘to see the light’, for instance, are perfectly understandable in English, but sound rather strange when translated word for word into other languages. The following text is a wonderful example of how Iranian idioms sound in English. It is an authentic letter of complaint written by an employee of National Iranian Oil to the American company director in the 1960s. Although the employee has been getting along well with his supervisor, Mr Wilson, he is alarmed at the changes that occur when a new face appears on the scene.
Dear Mr Hamilton,
I, the undersigned, have worked happily at the Tehran branch of National Iranian Oil for three years. Since Mr Ahmadi became Mr Wilson’s assistant, however, everything has changed.
I don’t know what wet wood I have sold him, but from the very first day he has been pulling the belt to my lift. With his continual cat dancing, Mr Ahmadi has become the eye and the light of Mr Wilson, and has done so much mouse running that Mr Wilson has finally become a donkey.
Mr Wilson promised me that next year he would make me his right-hand man, but I knew he was just putting a hat on my head, and my eye did not drink water. I decided to put a seal of silence on my lips. The next thing I knew, however, Mr Ahmadi had set me to work in the mail house, a transfer that was only good for his aunt. I was convinced he was placing a watermelon under my arms, so I begged him on the life of his dear ones, but he refused to get off the devil’s donkey and now I am forced to sort mail with blind, bald dwarves. Imagine how my backside burns!
Mr Hamilton, I am circulating around your head. If you become my back and shelter, I swear to the fourteen innocents that on the resurrection day I’ll grasp your skirt and kiss your hands and legs.
Your servant ....
THE WORK OF EDUARDO GALEANO
(translated by Sergio Garate)
In these days of war and mass upheaval, there are many writers whose work speaks to our condition from other times and places. Eduardo Hughes Galeano, a Uruguayan novelist and journalist, is a good example. Born in 1940, Galeano worked as a reporter and editor, until his political beliefs drew censure from the authorities in the 1970s. After a period in jail, he sought exile in Argentina where, after only three years, a military coup brought the Videla regime to power, forcing Galeano to flee to Spain. His writing speaks of the pain of exile and of the injustices of global capitalism, as illustrated by the following extract from his non-fictional work, The World Upside Down:
BASIC COURSE IN INJUSTICE
Advertising commands us to consume, but the economy forbids it. Consumerism issues orders, obligatory for all, but impossible for the majority, for whom it acts as an open invitation to crime. A newspaper’s crime reports reveal more about the contradictions in society than the political sections.
This world, which offers all of us a banquet and then shuts the door on so many, creates both (and at the same time) equality and inequality: equality of ideas and imposed customs; and inequality of the opportunities that are offered.
BASIC COURSE IN THE LACK OF COMMUNICATION
War is the continuation of TV by other means, Karl von Clausewitz would say if he had been resuscitated a century and a half later and had practised zapping.
The real reality imitates virtual reality that imitates real reality, in a world that sweats violence through every pore. As we well know, violence engenders violence, but also engenders huge profit for the industry of violence, that sells it as the latest show on earth and turns it into an object of consumption. It is not now necessary for the ends to justify the means. Now, the media, the means of mass communication, justify the ends, the objectives of a power struggle that imposes its values on a planetary scale.
The ministry of education of this world government is in the hands of the few. Never have so many been so misled by so few.
SUDANESE SEEKING ASYLUM
(by Helen Hintjens)
In 2004, the Janjaweed militia began a horrific campaign of murder and plunder in the Darfur region of Sudan. Some two million refugees fled to other countries and the UN defined the crisis as genocide. Britain’s response to the victims, however, has been poor. Even though the UK received very few Sudanese asylum seekers (not even one percent), a large number of asylum applications have failed. Of around 42 Sudanese asylum seekers in Swansea, only two are known to have been granted refugee status. This is despite the fact that ethnic cleansing is continuing and returnees are suffering persecution and torture.
The local Sudanese community is desperate. One man, a farmer from Darfur, fled when the Janjaweed attacked his village, burnt his home and stole the family’s livestock, yet has had his claim for asylum rejected. Another, a graduate and businessman who experienced similar suffering, also faces imminent deportation. Typifying the plight of many, his support was withdrawn and, though recently granted a small allowance, he was homeless and penniless in Swansea for six months. A third man, a young farmer who lost his family in the crisis, has been destitute since June, and the government’s refusal of medical care to people in his situation means that he lacks the resources to get a new ventilyn pump for his asthma. In a few weeks’ time, he may not even be able to breathe, let alone find food and shelter.
Why is such cruelty being allowed to take place in our town? There are asylum seekers in Swansea experiencing poverty and ill-health, not to mention the fear of forced return to crisis zones. With government bureaucrats obliged to meet strict deportation quotas, the refusal of asylum claims is running at 85 per cent, with tens of thousands of involuntary deportations each year. It is up to us to acknowledge current injustice, and to put pressure on our MPs, local authorities and government to offer adequate assistance to those in need of protection.
SBASSG PUBLICATIONS
Each year, SBASSG publishes an anthology of writings by asylum seekers, refugees and other local people. The latest book, Soft Touch: Refugee Writing in Wales 3, was launched at the Dylan Thomas Centre in May, and contains some wonderful poems, fiction, drama, journalism and testimony. The following pieces by Adel Soleiman Guémar and Humberto Gatica (from Algeria and Chile respectively) give a brief flavour of the anthologies:
Homage – Soleiman Adel Guémar
at last I’ll be able to love you until the dawn
erase from your eyes the languid depthless nights
spent waiting for me at the bedside of our dreams
while on the damp earth of a prison cell somewhere
in the world of men spiders played in my hair
(translated by Tom Cheesman and John Goodby)
Exile – Humberto Gatica
I abandoned
my bones
in the uncertainty
of the airports
I get lost
in cities
under the nightmares
of lugubrious hotels
Some night
somebody dies
in my dreams
In others
I chase my way back
to the music
of my rains
and my broken
landscapes
As with last year’s volume, Nobody’s Perfect, Soft Touch is published by Hafan Books and can be purchased from the Retreat, the Chattery Café and Oxfam in Castle Street. The books can also be ordered from the publisher (t.cheesman@swansea.ac.uk). All proceeds from sales will go to support the work of the Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group.
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Newsletter Feb 2006 (No. 4)
Welcome to the fourth issue of the Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group newsletter. As you may be aware, SBASSG is a community group that organises drop-ins, cultural events and English classes for asylum seekers and refugees, and that attempts to build links between local communities. Our newsletter, which is distributed around schools, colleges, places of worship, political parties and charitable organisations, offers information about the rich and vibrant cultures that we have in Swansea, as well as about the challenges that many local asylum seekers face. If you would like to join in with our work (and help with fund-raising, campaigning, organising drop-ins or participating in our football team, the ‘Swansea World Stars’) please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
RECENT EVENTS
In November, SBAASG held a public meeting at the Dylan Thomas Centre about the many hardships that asylum seekers are suffering in Swansea. The event drew a crowd of around 100 people, including Assembly Members, councillors and representatives of faith groups and charities. The evening included short talks by the Deputy Lord Mayor, Chris Holley, by David Farnsworth, Chief Executive of the Welsh Refugee Council, and by Roger Warren Evans, co-ordinator of Asylum Justice. We also had poetry readings and workshops by asylum seekers and refugees detailing their personal experiences in the town, and a video presentation on aspects of SBASSG’s work. Thanks to all of you who came along.
In December, we ended the year with our Christmas Party, an event which proved more popular than ever. Refugees, asylum seekers and friends met to celebrate the season, with games, soft drinks and a range of foods which they had prepared. There was also a visit from Santa Claus. A great time was had by all!
TO ALL RETURNEES
DURING 2005
A TRADITIONAL IRISH BLESSING
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
May the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
THE PLIGHT OF IRAQI KURDS
Since early 2004, the Home Office has argued that northern Iraq is safe enough for asylum seekers to return to their homes. In November 2005, it tested its claim by forcibly deporting 15 Kurds to the Irbil region, serving their orders at the last moment and flying them out of Britain at night on a military transport plane. The action opposes the UNHCR’s belief that Iraq remains ‘very, very fragile’ and that the Iraqi authorities are not yet ‘able to protect citizens from violent attacks’.
Home Office tactics have not only produced a climate of fear in the Kurdish community, but also threaten its means of survival. Across the UK, ‘failed’ Kurdish asylum seekers have been informed that their housing support and allowance will end if they refuse to sign up for ‘voluntary’ return to Iraq. Few have agreed, and instances of eviction and homelessness are already being reported, including several cases in Wales. The Chair of the Welsh Refugee Council, Aled Edwards, estimates that up to 150 Iraqi Kurds might lose their homes before the spring. ‘Since September’, he says, ‘some 200 Iraqi Kurds in Wales have been sent letters offering them a cruel choice – return to war-torn Iraq, or face destitution this winter.’
Maeve Sherlock, the Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, has insisted that the situation in northern Iraq remains ‘very volatile’: ‘There are still kidnappings, still terrorist activity. We should not send people back until we know it is safe’.
KNOW YOUR STRANGERS?
(by Maxson Sahr Kpakio)
In this new environment, some of the welcome ceremonies are so different that strangers are always in fear of being met by certain so-called locals.
I remember after just about eight months as a stranger arriving in my new home, looking for a place I will no longer hear the sound of guns, looking for a place I will no longer see people being shot and killed before my eyes, looking for a place I will no longer jump over dead bodies in search of food, looking for a place I will have relative peace of mind, I came across a certain local who rushed before my eyes and shouted: ‘Go home where you came from, this is not your country.’
Then, two and a half years later, a physical attack caused me some hours in the hospital. This attack was indeed racially motivated.
From my childhood days growing up in a little West African country, one important thing I always remember is the way strangers are so much respected, welcomed and cared for by the local citizens. In my youth, I travelled across some of my country’s close neighbours, including the very British colonies, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria. In these countries, as in my country, we welcome strangers in a good and friendly manner. As a stranger, even if a person cannot help or provide for your needs in any way, the good thing is that you will find someone who will befriend you and smile with you.
But little did I know that this kind of welcome is not everywhere, until I arrived at my new horizon and was openly assaulted in broad daylight on Swansea High Street.
Is this how strangers should be known? By attacking them verbally and telling them to go back where they come from? By hitting them on the back of their neck and taking their life away? By assaulting them simply because of their race? By abusing them and chanting racist chants? By dashing their change into their hands, looking away? By refusing to recognise them as human beings?
This is truly what we as strangers least expected.
If you can’t help, don’t hurt …
This is an extract from Soft Touch (Hafan Books, 2005), a collection of writings by asylum seekers, refugees and others. Proceeds of sales go to help local asylum seekers, and copies can be ordered from t.cheesman@swan.ac.uk.
ASYLUM: THE OBSTACLES
(by Roger Warren Evans)
Language can be deceptive. The term ‘asylum-seeker’ only means a person who is actively claiming the protection of the UK state because of persecution for a specific reason in his or her country of origin, in particular by state agencies of any kind. The Refugee Convention offers support only to those who fear persecution for political or religious reasons, or because of their race, nationality or particular social group membership. Other causes of persecution are simply not covered.
In the UK, each asylum-seeker is given permission to stay for as long as is necessary to decide his or her asylum claim, and no longer. If the claim succeeds, the asylum-seeker becomes a ‘refugee’: he or she retains home citizenship, but has ‘settled’ status here, entitled to claim all ordinary social security benefits and to work. The question therefore is: ‘Is the claimant entitled to UK State protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention?’
That question is decided first by the Home Office, by way of an ordinary ‘letter’ of grant or refusal, following interviews at which most claimants are without legal representation. There is then a right of appeal to an independent Immigration Judge. After that there is an appeal only if the Immigration Judge has made a mistake of law, and that is the exception, not the rule. If the claim fails, both before the Home Office and the Judge, then the claimant is no longer an ‘asylum-seeker’; his or her status returns to that of ‘illegal immigrant’. A failed asylum-seeker has no right to remain in the UK, and is liable to be removed from the country at any time, without notice.
Asylum-seekers face problems of 3 kinds:
A. They may not be able to get Legal Aid, under the Government’s restrictive rules;
B. Their limited asylum benefits can be withdrawn for minor technicalities, causing great personal distress;
C. Their cases may be disrupted by their being ‘dispersed’ from London to – for example – South Wales.
Roger Warren Evans co-ordinates ‘Asylum Justice’, a new charity offering free legal services to asylum-seekers, pioneered in South Wales. It is run entirely by lay and professional unpaid volunteers, to provide both legal advice and representation. Those wishing to volunteer should ring the charity at 079-1771-0571.
THE CHURCH SPEAKS OUT
In a letter to the Times on 3 December 2005, forty-eight church leaders from various branches of the Christian faith united to condemn government policy on asylum. The signatories include the Archbishop of York, the Archbishop of Wales, the Archdiocese of Glasgow, the Team Leader of the London Baptist Association and the Chair of the Oxford and Leicester District Methodists
If any church groups in Swansea would like to find out more about local asylum issues, please contact our secretary, Marilyn Thomas, at Marilyn-Thomas@lineone.net.
Sir, We believe it is inhuman and unacceptable that some people seeking asylum are left homeless and destitute by government policies. Every city has people destitute or living on food parcels because they have no means of support. We support Church Action on Poverty’s call to change the policies that make refused asylum seekers destitute.
As a society we have international moral and legal responsibilities to welcome those fleeing adversity from other parts of the world and provide social security. But the threat of destitution is being used as a way of pressuring refused asylum seekers to leave the country.
There are many people seeking asylum who have their cases refused but have no safe route to return or whose travel documents cause problems for removal. There are also cases where people are unjustly refused asylum.
All those within our borders – including people seeking asylum – should have the opportunity to help themselves and society through paid employment. Where this is not possible people seeking asylum, whatever their status, should be given the necessary rights to ‘food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services’(UN Declaration of Human Rights). Refused asylum seekers are still human, and deserve to be treated the same, as we would expect if we had to flee to another country. We should offer the respect to our neighbours that we expect ourselves. This is at the heart of the Christian faith, and of many other religions.
We therefore call on the government to allow people seeking asylum to sustain themselves and contribute to wider society through paid work, and where this is not possible, to re-instate ‘refused’ asylum seekers’ entitlement to benefits until such time as they may be removed.
Yours sincerely, etc
RECIPE FROM SUDAN
(by Abdullah Mohammed (Adam))
The 600 tribes who live in Sudan are famous for their hospitality and cuisine. Sudanese food is as vast and varied as the country itself. The most popular foods include fresh fish from the Nile, fresh and dried meat, kidda (liver), thamiya (like falafel) and bammiya (okra), all served with kisra (Sudanese bread). In ancient times, the Nubian tribes cultivated wheat and can be said to be the first bread makers of the ancient world.
The Sudanese are known for their guhwah coffee, which is served in a wooden jug called a jebena. Coffee beans are roasted in the jebena over charcoal and then ground with cardamom and other spices. The grounds are steeped in hot water and the coffee is served in tiny cups after straining it through a grass sieve.
When in Sudan you will eat lots of fool, or fava beans. The following recipe for fool will serve four, and is ideally eaten for breakfast.
Fool Medamas / Fava Beans
1 16-ounce can cooked fava beans
1 large onion, chopped
1 large tomato, diced
1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt, pepper, and red chilli pepper to taste
Pour the beans into a pot and bring to the boil for about 1-2 hours. Reduce heat, stirring the beans well, and then add remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil again, then reduce to medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes. Eat with kissra (pitta bread).
ALGERIA: THE MAFIA REGIME
(by Adel Soleiman Guémar)
Real, imaginary, contemporary and historical Algeria haunts me. It has never stopped being the source of my daydreams and impatient longings. I fell in love with Algeria on 4 September 1963, at 9.30 pm, with my first cry of joy in the Pasteur Clinic (near the tunnel des facultés of Alger La Blanche). Later, my joy became ecstasy when my eyes dived into the blue of the bay of Algiers, dotted with seagulls and fishermen’s boats, or when my body merged with the magical sands of the mythical beaches of Sidi-Fredj and Tipaza.
It is a source of pain, therefore, to see my country now held hostage by the Algerian regime and its explosive mixture of rabble-rousing, religiosity and repression. Unchanged in essence since 1962, this military-financial mafia has successfully maintained strategic alliances with those in the highest echelons of business and power in the world. It goes without saying that this collaboration stinks of petrol, gas and other geo-strategic concerns, and explains the regime’s open contempt for public opinion. Amongst other dramatic episodes over the last 13 years, the 200,000 deaths from individual and mass murders, and the thousands tortured, disappeared and exiled, have resulted in a landscape of pure surrealism, albeit of a horrific kind. The opposition has never had the right to air its voice. With the sword of Damocles over its head, the Algerian press lives under juridical control; independent trade unions are repressed and human rights militants suffer enormously.
We are now being told, however, that all this should be forgotten. The Minister of the Interior, a former officer of the Sécurité Militaire, announced that, from 1 October 2005, we have entered a period of ‘peace and reconciliation’ in which people are to forgive and forget the horrors of recent years. Alongside more obvious crimes, this ‘national reconciliation’ aims to conceal embezzlements of petrol annuities and of commissions linked to the arms market (estimated at several billion dollars). It is clear that no ‘national reconciliation’ will be effective until the Algerian people find out what really happened over the past few years. It is the dish of the day served up by one of the most Machiavellian nomenclatures in the world who are ignoring the longings for liberty and justice that flow through the veins of Algerian men and women. (translated by Sadhbh O’Dwyer)
WORLD LANGUAGE CORNER
HOW TO SAY ‘I LOVE YOU’
Albanian - te dua
Arabic - ana uHibbuki (to a woman)
ana uHibbuka (to a man)
Bosnian - volim te
Burmese - chit pa de
Cantonese - ngaw oy nay
Esperanto - mi amas vin
Farsi - doostet daram
Gujarati - Hoon tane pyar karoochoon
Hindi - Mae tumko peyar kia
Korean - Tangsinul sarang hayo sarangee
Kurdish - Ez te hezdikhem
Lebanese - Bahibak
Malay - Sayah chantikan awah
Nigerian - Ina sonki
Punjabi - Mai taunu pyar karda
Tamil - nan unnaik kathalikkinren
Turkish - seni (gok) seviyorum
Ukrainian - ja pokokhav tebe
Zulu - Mena Tanda Wena
Zimbabwean - Niyakutanda
LEBANESE PROVERBS
(by Ghinwa al Monzer)
Tire out your body but not your mind
Meaning: Don’t worry about small things
When your son is young, discipline him; when he is older, be a brother
Meaning: Parents should change with their children
Let trouble alone and trouble will let you alone
Meaning: Avoid evil at all costs
A hot iron is the last resort
Meaning: The punishment should fit the crime
Exert effort and you shall be rewarded
Meaning: Hard work is always acknowledged
When the wolf comes for a sheep, the dog goes to defecate
Meaning: In times of crisis cowards are found out
If you conduct yourself properly, fear no one
Meaning: Honesty is the best policy
If your messenger tarries, expect good
Meaning: All’s well that ends well
When they came to shoe the Sultan’s horse, the beetle stuck out a foot
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Newsletter May 2006 (No. 5)
Welcome to the fifth issue of the Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group newsletter. As you may be aware, SBASSG is a community group that organises drop-ins, cultural events and English classes for asylum seekers and refugees, and that attempts to build links between local communities. The past couple of months have been as busy as usual for the group. We’ve organised a sponsored walk, a winter party for refugee and asylum seeker families, a seminar for International Women’s Day, and have completed a new anthology of writings by asylum seekers and refugees which will be published in June. If you would like to join in with our work (and help with fund-raising, campaigning, organising drop-ins or participating in our football team), please do get in touch.
*** REFUGEE WEEK ***
Refugee Week, taking place from 19th to 25th June, is a UK-wide programme of arts, cultural and educational events that celebrate the contribution of refugees and asylum seekers, and promote understanding of the reasons why people seek sanctuary. In Swansea, the following events are confirmed (but see www.refugeeweek.org.uk for details of further events in Swansea and Cardiff):
*** Tuesday 13 June, 7.30 p.m. ***
Dylan Thomas Centre
Booklaunch of Gwyl y Blaidd / The Festival of the Wolf: a bilingual collection of writings by and about asylum seekers and refugees, both past and present. The evening will include readings, music, song and (short) talks by local dignitaries. A creche will be available.
*** Sat 24 and Sun 25 June, 10.00-4.30 ***
National Waterfront Museum
Festival of Culture: a two-day celebration of the music, song, dance and cuisine of the diverse cultures that we have in Swansea. The event will include performances, readings, seminars, and playgroups for children.
*** All events are free of charge ***
A CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
(FOR SOME MULTI-ETHNIC FOOTBALL)
Swansea World Stars, a football side made up of players from all around the world, have just finished another season in the Swansea Senior League, division 4. There’s no division 5, so we can’t be relegated. It’s fair to say that the team’s not quite Chelsea. Not even Man U. Let’s not go into too much detail, but defeats were more common than wins.
Actually, we’ve got some excellent players with fantastic skills. But we could do with more depth in defence. A good solid goalie would be nice. Above all, the team needs more discipline, co-ordination and strategy. We’ve had no coach all year, which didn’t help. So well done to Rob Nambale (an Asylum Justice volunteer), who’s offered to run some training sessions this summer. We could always use more players: we don’t mind where you’re from, and you don’t have to be a refugee. Or maybe you can help out with training and coaching? If interested, call Banire Sy Savane, the creator and captain of the team, on 07956429527, or Rob on 07914625443.
On Refugee Week…..
“Refugee Week is important because it reminds us that refugees are not just statistics to be used and abused, they are living, breathing people… I want to create a society here where … we will be so aware of the world around us that we will not need a Refugee Week. Until then this is how we do it.”
Benjamin Zephaniah, Poet
TROUBLE AND TROUBLE MAKERS IN THE UK
(by Anahita Alikhani)
‘Trouble’ is a small word with just two syllables, but with a large meaning. Like the rain in the UK, it never stops. Anything can be trouble – something natural, something strange, something complex, something simple.
But ‘trouble makers’ is two words with just one meaning: asylum seekers. They travel across the whole world to come to the UK and cause all the trouble in this country. They are like the Huns or Vandals of history who destroyed everything and left nothing behind. Asylum seekers are like locusts: they chew everything – even British people’s nerves.
Who likes trouble? Nobody.
Most of the time, the UK is damp, dark, cloudy and rainy. According to the newspapers, since the time when asylum seekers started to come to the UK, even the sky feels pity for the British people, and so the sky weeps every day.
What happened to the British colonies? Asylum seekers took them from the UK, then they started coming over here.
The price of petrol is going up again next week – but if we kicked out all the Middle Eastern asylum seekers and sent them back to their countries to produce oil, we could give them just a little money, instead of paying lots of money to British workers, and then the price of petrol would stay low.
But the asylum seekers want to be here, alive and vertical, rather than be there, dead and horizontal.