Immigration and undocumented workers are not just problems found in the United States. This is an international debate that many seem to struggle to find the right answer for. Immigration issues lead many countries governments around the world to develop seemingly irrational and harsh ideas on how to address the matter, sometimes causing many more problems along the way.
This cartoon depicts the events that occurred August 10, 2010. Two foreign Pakistani national men were caught working illegally at the KFC in Mildenhall, Suffolk. One of the men was a 28 year old who did not have the right to work or legal documents to rightfully do so in that country. The other man was a 40 year old manager of the fast food chain, who was an undocumented worker himself from the very same country. They were both found without papers, arrested and were held in jail until the Border Agency arranged the means to get them back to their rightful country. This is a perfect example of an immigration problem that The United States has, proving that immigration is indeed an issue pertaining not only to America, but to many other countries around the world as well.
This cartoon was particularly interesting to me. The man depicted in this cartoon is the French President Sarkozy. Last August, the President made a political statement to the immigrants in his country by initiating the deportation of over 300 Romanians without valid documentation, back to their own country. Contrary to what you might believe, these people were not forced out by any means. The funny part of this situation is that the Romanians were paid to leave. Undocumented adult workers were paid around 380 US dollars and 100 US dollars for each child who would move back to their country. They were paid to leave the country they were illegally squatting in. Something just doesn't seem right about that.
However, this cartoon depicts Sarkozy as sweeping them all out without so much as a minutes notice. It depicts him as a heartless, cold, Romanian hating President who would rather sweep them under a rug then have to deal with them a second longer in his country. I feel this was quite the opposite from the actual offer given to the Romanians to leave by choice and to be paid to leave. This cartoon in my opinion is an example of selective perception by the cartoonist and what he wants the viewers to believe. I could even go so far as to declare it truthiness, because of the lack of depicting the Romanian's agency to leave the country by their own choice & reimbursement. In many accounts also, the Romanian people said that they were only taking a vacation away from the country, and they will soon return back to their normal lives and homes in France. I wonder where the President will pay to send them on their next vacation?
Many refugees in this cartoon titled "Freedom" are depicted as Muslim people fleeing their own country to a place that will welcome them with a life of freedom of religion and peace. The only thing is, is that they are unwelcome, unwanted, and just recently flat out rejected from entering European countries. This was the case of just this passed month, Italy denied a ferry from Libya entry into their ports. In the article from NPR, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands go as far as to complain that "Muslim immigrants are an economic drain and that they don't fit in culturally with the West."
So, how does Europe fix a problem like an invasion of tens of thousands of immigrants flooding their streets and wearing out their welcome before they have even arrived? England has begun to up the donations to foreign lands in hopes of healing the immigrants own countries, causing their people to stay where they are from. If all else fails, those who are severely bothered may relocate to Greece where a wall is being erected to keep immigrants from other countries out of their country.
