Before the Adriana, an overcrowded fishing trawler, left Libya on 9 June, Sajjad Yousef spoke to his father. His family had begged him not to make the treacherous journey from Pakistan to Europe. But Yousef wouldn’t listen. He wanted to leave the desolation of life in Pakistan far, far behind. It was hard, the journey would be rough, he knew that. His family had taken out loans in the millions of rupees to buy him space on that teeming trawler, and Yousef was ready to take his chance.
Most of the 750 people on board the trawler were Pakistani. They were migrants, fleeing poverty and lack of opportunity but also the ravages of the climate emergency, which is felt acutely in Pakistan. The men and women who risked their lives on the Mediterranean were escaping floods, droughts, glacial melt, crop damage and locust plagues, all of which Pakistan has suffered in recent years.
#Your family has been ruling the place for much of the past 70 years. Much of this is also their fault. For the only excuse for abject poverty these days is bad government.
Therefore, bugger off.
One major objection of mine to this nonsense is the attitude that these people, who break the laws of Greece, deserve to be assisted to do so by the Greek taxpayer. Needless to say, I regard this as sheer drivel.
As for the poverty of Pakistan, industrialisation, using plenty of good old fossil fuels, would have made the place rich. But the people and their rulers chose to remain poor. Bhutto naturally feels that the ‘solution’ to this is to make us poor as well. Another of my candidates for the Sheer Drivel Award.
And Pakistan was not abandoned by the world. It chose to be independent of the UK. Had it continued to be ground under the iron heel of the West, it might well be more prosperous. But freedom necessarily includes the freedom to be wrong.
The Pakis have the option of industrialisation if they so choose. It will alas take decades of hard work. By them.
The men and women who risked their lives on the Mediterranean were escaping floods, droughts, glacial melt, crop damage and locust plagues, all of which Pakistan has suffered in recent years.
No they bloody-well weren’t… They were heading to places where the streets are paved with gold – or at least had gold-plated state-supplied benefits. As for the “floods” they’ve always had them and settling your burgeoning population on flood-plains has never been a terribly good idea… “Droughts” – they’ve always been there, but exponentially increasing your population makes things a tiny tad worse (as we’re going to find out in the UK fairly soon). “Glacial melt” – what glacial melt?? Crop damage and locusts have always been with us in many parts of the world.
Bolleaux on stilts!
That’s about ten thousand quid.
Legal ‘plane fare, about 500 quid
Legal entry visa, maybe another 500 quid.
Entering a country safely and legally for ten times the savings, priceless.
These morons should be turned back at the border for the plain simple proven fact of stupidity.
If Pakistan and Pakistanis are dirt poor, isn’t that obviously the will of allah?
Fatima Bhutto & Diane Abbott should in all fairness swap monikers
Hungary has the right idea. You can apply for asylum at the embassy. If granted, you become a legal immigrant. If you just show up sans papiers at the border you get deported toot sweet.
Except the EU has ordered Hungary not to adopt this sensible policy.
It’s interesting that the country formerly known as East Pakistan used to have annual devastating floods and crop failures and were were regularly shown heart tugging ads and asked to dig in to our pocket.
Yet there aren’t 1000s of Bangladeshis drowning trying to get to the promised land.
Perhaps she should ask them how they appeased the climate change gods?
“Glacial melt” – what glacial melt?
The glacial melt you get when glaciers melt. Pakistan has more glacial ice than any other country outside the polar regions. But not as much as it used to have, because of global warming. Which Pakistan is not responsible for. When glaciers in melt, the valleys flood.
fwiw, Fatima’s grandfather and aunt were in power for about 5 years each.
Ali @ 2.03, This global warming of which you speak….is this the natural kind that has occurred over the last 10,000 odd years, or the ‘man made’ kind that has only occured over the last 70 years?
Don’t forget Pakistan did not exist before 1948.
Pendant alert…1947
@Alicat
The glacial melt has been happening since the end of the Little Ice Age 250 years ago. Also, it’s a fairly predictable seasonal event.
You would have to be very very stupid to be surprised by this.
“also the ravages of the climate emergency”: this is almost as good a sign of dishonest argument as playing the race card is.
Anyhoo, in sub-American mode I say “Butt out, Bhutto.”
@ Ali Kat
Zufilkar li Bhutto was in power for more than eight years, as President or Prime Minister and/or Foreign Minister.
When the British left, Pakistan was one third forest. Now it’s five per cent. They’ve cut down the trees to sell to the Arabs as charcoal. That way, glacial melt hits them much harder.
It is amazing how climate change always seems to come down so harshly on badly-governed dumps.
“His family had begged him not to make the treacherous journey from Pakistan to Europe. But Yousef wouldn’t listen.”
Also…
“His family had taken out loans in the millions of rupees to buy him space on that teeming trawler…”
Now, I know interfamilial fucking is a thing out there, but I didn’t realise that widespread dissociative identity disorder could be a result of it.
You can tell Science is bollocks, because they still haven’t invented an electron microscope with sufficiently powerful, near-Plank scale resolution to accurately measure how little of a fuck I give about any of these people or their problems.
Ah, Steve the selective Christian, one of the Elect I suppose.
Personally I’d be delighted if the Pakistanis became prosperous enough to remain in their own wonderful deforested country.
@philip… But they won’t – certainly as long as they remain mired in their medieval theocratic ways.
I read the above & my heart bleeds. Or it would do if I wasn’t laughing me arse off.
@ BiND
“Practical Action” has shown a number of Bengalis how to have floating farms that grow some crops above the water level and (in some cases) net fish (or, in other cases) farm fish below the water level.
re: the Irish potato famine of 1845
The Irish diaspora numbers 70 million as compared to the 5 million Irish who live in Ireland.
This is a result of God’s promise to Abraham that his progeny would fill the earth; Jews and Christians from the line of Isaac, and Muslims from the line of Ishmael.
Saying the reason that Muslims are streaming into Europe is because of poverty is like saying the reason there are so many Irish around has something to do with potatoes.
Ah, Steve the selective Christian
Deus vult.
p_r @ 9.11 (prophetic timing eh), one of the reasons the ropers migrate is because of poverty.
Another is that our favourite murdering, slave trading, raping, paedophile (please feel free to comment on the traits I’ve missed – i’m sure they are legion) ordered his followers to migrate and carry on in the manner he has demonstrated so as to conquer the world for allah.