Migration

Today I came across a poster which stopped me dead in my tracks. It showed a pictorial of a woman, dressed as a cleaning lady, wearing a mortaboard and carrying a diploma. Underneath it said: Migrantjob. A second look revealed that it was the product of Migrantas, an intiative launched by three Argentinian graphic designers, themselves migrants to Berlin.

Faced with the inability of many migrants to express the feelings of loss, separation, confusion, hostility but also relief, joy, and appreciation many feel upon arrival in their “new” home country, Migrantas developed a means to “combine tools from the social sciences, graphic design and the visual arts to create a reflection of the migrant condition.” The basis of their pictorial campaign are workshops in which migrants draw their experiences. These are transferred into striking pictorials, which have since become part of an exhibit in various German cities and most recently the public ad campaign in Hamburg. In addition to raising awareness, the workshops foster dialogue among migrants from different countries.

I think this campaign in particularly well done. It has been covered by a number of publications but deserves all the publicity it can get.

In an novel experiment, BBC reporter Jose Baig and his Spanish-speaking camera man are heading off on a tour of the Southern US States to see how far they will get speaking español. With their little test they hope to offer a living picture of how immigration has influenced the linguistic and cultural melting pot that is today’s US of A. They will document their adventures in a blog (naturalmente in Spanish) and we will keep tabs on their progress as they head through eight states and twelve cities on their journey. Their trip will end in Los Angeles, where they will attend a debate on the influence of Latin American language and traditions on modern American culture.

You can follow their journey here. If you want to contact the two journalists, you can do so by leaving a message using Skype with the account bbcmundohispano or join the group “¿Hablas español y vives en EE.UU.?” on Facebook.

German news magazine, Der Spiegel, features the story of a 15-year unplanned migration of a different type. Navigating the treacherous waters of the Pacific in 1992, a container ship from Hong Kong bound for Tacoma, WA. lost some of its precious cargo: 29,000 rubber ducks, frogs and plastic turtles were dumped into the ocean. These “refugees” have since been travelling the world - two thirds drifted South and were found off the coasts of Australia, Indonesia and South America. Around 10,000 drifted north through the Bering Sea toward Alaska while a few made it all the way down to Maine and Massachusetts. Despite their odysee, the plastic critters could be linked to that orginal high sea spill - while the ducks found off of the coast of New England in 2000 were not as yellow as they once were, their production stamp clearly identified them as belonging to the original shipment.

In 2003, a number of ducks were spotted in Scotland, which leads Oceanographers to believe that the so-called “friendly floatees” will reach the English coast this summer. And it seems the toy manufacturer is taking a few tips from leading politicians on how best to repatriate migrants: he is offering a fifty pound reward for each plastic animal returned. These migrants will likely be greeted with open arms..

The UK’s Daily Mail is picking up on a comment made earlier this week by London’s Mayor, Ken Livingstone, regarding the treatment of foreign business travelers by UK immigration staff, in its enlightening article “Welcome to America … from Mickey the immigration officer” .

London’s Mayor had accused immigration staff at Heathrow Airport of being racist and deterring business travel with their behavior.

While that particular aspect is not in question in the US, the recent announcement that the Department of Homeland Security will soon begin taking fingerprints of all 10 fingers from non-US visitors has led to speculations of a further drop in US tourism. Already, processing for non-US passengers to the US takes three times longer, and tourism organizations expect to see adverse effects once this new rule is enforced.

Enter the Daily Mail and its article on how officials are teaming up with Disney to make entry into the US an altogether more enjoyable experience:

“But now officials are responding to the criticism by employing Disney’s recipe for tirelessly upbeat and helpful customer service in an attempt to get the free-spending British back, particularly with the pound at nearly two dollars.

Immigration officers will be taught the secrets of Disney theme parks by learning how to welcome visitors, manage large queues and respond to ‘negative reaction’ from the public without letting their smiles slip.

A spokeswoman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement last night confirmed the initiative.

She said: “There has been a problem in the way we have been perceived in countries including Britain, and we are working very closely with Disney.

“They have offered suggestions about how we can improve the entire arrivals process.”

The move is being run by the Discover America Partnership, set up by the US Government to tackle what it calls the nation’s ‘image crisis’ abroad. It aims to attract ten million more visitors a year to the US.

Perhaps the immigration officers at Heathrow could get a pointer or two from their American counterparts - because….”It’s a small world after all..It’s a small, small world..”