Not until I turned 35 or 36 that I felt a push to immigrate to a greener land. By greener I don’t mean more money, I mean a clean, honest and ethically sustainable life. The thought to leave my country had occurred to me earlier, but it was never as pushing and was often shut down by alternate thoughts such as I had a safe and secure job here, my relatives and friends were all here and the fear of the what-ifs (what if I couldn’t get a job; what if I or my family couldn’t adapt to new culture/environment… et cetera). The desire to migrate has been on the rise continuously and I am all set to face the unforeseen challenges. I am not only seeking for permanent residence schemes in CAN (Canada, Australia, New Zealand), but also looking for countries where I can at least have a job and live for the next two decades when my kids will be all grown up to live their lives independently. So even the Mideast and Europe are on the list, more importantly because these regions are nearer to my home compared to CAN.
Not a day goes by without feeling angry and sad about the state of affairs our country is in. I may still be able to live with bad economy, but it is becoming really hard to breathe in a society where morals and ethics are climbing new heights of decay. Every segment of society is crossing levels of dishonesty and cheats. It haunts to see people resell expired medicines by changing dates as well as sell fake medicines in original packing, increase prices during festivals and making artificial shortage of things to push prices upward, sell meat of dead animals, mix chemicals in edibles and being totally careless about keeping streets and city clean. There is increasingly intolerance of others views and mainstreaming hatred is becoming normal. There is a bleak picture on the part of the current government as well. There appears to be a soft martial law in place. The prime minister is acting as a puppet, he has no road map, no plans for the future. His focus has only been to annihilate his political opponents. The country is being run by the establishment policies aimed at controlling voices of dissent. There have been record increase in prices of basic commodities and currency has touched new peaks of depreciation. The law and order is as poor as it has always been. Quality of public health services and public education institutions is still pitiable, the people are afraid to seek protection of police and there is corruption in every government institution.
I want my kids to grow in a society where:
there is no class system and everyone enjoys self-respect;
they can express themselves freely without fear;
they should shamed if they lie, cheat or fraud not if the tell the truth and stay honest;
they won’t be judged on their color, cast, sect or religion;
they will be able to breathe in cleaner air and realize how cleanliness is half of their faith;
they will have equal opportunities.
Challenges
I know there is no such place as perfect, but comparatively there is justice, respect and more humanity in developed societies. But again, there are a number of challenges as well.
COVID-19: The prospects for getting an opportunity to work abroad would have been much higher had there been no covid episode. The deadly flu has brought the world on its knees and has forced the governments and organizations around the world to change their policies and priorities with respect to survival followed by revival. The future growth has been projected to be negative for the next year at least, the economies are thus going to take some time to get to where they were before March 2020.
Populism in US and Europe: Ever since Trump assuming power as the President of the US, there has not only been a surge in nationalism and racism in the US, but also Europe (which is infamous for being one in past). The right-wing political parties are popping up in every other country at the rate not witnessed before. Both the US and European countries have witnessed a rise in policies aimed at restricting expats and increasing their citizens’ ratio in the overall workforce. This has led to companies to prefer hiring people who are already allowed to work in such locations so as to spare themselves of the lengthy, and perhaps, costly visa process for the new appointees. This seems to be the reason that MNCs have included the question, “Are you allowed to work in the location you apply for?” in their job applications.
Arabization: The oil-rich Gulf countries have been preferred location for South Asians, particularly for two reasons, one money (obviamente), and two distance from home (just 21/2 hr flight). But the gulf region also has been hit hard by not only covid but also falling oil prices. As a result of economic hit, the states have accelerated nationalization, i.e. to maximize local workforce, drive. There have been rise in policies to increase ratio of locals in the government sector to 100%, and even have advised multinational companies to hire more locals than expats. The picture appears to be bleak there too, at least for the next few years.
Canada/Australia/New Zealand: The points based immigration system of these countries is also witnessing rise in applications, however the covid has also affected these countries and they have kind of increased requirements for new applicants. This also appears to be beyond possible.
I haven’t lost hope though, and I may continue my pursuit. It could also be that if my kids would achieve for themselves what I want for them.