Crossing Borders

  The Danish Institute for International Studies recently hosted an event that focused on the children of foreign fighters who fought for the Islamic State (IS). At stake is the future of at least 7,000 children under 12. This means that some of these children were brought to IS and some were born there. There are at least 30 Danish children in camps. Many states have citizens who traveled to support IS and may of those states are seeking ways to revoke the citizenship of their nationals, prevent their return, and deny citizenship to their children. What is going on here? Do we not live in societies where we believe in rehabilitation or, if a crime is heinous enough, life sentences? The dialogue around this topic centers on the violence these children have been exposed to and the beliefs of their parents. Analysts and politicians worry that allowing the return of these children and their parents pose a security risk. “… they do not belong in Denmark” say political leaders. To these children, I would like to say, welcome home. To those who question their humanity I say, who are you? The children currently live in camps where they have little to no access to education, organized activities, or a sense of a future. Those who previously lived abroad are having their earliest memories overwritten by a sense that the world does not want them. Those which were born into the Islamic State are given no frame of reference to judge against. For both, the lessons of the Islamic State, that they exist to fight against a world that does not want them, are proved true on a daily basis. It does not have to be this way. DIIS researcher Maja Touzari Greenwood has interviewed Danish foreign fighters who traveled to Syria to fight and have now returned. Among her subjects, she identified a need for a meaningful life that drew them to IS. They thought that through their involvement with IS they could achieve “moral transformation and absolution”. The children currently being left to waste away in camps such as Al-Hawl and al-Roj are being left in situations far worse than those Danish environments that produced individuals who viewed their surroundings as so bereft of value or future that they left to join IS. Thus far, Germany and Belgium have taken the lead in this matter and have repatriated a few orphaned children. Denmark has repatriated one 13-year-old who was shot in the leg after their mother granted consent but is attempting to prevent the return of adults. And, despite the recent change in government, there does not seem to be an effort to renegotiate this year’s earlier deal If the world does not want another Islamic State or Boko Haram it should not keep children in these disastrous conditions as possible recruits are literally toddlers and school-age children who are only just beginning to develop a moral compass. As the Danish Social Democrats say, “we need to help more”.

The 294-page document published by the United Kingdom’s government on March 7th 2019 is not the most exciting thing that you will ever read, for the most part it consists of an endless stream of clarifications, annotations, and updates to already existing definitions in UK immigration processes. However, it does introduce one curious term – the ‘start-up migrant’. The start-up migrant replaces the ‘graduate entrepreneur migrant’, someone who comes to the UK on a Tier 1 visa who has been “officially endorsed as having a genuine and credible business idea” and is from outside of the European Economic Area and Switzerland. This visa costs £363 (3164 DKK), with an additional £363 for every dependent that the visa holder wishes to bring with them. This visa does not allow someone to access public funds, or to settle in the UK. Now that we’ve waded through the appreciably dull definition – why does the ‘start-up migrant’ matter? In public discourse about immigration we are usually presented with certain stereotypes about what makes an immigrant ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Bad immigrants are typically people who come to a country to ‘steak jobs’ or to ‘live off of welfare’, they are ‘criminals’ and ‘scroungers. By contrast, good immigrants are investors and bring with them wealth and skills. Effectively these descriptions are placeholders for ideas of class and cultural values, by framing the debate like this we typically exclude people who might be from a lower income background and we glorify people who have had the good fortune to be more socioeconomically privileged. The ‘start-up migrant’ is just another indication of how the British government wishes to differentiate between who is welcome and who is not. The very word ‘start-up’ conjures images of industrious technology companies, it recalls the image of the ideal neo-liberal saviour – a well-dressed and well-educated person with deep pockets who has come to ‘innovate’ and ‘improve’ society. Equally, the obsession with start-ups and worshipping those who are involved in them is just further indicative of an outmoded pattern of thinking about economics which sees perpetual growth, rather than sustainability, as the answer to all problems. Whenever we move countries we are migrants who are starting up something new, and not all of us are able to leap into founding a new business. Mostly, we work from humble beginnings and just take what work we can. We work in bars, kitchens, or coffee shops. Why is that kind of hard-work not so equally valued? Working in the service industry, or in any line of work which does not involve directing a company, does not make you less valuable as a person. The fact that we see fit to distinguish between ‘start-up migrants’ and other migrant workers speaks volumes about how class prejudice intersects with immigration rights. By Simon Fern

When I say Florida, what do you picture? Florida tends to conjure up breezy images of sea shell-laden sandy beaches, with palm trees asway as the sun beams gracefully down on strikingly blue water. Perhaps the mentioning of Florida is suggestive of big cities and their respective landmarks, such as Miami with its Hispanic vibrancy or Orlando with the presence of Disney World. I would like to re-introduce Florida to anyone whose default is one of the above. It is not that those notions are false representations, but Florida is simply more. I would like to express the diversity of Floridians and the Floridian landscape, for better or worse. I’d like to hijack the narrative stating that Florida is the perfect Sunshine State, a paragon for retirement communities, Spring-breakers, and sunburnt Scandinavians wearing floral prints. Florida is so much more than these tropes. Florida is vast. It is truly immense, geographically speaking. Florida is filled with an insane (read: deadly) ecosystem. Florida is diverse in ideologies. The state is essentially fractured and divided into differing cultural regions. You could even say that the state’s inhabitants are dramatically polarized. You can see from the map below that the blue regions voted for Hillary Clinton and the red regions voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. This is similarly representative of greater cultural trends found across the state as well. The larger cities and the coastal areas are expressive of a ‘Northern mentality’ and the rural and central areas tend to represent a ‘Southern-like’ culture. Photo from New York Times Election Coverage In essence, North Florida is culturally aligned with the American deep south and South Florida is culturally aligned with that of New England, the Northeast US. North is South and South is North. This might sound confusing, and it is. Florida is confusing. It is chaotic and divergent to a fault. In West Palm Beach there might be a rally for women’s reproductive rights or a demonstration to end gun violence. At the same time, when driving north heading towards Orlando, you’ll see billboards advertising ‘gator jerky, pro-life messages, and the most loathsome, in my opinion, Machine Gun America – which depicts a smiling little girl in a pink tank-top holding up a big black machine gun. The idea that you can take the action of shooting a gun and turn it into a giant spectacle, a glorified family-friendly experience, a way to capitalize on someone’s twisted idea of fun – this, while grim, is so utterly Florida. While these diametrically opposed political and cultural views are not necessarily novel to Florida alone, Florida does offer the unique experience of a deadly tropical environment! Yes, you read that correctly. Growing up in South Florida, it isn’t uncommon to stumble upon an alligator sun-bathing in your backyard. Or a potentially poisonous snake. You actually grow up learning how to deal with these kinds of creatures. I remember learning in elementary school that if you are ever being chased by an alligator, you need to run away in a zig-zag motion, which confuses the animal as its eyes are placed on opposite sides of its head. This way, it won’t know which direction to run in and will become confused. There’s also the well-known phrase for when you see a coral snake, which has red, yellow and black stripes: Red touches black, friend of Jack. Red touches yellow, Jack’s a dead fellow. Catchy rhymes about deadly snakes and gun-glorifying spectacles aside, Florida is my home. It’s many people’s homes. I think this is important to remember when we, as global citizens, cross borders throughout our lives. Where are we going and why? What negative, positive, or neutral impact will I have on the local communities? What can I learn or understand from the nuances of local communities where I’m headed? The key notion here, in my opinion, is not to second-guess our every action but to make choices with informed intention. In doing so, we can open our eyes to more than common tropes. We can go beyond the preconceived notions of a place and begin to dig into what it is about spaces and places that make them special to the communities that inhabit them. By Maya Schwartz

Social inequality is an issue that has been ever present throughout the history of mankind. From the early ages of humanity, the law of the jungle has ruled over civilizations in different types and forms. As far back as the Stone Age, social inequality was observed through the strongest hunter ruling the group and getting privileges accordingly. Fast forward to the Feudal system whereby the selected few owned the means of production and lived in luxury, leaving the rest of their society impoverished and in anguish. Even in the 21st century, social inequality seems to be deep-rooted into our existence.   The richest 10% own approximately 40% of the wealth, income inequality is on the rise in developing countries, and The World Economic Forum claims closing the gender gap in terms of salary and employment would take 217 years. For every dollar in tax revenue, it is estimated that only 4 cents is paid by the wealthy, while in some countries the poorest 10% pay more taxes than the wealthiest 10%. 262 million children do not have access to education, and 10,000 people die every day as a result of inaccessible healthcare. These are just a few examples of how social inequality affects us today, and specifically the most vulnerable. Despite the fact that these issues are often politicized for personal gains, they are far more than a left-right feud by any means; every person is entitled to basic human rights without having to pay in order to access them. It is easy to say healthcare is a privilege when you have healthcare, easy to say that education is a privilege when you can afford one, and easy to say that gender inequality is not an important issue when you have not seen how it is curbing rights or are suffering because of it. We are only as good as our actions, and if we remain inactive, future generations will look back at us in discontent just as we look down on racist people who fought against the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 60s. Future generations will look back at us as we look down on those that have degraded, dehumanized, and preformed genocide on innocent people. If we do not act, we will merely become yet another dark memory in the history of humankind. There are several positives to reducing inequalities; to those suffering from its effects, to those affected by it consequences, and even to those causing them. In my next 3 blog posts, I will be discussing three main aspects to reducing inequality; how it will bring stability to the world, how it will promote a fair and merit-based world, and how it is directly linked to achieving all the other SDGs. About the author: Jad Bou Saleh is an International Affairs and Diplomacy student at Notre Dame University-Louaize. He is currently working as Research Officer for Crossing Borders Lebanon and is a facilitator for the school services programs.

Delving into the topic of gender equality should come second only to actually having basic civil rights. It would be inaccurate to say that the absence of civil codes in Lebanon only affects women negatively, however, they are the demographic that suffers the most. Different women have their respective experiences, and they suffer differently, whether they are of a certain social class, race, religious background… etc. In Lebanon, different women suffer from almost the same issues, regardless of their classification, as they are alienated from their basic rights. No matter how rich or poor you are, if you are a woman in Lebanon, it would be a far-fetched dream to grant your children the Lebanese citizenship, for instance. One of our local NGOs, known as Abaad, still has to fight to abolish archaic laws such as article 522 of the constitution, which allows rapists to escape their punishment by marrying the rape victim. Fortunately, their efforts have been met with popular support which ultimately lead to success. This was one of the very few triumphs Lebanese women have been able to celebrate, but it seems absolutely ridiculous, in our day and age, to celebrate abolishing a legal loophole for rapists and sexual abusers, does it not? At Crossing Borders Lebanon, we aim to join in that initiative of achieving sustainable development goal number five. It is on the top of our list of priorities, and we hope to join in the efforts of all the local NGOs who are lobbying for our family, partners, mothers, sisters, and friends. Six women currently hold seats in the Lebanese parliament. Six seats out of one hundred and twenty eight, are occupied by females. Our minister for women’s affairs is an Armenian man of an age group considered fit for retirement, and he is not the only one. But if we were to discuss the hurdles Lebanon faces, from strikingly old, to strikingly corrupt members of parliament who are often both, we would not be able to allocate any time to discuss the rights of Lebanese women, and that is usually the excuse given by those same MPs when asked about the progress of our basic rights. It’s not all dark and gloomy, though, since there are glimmers of hope just beyond the horizon. We have four female ministers in our newly formed government: Violet Khairallah, Nada Al Bustani, May Chidiac, and Raya Al Hassan. Additionally, activists such as Joumana Haddad and MP Paula Yaacoubian, have constantly taken to the streets, courts, and political arenas, to voice their concerns. They ended up yielding much support and progress, no matter how symbolic it may seem to some opposers. Mrs. Haddad herself was violently stripped of her right to a seat in parliament overnight, during the 2018 elections. By comparison, Lebanon seems to be one the most progressive in the Middle East when it comes to the treatment of its female population. You can hear the echoing choruses of the coopted chant “You can drive! You can wear short skirts!” And that, is the pseudo progression of women’s rights that silences those who are hesitant to object. But, does a woman care if she can drive, if she is driving back home to marital rape, a concept not even recognized by Lebanese law? Doesn’t a young lady think twice before donning that short skirt, in fear of being raped and it being her fault for being so provocative in the first place? These are all cultural advancements that have reached us before their prerequisites, and one cannot help but question, are they on the way? Or are they never coming?   About the author: Tala Tlili holds a BA in International Affairs and Diplomacy. She is the Research Officer for Crossing Borders Lebanon, serves as the current Deputy representative for Lebanon at the IYF, is passionate about tolerance, change, and video games.

The history of our planet is rife with destruction, most of which is the work of man. From climate change, to wars, abject poverty and hunger: things are quickly spiraling out of control. For this reason, world leaders and the United Nations joined forces to put together first the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, then the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all the UN member states in 2015. It seeks to provide a blueprint for a better future, one not plagued with suffering and human rights violations. At the very heart of this Agenda are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which constitute an urgent call for action by all countries. Lebanon has been an active participant in the 2030 Agenda and its implementation ever since its conception. Of the 17 goals-all equally vital to creating the 2030 Planet- the 4th Goal, Quality Education, is a focal point to Lebanon. Despite its internal turmoil and flailing economy, Lebanon has high literacy rates, the highest in the Middle East: a staggering 99% of both male and female youth in 2015, according to the World Bank. Great progress has been made in increasing enrolment in primary education and increasing the already high literacy rate, as was shown in the Voluntary National Review, submitted by Lebanon in July 2018 at the High Level Political Forum, as part of the reporting mechanism of the 2030 Agenda. In the 2015-2016 school year, 249,000 Lebanese children were newly enrolled in public education- an increase of 11,000 from the previous year. In these past few years since the country embarked on its journey towards achieving the Agenda, great feats have been accomplished and more mass-awareness has been gained regarding the key importance of education and life-long learning. Nevertheless, these feats did not extend to all the facets of education in Lebanon. Many setbacks have cropped up these past years. The public education sector wavers under the strain of all the disorder of the Lebanese government. The Syrian Crisis and the massive refugee influx meant further damage to public education: 155,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugee children were enrolled in Lebanese schools in 2015-2016; schools that were already over-crowded, under-funded and ill-equipped. This has led to a significant increase in both transfer rates to private schools, or in the case of those less fortunate, a significant increase in dropout rates. Moreover, there has been a severe plunge in enrolment rates in higher education (from 49.7% in 2011 to 42.8%) and in transition from elementary to secondary education in recent years. Yet for a people living in a country with such a bloody and devastating history, the Lebanese are the epitome of the will not only to survive, but also to thrive; they are the definition of intellect and the entrepreneurial spirit. It is almost certain that the goal of quality education in Lebanon can be within arm’s reach, when its people are this determined to build leading and innovative lives through education. Thus, though Lebanon may falter and stumble at times, its future is safe in the hands of its youth, if only they are given the necessary tools to defend it. About the author: Lara Makhoul is a translator. She graduated with honors with a BA in Translation from the Lebanese University in 2018. She is currently an MA student in Research and Translation Studies. She occupies the position of Local Programs Officer at Crossing Borders Lebanon CBL, where she is charged with scouting potential opportunities that would help youth build a brighter future. She also works at The Language Platform, a Lebanese company that provides translation and language services.