tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/expatriates-15797/articlesExpatriates – The Conversation2023-10-18T16:02:39Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2150052023-10-18T16:02:39Z2023-10-18T16:02:39ZFour reasons your hay fever may be worse when you move to a different country – and how to manage it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554502/original/file-20231018-25-rfjr6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7676%2C5128&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Unfamiliar allergens in your new home country may be one reason for worse hay fever symptoms.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-allergy-infection-sneezing-shot-young-2157486261">Dragana Gordic/ Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are many things a person will expect to be different when moving to a new country. The language, the social norms, the cuisine – even the weather.</p>
<p>One thing you might not expect to be different when moving abroad is your <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hay-fever/">hay fever symptoms</a>. Yet, odd as it may sound, many expats report <a href="https://expathealth.org/healthcare/hay-fever-season-will-you-suffer-abroad/">worse seasonal allergy symptoms</a> after moving to a new country.</p>
<p>While there are many reasons your hay fever might be worse when you move to a new country, the good news is there are also many things you can do to ease your suffering.</p>
<h2>1. New allergens</h2>
<p>The primary reason your hay fever may worsen when you move abroad is the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023001228">change in allergens</a>. Each continent has its unique mix of plants, trees and grasses – and they release pollen at different times throughout the year.</p>
<p>When you move to a different country, you expose yourself to new allergens that your immune system may not be accustomed to. This may cause your body to react more strongly to these <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4139367/">unfamiliar triggers</a>, leading to more severe hay fever symptoms. For some, this may cause them to develop hay fever for the first time. </p>
<h2>2. Different climate</h2>
<p>Moving to a different country often means experiencing new <a href="https://www.iqair.com">climate patterns and seasonal changes</a>. These variations can have a profound effect on hay fever sufferers. </p>
<p>For instance, if you move from a temperate climate to a tropical one, you may encounter perennial allergens – such as dust mites and mould – that thrive in <a href="https://www.buildmagazine.org.nz/assets/PDF/B98-40-DustMites.pdf">warm and humid environments</a>. Similarly, if you move to a Mediterranean country, you may encounter <a href="https://patients.eaaci.org/pollen/#:%7E:text=Olive%20(Olea%20europaea)%20pollen%20is,is%20from%20April%20to%20June.">olive pollen</a> for the first time, which is a common hay fever trigger.</p>
<p>The timing and peak of pollen seasons can also be vastly different depending on the part of the world you’re in – with <a href="https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/observatory/evidence/health-effects/aeroallergens/pollen">some regions</a> (such as Switzerland) having <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28764-0">longer, more intense</a> pollen seasons than others. </p>
<p>This may not only worsen seasonal allergy symptoms, it may also cause symptoms to be longer lasting.</p>
<h2>3. Your genetics</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ng.3985">Individual genetics</a> play a significant role in how a person responds to allergens. This means some people are inherently more susceptible to hay fever due to their genetic makeup – making them <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21799018/">more vulnerable</a> to the allergens they encounter in a new country. </p>
<p>We don’t know which genes are linked with specific pollen allergies. But if you’re worried about your likelihood of developing seasonal allergies in the country you’re moving to, private <a href="https://www.23andme.com/en-gb/topics/wellness/seasonal-allergies/">genetic tests</a> can determine your risk. </p>
<h2>4. Air pollution</h2>
<p>Poor air quality can affect <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8638356/">hay fever symptoms</a>. Moving to an area with higher levels of air pollution may make your <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/lary.20097?casa_token=Mg70kDxtHaEAAAAA:Rvd1wGKv4JpjV8MhPGEUqK7PSx8314gbPf6SLdfkjADrBZN0fURhDZ3yZRL-cAbJe39NJDSVVmXAhCJF">hay fever symptoms worse</a>. This is because pollutants, such as diesel exhaust fumes, can interact with allergens, particularly those that irritate the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5941124/">respiratory system</a>, such as mould and dust. </p>
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<img alt="A line of cars waiting in traffic emitting exhaust fumes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554503/original/file-20231018-21-2gsipg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554503/original/file-20231018-21-2gsipg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554503/original/file-20231018-21-2gsipg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554503/original/file-20231018-21-2gsipg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554503/original/file-20231018-21-2gsipg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554503/original/file-20231018-21-2gsipg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554503/original/file-20231018-21-2gsipg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Diesel exhaust can interact with allergens and worsen hay fever.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pollution-environment-by-combustible-gas-car-40584751">ssuaphotos/ Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Managing symptoms</h2>
<p>Your hay fever symptoms will probably improve over time as your <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7369820/">immune system adapts to the new environment</a>. Your degree of allergen exposure, which allergens you’re most sensitive to and how effectively you’re managing symptoms will also affect the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4139367">severity of your symptoms</a>.</p>
<p>It’s essential to stay vigilant and continue managing your hay fever to prevent chronic symptoms and potential complications.</p>
<p>Here are a few easy things you can do:</p>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>Avoid allergens:</strong> Try to <a href="https://www.uptodate.com/contents/trigger-avoidance-in-allergic-rhinitis-beyond-the-basics">avoid exposure to allergens</a> that trigger symptoms. This may mean <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hay-fever/">staying indoors</a> on days when <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/seasonal-advice/pollen-forecast">pollen count is high</a> or wearing a mask when outdoors. A standard surgical mask works well to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8431835/">filter pollen particles</a>. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Use air filters:</strong> Consider using <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091674909013177?casa_token=CkTL0kWie5kAAAAA:yvBLfFgn9XJPlenxxkLdy4zPxxbXRorx0dDamOIaE6oYYlg4o_o0xn4Ay9IzbhcsJSpF1dE">Hepa (high-efficiency particulate air) filters</a> in your home or workplace to help remove airborne allergens. These work on all types of allergens, including indoor allergies such as mould, as well as outdoor allergens such as pollen.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Close windows:</strong> <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hay-fever/">Closing windows</a> during high pollen counts will <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15452918/">prevent allergens from entering your home</a>. This should reduce hay fever severity.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Take antihistamines:</strong> These are <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/cetirizine/">medications</a> that help reduce symptoms by blocking the effects of histamine, a chemical released by cells during an allergic reaction. The best antihistamines for hay fever are oral H1 antihistamines (such as cetirizine or loratidine) or nasal corticosteroids. These should ideally be taken before exposure to allergens and should be continued throughout the allergy season. It’s important to talk to your doctor before starting any new treatment for hay fever to ensure you’re taking the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00003495-200666180-00004">right type for you</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Consider immunotherapy:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/hay-fever-how-immunotherapy-can-help-sufferers-not-getting-relief-from-the-usual-treatments-204945">Immunotherapy</a>, also known as allergy shots, can help reduce hay fever symptoms by desensitising your immune system to specific allergens over time. Immunotherapy needs to be done multiple times and can take <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1765945/">several months or even years</a> to provide full benefits. But since immunotherapy modifies the body’s immune response to allergens, it provides long-lasting relief from hay fever symptoms.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Manage stress:</strong> Stress can make <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1559827610395467?casa_token=FsgTLcz27JEAAAAA:7DCZvxNdzd184MqZ2VLQ5rmaZQ6vU00NUJ6UR8fLDeX6YrEBf43gst7eUMp30OrA5qc6hjAJfQ">hay fever symptoms worse</a>. This is because <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3264048/">chronic stress</a> elevates cortisol (a stress hormone) levels. Cortisol negatively affects immune cells, changing their function. The body also releases histamines when stressed. Increased histamine levels in your bloodstream can worsen allergy symptoms. Managing stress through <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17437199.2020.1760727">meditation, yoga or deep breathing</a> may help to reduce cortisol levels – and subsequently hay fever symptoms.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you’re someone who has recently moved to a new country and found your seasonal allergies are worse than usual, rest assured this is normal. Just as it’ll take time to adjust to your way of life, it will also take your body time to adjust to the new environment you’re in. Reducing allergen exposure as much as you can will go a long way in reducing symptom severity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215005/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hay fever symptoms will improve over time for most – but there are many things you can still do in the meantime to reduce hay fever severity.Samuel J. White, Senior Lecturer in Genetic Immunology, Nottingham Trent UniversityPhilippe B. Wilson, Professor of One Health, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2138732023-09-25T20:07:12Z2023-09-25T20:07:12ZWorkplace loneliness is the modern pandemic damaging lives and hurting businesses<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549928/original/file-20230925-25-gxo5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=164%2C0%2C4812%2C3023&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/people-on-square-537148285">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Loneliness is a much discussed <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2018/09/01/loneliness-is-a-serious-public-health-problem">social issue</a>, but it is rarely considered to be a workplace problem that needs to be managed like other health issues at work.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://lonelinessawarenessweek.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/state-of-nation-social-connection-2023.pdf">Social Connection in Australia 2023 report</a> acknowledges loneliness hurts businesses, as it causes employee absenteeism and reduced productivity.</p>
<p>However, people are often unaware particular work roles, environments, responsibilities and work-related relocation is often what causes loneliness.</p>
<p>These work conditions may cause social isolation, distort interpersonal relationships, and prevent employees from developing or maintaining social connections – all of which are a catalyst for loneliness. </p>
<p>The expression “it is lonely at the top” suggests senior managers or chief executives are especially likely to suffer from loneliness.</p>
<p>Their position and associated power makes authentic workplace relationships rare because they are socially and psychologically distanced from most people in their organisation.</p>
<p>As leaders, they are held responsible for making significant decisions. Having nobody to share the risks and responsibilities with is an implicit social deficiency that increases workplace loneliness.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549931/original/file-20230925-19-tn3g8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Silhouette of a businesswoman standing alone in an office" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549931/original/file-20230925-19-tn3g8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549931/original/file-20230925-19-tn3g8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549931/original/file-20230925-19-tn3g8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549931/original/file-20230925-19-tn3g8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549931/original/file-20230925-19-tn3g8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549931/original/file-20230925-19-tn3g8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549931/original/file-20230925-19-tn3g8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Chief executives can find often find themselves distanced from their employees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/boss-in-dark-office-alone?page=3">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Similarly, loneliness is also a classic occupational hazard for business entrepreneurs who are prepared to take risks in pursuit of goals developing their own businesses. In 2019 and 2022, we surveyed 363 entrepreneurs <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235267342200066X">in Indonesia and the United Kingdom</a>, and found 50% reported they sometimes or always experienced loneliness.</p>
<p>This rate was consistent with an article published in Harvard Business Review in 1984 written by D. E. Gumpert and D. P. Boyd titled, The loneliness of the small-business owner. Their research found 52% of the business owners researched frequently experienced loneliness.</p>
<p>It appears that loneliness experienced by entrepreneurs has not changed over 40 years. Entrepreneurs’ responsibilities for running and developing their businesses substantially reduce the time they can share with families and friends. </p>
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<p>Entrepreneurs may also have to withhold negative information about the business and pose a strong and positive image to others in order to retain resources and support for their companies. The nature of this line of work turns them into “lone wolves”.</p>
<p>Loneliness is also found among employees relocated overseas by their multinational corporations. It is <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20170111-how-do-you-make-friends-in-a-new-country">common among expatriates</a> separated from their social networks, to find it difficult to develop new connections because of cultural differences, language barriers or insufficient social resources.</p>
<p>Remote work accelerated by the COVID pandemic has given people the flexibility to work from home but it has also worsened social isolation as a result of fewer opportunities for informal chats and face-to-face bonding with colleagues and managers.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549944/original/file-20230925-23-gxo5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two women chatting in the workplace" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549944/original/file-20230925-23-gxo5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549944/original/file-20230925-23-gxo5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549944/original/file-20230925-23-gxo5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549944/original/file-20230925-23-gxo5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549944/original/file-20230925-23-gxo5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549944/original/file-20230925-23-gxo5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549944/original/file-20230925-23-gxo5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Remote work has reduced the opportunity for casual catch-ups in the office.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/office-chatting?image_type=photo">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Although most companies are keen to see workers return to offices, the continuation of hybrid forms of working creates challenges in addressing work-related loneliness as many people continue to work partly from home.</p>
<p>Similarly, digital technology has created another modern work phenomenon, gig work. While gig workers may enjoy flexible schedules, the nature of their work provides few opportunities to develop deep relationships with colleagues.</p>
<p>Given the pervasiveness of workplace loneliness and the challenges it poses, it is surprising that there is little public awareness of how to deal with it.</p>
<p>To stimulate more interest in this topic and to help ease this modern pandemic, our research, soon to be released,proposes resource-based solutions to combat loneliness. We also identify strategies for both individuals and organisations to deal with loneliness: </p>
<h2>Strategies for individuals</h2>
<p>• <strong>Understand your desired level of social goals.</strong> </p>
<p>Loneliness arises when desired social relations are not satisfied by actual relations. People need to be clear about their social needs at work. Some may be happy with a few strong relationships, some may prefer broad but weak social connections. Understanding personal social goals helps employees notice when they might need to develop appropriate strategies to battle loneliness.</p>
<p>• <strong>Evaluate personal resources that make developing social connections difficult.</strong><br>
Employees need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of personal factors and change them if they are preventing social connections. For instance, is the lack of contact caused by our personality, lack of social skills, or low social motivation? As individuals, we cultivate our social connections, so we are the key to shaping them.</p>
<p>• <strong>Do not waste daily resources.</strong> Time, energy and mood are also resources, but they fluctuate daily. They can also be used to achieve social goals. We all have regular feelings of being time-poor, tired, not wanting to talk to people or to be social. This causes daily opportunities to develop connections to be wasted. Desired social relations are developed gradually, and we need work on this regularly to achieve our desired level of connection. </p>
<h2>Strategies for companies</h2>
<p>• <strong>Audit work practices and identify what causes social isolation.</strong> Organisations need to acknowledge that work practices can cause loneliness for employees and find creative solutions. For example, they could reduce work intensity and give employees time to socialise; they could help expatriates maintain old social bonds and develop new connections in their new work location. </p>
<p>• <strong>Remove social barriers for employees by cultivating an inclusive work environment.</strong> An inclusive environment is especially beneficial for demographically diverse employees. Organisations have the power to promote and normalise inclusion, shape employees’ social behaviours and help minority groups to develop desired social ties in the workplace.</p>
<p>• <strong>Provide opportunities for employees to have occasional and repeated face-to-face interactions.</strong> Organisations can offer a variety of socialising opportunities. These might include mentoring and support programs, social events, holiday celebrations, coffee breaks and team-building activities.</p>
<p>Of course, employees must be proactive and take charge of overcoming their loneliness. They can begin this by developing or expanding their repertoire of personal resources and by taking up opportunities offered by their employer.</p>
<p>These investments in alleviating workplace loneliness will result in employees having a stronger sense of belonging to organisations and being more productive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213873/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>COVID lockdowns and the rise of the gig economy have led to loneliness becoming an issue in the workplace.Shea X. Fan, Senior Lecturer in International Business, School of Management, RMIT UniversityFei Zhu, Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship, University of NottinghamMargaret A. Shaffer, Chair of International Business, University of OklahomaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2104482023-08-29T20:12:37Z2023-08-29T20:12:37ZThe charismatic, enigmatic Charmian Clift: a writer who lived the dream and confronted its consequences<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541884/original/file-20230809-5449-s2ch1q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=59%2C5%2C3922%2C2988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Charmian Clift in Greek costume (1941).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Frederick Stanley Grimes/State Library of New South Wales</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The centenary of the birth of <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/clift-charmian-9764">Charmian Clift</a> takes place on August 30. It comes at a time when the renowned Australian writer is, as they say, having a moment. </p>
<p>Clift’s typewriter has been still for over half a century, but the fascination with her life and writing shows little signs of abating. Recent years have seen new Australian editions of her work in its various genres: fiction, memoir and journalistic essays. There has been a <a href="https://theconversation.com/sue-smiths-hydra-how-love-pain-and-sacrifice-produced-an-australian-classic-113640">play</a> about her in the theatres. A <a href="https://documentaryaustralia.com.au/project/life-burns-high/">documentary</a> is in the making and a feature film is in <a href="https://www.news.uwa.edu.au/archive/2019060611424/arts-and-culture/page-big-screen-half-perfect-world-writers-dreamers-and-drifters-hydr/">pre-production</a>. </p>
<p>Next year we will see “new” writing from Clift, with the first publication of <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/a-hundred-years-on-charmian-clift-s-time-has-finally-arrived-20230814-p5dwau.html">The End of the Morning</a>, the autobiographical novel she was working on at the time of her death.</p>
<p>Interest in Clift’s legacy has also been evident overseas, where her <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781460700037/mermaid-singing-and-peel-me-a-lotus/">two memoirs</a> of Greek island living – <a href="https://muswell-press.co.uk/product/mermaid-singing/">Mermaid Singing</a> (1956) and <a href="https://muswell-press.co.uk/product/peel-me-a-lotus">Peel Me a Lotus</a> (1959) – have been republished in the UK after more than six decades, to often rapturous reviews. These books have appeared in translation for the first time in Greek, Spanish and Catalan – a measure of an international readership that was elusive during Clift’s lifetime. </p>
<p>And if this cake needed further icing, it comes in the form of Clift and her writer husband George Johnston emerging as “characters” in international novels and films. They have come to exemplify the experience of artistic expatriation, solidarity and dissolution that transpired on the island of Hydra in the 1950s and 1960s. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-a-fresh-perspective-on-leonard-cohen-and-the-island-that-inspired-him-105392">Friday essay: a fresh perspective on Leonard Cohen and the island that inspired him</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A riveting portrait</h2>
<p>Exactly why Clift enjoys this prolonged afterlife when once far-better-known mid-century writers struggle to sustain reputations is a matter for another time. But there is a hint to be found in a fragment of her extraordinary life – a photographic moment that condenses her charismatic and enigmatic essence into a single, riveting image. It is a photograph that is remarkable in itself, but made extraordinary by the use to which it would be put. </p>
<p>Intrinsic to the photo’s quality is its creator. It was the work of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liselotte_Strelow">Liselotte Strelow</a> (1909-1981), a significant German portrait photographer. Her powerful and intensely focused black-and-white images identified her as an <em>Autorenphotographie</em> – an artist-photographer – capable of extracting from the human face a deep reflection of character and interiority. </p>
<p>Strelow built her stellar reputation with memorable portraits of the artistic, intellectual and political greats of postwar Europe, including Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dali, Marlene Dietrich, Henry Moore, Thomas Mann and Maria Callas. Her portrait of Clift is as well realised as anything in her body of work. </p>
<p>Also critical to the photo’s success is that Strelow found in Clift a subject who was prepared to match her ambition. Clift exposed herself in a starkly unadorned and unguarded manner. Her hair is thrown about and seemingly tied with string; her skin flaws are clearly visible. She has what appears to be a bruised left eye. </p>
<p>Devoid of coquetry or coyness, Clift’s direct gaze penetrates the camera lens with uncommon intensity. She appears both assertive and vulnerable. </p>
<p>Clift wasn’t new to working with photographers. She first attracted attention by winning a beach-girl photo competition in 1941 with a image taken by her sister, Margaret. She then undertook part-time photographic modelling in wartime Sydney. As her biographer Nadia Wheatley noted, Clift was blessed with “that indefinable thing which makes a certain face photogenic. It is clear that the camera loved Charmian – and that the feeling was mutual.” </p>
<p>This much is true, but what is on show in Strelow’s image is something more than a straightforward representation of a photogenic subject. Working in tandem, Strelow and Clift have created an image that reaches beyond the superficial appeal of an attractively structured face to reveal a scintillating intellect, and expose layers of anguish and self-doubt. The result is a masterwork of “Australian” photographic portraiture.</p>
<p>Little is known of the context in which the photo was taken, or even when Strelow travelled to Hydra, which is demonstrably where it was taken. It is almost certain, however, that the image was specifically required (by author and publisher) for use with Clift’s forthcoming book, Peel Me a Lotus, a highly personal account of her Hydra life. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541885/original/file-20230809-25-qpfxif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541885/original/file-20230809-25-qpfxif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541885/original/file-20230809-25-qpfxif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541885/original/file-20230809-25-qpfxif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541885/original/file-20230809-25-qpfxif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541885/original/file-20230809-25-qpfxif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541885/original/file-20230809-25-qpfxif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541885/original/file-20230809-25-qpfxif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The first UK edition of Peel Me a Lotus (Hutchison, 1959).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Existential yin and yang</h2>
<p>In some ways, the dust jacket designed for the first British edition of Peel Me a Lotus is entirely of its time. The stylised chevrons are highlighted by “of-the-moment” saturated colours and fonts that are typical of postwar design. What is unexpected is the use of an author photograph to adorn a travel memoir in the 1950s. </p>
<p>The 1950s continued the pre-war preference of British publishers for illustrated or graphically designed dust jackets, usually based on watercolours, woodcuts or pencil drawings, and adapted for two or three-colour offset printing. Clift’s previous travel memoir, Mermaid Singing, was typical. Both the front and back covers featured drawings by her friend, Australian artist <a href="http://newtheatrehistory.org.au/wiki/index.php/Person_-_Cedric_Flower">Cedric Flower</a>. </p>
<p>Author photos, if used, were relegated to the back cover or the internal cover flaps. It was extremely rare to find an author pictured on the front of a dust jacket, and particularly with a photo presenting the author as anything other than a confident and reassuring presence. </p>
<p>There were few precedents for a dust jacket portrait that challenged the reader in the manner of Strelow’s photo of Clift, which is far more likely to unsettle or provoke potential readers rather than offer reassurance. But somebody – very likely Clift herself – selected this image and promoted its use on the front cover. </p>
<p>And it was done with good reason, in that Clift’s achievement in Peel Me a Lotus is the literary equivalent of Strelow’s photo. The book’s success – and a key to its lasting appeal – is found in Clift’s willingness to go beyond the benign expectations of Mediterranean exoticism and take the reader into a darker personal experience of expatriation. </p>
<p>Peel Me a Lotus is made memorable because of its evocation of Clift’s existential yin and yang of exhilaration and despair, belonging and deracination. The book commences amid a blossom of optimism that accompanies the birth of a child, the buying of a house, and the embrace of the sun-drenched Hydra lifestyle. But it soon pitches headlong into the anxieties brought on by Clift’s recognition that she and Johnston are “marooned” in poverty. </p>
<p>The growing numbers of expats and tourists attracted to the island provide an irresistible link to the outside world and relief from growing tedium, while posing a threat to the personal dreams the couple were seeking to fulfil.</p>
<p>Clift describes how work and family suffer amid the dockside sociability. She and Johnston would “go home a little drunker than we ought to be, feeling vaguely worsted, jangling with some unspecified resentment, indefinably tainted”.</p>
<p>Her growing anguish in response to her increasingly complex reality is momentarily frozen by Strelow’s camera. The image exposes Clift’s realisation that the very circumstances that fed her creativity were also capable of depleting it. This compatibility between image and text transforms a great photo into the basis for one of the most compelling dust jackets produced for an Australian writer.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542917/original/file-20230816-17-polgjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542917/original/file-20230816-17-polgjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542917/original/file-20230816-17-polgjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542917/original/file-20230816-17-polgjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542917/original/file-20230816-17-polgjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1182&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542917/original/file-20230816-17-polgjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1182&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542917/original/file-20230816-17-polgjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1182&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Peel Me a Lotus did not have its first Australian publication until a decade later, when it was occasioned by Clift’s <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/136943230">suicide</a>. For this edition, the dust jacket consisted of a stock photo of cliched “Greekness” used as a stand-in for Hydra. Specifically, the photo depicted the blue-domed dockside church of Agios Nikolaos on Mykonos. </p>
<p>It was the first of a series of Australian editions to feature covers of generic domed churches unaffiliated with Hydra – an island with its own remarkable architecture, but notably devoid of these classic painted domes. One can confidently assume that Clift would have been appalled to see such photos deceptively embellishing a book that was emphatically about the beloved and very singular island that shaped her expatriation for a decade.</p>
<p>It is easy to understand the marketing appeal of these images, which speak, however inaccurately, to an audience of sun-seeking holiday makers dreaming of a Greek island summer. They are, however, an inadequate representation not only of Hydra, but Clift’s intentions in marshalling her writerly genius to expose the fractures in her own psyche. </p>
<p>It is a pity that Australian readers of Peel Me a Lotus were denied the opportunity to look into the eyes and soul of the woman who was both living the dream and confronting its consequences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210448/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australian writer Charmian Clift was born 100 years ago today. One rivetting photograph of Clift captures the existential yin and yang explored in her work.Tanya Dalziell, Professor, English and Literary Studies, The University of Western AustraliaPaul Genoni, Associate Professor, School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1915332022-10-14T15:05:26Z2022-10-14T15:05:26ZIs it embarrassing to be an expat? Brits living abroad are distancing themselves from the term after Brexit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489565/original/file-20221013-22-3794f2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=68%2C25%2C5673%2C3794&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/majorca-spain-september-26-2017-senior-772506895">The Art of Pics / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Of the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/brits_abroad/html/default.stm">5.5 million</a> British people living outside of the UK, many have long considered themselves expatriates – people living outside their country of birth, often with plans to return home. For a long time, I didn’t think twice about using the word “expat” to describe Brits who move to Spain to retire, or businessmen relocating to Hong Kong. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/mar/13/white-people-expats-immigrants-migration">2015 article</a> by journalist Mawuna Remarque Koutonin caused me to think more carefully about the connotations of class, race and privilege associated with the term expat. </p>
<p>Koutonin asked why we use words like “immigrant” to describe some groups of people who move countries, and reserve “expat” for those who are white, western and wealthy. Koutonin suggests that the word expat allows Europeans to distance themselves from other migrant groups and therefore avoid the negativity often (unfairly) associated with migration. </p>
<p>My research shows that post-Brexit, Brits living abroad are also distancing themselves from the term. One year after the Brexit referendum, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9FggJE1HjY">camera crews descended</a> on resorts in Spain’s Costa del Sol to ask British people living there how they feel about the occasion. </p>
<p>The comment sections of videos like this and other news articles are full of ridicule towards these communities for their perceived lack of integration with the local community. Overwhelmingly, this coverage focused on retired people, with little mention of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbchRIPjVVk">74% of Brits</a> living in the EU who are there for employment purposes. </p>
<p>In 2021, I began <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14766825.2022.2120817">my own research into British communities</a> abroad, focusing on the Turkish resort town of Fethiye, where I interviewed British residents. I wanted to understand how expat communities identify and feel about the term expat. </p>
<p>Fethiye is often called “Little Britain” by locals, and could be described as Turkey’s Benidorm – an area of Spain known for its British holidaymakers that even <a href="https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/benidorm/">inspired a sitcom</a>. The resort is the most popular place in Turkey for Britons to settle, and is even home to a fake “British high street”, with Turkish versions of popular UK stores and supermarkets (Tesko, Azda, Marc Spenger and Selfridğez to name a few). </p>
<p>During my research, I didn’t find people happily embracing the expat identity, but the opposite. I was met with Brits desperate to distance themselves from the stereotypes of holiday complexes (resorts that have no relationship with local life). </p>
<p>These stereotypes – participating minimally in local life or culture, refusing to learn the language of their hosts and generally recreating a “little England in the sun” – have become synonymous with idea of British expats. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s embarrassing really, people hear “expat” and think of somewhere like Benidorm or “Blackpool in the sun” and being uninterested in the local culture … but I’m very interested in Turkish culture, that’s why we moved here.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some observed a connection between Brexit and negative perceptions of British people abroad.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Since Brexit there does seem to be added stigma about British expats. They’ll say things like “isn’t it a bit ironic living in Turkey after all the Brexit stuff” … because people are noticing that expats do exactly the same thing that British people complain about back home! It’s lack of integration really.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Shops called Nexst and Marc Spenger, copycats of British stores Next and Marks and Spencer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488809/original/file-20221007-22-6dcb02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488809/original/file-20221007-22-6dcb02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488809/original/file-20221007-22-6dcb02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488809/original/file-20221007-22-6dcb02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488809/original/file-20221007-22-6dcb02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488809/original/file-20221007-22-6dcb02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488809/original/file-20221007-22-6dcb02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A ‘British high street’ in Fethiye features shops to make British people living abroad feel right at home.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ross Bennett-Cook</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who is an expat?</h2>
<p>I found that the desire to dissociate from the expat stereotype also seemed to be actively encouraging Britons to steer clear of one another, avoiding the perception that expats only mix with fellow foreigners. This resulted in greater interaction with Turkish people instead. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are expats, it’s just what we are, I had never even thought about it. The Facebook groups are called “Expats in Fethiye”, the social groups are “expat groups”. I had honestly never even questioned it until Brexit happened and suddenly it seems to be a bad thing. Of course we are immigrants too, but expats just seems to be the more common word. Turkish people call us “yabancı” which just means foreigner… maybe that’s a better word for everyone.</p>
</blockquote>
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<p>At its most basic, the term <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/expatriate">expatriate</a> describes someone who does not live in their own country, and could therefore be used to describe migrants, asylum seekers, guest workers and other groups. Some <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/10/expat-immigrant/570967/">definitions</a> add that “an intention to return home” is what separates expats from other migrant groups. </p>
<p>I would argue that Polish workers in the UK too have plans to return “home”, and Jamaican migrants to the UK may plan to spend their retirement in the sunshine of the Caribbean. Yet we would rarely use the term expat to describe them. </p>
<p>Migrant communities are often scrutinised in the media and political sphere. Much of Brexit’s “leave” campaign, for example, centred around the chance of millions of migrants flooding the UK if Turkey were to join the EU. </p>
<p>Now, it seems that Brits living abroad are no longer immune from such conversations about migration. As migrant stigmatisation has began to involve expats themselves, the term has lost its appeal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191533/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ross Bennett-Cook does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>British people living in Turkey don’t want to be seen as uninterested in local culture or language.Ross Bennett-Cook, Visiting Lecturer, PhD, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1887512022-08-22T15:46:17Z2022-08-22T15:46:17ZZambia’s copper mines hard-baked racism into the workplace by labelling whites ‘expats’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479156/original/file-20220815-19-b8qdl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Expatriates and locals faced similar risks and hazards but for different pay</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Zambia’s Copperbelt has been a centre of the world copper industry <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?pid=S2225-62532016000600003&script=sci_arttext&tlng=es">for almost a century</a>. When mining began on an industrial scale in the 1920s, the mines employed both migrant white and African workers. By the time of Zambia’s independence <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/zambia-gains-independence-britain">in 1964</a>, around 7,500 white workers and 38,000 African workers were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004467347_010">employed on the mines</a>.</p>
<p>Although they worked alongside each other, white and African mineworkers did not do the same jobs. There was a clear racial division in the workplace during the colonial period. The best-paid skilled jobs were reserved for white workers, who had organised themselves into a trade union and enforced a “colour bar”. The average white mineworker was paid almost ten times the average African mineworker in 1960.</p>
<p>What is puzzling is that this continued after Zambian independence, when there were hopes that it would disappear. Blatantly racist organisation of workplaces had become increasingly unacceptable in the 1950s and the colour bar had been dismantled in the early 1960s under heavy pressure from the African mineworkers’ union.</p>
<p>This presented the Copperbelt mining companies with a problem. White mineworkers were paid very high wages and the dismantling of racial divisions meant these wages and benefits could be extended to Africans, with frightening implications for operating costs.</p>
<p>The solution was the creation of an “expatriate” category for white employees. This was explicitly a racial category. All African employees were designated as “local”, even if they had been born in Malawi or Tanzania. All white employees were designated “expatriates”, even if they had been born on the Copperbelt. The companies’ definition of expatriate was “skilled, white”.</p>
<p>Expatriates are common in the extractive industries and many other sectors on the African continent. Usually, “expats” are seen as skilled professionals who take up a short-term job in another country, frequently move around the world and are paid much better than anyone recruited locally.</p>
<p>In the Copperbelt’s case, the category of expatriate recreated a dual wage structure, and one that persists. Expatriates received wages and benefits that no African employee could receive regardless of skill or experience. The companies hoped this would get around “aspirations” among African mineworkers for higher wages.</p>
<p>Even the term “expatriate” was chosen to emphasise that wages received by white workers were unattainable for African workers. </p>
<h2>Racial divides</h2>
<p>I have been <a href="https://www.ascleiden.nl/organization/people/duncan-money">researching the mining industry</a> and, in particular, the Zambian Copperbelt. My main interests are in labour, race, the ways in which the mining industry connected seemingly disparate and distant places across the globe and the consequences that emanated from this. </p>
<p>One consequence was the spread of militant trade unions to the mines. Until independence, all white mineworkers were union members as their union ran a closed shop: you had to be a union member to get a job on the mines. This inadvertently provided a good example to African workers of how to improve their position, and they too formed a trade union that soon established a combative reputation.</p>
<p>Both unions fought tenaciously and successfully for better pay and conditions, but separately. Workplace segregation was replicated in the trade unions and there was never a union representing both African and white workers on the mines.</p>
<p>I also became interested in how “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004467347_008">expatriate</a>”, a term that has become a normal part of the industry, developed.</p>
<p>On the mines of Zambia’s Copperbelt it developed from deliberate corporate policy. Designating white employees as expatriates was the proposed solution to the spectre of rapidly rising wages.</p>
<p>Paradoxically, this meant that racial divisions were strengthened in some ways after Zambia became an independent country in 1964.</p>
<p>Zambian independence was seen as a major opportunity by the mining companies to reorganise the industry. As one executive put it, it was:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the time when the industry has an opportunity to set the pattern and get matters the way they would like them. Large scale industry rarely gets this sort of opportunity and it is not likely to be repeated.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Politically, the companies thought this would be a hard pill for the government to swallow. The <a href="https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP121">United National Independence Party</a> was officially multiracial and white Zambians had played a prominent role in the independence struggle.</p>
<p>There was a policy of “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2019.1658406">Zambianisation</a>” to replace white workers with Zambian nationals, but there were other policies to limit wage growth for mineworkers, which were already much higher than wages for African workers in other economic sectors.</p>
<p>Shrewdly, company executives suggested they emphasise to government “that a local person, unskilled” should not earn as much as a cabinet minister. Zambia’s new independent government accepted the plan to create categories of “expatriate” and “local” employment.</p>
<p>The outcome was that African workers promoted into skilled jobs received a fraction of the wage that white workers got. African artisans (a job category that included carpenters, electricians and mechanics) were paid around 50% of the wage of white artisans.</p>
<p>Other benefits were also reduced. At one mine, promoted African employees who moved into mine houses previously occupied by whites even found that the appliances that were provided for white employees had been removed.</p>
<p>African mineworkers did not accept this willingly. Shop stewards at one mine argued forcibly that “they saw no reason why any differential should be established between themselves and the expatriate”. Major strikes took place after independence and mineworkers secured significant pay increases. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6443.2005.00260.x">This provoked conflict</a> with the government, which cracked down on the Mineworkers’ Union of Zambia and brought the country’s labour movement under tighter state control.</p>
<h2>Corporate legacies</h2>
<p>The category of expatriate is rooted both in the colonial-era racial divisions and corporate decisions about how to resolve these divisions after independence. Expatriate was deliberately created as a racial category on Zambia’s mines.</p>
<p>The creation of very different wage scales was a solution to control costs. Two separate wage scales with no way to bridge them placed a limit on the wages that could be paid to “local” workers. </p>
<p>Expatriates and locals were in the same workplaces, facing similar risks and hazards, but with a very different experience of work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188751/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Duncan Money does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the Copperbelt the category of ‘expatriate’ recreated a dual wage structure that still persists.Duncan Money, Researcher, Leiden UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1780202022-03-01T00:47:39Z2022-03-01T00:47:39ZTorn between worlds, Ukrainian Australians are feeling the mental health impacts of war. Here’s how to help<p>Australians of Ukrainian heritage are bearing witness to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-25/australians-in-ukraine-shock-flee-russian-invasion/100860386">heartbreaking scenes</a> and ongoing uncertainty about the safety of family and loved ones. European agencies are warning of an <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o507">impending humanitarian crisis</a>. Although communications can be unreliable, technology makes it possible for us to see and hear war in real time. Ukrainian Australians are experiencing a powerful emotional pull to the Ukraine with friends, family and history there. </p>
<p>Previous research into the impact of global catastrophic events on the diaspora – scattered communities with shared cultural links – tells us much about the push-pull impact on local people of global events. Diaspora migrant groups should not be seen as isolated from their country of origin. Rather, they are subject to global influences over their personal and social life, their health and well-being.</p>
<p>Australians with ancestral linkages to homeland violence and war can identify completely with the pain and anguish they see and hear. The same is true of communities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/24/canada-ukrainian-community-russia-invasion">in other parts of the world</a> with Ukrainian ties. But we can support ourselves and others during this time. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/saint-olga-of-kyiv-is-ukraines-patron-saint-of-both-defiance-and-vengeance-178019">Saint Olga of Kyiv is Ukraine's patron saint of both defiance and vengeance</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Long-distance suffering</h2>
<p>How people manage the interplay between homeland events, media reports, cultural identity and mental health issues in Australia is complex. </p>
<p>In what I call “long-distance suffering and devastation”, people are physically and emotionally here, as well as emotionally “over there”. During the Balkan war of 1991–2001, some people with ancestral links to that region living in Australia <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/8948">reported</a> they could not watch television. The coverage made some of them physically ill.</p>
<p>Their <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Serbian-Australians-in-the-Shadow-of-the-Balkan-War/Procter/p/book/9781138713499">experiences</a> fluctuated in response to good and bad news about homeleand events. </p>
<p>Emotions ranged from periods of relief and calm, to unbearable fear, sleeplessness, irritability, inability to concentrate, feelings of frustration, loneliness, sadness, worry, guilt and bouts of extreme emotional exhaustion. </p>
<p>In these past times, people found safety in the comfort of others, and connecting or reconnecting with their cultural identity. Shared meals and social gatherings, alongside cultural and spiritual rituals were found to be helpful.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-vladdy-daddy-to-fake-tiktoks-how-to-guide-your-child-through-ukraine-news-online-177813">From 'Vladdy daddy' to fake TikToks: how to guide your child through Ukraine news online</a>
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<h2>A trauma-informed response</h2>
<p>Being <a href="https://foundationhouse.org.au/rebuilding-shattered-lives-2nd-ed-dr-ida-kaplan/">trauma-informed</a> begins with trauma awareness, involves strengths-based approaches, facilitating choice and remaining flexible through trusting engagement.</p>
<p>Validation of distress is central to trauma-informed approaches. That means helping people feel their <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/basics/emotional-validation">emotions have been heard, understood and are accepted</a>. </p>
<p>There have been encouraging signs of a coordinated refugee response. Prime Minister Scott Morrison <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-promises-places-for-refugees-fleeing-war-in-ukraine-20220227-p5a02e.html">says</a> Australia has been fast-tracking visa applications from Ukrainians and will support refugees from the region.</p>
<p>Creating a safe haven for refugees fleeing conflict will help those directly affected and reassure those who are concerned about them. Services for children and young people – who may be at <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1363461509351363">increased risk</a> of mental health problems and have greater difficulty accessing mental health care – must be prioritised. </p>
<p>In the interim there are several ways to <a href="https://www.unrefugees.org.au/campaigns/ukraine-emergency/">provide practical help</a> and join <a href="https://www.redcross.org.au/ukraine/">relief efforts</a> from afar. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1497750409968230400"}"></div></p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-are-in-dark-times-what-is-it-like-for-ukrainians-in-australia-watching-their-country-at-war-178029">'We are in dark times': what is it like for Ukrainians in Australia watching their country at war?</a>
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<h2>Comfort and support</h2>
<p>Bearing witness to the loss of life and property in familiar (though distant) surroundings can be devastating. </p>
<p>At an individual level, it’s about remaining aware of what is going on, staying informed and engaged in ways that don’t overwhelm. It can be helpful to calibrate media exposure and rely on trusted sources. </p>
<p>If supporting family in Australia or elsewhere, work towards a situation where the person feels listened to, understood and validated.</p>
<p>Some other supportive ideas include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>recognising distress triggers and encouraging breaks from coverage. If <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/23/927134772/when-the-headlines-wont-stop-here-s-how-to-cope-with-anxiety">news generates anxiety or worry</a>, counter this with an activity that brings closeness and human connection </p></li>
<li><p>doing things that have worked in the past to help bring calm. Mindfulness meditation or mindfulness-based activity can be grounding</p></li>
<li><p>seeking out company with trusted others. This may not be to necessarily discuss unfolding events. The company of others could include conversation about non-war topics </p></li>
<li><p>ensuring a good night’s sleep.</p></li>
</ul>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">People will remember your intent longer than your words.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>When it all gets too much</h2>
<p>If events are making concentration at work difficult or impacting on employment, people should speak with their workplace supervisors. </p>
<p>Research shows exercise-based interventions (from yoga to high-intensity running) and peer-led actions (such as sharing lived experiences) designed to increase social connection, have <a href="https://www.beyondblue.org.au/docs/default-source/about-beyond-blue/policy-submissions/mild-moderate-depression-and-anxiety-in-adults_final-2.pdf?sfvrsn=d182bcea_6">good potential</a> to address mild-moderate depression. There are a wide range of <a href="https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/resources-support/anxiety/treatment/">psychological treatments</a> for anxiety too. </p>
<p>If you are feeling fragile or concerned about your mental health, or the mental health of a loved one, seek support from your health care provider. Getting help early can make it easier to accept help going forward. </p>
<p>Employers should show understanding and suggest practical ways to support people impacted. Given the trajectory of the conflict is also unclear and may involve other countries, there will likely be ongoing collateral effects. In times like these, it’s OK to not be OK.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178020/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Procter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ukrainian Australians feel the push-pull impact of distant conflict on their mental health. Supportive measures include making sure their feelings are heard and accepted.Nicholas Procter, Professor and Chair: Mental Health Nursing, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1652862021-08-29T17:57:29Z2021-08-29T17:57:29Z‘My home country pushed me away’: how returning expats became South Korea’s pandemic scapegoats<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414652/original/file-20210804-15-8a1m0l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=675%2C954%2C5331%2C3053&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/south-korea-december-5-2019-view-1583099902">LegoCamera/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Yuna (not her real name), a South Korean living in France, returned to Korea for a visit in the early July 2021, she and her two children had to quarantine for two weeks in a small studio. She was fully vaccinated, but <a href="https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/sg-en/brd/m_2444/view.do?seq=761451">exemptions</a> that allow people to quarantine outside official facilities only apply to people visiting direct family members, and she did not have any.</p>
<p>Yuna developed a fever in quarantine and was taken to hospital in a special vehicle reserved for returnees – people in quarantine cannot take public transport. At the hospital, she was given her prescription at the entrance and asked to leave.</p>
<p>“I couldn’t help but cry at night,” she said in a recent interview. “It was like my home country pushed me away.”</p>
<p>Another South Korean living France, who is fully vaccinated and had been through the two-week quarantine, said she was asked to leave a restaurant by a waiter on a recent visit. She was told her presence would make other diners uncomfortable. Why? She had written her address in France on the entry list, revealing that she was visiting from abroad.</p>
<p>South Korea has been widely praised for its handling of the pandemic, though it is now experiencing a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/29/once-a-covid-success-story-south-korea-sweats-through-summer-of-delta-surge">surge in infections</a> due to the Delta variant. But for Koreans living overseas, the country’s response to coronavirus has been hard to manage, and their presence has been frequently politicised.</p>
<h2>Border politics</h2>
<p>In January 2020, when coronavirus was sweeping through the Chinese province of Wuhan, the public largely disagreed with the government’s initial decision <a href="https://www.sisain.co.kr/news/articleView.html">not to close borders with China</a>. The controversy became more acute cases rose and other countries including <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-southkorea-idUSKBN20T03O">Japan</a> and <a href="https://kr.usembassy.gov/031820-suspension-of-routine-visa-services/">the US</a> suspended visas for South Koreans.</p>
<p>Even back then, returning migrants were a concern, especially students studying overseas. As the virus surged in the US and Europe, many <a href="https://www.donga.com/news/Politics/article/all/20200324/100316453/1">began to return to Korea</a>, representing a significant share of new infections in the country: <a href="https://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2020/03/30/2020033000158.html">41 out of 105 on March 29, 2020</a>. Public opinion <a href="http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200329000200">became hostile</a>, even more so as returning students were considered largely to be children of the wealthy.</p>
<p>In late March 2020, the government introduced a strict procedure guiding arrivals, who were taken from the airport to a testing centre, then to registered isolation accommodation without contacting any other people. The government considered imposing electronic wristbands on <a href="https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2020/04/119_287604.html">people coming from abroad</a>. During this time, the media, frequently accused returnees of propagating the virus and undermining public order.</p>
<p>One migrant who returned to Korea in May 2020 recalls of this period: “There was panic everywhere. My friends and even family members avoided me because I had returned from abroad.”</p>
<h2>Going all-in on the K-treatment</h2>
<p>In the summer of 2020, focus moved away from returnees as it had become clear that Covid-19 was omnipresent and that South Korea had successfully addressed the situation. In contrast to other countries, the number of daily new cases stayed mostly below 100, without any need for lockdown.</p>
<p>Supplies of masks, a source of panic early in the pandemic, improved such that everyone could now wear their own <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/opinion/covid-face-mask-shortage.html">KF94 mask</a>, the equivalent of the American N95. Yet borders were still in play. Sending masks to people abroad was first strictly prohibited, then <a href="https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2020/06/24/business/economy/facial-masks-covid19-maskexport/20200624180500314.html">allowed between direct family members as supply improved</a>.</p>
<p>President Moon Jae-In’s government and the media branded this improvement as <a href="https://www.mfds.go.kr/eng/brd/m_64/view.do?seq=23&srchFr&srchTo&srchWord&srchTp&itm_seq_1=0&itm_seq_2=0&multi_itm_seq=0&company_cd&company_nm&page=1">“the K-quarantine model”</a>, a phrase intended to resonate with the global success of K-pop and K-drama, as the Western media praised the country’s coronavirus response.</p>
<p>The government and the media also urged the nation to devote its resources to develop the “K-treatment” and national vaccines for Covid-19. These enthusiasts did not know that foreign vaccines were on the horizon, whereas the “K-treatment” was not.</p>
<p>The Korean triumph was called into question as early as November 2020 as foreign vaccines began to succeed in clinical trials, with some becoming available from early 2021. The administration had <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/02/why-south-korea-still-hasnt-vaccinated-anyone/">failed to make contracts</a> with the pharmaceutical firms except for AstraZeneca, of which a Korean firm was part of the production line.</p>
<p>The global controversy over the AstraZeneca vaccine’s safety in early 2021 intensified the criticism and confusion in South Korea. In contrast to other countries, the government immediately authorised the AstraZeneca vaccine for people older than 60, but many people hesitated and chose to wait for Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, which were often perceived to be safer because they have not <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-calculating-the-risk-of-the-astrazeneca-vaccine-is-so-difficult-a-doctor-explains-159293">raised the same concerns over blood clots</a>. Yet even with this widespread reluctance, supply of vaccines did not meet demand.</p>
<p>As overseas migrants received these vaccines abroad while the campaign in South Korea stagnated, criticisms mounted once more. The government decided <a href="https://ecck.or.kr/vaccination-update-in-korea-as-of-may-31-2021/">not to recognise vaccination certificates issued abroad</a>, because <a href="https://biz.chosun.com/it-science/bio-science/2021/05/28/I3JZSIP6Y5GSXEUSOEHVCHAXM4/">they were not seen as reliable</a>. So people vaccinated in South Korea were free to travel internationally and return to Korea with a negative PCR test result, but those who had been vaccinated overseas still had to go through quarantine, even if they’d received the more “desirable” vaccines.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415226/original/file-20210809-15-1mv87rz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="This chart shows the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases per day in South Korea. This is shown as the seven-day rolling average" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415226/original/file-20210809-15-1mv87rz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415226/original/file-20210809-15-1mv87rz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415226/original/file-20210809-15-1mv87rz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415226/original/file-20210809-15-1mv87rz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415226/original/file-20210809-15-1mv87rz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415226/original/file-20210809-15-1mv87rz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415226/original/file-20210809-15-1mv87rz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/south-korea#what-share-of-the-population-has-received-at-least-one-dose-of-the-covid-19-vaccine">OurWorldinData</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recently, as the delta variant has surged, <a href="https://www.dongascience.com/news.php?idx=47684">the demand for further control of returnees has increased</a>. The message is once again that the South Koreans who have lived overseas will disturb public order by <a href="https://www.dongascience.com/news.php?idx=47729">acting recklessly</a>.</p>
<p>On one hand, the government again reinforced constraints, such as limiting private gatherings or restricting restaurants’ business hours. On the other hand, to encourage the vaccination, it eased the restrictions for wholly vaccinated people. This incentive still concerns only people <a href="https://www.mk.co.kr/news/business/view/2021/08/806703/">vaccinated in the country</a>.</p>
<p>Debate over the rights of South Koreans who have been living abroad has been a significant feature of domestic politics throughout the pandemic. The result of this politicisation of overseas migrants has brought into question one of the citizenship rights South Koreans have long taken for granted – the right to return “home”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165286/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>South Koreans living away from home have been frequent targets for suspicion and ire during the pandemic. Some even report being shunned by their families.Jongheon Kim, Doctorant, Université de LilleIvan Sainsaulieu, Professeur des université - Sociologue, Université de LilleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1657442021-08-09T05:34:27Z2021-08-09T05:34:27ZThe federal government just made it even harder for Australians overseas to come home. Is this legal? Or reasonable?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415095/original/file-20210808-19-yip913.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic has meant huge restrictions on Australians’ ability to travel both within Australia and overseas. But until now, Australian citizens ordinarily resident in other countries have been able to return to Australia and then leave without requiring additional permission. </p>
<p>However, last week, the federal government quietly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/06/australians-who-live-overseas-now-unable-to-leave-country-if-they-return-for-visit">removed that exemption</a>. This is designed to deter Australians from coming home in the first place, thereby reducing demand on quarantine places. It will come into effect on Wednesday August 11. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-a-ban-on-leaving-australia-under-covid-19-who-can-get-an-exemption-to-go-overseas-and-how-145089">There's a ban on leaving Australia under COVID-19. Who can get an exemption to go overseas? And how?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It follows <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/wa-premier-unleashes-frustration-with-fifo-workers-during-covid19-pandemic/news-story/528f8886a32c57990a956b101e770c9a">lobbying from state premiers</a> (who have to quarantine people) to limit the movement of fly-in fly-out workers.</p>
<p>This means Australians who live abroad and return to Australia (even if it is to see family) will not automatically be able to leave again unless they meet narrow grounds <a href="https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/leaving-australia">for an exemption</a>. They will need to prove they have an “established and settled” home overseas, <a href="https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/leaving-australia#toc-9">via documents</a> like a residency permit, tenancy agreement, letter from an employer or utility bills. This is not necessarily straightforward, particularly as lives, jobs and visas continued to be disrupted by the pandemic. </p>
<p>Is this latest move legal? Are there any grounds to challenge this?</p>
<h2>The Biosecurity Act</h2>
<p>The government’s power to ban people from leaving Australia comes from the <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ba2015156/s477.html">Biosecurity Act</a>. In an emergency, section 477(1) gives the health minister sweeping powers to prevent and control the entry of diseases into Australia.</p>
<p>Since COVID began, Health Minister Greg Hunt has issued determinations to stop Australian citizens and residents from <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2020L00306">leaving without permission</a>, to ban them from <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2021L00456/Explanatory%20Statement/Text">travelling on</a> from the New Zealand “travel bubble” to another country, and to ban people from <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2021L00533">returning to Australia from India</a> during the second wave. If people breach these rules, they can be subject to <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ba2015156/s479.html">penalties</a> of up to five years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $66,000, or both. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Health minister Greg Hunt." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415096/original/file-20210808-25-1sym591.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415096/original/file-20210808-25-1sym591.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415096/original/file-20210808-25-1sym591.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415096/original/file-20210808-25-1sym591.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415096/original/file-20210808-25-1sym591.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415096/original/file-20210808-25-1sym591.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415096/original/file-20210808-25-1sym591.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As health minister, Greg Hunt has sweeping powers under the Biosecurity Act.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By contrast to other legislative instruments, these determinations by the health minister cannot be “<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/Brief_Guides_to_Senate_Procedure/No_19">disallowed</a>” (or overturned) by federal parliament. </p>
<p>This means parliament can’t block the health minister’s decision to stop Australians who live abroad from leaving without permission.</p>
<h2>What about constitutional rights?</h2>
<p>Australia is one of the only liberal democracies in the world without a bill of rights. </p>
<p>In countries such as <a href="https://www.gesetze-bayern.de/Content/Document/Y-300-Z-BECKRS-B-2020-N-35808?hl=true">Germany</a>, <a href="https://verfassungsblog.de/slovenia-second-wave-of-challenges-to-constitutionalism/">Slovenia</a>, and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/spanish-court-rules-covid-19-home-confinement-was-unconstitutional-20210715-p589ug.html">Spain</a>, citizens and residents have been able to challenge COVID restrictions in courts by arguing <a href="https://verfassungsblog.de/verhaeltnismaessigkeit-mit-der-holzhammermethode/">they breach their constitutional rights</a>. Courts then consider whether a restriction is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-risk-and-rights-the-wicked-balancing-act-for-governments-146014">proportionate</a> way of controlling the virus.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-latest-travel-caps-look-like-an-arbitrary-restriction-on-australians-right-to-come-home-161882">Why the latest travel caps look like an arbitrary restriction on Australians’ right to come home</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There is a strong argument the new restriction for Australians is disproportionate. This is because its objective — managing the entry of COVID by deterring demand for quarantine places — is already achieved via caps on the number of people who can enter Australia. There are also other means of managing risk that would place a lesser burden on rights to leave and return to Australia, such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/02/australia-needs-a-covid-plan-b-that-gives-more-freedom-to-the-vaccinated">tailoring restrictions</a> to vaccination status.</p>
<p>Reducing demand for already regulated spaces, as the new restriction does, is really about reducing political pressure on government to expand quarantine systems.</p>
<h2>What does the India experience tell us?</h2>
<p>Because Australia doesn’t have a bill of rights, citizens can’t challenge the proportionality of Hunt’s determinations. </p>
<p>This was clear in the <a href="https://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2021/2021fca0517">challenge to the ban</a> on citizens returning from India, where the Biosecurity Act was described by counsel for the Commonwealth as a “<a href="https://lsj.com.au/articles/australian-citizenship-lessons-from-the-india-travel-ban/">legislative bulldozer</a>” — knocking over any other statutory protections or common law rights that people might have. The ban was found to be legal.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-crisis-in-india-is-a-terrifying-example-of-why-we-need-a-better-way-to-get-australians-home-159917">The crisis in India is a terrifying example of why we need a better way to get Australians home</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The minister does need to consider whether there are <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ba2015156/s477.html">less intrusive</a> ways of controlling the entry of COVID when making a determination. But the challenge to the India ban shows courts will allow a great deal of discretion to the health minister in making that call. As long as there is a basis for the minister to make that call — such as health advice — courts will not look too deeply into the premises underlying that advice or its proportionality.</p>
<h2>Commonwealth power</h2>
<p>One argument against stopping Australians who ordinarily live abroad from leaving is the Commonwealth must have a power explicitly listed in the Constitution to make a law about this.</p>
<p>The federal government is likely relying on the Constitution’s <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/Constitution/chapter1/Part_V_-_Powers_of_the_Parliament">quarantine power</a> to stop Australians from leaving. The <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2021L01068/Explanatory%20Statement/Text">explanatory statement</a> tabled in parliament last Thursday makes clear the Commonwealth is removing the exemption on people who ordinarily live abroad to reduce demand on quarantine places. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Passengers at Sydney airport line up to check package." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415129/original/file-20210809-13-1p8cw1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415129/original/file-20210809-13-1p8cw1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415129/original/file-20210809-13-1p8cw1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415129/original/file-20210809-13-1p8cw1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415129/original/file-20210809-13-1p8cw1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415129/original/file-20210809-13-1p8cw1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415129/original/file-20210809-13-1p8cw1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australians will find it even harder to travel overseas from August 11.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dan Himbrechts/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/06/australians-who-live-overseas-now-unable-to-leave-country-if-they-return-for-visit">an argument</a> stopping people from leaving doesn’t have enough of a connection to the Commonwealth’s power over quarantine. Given the <a href="https://eresources.hcourt.gov.au/showCase/2021/HCA/5">broad approach</a> courts have taken to emergency powers during the pandemic, a court may nonetheless find restrictions on people leaving is incidental to managing quarantine.</p>
<h2>International human rights law</h2>
<p>What about Australian citizens’ rights under international law?</p>
<p>Under international law, everyone must be free to leave any country, including their own. In exceptional and very limited circumstances, this right may be restricted – for instance, if it is necessary to protect public health. However, the restrictions must be clearly set out in domestic law, consistent with other human rights (including the right to family life), and “<a href="https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/45139c394.pdf">the least intrusive</a>” way of achieving the desired aim. </p>
<p>The United Nations Human Rights Committee has been <a href="https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/45139c394.pdf">very plain</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The application of restrictions in any individual case must be based on clear legal grounds and meet the test of necessity and the requirements of proportionality.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words, a “one size fits all approach” will not cut it.</p>
<p>The current restrictions do not take into consideration vaccination status, nor the fact a cohort of Australian citizens have their permanent home abroad. </p>
<p>Particularly when considered in conjunction with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-latest-travel-caps-look-like-an-arbitrary-restriction-on-australians-right-to-come-home-161882">barriers</a> the government has already put in place that limit these Australians’ right to return home, this additional exit requirement truly seems like overreach.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165744/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liz Hicks receives funding from an Australian Commonwealth Government Research Training Program stipend. She is also a member of the Australian Greens Victoria, although her views do not reflect party policy.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane McAdam receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Regina Jefferies is affiliated with the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law. </span></em></p>Australians who normally live overseas will face an even tougher time coming back to Australia, under new rules that start this week.Liz Hicks, PhD / Dr. iur. candidate, The University of MelbourneJane McAdam, Scientia Professor and Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW SydneyRegina Jefferies, Affiliate, Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1618822021-07-05T04:23:13Z2021-07-05T04:23:13ZWhy the latest travel caps look like an arbitrary restriction on Australians’ right to come home<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409601/original/file-20210705-27-1qwgyr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Roy Vandervegt/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>National cabinet’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-covid-transition-plan-has-bad-news-for-returning-travellers-163818">decision to halve</a> the number of international arrivals to Australia is yet another blow to the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/why-the-queue-to-get-home-to-australia-isn-t-moving-20210704-p586nu.html">34,000 Australians overseas</a> trying to return home. </p>
<p>But it is also far more than that. As international law scholars, our view is this latest move — 18 months into the pandemic — contravenes Australians’ right to enter their country. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1410851562931458048"}"></div></p>
<p>Back in the 1950s, Australia was keenly involved in the drafting of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights — one of two core human rights treaties. The treaty was signed by the Whitlam Labor government and then ratified by the Fraser Liberal government in 1980. This voluntary act committed Australia to abide by its provisions as a matter of international law.</p>
<p>One of its provisions clearly states: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Australian government is relying on this provision — namely, the notion of “arbitrarily” — to justify the travel bans and caps during COVID-19. But is this lawful? </p>
<h2>The history of the ‘right to enter’</h2>
<p>The treaty was drafted by representatives from a number of United Nations member countries in the late 1940s and 50s, before being considered more widely by the General Assembly.</p>
<p>Our research into the drafting history of the “right to enter” provision reveals just how narrowly it was intended to be construed. And — most significantly — it shows the drafters considered it should never be used to exclude residents from returning on health grounds. </p>
<p>As the United Kingdom’s representative <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/863031?ln=en">explained</a> at a session in 1959,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>it was inconceivable that a state should prohibit one of its nationals, who held a valid passport, from entering its territory for miscellaneous reasons and, in particular, for reasons of health or morality. Restrictions of that kind would be unprecedented and completely unjustified. Such steps could be taken with respect to foreigners or stateless persons but not with respect to nationals.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Italian representative similarly stressed: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[it] was not really necessary for an individual to be debarred from re-entering his country for health or morality reasons, for there were other methods of keeping him from contaminating his fellow citizens [such as quarantine]. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Approaching the issue from a slightly different perspective, the French and Lebanese delegates had <a href="http://uvallsc.s3.amazonaws.com/travaux/s3fs-public/E-CN_4-SR_106.pdf?null">argued</a> a decade earlier:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a country was not entitled to foist its nationals on to other countries, particularly on grounds of disease.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Interestingly, the drafting records show that arbitrary deprivation of the right to return was intended as shorthand for a single exception – namely, the exclusion of individuals who had been lawfully exiled. </p>
<p>The exception for exile had been part of <a href="https://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/opinion/articles1920_iccpr/docs/A-2929.pdf">earlier drafts</a>, but was ultimately removed because the practice was considered archaic and inappropriate in a human rights treaty. Instead, the word “arbitrarily” became its proxy.</p>
<h2>An arbitrary restriction</h2>
<p>In light of this background, Australia’s travel caps look like an arbitrary restriction on Australians’ right to come home. </p>
<p>Even taking a broad interpretation, the right to enter could only reasonably be curtailed by brief, temporary restrictions that pursue a legitimate objective and are necessary, reasonable, proportionate, and based on clear legal criteria. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Australians arrive in Darwin on a repatriation flight from India." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409600/original/file-20210705-17-o5ouzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409600/original/file-20210705-17-o5ouzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409600/original/file-20210705-17-o5ouzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409600/original/file-20210705-17-o5ouzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409600/original/file-20210705-17-o5ouzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409600/original/file-20210705-17-o5ouzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409600/original/file-20210705-17-o5ouzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australians have faced enormous financial and bureaucratic hurdles to come home since COVID hit last year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stewart Gould/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, the federal government would need to show there were no other, less restrictive measures that can be taken to safeguard public health — such as quarantine. In 1999, the UN Human Rights Committee <a href="https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/45139c394.pdf">noted</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>there are few, if any, circumstances in which deprivation of the right to enter one’s own country could be reasonable. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is currently considering a claim by two Australians stranded overseas, and has <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/un-requests-australian-government-ensure-the-prompt-return-of-two-stranded-citizens">requested</a> Australia take interim measures to “avoid irreparable damage” to them — a call the government <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/government-fights-return-of-man-to-support-mother-during-cancer-treatment-20210703-p586hb.html">has rejected</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-aussies-stranded-overseas-go-to-the-united-nations-for-help-to-get-home-154372">Should Aussies stranded overseas go to the United Nations for help to get home?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Alternatives to travel caps</h2>
<p>Over the past year, Australian public health experts have been <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/calls-for-new-national-guidelines-for-hotel-quarantine/13319102">pushing</a> for the expansion of national quarantine facilities beyond those at Howard Springs. This was also a recommendation of former health department secretary Jane Halton’s <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020/10/national-review-of-hotel-quarantine.pdf">report</a> to the government last year. </p>
<p>Numerous health experts have also supported the idea of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-30/coronavirus-experts-back-covid-19-home-quarantine-for-travellers/12715344">home quarantine</a> for some returning international travellers. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-crisis-in-india-is-a-terrifying-example-of-why-we-need-a-better-way-to-get-australians-home-159917">The crisis in India is a terrifying example of why we need a better way to get Australians home</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>National cabinet’s decision to halve the number of incoming travellers does not address these calls. Rather, it <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australians-promised-path-out-of-lockdowns-under-four-stage-recovery-plan-20210702-p58698.html">caves</a> to demands by some state premiers. </p>
<p>We now have a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/under-human-rights-law-australia-runs-out-of-excuses-for-leaving-citizens-stranded-overseas-20201210-p56mc6.html">virtually unprecedented</a> situation in which the states are controlling Australia’s international border settings, and thousands of Australian citizens and residents — many of whom are vaccinated — continue to live in arbitrary exile.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161882/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane McAdam receives funding from the Australian Research Council, including for a project examining internal border controls during epidemics.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Regina Jefferies is an Affiliate of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law.</span></em></p>Two international law scholars explain the history of the ‘right to enter’ provision and how this applies to Australians stuck overseas.Jane McAdam, Scientia Professor and Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW SydneyRegina Jefferies, Affiliate, Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1599952021-05-06T05:07:01Z2021-05-06T05:07:01ZCOVID has made one thing very clear — we do not know enough about Australians overseas<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399097/original/file-20210506-15-qt88pp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5531%2C3211&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bianca De MarchI/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 crisis has thrust a largely unseen part of Australia’s population firmly into the national spotlight. </p>
<p>These are the Australians who live and work abroad — our diaspora. </p>
<p>For more than a year, we have been hearing harrowing stories of Australians <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/apr/16/un-urges-australia-to-act-quickly-to-bring-stranded-australians-home">unable to get home</a>. Most recently, there is the distress of those in India, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-05/india-flight-ban-families-gutted-quarantine-covid/100109706">currently banned</a> from even trying to return. </p>
<p>But despite increasing awareness of this group, there is still much we don’t know about our diaspora. The bottom line is, we don’t have precise or up-to-date information about Australians overseas. </p>
<p>This lack of knowledge and understanding highlights the need for a national diaspora policy that truly reflects contemporary, multicultural Australia. </p>
<h2>What do we know about Australians overseas?</h2>
<p>Australia’s diaspora is estimated to include around <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/publications/minisite/2017-foreign-policy-white-paper">one million people</a>, but this would be significantly higher if former residents, such as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2006.00357.x">international students</a>, were included. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Australian family returning to Canberra in November 2020." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399100/original/file-20210506-13-1wrjto0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399100/original/file-20210506-13-1wrjto0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399100/original/file-20210506-13-1wrjto0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399100/original/file-20210506-13-1wrjto0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399100/original/file-20210506-13-1wrjto0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399100/original/file-20210506-13-1wrjto0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399100/original/file-20210506-13-1wrjto0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">COVID-19 has seen more than 400,000 Australians return home, but more than 30,000 are still registered as wanting to come back.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Large-scale studies in <a href="https://www.ceda.com.au/ResearchAndPolicies/Research/Population/Information-Paper-80-Australia-s-Diaspora-Its-Size">2003</a> and <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=em/elect07/subs/sub158.pdf">2006</a> told us Australians overseas tend to be highly educated and highly valued by employers. Many also retain links with family and friends in Australia. They continue to identify as Australian and intend to eventually come back. </p>
<p>In 2004, without putting a number on them, the <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/pubfiles/Fullilove%2C_DiasporaLowyDesignWEB_1.pdf">Lowy Institute identified</a> five sub-groups of expats. </p>
<ol>
<li><strong>The who’s who</strong> — people at the pinnacle of their careers in significant international positions</li>
<li><strong>Gold collar workers</strong> — highly-skilled, well-paid Australians developing their careers on the international stage</li>
<li><strong>Other professionals</strong> — including nurses or teachers</li>
<li><strong>Return migrants</strong> — first or second generation Australians, going to their family’s original country for family or professional reasons </li>
<li><strong>Rite of passage travellers</strong> — young Australians living or working overseas.</li>
</ol>
<p>Organisations such as <a href="https://advance.org/about/">Advance</a> (which is supported by federal government funding) work to connect Australians overseas with each other and Australia. The focus here is on high-profile or very successful expats and how we can leverage their skills and networks to Australia’s advantage. </p>
<p>Traditionally, the <a href="https://cedakenticomedia.blob.core.windows.net/cedamediacontainer/kentico/media/attachments/pdf/15297%7Eip80.pdf">majority of departures</a> from Australia have been to Europe, the United States and New Zealand. This has lead to a narrative that <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56967520">doesn’t necessarily reflect</a> the make-up of Australia’s population living overseas and Australia’s multicultural story. </p>
<p>We know from immigration and <a href="https://www.traveller.com.au/most-popular-countries-for-australian-tourists-in-2019-named-in-abs-stats-h1lwug">short-term travel data</a> (those away for less than a year) that Asia, and in particular countries such as India, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan, are increasingly important for Australians. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-australias-india-travel-ban-legal-a-citizenship-law-expert-explains-160178">Is Australia's India travel ban legal? A citizenship law expert explains</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Long-term departure data present a similar picture. Our analysis of <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3401.0Dec%202016?OpenDocument">Australian Bureau of Statistics data</a> shows India saw a 54% increase as a destination for Australian residents between 2007-08 and 2016-17.</p>
<p>So, the idea that Australia’s diaspora is largely made up of young Aussies <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/backpacking-travel-dream-covid/13074822">backpacking in Europe</a>, or <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/technology/aussie-mafia-strikes-it-rich-in-silicon-valley-20140923-10kpcm.html">hyper-successful entrepreneurs</a> in Silicon Valley is an outdated one. There is every indication today’s <a href="https://www.griffithreview.com/articles/imagining-an-international-australia/">diaspora</a> is complex, and largely made up of everyday Australians doing everyday things.</p>
<p>Yet, we don’t have comprehensive or up-to-date data on where Australians are overseas, what they are doing and whether they are planning to come back.</p>
<h2>Why don’t we have a clearer picture?</h2>
<p>At a broader level, Australia’s national focus has been on our immigrants, for whom detailed data are recorded and available from the <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-statistics/statistics/visa-statistics">Department of Home Affairs</a> and <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/migration-australia/latest-release">Bureau of Statistics</a>. </p>
<p>Emigrants have long been an understudied element of Australia’s migration story.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Qantas plane leaving Perth from London in 2018." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399106/original/file-20210506-18-1d6pqqi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399106/original/file-20210506-18-1d6pqqi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399106/original/file-20210506-18-1d6pqqi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399106/original/file-20210506-18-1d6pqqi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399106/original/file-20210506-18-1d6pqqi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399106/original/file-20210506-18-1d6pqqi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399106/original/file-20210506-18-1d6pqqi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia does not have a dedicated policy to keep track of and make use of its citizens living overseas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tony McDonough/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the reasons for our limited and outdated information on our diaspora is the voluntary nature of registration with the Department of Foreign Affairs’ SmartTraveller program. </p>
<p>In 2017, Australia also <a href="https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/peterdutton/Pages/removal-of-the-outgoing-passenger-card-jun17.aspx">stopped</a> collecting information on intended destination and reasons for travel on outgoing passenger cards. This was to improve the “traveller experience” and streamline the border clearance process. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, despite recommendations from Senate committees in <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/Completed_inquiries/2004-07/expats03/report/index">2005</a> and <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=mig/multiculturalism/report.htm">2013</a>, Australia has not set up a dedicated diaspora policy and monitoring unit within government. </p>
<h2>Why do we need a diaspora policy?</h2>
<p>At a basic level, a diaspora policy would provide a formal commitment to strengthen links and maintain connections with Australians abroad.</p>
<p>Aside from taking advantage of the knowledge and skills of Australians overseas (which can influence bilateral trade, business and investment opportunities), a diaspora policy should also foster engagement by attending to the welfare of Australians overseas. </p>
<p>COVID-19 has shown us how important it is to understand where Australians are and their circumstances in a time of crisis. </p>
<p>This lack of information makes it difficult to plan and help people quickly. A holistic, consistent and ongoing dataset would tell governments where the pressure points are in times of crisis — where are most of our citizens? How old are they? How vulnerable might they be?</p>
<h2>How can we do it better?</h2>
<p>A commitment to deeper engagement with our diaspora is fundamental. In addition to a diaspora policy, a relatively easy way to get a better grip on Australians overseas would be to improve how Australians interact with SmartTraveller, so it becomes second nature for travellers to register and update their movements when overseas.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-crisis-in-india-is-a-terrifying-example-of-why-we-need-a-better-way-to-get-australians-home-159917">The crisis in India is a terrifying example of why we need a better way to get Australians home</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Another alternative is to use census <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2006.00357.x">data from destination countries</a>. This requires greater synchronisation among national censuses as suggested by the United Nations. However, this also means we are relying on other countries’ data collection, not our own.</p>
<p>We could also look at regular large scale “census-like” surveys of Australians living overseas. </p>
<p>Getting a better grip on Australians overseas will have huge benefits in terms of planning, our economy and national identity. Bringing our diaspora back into our national population and migration story will help us understand its true character, nature and value. </p>
<p>Importantly, it will also move beyond the narrative of Australians overseas as either a “burden” or an “asset”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159995/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>George Tan is a member of the Ministerial Advisory Council for Skilled Migration for the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Taylor receives funding from the Northern Territory Department of Treasury and Finance under a grant for independent demographic research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelly McDougall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The pandemic has highlighted our expat population. And yet we don’t have precise or up-to-date information about Australians overseas.George Tan, Research Fellow, Charles Darwin UniversityAndrew Taylor, Associate professor, Charles Darwin UniversityKelly McDougall, Research fellow, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1460892020-10-06T14:43:18Z2020-10-06T14:43:18ZHow religion inspires the Nigerian diaspora to develop Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361560/original/file-20201005-20-pzrid3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Enoch Adeboye, holding a placard, leading a protest in Lagos.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Olukayode Jaiyeola/NurPhoto/Getty</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In many ways, it’s challenging to define international development. What angle would you prioritise when you consider something so broad? Macroeconomics? Structural adjustment programmes? International trade policy? Or is it poverty reduction? All these are valid.</p>
<p>But no definition would be complete without considering it from the viewpoint of so called ‘developed’ and ‘underdeveloped’ nations. Despite multiple interpretations, the broader understanding of faith and religion in development are barely understood. Especially for African diaspora communities engaged in development work.</p>
<p>Religion has often been a key motivation for philanthropy and economic fairness. Sometimes, it’s the Quranic requirement of alms-giving (Zakat). It can also take form as the Holy Bible-inspired Jubilee 2000 campaign advocating for the annulment of unjust debt for developing countries.</p>
<p>Until recently, faith <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0037768604047872">was dismissed</a> by academia and key international development players. This is due to the belief that the nature of religion comprises intolerant evangelism and regressive visions of the future. </p>
<p>This fundamentally makes it opposed to the <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057%2F9781137329387">material nature</a> of economic progress. And that as societies modernise, religion will remain <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02255189.2013.782270?scroll=top&needAccess=true">a private affair</a>. </p>
<p>However, these doubts around religion have been critiqued and debunked by various <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/01436597.2011.596747">academic disciplines</a>. The significance of religion for development is widely recognised. Even though its role is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01436590902959180">complex and controversial</a>. </p>
<p>Right now, religion is enjoying its new-found importance in development agendas. But there’s very little consideration given to how African diaspora communities engage in development through a religious filter.</p>
<p>For <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1070289X.2020.1813462?journalCode=gide208">my research</a>, I explored this gap in knowledge. I asked a few questions. Are religious and faith identifications significant? Is there space for new faith-based interpretations of international development?</p>
<p>As a case study, I interviewed first and second generation London-based Christian and Muslim Nigerians. In doing that, I discovered that religious identities and ‘narratives of faith’ all play a role. They are important in understanding how these diaspora communities engage in international development. </p>
<p>The African diaspora approach to development can be understood by studying their motivations. Developmental work for them is often grounded in religious and moral assessments and obligations. </p>
<p>Their contributions are largely in the form of private cash remittances to the continent. Group non-monetary donations and services to Nigeria are also made via their places of worship.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1301899778599591939"}"></div></p>
<h2>Personal experience</h2>
<p>My relationship with religion came from my family. I am a product of an interdenominational Christian marriage. My expatriate father was raised in Anglicanism via the Church Of Nigeria. My mother was born in the United Kingdom and partly Nigerian-raised. She was Roman Catholic.</p>
<p>Her father was an Oba (traditional ruler), who subscribed to the indigenous spiritualism and practices of Ifa, a Yoruba religion. Her grandfather, in contrast, was conferred Knight of the Papal Order of Sylvester by the Pope. </p>
<p>Growing up as a British Nigerian, I spent my formative years attending disproportionately white Anglican and Catholic churches. I later started travelling around numerous UK-based Nigerian and Black Majority Churches during adolescence and young adulthood.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361653/original/file-20201005-24-1evdg0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361653/original/file-20201005-24-1evdg0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361653/original/file-20201005-24-1evdg0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361653/original/file-20201005-24-1evdg0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361653/original/file-20201005-24-1evdg0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361653/original/file-20201005-24-1evdg0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361653/original/file-20201005-24-1evdg0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361653/original/file-20201005-24-1evdg0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church choir march through Walworth as part of their annual Thanksgiving service on July 28, 2013 in London, England.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dan Kitwood/Getty</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Within this system, I discovered that getting spiritually closer to God was a currency that was routinely traded. However, I also saw charitable parishioners make personal sacrifices and contributions via the church, allied community and faith-based organisations.</p>
<p>These contributions were gathered and used to launch and support philanthropic poverty alleviation missions in Africa. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361654/original/file-20201005-22-1akwafn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361654/original/file-20201005-22-1akwafn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361654/original/file-20201005-22-1akwafn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361654/original/file-20201005-22-1akwafn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361654/original/file-20201005-22-1akwafn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361654/original/file-20201005-22-1akwafn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361654/original/file-20201005-22-1akwafn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361654/original/file-20201005-22-1akwafn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Muslims in Nigeria offer Eid al-Fitr prayers marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at a ground in Ogun State.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Olukayode Jaiyeola/NurPhoto/Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I also observed that traditions of transnational ‘giving’ among predominantly Nigerian congregations were incorporated as part of service. They were also encouraged as symbolic expressions of faith. </p>
<p>Engagement came in many ways: community potluck events, sponsored treks, or pay-to-watch talent showcases to raise donations. </p>
<p>Other avenues include voluntary church offerings, or shipping of second-hand apparel and toiletries to Nigerian orphanages and young women’s refuges. Religion has often played its part. </p>
<h2>Religious development</h2>
<p>How did the philanthropic leanings of religion infiltrate the secular walls of international development?</p>
<p>For Nigerians, Christian and Muslim identities provide the blueprint through which they engage in international development. </p>
<p>Their expressions of development are organised around spiritually romanticised discourses of humanitarianism, stewardship, compassion, reconciliation and justice. </p>
<p>Nigerians in the diaspora frame their development activities as consecrated acts. Many others see it as ‘outward signs of an inward grace’. These acts are carried out within systems constituted by moral expectations, family and cultural obligations. </p>
<p>According to some participants, this also characterises their ‘Nigerianness’ or ‘Africanness’.</p>
<h2>New frames</h2>
<p>Within this frame, development is understood by Nigerians in two ways. It’s first seen as a practical performance of their faith. And also as actions that represent their religious identities.</p>
<p>Certainly, these communities conceive religion and their religious selves as development itself.</p>
<p>We need to redraft international development to accommodate faith. The revised version needs to accommodate Afro-religious performances of transnational giving.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146089/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Edward Ademolu PhD, FHEA does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Religion has often been a key motivation for philanthropy and economic fairness. Africans in the diaspora champion this.Dr Edward Ademolu PhD, FHEA, LSE Fellow in Qualitative Research Methodology, London School of Economics and Political ScienceLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1453652020-09-09T12:19:47Z2020-09-09T12:19:47ZAmericans are renouncing US citizenship in record numbers – but maybe not for the reasons you think<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357055/original/file-20200908-20-1dylgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4361%2C2844&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">American citizenship is not as coveted as it once was.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/american-flag-thumbs-down-royalty-free-image/172691591?adppopup=true">iStock / Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>President Trump hosted a <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?475188-1/president-trump-attends-naturalization-ceremony">televised naturalization ceremony</a> at the White House, aired during the Republication National Convention. </p>
<p>“You’ve earned the most prized, treasured, cherished, and priceless possession anywhere in the world,” he told the five new United States citizens. “It’s called American citizenship.”</p>
<p>Prized? Perhaps. But maybe not priceless. </p>
<p>A record number of Americans are renouncing their citizenship. In just the first half of this year, <a href="https://intltax.typepad.com/intltax_blog/2020/08/2020-second-quarter-published-expatriates-second-highest-quarterly-number-ever.html">5,315 Americans</a> gave up their citizenship. That puts the country on track to see a record-breaking <a href="https://intltax.typepad.com/intltax_blog/2020/08/2020-second-quarter-published-expatriates-second-highest-quarterly-number-ever.html">10,000 people</a> renounce U.S. citizenship in 2020. Until <a href="https://intltax.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fb13f5188340240a4e5fd87200d-pi">a decade ago</a>, fewer than 1,000 Americans per year, on average, chose to renounce their citizenship. </p>
<p>Why are so many people abandoning the United States?</p>
<h2>The financial factor</h2>
<p>While many liberal Americans <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/03/02/you-may-think-youll-move-if-trump-wins-but-heres-why-you-wont-really-do-it/">threatened to move abroad</a> after Trump’s election in 2016, rising renunciations are not directly attributable to any particular election result. The trend began in 2013, mid-way through the Obama administration. That year about 3,000 Americans suddenly gave up their passports – three times more than usual.</p>
<p>Nor are people fleeing the U.S. because of the coronavirus. The paperwork for the 5,315 renunciations completed so far this year began long before COVID-19 ravaged the country and made Americans <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-for-july-19-2020-1.5647948/u-s-citizens-no-longer-have-access-to-most-of-the-world-the-global-south-never-had-it-1.5648022">global pariahs</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="RUQwY" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/RUQwY/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>In fact, most Americans giving up their U.S. passport already live abroad and hold another citizenship. In <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/01/taxes-may-be-top-reason-why-americans-want-to-drop-their-citizenship.html">surveys</a> and <a href="https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Att%205%20Democrats%20Abroad%202014%20FATCA%20Research%20%20Stories%20of%20FATCA%20-%20Affecting%20Everyday%20Americans%20Every%20Day.pdf">testimonials</a>, these people say they’re dropping their U.S. citizenship because American anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism regulations make it too onerous and expensive to keep. </p>
<p>In 2010, Congress passed the <a href="https://www.greenbacktaxservices.com/blog/fatca-us-expat-taxes-explained/">Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act</a>, which requires foreign financial institutions to report assets held abroad by U.S. citizens and green card holders. The law, intended to identify the non-U.S. assets of all taxpayers, also ended up strengthening a 1970 anti-money laundering law, the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/report-of-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts-fbar">Foreign Bank Account Report</a>, which requires citizens to declare all foreign assets to the U.S. Treasury Department.</p>
<p>Together, these two regulations represent a major burden for low-income and middle-income expatriates. Until 2010, they could basically ignore or remain ignorant of the Foreign Bank Account Report because there was little chance the U.S. government would discover their non-compliance.</p>
<p>They weren’t avoiding taxes. Of the roughly 9 million U.S. citizens living abroad, most don’t earn enough to owe Uncle Sam a dollar. Only expatriates who <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-earned-income-exclusion">make over $107,600 in foreign income are required to pay U.S. taxes</a>. </p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://www.americansabroad.org/files/663/">2018 survey</a> by InterNations, an expatriates’ networking organization, the education sector is the largest employer of Americans living abroad, at 29%. Few educators make six figures. In the U.S., the average teacher earns <a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes252021.htm">$60,000</a>. In most other countries, <a href="https://data.oecd.org/teachers/teachers-salaries.htm">it’s even less</a>.</p>
<p>Still, all American expats – even those who’ve lived abroad for <a href="https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/grandmother-toddler-dollars-usa-14873554">decades</a>, earn no income in the U.S., and hold no U.S. <a href="https://www.thelocal.fr/20200706/frances-accidental-americans-file-new-suit-over-bank-refusals">assets</a> – must submit an annual tax return to the Internal Revenue Service. Now, ever since Congress strengthened anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financial reporting requirements, many have had to hire <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24135021">costly</a> international accounting firms to do their taxes. </p>
<p>The consequences of noncompliance are <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/tax-treatment-us-citizens-abroad-absurd-and-unfair-and-getting-worse-veronique-de-rugy/">severe</a>: forfeiting up to <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/report-of-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts-fbar">50%</a> of all undeclared assets held overseas.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357045/original/file-20200908-16-100q1zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A shredded one dollar note on a wooden table" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357045/original/file-20200908-16-100q1zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357045/original/file-20200908-16-100q1zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357045/original/file-20200908-16-100q1zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357045/original/file-20200908-16-100q1zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357045/original/file-20200908-16-100q1zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357045/original/file-20200908-16-100q1zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357045/original/file-20200908-16-100q1zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For some, US citizenship has become too annoying to keep.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/shredded-one-dollar-note-on-a-wooden-table-royalty-free-image/76186554?adppopup=true">Halfdark via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Unbecoming American</h2>
<p>“Becoming American” is a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20092199?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">favorite</a> topic in U.S. literature, popular history, and the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/historian-historic-times/615208/">media</a>. There are entire sections of <a href="https://www.amacad.org/publication/what-does-it-mean-be-american">university libraries</a> devoted to books and studies on the topic. My <a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/captives-consuls/">first book</a>, about how ordinary American citizens shaped early American national identity, will soon be among them. </p>
<p>However, there is very little written about the reverse: unbecoming American.</p>
<p>Renouncing U.S. citizenship is pretty complicated and costly. It involves one or two interviews with a consular officer, a $2,350 administrative fee – <a href="https://www.movehub.com/blog/dual-citizenship-around-the-world-map/">very expensive</a> compared to <a href="http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/08/22/comparison-of-fees-and-procedures-for-renouncing-citizenship-in-various-countries/comment-page-1/">other wealthy countries</a> – and potential audit of the citizen’s last five years of U.S. tax returns. </p>
<p>The whole process takes about a year. Once you have successfully unbecome American, you need to submit a tax return to the IRS the year after renouncing. After that, your ties to the U.S. government are severed.</p>
<p>The formal, bureaucratic process of unbecoming American resembles the <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/10-steps-to-naturalization">process</a> of becoming American. By the time those five new citizens were naturalized at August’s virtual Republican Convention, they had been U.S. residents for at least five years and spent the past <a href="https://www.wnyc.org/story/citizenship-application-backlog-persists/">12 to 18</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-citizenship-applications-are-backlogged-prolonging-the-wait-for-civil-and-voting-rights-123747">months</a> filing paperwork, scanning their fingerprints, and studying for a civics test.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357041/original/file-20200908-16-hglmgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Trump stands with five new US citizens, with American flag in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357041/original/file-20200908-16-hglmgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357041/original/file-20200908-16-hglmgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357041/original/file-20200908-16-hglmgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357041/original/file-20200908-16-hglmgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357041/original/file-20200908-16-hglmgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357041/original/file-20200908-16-hglmgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357041/original/file-20200908-16-hglmgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A naturalization ceremony aired during the Republican National Convention on Aug. 25, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-screenshot-from-the-rncs-livestream-of-the-2020-news-photo/1268603740?adppopup=true">Courtesy of the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Early in American history, though, citizenship was clumsy, informal, and changeable.</p>
<p>Colonists during the Revolutionary War often switched their allegiance, declaring themselves Patriots or Loyalists, depending on personal circumstances or which army controlled their town at the time, according to historian Donald F. Johnson in his forthcoming book “<a href="https://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/16134.html">Occupied America</a>.”</p>
<p>National identity was still in flux after the war. It was often unclear who was actually a citizen. Sailors, in particular, were frequently challenged on their status because many looked and sounded indistinguishable from the British when at sea or in foreign ports, wrote Nathan Perl-Rosenthal in his 2015 book “<a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674286153">Citizen Sailors</a>.” </p>
<p>One of the sailors I researched for my book, James L. Cathcart, regularly changed national allegiances to improve his fortunes. By my count, he switched identities or allegiances eight times by the time he turned 29, in 1796. </p>
<p>Born in Ireland, Cathcart fought for both sides in the American Revolution. Then when captured by Algerian corsairs in 1785, he spent a decade in captivity wavering between calling himself British or American, depending upon which offered the best hope of ransom. During captivity in Algiers he was also made a senior bureaucrat, advising and representing the interests of the ruler of 18th-century Algiers.</p>
<h2>Goodbye, America</h2>
<p>The confusion over identifying American sailors eventually inspired the documentation and bureaucracy that would ultimately be used to determine U.S. citizenship for all.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>As this history shows, the notion of American citizenship as the “most prized, treasured, cherished, and priceless possession” is a relatively recent invention. And it may not be permanent.</p>
<p>With 10,000 U.S. passports expected to be dumped this year and another <a href="https://www.greenbacktaxservices.com/blog/2020-expat-opinion-survey-results/">23%</a> of American expats – about 2 million people – saying they are “seriously considering” renouncing citizenship, unbecoming American is starting to sound as American as apple pie.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145365/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brett Goodin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some 10,000 people are likely to give up their US passport this year, way above average. Are they fleeing COVID-19? Nasty politics? Taxes? None of the above, says an expert on American citizenship.Brett Goodin, Postdoctoral Fellow, Shanghai campus, New York UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1440862020-08-06T13:52:13Z2020-08-06T13:52:13ZI’m devastated for Beirut – a city I thought I hated<p>Since the explosion in Beirut I’ve listened repeatedly to the song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlrh2V5mc3U&fbclid=IwAR0BRvjLtLFqzBJBFy34-L_P0P9SRbeZHMnmb-QTfDkSWdhMYV8PKNIcmJg">Ya Beirut (Oh Beirut)</a> by the Lebanese diva Majida al-Roumi, while obsessively reading the news and checking on extended family members – like any other expatriate Lebanese. </p>
<p>The song, which was originally a poem by the Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani, describes the city as it <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/9780857725325">emerged from</a> the civil war. The poet/singer apologises to the city for misunderstanding it, for maltreating it and calls on Beirut to “rise from beneath the rubble”. Yet the line that struck me the most, that echoed within me was “we now know that your roots are deep within us”. That was an epiphany, as I always thought I hated Beirut.</p>
<p>I first came to know Beirut in the fall of 1988 as a student at the American University of Beirut (AUB). I had not turned 18 yet and came to study English literature as books had been my only friends growing up. They offered me an escape from the realities of the civil war. Jane Austen, Honoré de Balzac, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and others gave me a window into other worlds when bombs fell and bullets sang around us. I was excited to start a new life in a city where I could reinvent myself. Beirut destroyed all my dreams.</p>
<p>Soon after the end of my first semester at AUB in 1989, Michel Aoun, the current president of Lebanon, then head of a military government, began his “<a href="https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/681/pax-syriana/">war of liberation</a>” against Syria. The western side of Beirut where the university is located was shelled and we were forced to evacuate.</p>
<p>Upon our return following the Ta’if agreement which ended the civil war and sent Aoun into exile in Paris, we resumed our studies. The spring semester of 1990 was crammed into the next academic year, and we undertook an intensive course of study to graduate on time. </p>
<p>I came to hate with passion every moment I spent on the AUB campus and could not wait to leave Beirut, a city I had come to revile after all the years of turmoil. My acceptance for an MA in English literature at the University of London was the initial step in a long trajectory that took me to Paris, Berlin, the US and now Sweden.</p>
<p>Over the following decades, I switched from studying literature to Middle Eastern politics. After growing up in Lebanon during the civil war, I needed to tease apart in an intellectual and systematic manner the events that I sleepwalked through using literature as a crutch. The resulting book <em><a href="https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/681/pax-syriana/">Pax Syriana</a></em> allowed me to clarify (if only in my own mind) the role of political elites not only in the war, but also in the postwar era.</p>
<p>These political elites were mainly warlords who “recycled themselves” as politicians. They were rich tycoons who had made their money abroad, military men and members of the militant group Hezbollah. Lebanon, and specifically Beirut, was a virgin territory where these people could enrich themselves and their cronies. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/price-of-a-vote-in-the-middle-east/1E0685F034FCEAA5F942FF60034C65AC">Clientelism</a> has always been a characteristic of Lebanese politics but it evolved into <a href="https://www.transparency.org/en/news/what-is-grand-corruption-and-how-can-we-stop-it">grand corruption</a> in the postwar period. <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801451003/spoils-of-truce/#bookTabs=1">Graft was rampant</a> in key sectors of the economy, including transport, healthcare, energy, natural resources, construction, waste management and social assistance programmes.</p>
<h2>Uprising thwarted by tragedy</h2>
<p>The Lebanese rose up in October 2019 against this political malfeasance, demanding the fall of the sectarian regime. They called for the removal of Michael Aoun, who had returned to Lebanon in 2005 after his exile in France and became president in 2016.</p>
<p>The coronavirus pandemic put a stop to the marches and sit-ins on the streets of Beirut and <a href="https://theconversation.com/tripoli-the-lebanese-city-of-contrasts-thats-now-the-bride-of-an-ongoing-uprising-126223">other Lebanese cities</a>. Soon thereafter, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-beiruts-port-explosion-exacerbates-lebanons-economic-crisis-144040">economic freefall</a> predicted by analysts took place.</p>
<p>The economy decimated, Lebanon was falling apart at the seams. Then came the August 4 explosion in the Beirut port, and the medical, economic and social catastrophe took on gargantuan proportions. The dead have not been counted yet, as many are still under the rubble, but over 5,000 are wounded. More than <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/lebanon-eyes-state-emergency-deadly-beirut-blast-live-200804234925493.html">300,000 are said to be</a> homeless. </p>
<p>The explosion is said to be due to 2,750 tons of <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-ammonium-nitrate-the-chemical-that-exploded-in-beirut-143979">ammonium nitrate</a> confiscated in 2013 and improperly stored since then in the port. The chemical was to be auctioned or somehow disposed of, but that never happened. Its storage near residential areas was a disaster in waiting.</p>
<p>The Beirut port is a key node in the Lebanese transport sector and the import-dependent economy moves most of its imports through it, including the majority of foodstuffs. However, as a port employee has noted, “corruption at the port is a rule” and while Hezbollah controls it, all Lebanese politicians have interests in this <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/a-vast-store-of-explosive-material-sat-in-beirut-for-years-despite-repeated-warnings/2020/08/05/c3ed5ce2-d714-11ea-a788-2ce86ce81129_story.html">crucial transportation hub</a>. This therefore appears to be a case of criminal negligence on the part of every single Lebanese politician, but especially all the governments that have been in power since 2013.</p>
<p>While writing these words, I find myself choking with a strange mixture of relief and pain. The relief is the knowledge that I have escaped Lebanon – that I saw through the mirage of the postwar period and refused to go back to a failing state. I feel strangely justified in every single decision I took in the past decades.</p>
<p>But my heart is also bleeding for a city I thought I hated. I hurt for the youth of Lebanon stuck in a hell without hope of escape. I read the words that Hamed Sinno, the lead singer of the Lebanese band <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mashrou3leila">Mashrou’ Leila</a>, posted on his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1328501785">Facebook page</a> and I weep:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Beirut I hate you so much for making me leave. I hate you for everything you’ve taken from me … I hate you so much for finding a way to punish me when I’m not even there. Beirut I hate you as much as I hate myself for still belonging to you.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I have an inkling what this feeling stuck in my craw is: it is survivor guilt. I survived Lebanon and Beirut but my roots are still there.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144086/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rola El-Husseini does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>I feel justified for leaving decades ago but my heart bleeds for the people trapped in Lebanon.Rola El-Husseini, Associate Professor, Director of Studies, Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1388292020-06-04T14:24:39Z2020-06-04T14:24:39ZWe wanted to know if Chinese migrants in Africa self-segregate. What we found<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337607/original/file-20200526-106848-16c9zke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Chinese language teacher speaks with students at the Confucius Institute at the University of Lagos.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past 20 years there’s been remarkable growth in China-Africa links because of increased trade and investment. As a result there’s also been a great deal of movement of people between China and African countries. It’s estimated that there are now <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14631369.2020.1761246">about</a> 500,000 Africans in China, while the the number of Chinese in the 54 African countries ranges between <a href="https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_4198345">one</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14631369.2020.1761246">two</a> million. </p>
<p>Though Chinese people can now be found in most African countries, there’s a claim that some commentators and <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2015/01/15/one-among-many">media outlets</a> make: that they hold themselves apart from their host societies. </p>
<p>For instance, a US commentator <a href="http://whchronicle.com/the-chopstick-invasion-of-africa-continues-apace/">writes that</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(They) have no experience in the world outside of China; no curiosity about these strange African lands and their people and a morbid indifference to Africa’s long-term future. (Most) are poorly educated and ill-equipped to live in different cultures.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To some, the claim of Chinese self-isolation might resonate due to the physical evidence of Chinatowns, such as those in the US, Canada and South Africa. However, the reverse is true. </p>
<p>Chinatowns in these countries are not products of Chinese voluntary self-isolation, but of forced exclusion policies of white settler societies and governments. For instance, the <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/05/05/527091890/the-135-year-bridge-between-the-chinese-exclusion-act-and-a-proposed-travel-ban">Chinese Exclusion Act in the US</a> and the <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-01902014000100006">Chinese Exclusion Act in South Africa</a>. </p>
<p>These exclusionary measures were driven by the fear of Chinese as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/30/yellow-peril-dr-fu-manchu-rise-of-chinaphobia-christopher-frayling-review">“Yellow Peril”</a>: a racial construct used extensively in Western countries against Asians who were viewed as a threat to Western civilisation, with <a href="https://jonlsullivan.com/2018/08/20/fu-manchu-yellow-peril-and-sinophobia/">images of expansion, takeover and appropriation</a>. Today <a href="https://www.pambazuka.org/governance/fu-manchu-versus-dr-livingstone-dark-continent">depictions of</a> African weakness, Western trusteeship and Chinese ruthlessness are continuations of these stereotypes. I believe that these myths persist because of bias in the media and because Chinese relations and people are sometimes used as political pawns.</p>
<p>My colleagues and I <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14631369.2018.1511370">set out</a> to examine the claims of Chinese self-segregation in various African countries. Based on surveys, interviews, and academic literature we examined the varied lives of Chinese people over the past 10 years. Our primary research site was Zambia, although we conducted research in many African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Sudan.</p>
<p>Our research examined where Chinese migrants lived, their knowledge of local languages and socialisation patterns. We found that – like all migrants – factors affecting Chinese integration include local political environment, recentness of migration, language barriers, and corporate policies to mitigate crime and conflict. In addition Chinese are also affected by host bias – such as anti-Chinese campaigns. </p>
<p>These have all made Chinese integration varied processes and supports <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/china-quarterly/article/african-perspectives-on-chinaafrica-links/294FDC51C8124084A51C9A69C8D76E63">previous</a> <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2016.1139156">research</a> my colleagues and I have done.</p>
<p>The accusations of Chinese self-isolation in Africa does not mesh with the reality: the lives of Chinese people in Africa are varied and cannot be reduced to a single category. The accusations are also damaging as they are racist, undermine African-Chinese relations, misrepresent the global Chinese presence, and fosters suspicion of Chinese migrants as perpetual “others”.</p>
<h2>Contract employees</h2>
<p>One group of Chinese migrants are contract employees. They usually work with large Chinese companies as expatriate engineers, managers, and skilled workers. From our research we found that contract employees usually stay for one or two contracts (with one contract lasting between one and three years), but a small number may work as long as a decade. </p>
<p>Of all contract employees, contract employees working on infrastructure projects often had the most interaction with locals. This is because they lived and sometimes ate with their local colleagues. </p>
<p>For instance, we interviewed teams of Chinese and local drillers from a Chinese water well firm in Sudan. One Sudanese interviewee said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Chinese live like locals. If the locals have brick houses, they’ll stay in them, but if not, they’ll stay in grass huts or tents.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In China it’s not uncommon for construction and mining workers to live collectively in compounds. They now do the same in Africa. This helps to save the company time and money, but it’s also a precaution to reduce their exposure to crime.</p>
<p>Company policies can also affect how much workers interact socially. For instance, our field research in Zambia found that the Chinese mine construction firm TLZD had policies whereby Chinese employees were not allowed out at night for their safety, but also because – due to language barriers – misunderstandings can lead to fights. Most Chinese in Africa, like first-generation migrants everywhere, are hampered by a language barrier. </p>
<p>Some company policies encourage integration because they make learning a language a requirement for the job. For instance, one Kenyan journalist based in Beijing <a href="http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1058753.shtml">observed that</a> some large firms only hire Chinese “with a solid understanding of local African languages.” </p>
<p>Wall Street Journal correspondent Te-Ping Chen <a href="https://chinaafricaproject.com/podcasts/te-pingchen-china-africa-aid-development/">also observed</a> that “Chinese immigrants that have come to Africa tend to live side by side with Africans (and) tend to speak local dialects.” By contrast, we found that white people <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2011/01/20/tongues-under-threat">have lived</a> in South Africa for more than three centuries and Indian people for 150 years. But unless brought up on a farm, few white people speak an African language, <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2011/01/20/tongues-under-threat">while most</a> young Indians speak only English or are bilingual in English and Afrikaans.</p>
<h2>Migrant entrepreneurs</h2>
<p>For the Chinese people that aren’t contract workers, they typically work in small and medium businesses as either owners, employees, or family dependants. Some will bring their nuclear family to Africa while others straddle two continents. </p>
<p>They tend to live in small groups all over cities, depending on their economic status. For instance in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41059534?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">Luanda, Angola</a>, less affluent Chinese groups have sprung up in informal settlements.</p>
<p>Scholars <a href="https://www.zedbooks.net/shop/book/chinese-migrants-and-africas-development/">find that</a> how much they mix and integrate depends on the nature of their business. For instance, Chinese retailers have much more engagement, with a variety of people such as local employees, customers, or partners. </p>
<p>As expected, the longer they stay the more localised they become – for instance their children go to local schools allowing them to integrate more. As many Chinese are traders, they are also active in learning local African languages. </p>
<p>Our research shows that even though there’s plenty of evidence that Chinese don’t self-segregate, it’s a myth that has been hard to confront because some people have examples of Chinese non-interaction and may be politically invested in generalising that tale.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138829/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yan Hairong receives funding from Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, China. </span></em></p>Claims of Chinese self-isolation reflect a longstanding, global “Yellow Peril” discourse that persists despite discrediting evidence.YAN Hairong, Associate Professor, Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1367142020-05-12T06:36:37Z2020-05-12T06:36:37ZBook review: Theatre for Dreamers by Polly Samson mixes real stories with romance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334195/original/file-20200512-66698-ce14w3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C44%2C4839%2C3201&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/houses-on-ydra-hydra-island-600w-519367783.jpg">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ah, Hydra! This is an island possessed of “wild and naked perfection”, <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=e7uTuBoDcwIC&lpg=PA49&dq=Henry%20Miller%20after%20sailing%20into%20Hydra%20naked%20perfection&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=Henry%20Miller%20after%20sailing%20into%20Hydra%20naked%20perfection&f=false">wrote</a> American author Henry Miller after sailing into Hydra on the eve of the second world war. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334185/original/file-20200512-66675-9p5vhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334185/original/file-20200512-66675-9p5vhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334185/original/file-20200512-66675-9p5vhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334185/original/file-20200512-66675-9p5vhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334185/original/file-20200512-66675-9p5vhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334185/original/file-20200512-66675-9p5vhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1158&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334185/original/file-20200512-66675-9p5vhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1158&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334185/original/file-20200512-66675-9p5vhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1158&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/theatre-for-dreamers-9781526600554/">Bloomsbury</a></span>
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<p>With a population of around 2,500, Hydra is a small island in the Saronic Gulf only two hours from Athens. The <a href="https://www.greeka.com/saronic/hydra/villages/town/">Hydra Town</a> harbour, a natural amphitheatre with grey and white stone houses set into the hills overlooking the waterfront, has featured in many books and films – think Sophia Loren in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050208/">Boy on a Dolphin</a> (1957). </p>
<p>Polly Samson’s <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/theatre-for-dreamers-9781526600554/">A Theatre for Dreamers</a>, a fictionalised account of the summer of 1960, is the latest addition to the corpus of Hydra-inspired novels. In it we meet Australian writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston and poet and songwriter Leonard Cohen and his lover Marianne Ihlen as they all work and play in a seeming paradise. </p>
<p>While the married couple Clift and Johnston are in financial and emotional disarray, Cohen and Ihlen are young, beautiful and at the start of their now famous relationship.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-woman-ahead-of-her-time-remembering-the-australian-writer-charmian-clift-50-years-on-117322">'A woman ahead of her time': remembering the Australian writer Charmian Clift, 50 years on</a>
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<h2>The expat dream</h2>
<p>The expatriate clique of Samson’s novel exemplifies groups attracted in the 1960s to the picturesque island where artists could live and work cheaply. The novel includes fulsome accounts of the raging arguments and creative and sexual jealousies that beset the Clift-Johnston inner circle, Cohen and Ihlen and visiting friends. </p>
<p>A Theatre for Dreamers conjures up an appealing picture of a Hydra which, at least in physical terms, has changed little since then. There are still no cars on the island and donkeys continue to do all the haulage up and down the steep streets from the port. </p>
<p>Samson has faithfully rendered the landscape of winding stone-flagged streets and white-washed houses. It is a pity therefore that the novel plays into the narrative of sexual transgression and self-indulgence that continues to dominate works about this community. The novel is narrated by a young English traveller, Erica, whose relationship with her boyfriend Jimmy predictably goes awry in this heady climate. </p>
<p>Heightened levels of drug-taking, drinking and sexual adventure were indeed a part of many expat lives at the time but the continuing focus on this discourse, which of course makes for good copy, has the unfortunate effect of undermining the impact of major work produced by foreign and Greek artists and writers in this era.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334192/original/file-20200512-66703-1sz9cjv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334192/original/file-20200512-66703-1sz9cjv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334192/original/file-20200512-66703-1sz9cjv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334192/original/file-20200512-66703-1sz9cjv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334192/original/file-20200512-66703-1sz9cjv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334192/original/file-20200512-66703-1sz9cjv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1155&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334192/original/file-20200512-66703-1sz9cjv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1155&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334192/original/file-20200512-66703-1sz9cjv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1155&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4600903-peel-me-a-lotus">Goodreads</a></span>
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<p>Samson has researched the topic for some time and knows the life of this island well. Sometimes the research is a distraction as when the author’s prose mingles strangely with the original writing of one of the expatriates. </p>
<p>Readers who know Clift’s writing will recognise her voice in the dialogue. Samson acknowledges that she was given permission by Clift’s estate to quote from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4600903-peel-me-a-lotus">Peel Me A Lotus</a> (1959), Clift’s travel memoir about her life on Hydra from one February to October. The effect is rather an odd seesaw between two genres as Clift’s lines pop up in a scene in Samson’s novel.</p>
<p>But readers who have never been to Hydra and know little about life there in the 1960s will enjoy the breezy romance and imagining the tumultuous relationship of Marianne with her then husband, writer Axel Jensen, and the adventures of the Johnston family. </p>
<h2>Hydra’s legacy</h2>
<p>Samson is an enthusiastic supporter of <a href="https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/features/essays/tag/Charmian%20Clift">Clift’s writing</a>. Channeling her in this novel, Samson makes a great contribution to Clift’s legacy as most of her work is now out of print. One hopes readers will be inspired to search out copies of Clift’s work.</p>
<p>There is of course no need to further promote Leonard Cohen’s work, which has assumed an afterlife of its own, including a renewed interest in Cohen’s life on Hydra. </p>
<p>Today many people on Hydra would not know the Clift-Johnston history but Cohen is even more firmly part of the island’s fabric. In 2015 a tribute concert to Cohen on the Hydra waterfront appeared to attract most of the town’s residents, young and old, and visiting his house in Hydra Town is part of an annual pilgrimage. By 2017 there were guided walking tours to Cohen’s island haunts. </p>
<p>Clift and Johnston are known to a smaller audience although they were once big fish in the Australian literary and journalistic cliques. Those who want to explore their story further can find an account of many of the characters in Samson’s novel in Nadia Wheatley’s meticulous biography, <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780732269128/the-life-and-myth-of-charmian-clift/">The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift</a> (2001). In addition, <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/fiction/literary-fiction/The-Broken-Book-Susan-Johnson-9781741146646">The Broken Book</a> (2004) by Australian novelist Susan Johnson is a rewarding and imaginative recreation of Clift’s life that goes beyond the wild Hydra cliché.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-a-fresh-perspective-on-leonard-cohen-and-the-island-that-inspired-him-105392">Friday essay: a fresh perspective on Leonard Cohen and the island that inspired him</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136714/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Carson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Famous expats Charmian Clift and George Johnson, Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen provide inspiration for this heady romance. But the shifts between reality and fiction are distracting at times.Susan Carson, Senior Lecturer, Creative Industries Faculty, QUT, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1319412020-03-10T17:00:46Z2020-03-10T17:00:46ZHow Brexit put an end to the election of Britons living in rural France<p>When the UK left the European Union on January 31, it moved into a transition period during which nothing much will actually change. For the time being, the UK remains in the single market and British citizens retain broadly the <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/british-citizens-europe-after-brexit?gclid=CjwKCAiAp5nyBRABEiwApTwjXmGIcQehBVjumts4ehtyBR6wtrjKCM4tkuqMkcTQM1AcQP1yqQUVBRoCvmQQAvD_BwE">same rights to live, work and travel in other EU countries</a>.</p>
<p>However, Britons’ loss of EU citizenship from February 1 onward has some important implications for those living on the continent: They can no longer vote nor stand as candidates in local elections unless bilateral agreements are concluded.</p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2019-06-18.HLWS1591.h">Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg have signed such accords</a>, France has not. As a result, UK residents in France have already been <a href="https://www.immigration.interieur.gouv.fr/Info-ressources/Actualites/Communiques/Sortie-du-Royaume-Uni-de-l-Union-europeenne-les-conditions-de-l-accord-de-retrait">struck from the electoral registers</a>.</p>
<h2>France: a home for 757 British elected representatives</h2>
<p>This has particular significance for the <a href="https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/repertoire-national-des-elus-1/#discussion-5e4720066f444114de77161f">757 British citizens currently elected as municipal councillors</a> whose mandates expire at the upcoming elections on March 15 and 22.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%253A52018DC0044">no comprehensive figures</a> on how many Britons are elected as councillors in other EU countries, but evidence indicates that the high number in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14782801003638760">France</a> represents a case worthy of special attention.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315739/original/file-20200217-10995-1noztvg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315739/original/file-20200217-10995-1noztvg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315739/original/file-20200217-10995-1noztvg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315739/original/file-20200217-10995-1noztvg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315739/original/file-20200217-10995-1noztvg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315739/original/file-20200217-10995-1noztvg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315739/original/file-20200217-10995-1noztvg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315739/original/file-20200217-10995-1noztvg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>The uniqueness of the French context is rooted in the fact that the country’s municipal-government structure <a href="https://www.persee.fr/doc/rnord_0035-2624_1994_num_76_305_4904">dates from the 1880s</a>, when every village or “commune” was given its own elected mayor and council. Figures show that despite a decade of reforms encouraging small communities to merge, the number has only dropped from 36,570 in 2010 to <a href="https://www.vie-publique.fr/en-bref/20079-populations-legales-les-chiffres-pour-2020">35,416 in January 2020</a>. This represents about <a href="http://www.courrierdesmaires.fr/77905/en-europe-toujours-plus-de-fusions-de-communes-pour-des-resultats-en-demi-teinte/">41% of all municipal authorities in the EU</a>. </p>
<p>The overwhelming majority of communes have only a few hundred inhabitants, yet have disproportionately large councils, making elected office highly accessible. Since EU citizenship <a href="https://www.peterlang.com/view/9783035198164/xhtml/chapter017.xhtml">extended this access</a> to EU migrants, there has been <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14782801003638760">significant opportunity</a> for them to get involved in local government in France.</p>
<h2>The British in the French countryside</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315740/original/file-20200217-10980-11j0rrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315740/original/file-20200217-10980-11j0rrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315740/original/file-20200217-10980-11j0rrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315740/original/file-20200217-10980-11j0rrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315740/original/file-20200217-10980-11j0rrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315740/original/file-20200217-10980-11j0rrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315740/original/file-20200217-10980-11j0rrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315740/original/file-20200217-10980-11j0rrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Figures show that the British have taken up these political opportunities in the greatest number.</p>
<p>This can be explained in part by a trend that started in the late 1980s of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233606097_A_Case_Study_of_Intra-EU_Migration_20_Years_of_Brits'_in_the_Pays_d'Auge_Normandy_France">migration to particular areas of rural France</a>. A key factor was the publication of Peter Mayle’s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40189.A_Year_in_Provence"><em>A Year in Provence</em></a>, which brought a significant number of <a href="https://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=livre&no=5666">Britons to France</a>.</p>
<p>Figures vary, but the UK’s <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/articles/livingabroad/april2018">Office for National Statistics</a> estimated that about 153,000 British citizens were living in France in 2017, and the true figure is probably much higher.</p>
<h2>“Entente cordiale”</h2>
<p>It’s perhaps surprising to observe the development of an “entente cordiale” in the French countryside, which is often seen as deeply conservative and hostile to outsiders. But as my <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14782801003638760">research shows</a>, the British who have learned the language and chosen to integrate in French society have been welcomed by rural villages that saw their populations fall in the post-war exodus to the larger towns and cities. Many towns also noted that their new residents had professional skills that could serve the local councils, and Britons were enthusiastic about and flattered by the invitation to stand in local elections. </p>
<p>The functioning of French municipal democracy in small rural communes is, in some ways, akin to that of English <a href="https://www.localgov.co.uk/Parish-council-responsibilities/29135">Parish councils</a>. As I discovered during my mandate as a councillor in a small village in Normandy between 2008 and 2014, at times local politics can be reminiscent of <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2012/01/25/heureux-comme-des-anglais-a-clochemerle_1634299_3214.html"><em>Clochemerle</em></a>, a beloved satirical novel by Gabriel Chevallier first published in 1934.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318619/original/file-20200304-66089-qm82t0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318619/original/file-20200304-66089-qm82t0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318619/original/file-20200304-66089-qm82t0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318619/original/file-20200304-66089-qm82t0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318619/original/file-20200304-66089-qm82t0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1219&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318619/original/file-20200304-66089-qm82t0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1219&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318619/original/file-20200304-66089-qm82t0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1219&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"><em>Clochemerle</em> (1934), by Gabriel Chevallier.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.livredepoche.com/livre/clochemerle-9782253005636">Gabriel Chevallier/édition Le livre de poche</a></span>
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<p>I was perplexed by the apparently irrational complexity of overlapping responsibilities through myriad agencies for services like water, recycling, trash and roads – a situation that <a href="https://welections.wordpress.com/2014/03/22/election-preview-france-municipal-elections-2014-part-i/">“intercommunality”</a> is now trying to address. I was also struck by how much time and money were spent on <a href="https://www.ouest-france.fr/elections/municipales/municipales-saint-gervais-des-sablons-la-liste-d-alain-picco-est-presque-totalement-renouvelee-6731981">surpassing obligations</a> conferred on communes by the secular state regarding upkeep of the church, which in our case was only used occasionally for weddings and funerals.</p>
<p>In communes with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants (previously 3,500), elections function somewhat like a personality contest, where voters can <a href="https://www.completefrance.com/living-in-france/utilities-services/elections-in-france-2020-what-you-need-to-know-1-6463947">cross off the names of candidates they don’t like</a>, a system known as <a href="https://www.vie-publique.fr/fiches/20203-municipales-mode-de-scrutin-communes-de-moins-de-1000-habitants">“panachage”</a>.</p>
<p>While many British councillors can win the highest number of individual votes, French law prevents them becoming mayor or deputy because those occupying those posts play a role in electing senators. To occupy an “executive” position requires obtaining French citizenship, as did one early pioneer, <a href="https://www.thelocal.fr/20140124/why-more-expats-should-become-mayors-in-france">Ken Tatham</a>. For 19 years, beginning in 1995, he was mayor of one of Normandy’s prettiest villages, Saint-Céneri-le-Gerei, even before the implementation of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenship_of_the_European_Union">EU citizenship</a>.</p>
<h2>French citizenship as the only option</h2>
<p>Acquiring French citizenship now remains the only option for Britons who wish to continue as local councillors, but it is a lengthy and bureaucratic process that many have found to be daunting. Others have already applied, however, and some were hoping to hear before the cut-off date for submitting their candidacy, February 27.</p>
<p>Brexit has brought an untimely end to this little known chapter of harmonious Franco-British relations buried deep in “La France profonde”, and numerous <a href="https://www.thelocal.fr/20200130/we-will-miss-our-british-councillors-they-bring-new-ideas-to-france">French media </a> offer testimony as to just how many British councillors will be sorely missed in the villages where they have often become stalwarts of their local community.</p>
<p>But for some, there are also wider implications: those who left the UK more than 15 years ago have been <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-923X.12729">disenfranchised there too</a>, leaving them with no voting rights at all. The consequences of Brexit go far beyond what makes the headlines.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dDrtErLUQ7s?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Without naturalisation, many councillors of British origin will not be able to stand for re-election..</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131941/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Collard ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Brexit has particular significance for the 757 British citizens currently elected in France, whose mandates expire at the upcoming mayoral elections in March.Susan Collard, Senior Lecturer in French Politics & Contemporary European Studies, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1287002019-12-20T04:10:54Z2019-12-20T04:10:54ZLiving in the shadows of the Indonesian mother: the stigma, shame and opportunities as a widow or divorcee<p><em>This article is part of a series to mark Indonesian Mother’s Day or Women’s Day on December 22.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Next week, Indonesia celebrates <em>Hari Ibu</em>, or Mother’s Day, to honour the 1928 Indonesian Women’s Congress, which heralded women’s involvement in the anti-colonial independence movement. </p>
<p><a href="https://news.detik.com/berita/d-4814155/iriana-jokowi-hingga-istri-para-menteri-jalan-sehat-peringati-hari-ibu">Public events, often led by the wives of high-ranking government officials</a>, commemorate <em>Hari Ibu</em>. Messages abound about women’s plight, but also their strengths and their roles in the nation.</p>
<p><em>Hari Ibu</em> draws on the image of <em>ibu</em>, as virtuous wife and mother, but this is not the only stereotype of femininity in Indonesia. </p>
<p><em>Janda</em> is an Indonesian term covering both widows and divorcees. No longer being in a heterosexual marriage and not having a male spouse, <em>janda</em> have lost the respected status of <em>ibu</em> and are considered available to other men. In other words, <em>janda</em> represents the antithesis of the ideal of <em>ibu</em>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13639811.2015.1111647">Our research and other studies on the stigmatisation of widows and divorcees</a> find that the <em>janda</em> stereotype pervades the lives of Indonesian women. It often results in them <a href="https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/why-divorce-doesnt-work-for-women/">living precarious lives</a> marginalised in their communities. </p>
<h2><em>Ibu</em> versus <em>Janda</em> stereotypes</h2>
<p>Particularly under Suharto’s New Order (1966–1998), but also afterwards, the state has fostered an ideal of femininity based on the image of <em>ibu</em>: women should adhere to their biologically determined nature as caring wives and mothers. </p>
<p>This explicit gender ideology emphasises faithful, heterosexual marriage. For a woman, being a wife and mother is the way to contribute to society.
Working and earning money is acceptable providing it does not interfere with those primary expectations. </p>
<p>This state ideology was (and is) principally communicated during <em>Hari Ibu</em> and <a href="http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue28/mahy.htm">Kartini Day</a>, when Indonesians commemorate their heroine of women’s empowerment – Raden Ajeng Kartini.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/fantasizing-the-feminine-in-indonesia">large feminist literature,</a> both from within Indonesia and by foreign observers, criticises this state-constructed image of the <em>ibu</em>. </p>
<p>The main critique is that state-sanctioned women’s groups like <em>Dharma Wanita</em> (an organisation for the wives of civil servants) reinforce the official paradigm of women’s primary roles as being in the domestic sphere rather than being equal citizens capable of contributing in the public domain. </p>
<p>Official discourse does not promote the <em>janda</em> image. But the <a href="http://asaa.asn.au/the-shame-of-indonesias-widows-and-divorcees/">image is prevalent in popular culture</a> and this affects the lives of actual widows and divorcees. </p>
<p>Particularly if young and attractive, <em>janda</em> are presumed to be promiscuous and lascivious. Men fantasise about <em>janda</em>, while married women fear <em>janda</em> will lead their husbands astray. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgFTKuo8i7I">Popular culture</a> and private gossip reproduce this image, leading to real-life exclusion and stigma. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306313/original/file-20191211-95111-rd3nuq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306313/original/file-20191211-95111-rd3nuq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306313/original/file-20191211-95111-rd3nuq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306313/original/file-20191211-95111-rd3nuq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306313/original/file-20191211-95111-rd3nuq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306313/original/file-20191211-95111-rd3nuq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306313/original/file-20191211-95111-rd3nuq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Trouble Caused by Janda’ is an online Dangdut album (a popular Indonesian style of music which often portrays the sexual allure of <em>jandas</em>).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">'from https://afrobitz.com'</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ethnographic research</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13639811.2015.1100872">ethnographic research</a> explored how the <em>janda</em> stereotype affects the social identity and livelihood options of widows and divorcees in three different communities: a village in Java, a migrant-dominated mining town in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) and among Indonesians living in Australia.</p>
<p>These sites are loosely linked by a possible life trajectory where a woman might marry and divorce in her home town in Java, then migrate to Kalimantan in search of work, and eventually meet and marry an expatriate mine worker and follow him back to his home country.</p>
<p>As a male researcher in a Javanese village, Nicholas Herriman observed men discussing their desire for <em>janda</em>. The men would point out the local <em>janda</em> to each other and speculate about seducing them. Men believed <em>janda</em> are sexually experienced, lonely and amenable to sex, “free” or paid. </p>
<p>Whether or not a <em>janda</em> is actually a sex worker, she is subject to the same presumptions. Notably, none of the male gossip ever included fancies about an <em>ibu</em>. </p>
<p>As well as being the objects of lascivious gossip, <em>janda</em> were often excluded from social activities performed by respectable <em>ibu</em>. But <em>janda</em> also sometimes found greater personal freedom of movement and relief from their former husbands’ requests for cigarette and gambling money.</p>
<p>Some widows and divorcees migrate to escape the <em>janda</em> stigma and/or to seek better livelihood options. Petra Mahy interviewed several such migrant <em>janda</em> in a Kalimantan mining town. She found the stereotype was still prevalent even within the town’s multi-ethnic migrant population. </p>
<p>The migrant <em>janda</em> related how they needed to protect themselves from men’s advances, including from rape, while struggling to earn a living. </p>
<p>For example, one widow said she found more personal and financial freedom following the death of her husband. But she always carried a small pair of scissors with her in case visiting men went too far. </p>
<p>Another woman, a divorced sex worker in her twenties, said it was hard to be a <em>janda</em> back in Java. She would have nowhere to live, people would gossip about her and women would be afraid to let their husbands speak to her. At least in Kalimantan, she said, she was able to earn money anonymously and send it home to support her children.</p>
<p>Even <em>janda</em> <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/glob.12177">migrating to another country</a> could not free themselves from those stereotypes. </p>
<p>Monika Winarnita conducted <a href="http://www.sussex-academic.com/sa/titles/SS_Asian/Winarnita.htm">research among migrant Indonesian women in Australia</a>. These women formed an Indonesian cultural dance troupe. </p>
<p>Some dancers, formerly <em>janda</em>, had remarried to Anglo-Australian men, moving to a financially secure life with their husbands in Australia. Yet these former <em>janda</em> were apparently not entitled to the high social status reserved for the wives of consular officials and other highly respected <em>ibu</em>. </p>
<p>Undoubtedly this was partly due to social snobbery. But it also reflected negative stereotypes about their past and the presumed deviant circumstances under which these former <em>janda</em> met their Anglo-Australian husbands.</p>
<p>In all three sites, <em>janda</em> were ostracised from a range of mainstream social activities. This is one reason <a href="https://indonesiadevelopmentforum.com/2018/article/4858-pekka-women-head-families-are-poor-due-to-stigma">their households are often among the poorest</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306276/original/file-20191211-95138-1h3th8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306276/original/file-20191211-95138-1h3th8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306276/original/file-20191211-95138-1h3th8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306276/original/file-20191211-95138-1h3th8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306276/original/file-20191211-95138-1h3th8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306276/original/file-20191211-95138-1h3th8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306276/original/file-20191211-95138-1h3th8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The late Lasmi binti Kasilan, a <em>janda</em> in Java. Permission for the use of the photo given by the photographer Suzanne Liem from her book The Widows of Rawagede.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Avenues for change</h2>
<p>Overall, our research indicates that the <em>janda</em> stereotype pervades the lives of the Indonesian women who attract this label. They are often pursued by men on the presumption they are sexually available. </p>
<p>Some <em>janda</em> attempt to guard their reputation and present a virtuous image, while trying to make ends meet. </p>
<p>It must be acknowledged that changing deep-seated cultural stereotypes is difficult. Yet it seems to us that events on the national calendar like <em>Hari Ibu</em> present an opportunity for Indonesian leaders, civil society organisations and policymakers to explicitly acknowledge the difficulties faced by <em>janda</em> and other women living precarious lives as a result of being marginalised in their community. </p>
<p>Indeed, an alternative vision may be emerging as we saw in a 2017 <a href="http://online24jam.com/2017/12/22/85050/hari-ibu-gabungan-mahasiswi-di-palopo-perjuangkan-hak-janda/">student demonstration on <em>Hari Ibu</em></a> demanding recognition of <em>jandas’</em> predicament. </p>
<p>There is more to <em>jandas’</em> lives than the stigma, shame and opportunities identified here, just as there is more to being an Indonesian woman than simply motherhood. So perhaps it is time to reflect and embrace different kinds of female identities on <em>Hari</em> <em>Ibu</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128700/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monika Winarnita had received an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) Scholarship, an Australian National University PhD Scholarship and a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) that could be relevant to the research subject of this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Petra Mahy menerima dana dari Australian Research Council dan PT Kaltim Prima Coal. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Herriman tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Janda stereotypes pervade the lives of the Indonesian women who are marginalised in their community, forcing them to live precarious lives.Monika Winarnita, Lecturer, Indonesian Studies, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin UniversityNicholas Herriman, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, La Trobe UniversityPetra Mahy, Senior Lecturer, Department of Business Law and Taxation, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1209272019-08-07T22:36:02Z2019-08-07T22:36:02ZHow to inject youth into Newfoundland and Labrador’s broken, greying democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286486/original/file-20190731-186819-1mbgc9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C35%2C3000%2C1863&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball holds his granddaughter after winning the provincial election in May 2019. Young people are leaving the province for jobs and opportunities, but should still be allowed to vote in provincial elections. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What does it mean to be a voter in a Canadian federation increasingly defined by wealth inequality and economic migration? </p>
<p>As public policy scholars, we argue that politicians, policy-makers and citizens alike need to start rethinking how to ensure everyone’s voice is heard in a regionally diverse federation. More specifically, we think that provinces have good grounds for extending voting rights to expatriate citizens. In the case of Newfoundland and Labrador, extending the vote is particularly warranted.</p>
<p>That’s because of two issues plaguing Newfoundland and Labrador: <a href="https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/jobs-biggest-reason-for-outmigration-from-newfoundland-and-labrador-report-323384/">People are leaving</a> the province, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/births-low-population-1.4980724">and those who remain are growing older.</a></p>
<p>As two expatriate Newfoundland and Labradorians — one of us in Australia — we watched from the sidelines during this spring’s provincial election. It was so defined by negativity and an absence of social vision that it inspired a playful <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/2-newfoundlanders-on-the-province-s-confounding-election-1.5134811">CBC podcast</a> with the question: “Does anyone actually want to win the election?”</p>
<p>That things played out this way came as little surprise. The province is trapped between a need <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/ag-report-nl-deficit-1.4946107">to get its financial affairs in order</a> and politicians who look to spending increases instead of long-term solutions as a means of winning elections. The ruling Liberals, for example, opened their campaign with <a href="https://www.retailcouncil.org/province/newfoundland/newfoundland-and-labrador-tables-pre-election-budget-then-calls-provincial-election-for-may-16th/">an extra $152 million for the budget</a>, including <a href="https://www.retailcouncil.org/province/newfoundland/newfoundland-and-labrador-tables-pre-election-budget-then-calls-provincial-election-for-may-16th/">a cut to the deficit reduction</a> levy which had only come into effect in 2016.</p>
<h2>Not sustainable</h2>
<p>Every citizen of the province knows this approach is unsustainable. To put the fiscal situation in perspective, Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincial debt is a whopping <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/daily-quotidien/181120/dq181120b-eng.pdf?st=qULhyIlF">$21,221 per capita</a>, the highest in Canada, and its debt servicing costs as a per cent of provincial revenues stands at <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/government-finances/public-accounts/2017-18/pa-2017-18-provincial-debt-summary.pdf">13.8 per cent compared to the next highest province, Quebec, at eight per cent</a>. </p>
<p>The graph below shows that Newfoundland and Labradorians face a tricky demographic challenge. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286645/original/file-20190801-169676-sen41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286645/original/file-20190801-169676-sen41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286645/original/file-20190801-169676-sen41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286645/original/file-20190801-169676-sen41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286645/original/file-20190801-169676-sen41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286645/original/file-20190801-169676-sen41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286645/original/file-20190801-169676-sen41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The graph vividly portrays how rapidly Newfoundland is growing older.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The share of the population under 50 years of age has been shrinking for the past 45 years. Since 2000, the population in age quintiles (five-year intervals) has declined in every age group below 50, while increasing in every age quintile above 50. While the population, post-2000, has remained relatively stable, the composition of the province’s population is vastly different.</p>
<p>As the population ages, so too does the median voter. </p>
<p>Citizens who are older are understandably less likely to support long-term reforms that will cut into their more immediate interests. This means that proposing tough solutions to current fiscal problems can make it hard to win elections, especially if there is a rural/urban divide separating younger and older voters.</p>
<p>Unlike Newfoundland’s fiscally tough solutions <a href="https://www.mun.ca/mha/resettlement/">of the past</a>, we propose a solution that more greatly strengthens attachment to home: Allowing Newfoundlanders and Labradorians living outside the province to vote.</p>
<h2>Youth injection</h2>
<p>To cast ballots in Newfoundland and Labrador elections, voters must be <a href="https://www.elections.gov.nl.ca/elections/voters/registration.html">provincial residents</a> the day before polling day. We propose to extend the vote in a simple, transparent and inclusive manner to anyone 18 or older who has ever attended school in the province.</p>
<p>Why former students? First, many children of Newfoundland and Labrador have been <a href="https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/jobs-biggest-reason-for-outmigration-from-newfoundland-and-labrador-report-323384/">lured or forced abroad</a> to scratch out a living or seek their fortune. All have been victims of the lack of opportunity at home. Many of these people wish to return, and many do return, in their more senior years. Why should their voices not be heard at the provincial ballot box? </p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jlabec/doi10.1086-703362.html">study published in the <em>Journal of Labor Economics</em></a> suggests that the mobility of these workers has boosted pay in their province of origin. Wages rise because employers at home must hike pay to prevent more workers from leaving. This is a real economic gain, on top of any money that workers who leave their home province send back home.</p>
<p>Second, there is precedent — national voter eligibility is not determined by location, but rather <a href="https://www.scc-csc.ca/case-dossier/cb/2019/36645-eng.aspx">by citizenship</a>. The electoral district you vote in federally is determined by your current residential address, but your eligibility to vote is preserved by the government of Canada even when you are <a href="https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=reg/etr&document=index&lang=e">living abroad</a>. </p>
<p>Third, consider the civic education that has been instilled in these individuals through the province’s school system. They have a respect for the people and the land, the traditions and the ambitions of their home province.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286492/original/file-20190731-186805-iokvbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286492/original/file-20190731-186805-iokvbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286492/original/file-20190731-186805-iokvbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286492/original/file-20190731-186805-iokvbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286492/original/file-20190731-186805-iokvbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286492/original/file-20190731-186805-iokvbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286492/original/file-20190731-186805-iokvbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Residents arrive to vote in the provincial election at a church in Deer Lake, NL, on May 16, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Generally speaking, we <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9760.2005.00221.x">extend the vote</a> to people because they are either directly affected by the collective decisions of government or because they are subject to the laws of that government. Expatriates easily satisfy the first of these two conditions. Provincial policies affect both their ability to return home and their loved ones who remain behind. </p>
<p>To be sure, extending the franchise is not a magic bullet that will immediately solve the province’s problems. And there are no doubt further questions about the voting mechanisms needed to make this proposal a reality. </p>
<p>But we think extending the vote to expatriates strongly aligns with the province’s values. It could also help nudge its politics closer to long-term solutions that respect the roots and rights of all Newfoundland and Labradorians past, present and future.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120927/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Martin receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ross Hickey receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Extending the provincial vote to expatriates from Newfoundland and Labrador could make make for a more vibrant democracy.Christopher Martin, Associate Professor, Political Philosophy and Education, University of British ColumbiaRoss Hickey, Senior research fellow, public policy, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1211382019-07-30T10:16:21Z2019-07-30T10:16:21ZHong Kong protests: city workers, expats and unions join clamour, making it ever harder for China to ignore<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286218/original/file-20190730-186819-1r4d1jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The message: a trademark umbrella during the original 2014 protests.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU2NDUwNzUxNSwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMjM0MjExMjg4IiwiayI6InBob3RvLzIzNDIxMTI4OC9tZWRpdW0uanBnIiwibSI6MSwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJGWmJUYWM5d2lMSTBHM3BSTzROSERPWElRbFEiXQ%2Fshutterstock_234211288.jpg&pi=33421636&m=234211288&src=zxSRVlizL6PcPokm82lTwA-1-45">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union <a href="https://www.facebook.com/faucpa/">recently encouraged</a> staff to <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/0ea4c9b2-af4f-11e9-8030-530adfa879c2">join protests</a> at <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/flight-attendants-airport-staff-join-hong-kong-airport-protest-190726134046007.html">Hong Kong’s international airport</a>. It should be noted that Cathay Pacific itself clarified in a note to <a href="http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1159099.shtml">the Global Times</a> that it was not the event’s organiser, and that the protest didn’t constitute industrial action by its employees. </p>
<p>There have now been eight consecutive weeks of <a href="https://theconversation.com/hong-kong-on-the-brink-after-chaotic-day-of-protest-its-leaders-now-face-hard-choices-119763">anti-government protests</a> in Hong Kong. They started in opposition to (now suspended) <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/15/hong-kong-leader-carrie-lam-extradition-bill-delay-protests-china">extradition legislation</a>, which would have seen suspects in the special administrative region sent to mainland China, but have since grown into a wider movement calling for the <a href="https://time.com/5626145/hong-kong-protests-carrie-lam-resignation/">resignation of Carrie Lam</a>, the leader of Hong Kong.</p>
<p>But while it is attracting global attention now, the movement has a long history that puts the unprecedented move of Cathay Pacific’s flight aviation union in context.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hong-kong-on-the-brink-after-chaotic-day-of-protest-its-leaders-now-face-hard-choices-119763">Hong Kong on the brink after chaotic day of protest – its leaders now face hard choices</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A student strike in late September 2014 saw the birth of <a href="https://oclphkenglish.wordpress.com">Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP)</a>. The occupation took hold of several key areas of the city that year, with campaigners employing non-violent civil disobedience. It officially lasted for 79 days, although its legacy is still being written.</p>
<p>Back then, the movement was focused on the right to universal suffrage, a fair and transparent electoral system, and ultimately an open democratic process. Pacifist symbols (yellow umbrellas, protective face masks and eye goggles) were deployed against police aggression (pepper spray and tear gas) – and the so-called <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/30/-sp-hong-kong-umbrella-revolution-pro-democracy-protests">“Umbrella Revolution”</a> was born.</p>
<p>In 2017, 20 years after Britain’s colonial role of the territory came to an end, Lam, Beijing’s favoured candidate, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/26/hong-kong-chooses-new-leader-amid-accusations-of-china-meddling">was appointed Hong Kong’s leader</a>, a move widely criticised by pro-democracy campaigners.</p>
<p>Further controversy followed a year later with the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuai-Macau Bridge, which was described by independent lawmaker Claudia Mo as an <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/04/asia/hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge/index.html">“umbilical cord”</a> to China.</p>
<h2>Resistance</h2>
<p>The mainland, over time, has been tightening its grip. But recent events at Hong Kong’s international airport and across the city show just how strong the resistance to perceived Chinese influence has become. </p>
<p>The well-educated middle classes are also front and centre of this resistance movement. In <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24694452.2017.1385379">Annals of the American Association of Geographers</a>, I argued that the mobilisation of professional, politically-oriented Hong Kong Chinese has seen the movement employing the “weapons of the well-educated”.</p>
<p>The phrase refers to political scientist and anthropologist James C Scott’s important 1980s work <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300036411/weapons-weak">Weapons of the Weak</a>, which explored peasant resistance in Malaysia. He described “the ordinary weapons of relatively powerless groups: foot dragging, dissimulation, desertion, false compliance, pilfering, feigned ignorance, slander, arson, sabotage, and so on”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286210/original/file-20190730-186801-a5jltl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286210/original/file-20190730-186801-a5jltl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286210/original/file-20190730-186801-a5jltl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286210/original/file-20190730-186801-a5jltl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286210/original/file-20190730-186801-a5jltl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286210/original/file-20190730-186801-a5jltl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286210/original/file-20190730-186801-a5jltl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hong Kong: protests are sweeping the city.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU2NDUwMzU2NSwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTM3Mjk3NTU4NiIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMzcyOTc1NTg2L21lZGl1bS5qcGciLCJtIjoxLCJkIjoic2h1dHRlcnN0b2NrLW1lZGlhIn0sInBJVTIwUE5OQVYrT1duNjRIKzVPSVBZRFdJYyJd%2Fshutterstock_1372975586.jpg&pi=33421636&m=1372975586&src=AeW_whzfGk0Tfm_nXxgSRA-1-0">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In modern Hong Kong, however, a very different demographic has been taking a stand. There, justice is being called for by locally born, Hong Kong citizens, many of whom were, or are, students at the city’s universities. This makes the movement harder to ignore and more difficult to silence.</p>
<h2>Evolving protest</h2>
<p>But the current protests have led me to revise this thinking further and to conclude that the protests have now become the “weapons of the well-connected”. The protests have been reinvigorated by further support from much of the city’s expatriate community, a topic I am currently researching. As part of this, I interviewed a 20-something half British, half Malaysian Chinese working in Hong Kong. Reflecting on their involvement in the anti-extradition protests earlier this month, they stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I do want to reiterate that these events have completely altered my view of HK [Hong Kong] society – particularly the police. You grow up thinking that the police are on your side and will always protect you … but I no longer trust the police and I don’t like them. The force used was completely unnecessary and an abuse of power and authority.</p>
<p>I also think the way that the bill [the controversial extradition law] was very quickly rushed through the system was a complete abuse of authority by Carrie Lam and her government. When I was tear gassed the second time, I was away from the large crowd that the police were kettling. The riot police were standing in a line and had their backs to me; we were about 200 metres behind them – unmoving and unarmed. It suddenly went silent and then I saw at least five gas canisters beneath my feet. ‘Surreal’ doesn’t begin to cover it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They powerfully finished the interview by saying: “As much as I am now anti-police and anti-establishment, I have never felt more proud to call myself a Hong Konger; and I think many people will feel the same way.”</p>
<p>The role of city workers in the protests certainly shows how things have evolved since the 2014 Umbrella Revolution, which was an overwhelmingly local movement. While the political outlook of Hong Kong’s business elite had previously been largely apolitical, the perceived Chinese encroachment is now so great that even organisations are beginning to speak out.</p>
<p>The protests have already been aided by UK government support, causing <a href="https://theconversation.com/hong-kong-protests-why-chinese-media-reports-focus-on-britains-colonial-past-119917">increased tensions</a> with the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/03/foreign-office-calls-in-china-ambassador-over-hong-kong-protests">Chinese ambassador in London</a> – and now they have the support of the Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union. Hong Kong’s future as a special administrative region of China is unclear, but the connections forged with the international business community have changed the nature of protest in the city. And China will likely find it harder and harder not to listen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121138/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Joseph Richardson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong is evolving …Michael Joseph Richardson, Lecturer of Human Geography, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1130742019-03-10T19:29:09Z2019-03-10T19:29:09ZWhich countries have the most immigrants?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262433/original/file-20190306-100802-1ho3o5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C58%2C1632%2C1013&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A group of immigrant workers in Doha, Qatar. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&title=Special:Search&redirs=0&search=migrants+Qatar&fulltext=Search&fulltext=Advanced+search&ns0=1&ns6=1&ns14=1&advanced=1&searchToken=cdwlneokxs2wzg4j9wbulhc5z#%2Fmedia%2FFile%3AMigrant_workers_in_West_Bay_Doha.jpg">Alex Sergeev/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The proportion of immigrants varies considerably from one country to another. In some, it exceeds half the population, while in others it is below 0.1%. Which countries have the most immigrants? Where do they come from? How are they distributed across the world? We provide here an overview of the number and share of immigrants in different countries around the world.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/index.shtml">United Nations</a>, the United States has the highest number of immigrants (foreign-born individuals), with 48 million in 2015, five times more than in Saudi Arabia (11 million) and six times more than in Canada (7.6 million) (figure below). However, in proportion to their population size, these two countries have significantly more immigrants: 34% and 21%, respectively, versus 15% in the United States.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262776/original/file-20190307-82672-1xb57h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262776/original/file-20190307-82672-1xb57h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262776/original/file-20190307-82672-1xb57h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262776/original/file-20190307-82672-1xb57h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262776/original/file-20190307-82672-1xb57h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262776/original/file-20190307-82672-1xb57h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262776/original/file-20190307-82672-1xb57h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gilles Pison, based on United Nations data</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Looking at the ratio of immigrants to the total population (figure below), countries with a high proportion of immigrants can be divided into <a href="https://www.ined.fr/fichier/s_rubrique/28889/563.international.comparison.immigrants.2019.en.pdf">five groups</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The first group comprises countries that are sparsely populated but have abundant oil resources, where immigrants sometimes outnumber the native-born population. In 2015, the world’s highest proportions of immigrants were found in this group: United Arab Emirates (87%), Kuwait (73%), Qatar (68%), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman, where the proportion ranges from 34% to 51%.</p></li>
<li><p>The second group consists of very small territories, microstates, often with special tax rules: Macao (57%), Monaco (55%), and Singapore (46%).</p></li>
<li><p>The third group is made up of nations formerly designated as “new countries”, which cover vast territories but are still sparsely populated: Australia (28%) and Canada (21%).</p></li>
<li><p>The fourth group, which is similar to the third in terms of mode of development, is that of Western industrial democracies, in which the proportion of immigrants generally ranges from 9% to 17%: Austria (17%), Sweden (16%), United States (15%), United Kingdom (13%), Spain (13%), Germany (12%), France (12%), the Netherlands (12%), Belgium (11%), and Italy (10%).</p></li>
<li><p>The fifth group includes the so-called “countries of first asylum”, which receive massive flows of refugees due to conflicts in a neighbouring country. For example, at the end of 2015, more than one million Syrian and Iraqi refugees were living in Lebanon, representing the equivalent of 20% of its population, and around 400,000 refugees from Sudan were living in Chad (3% of its population).</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264378/original/file-20190318-28468-em1hkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264378/original/file-20190318-28468-em1hkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264378/original/file-20190318-28468-em1hkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264378/original/file-20190318-28468-em1hkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264378/original/file-20190318-28468-em1hkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264378/original/file-20190318-28468-em1hkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264378/original/file-20190318-28468-em1hkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gilles Pison, based on United Nations data</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Small countries have higher proportions of immigrants</h2>
<p>With 29% immigrants, Switzerland is ahead of the United States, while the proportion in Luxembourg is even higher (46%). Both the attractiveness and size of the country play a role. The smaller the country, the higher its probable proportion of foreign-born residents. Conversely, the larger the country, the smaller this proportion is likely to be. In 2015, India had 0.4% of immigrants and China 0.07%.</p>
<p>However, if each Chinese province were an independent country – a dozen provinces have more than 50 million inhabitants, and three of them (Guangdong, Shandong, and Henan) have about 100 million – the proportion of immigrants would be much higher, given that migration from province to province, which has increased in scale over recent years, would be counted as international and not internal migration. Conversely, if the European Union formed a single country, the share of immigrants would decrease considerably, since citizens of one EU country living in another would no longer be counted. The relative scale of the two types of migration – internal and international – is thus strongly linked to the way the territory is divided into separate nations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262777/original/file-20190307-82688-1jbyecp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262777/original/file-20190307-82688-1jbyecp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262777/original/file-20190307-82688-1jbyecp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262777/original/file-20190307-82688-1jbyecp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262777/original/file-20190307-82688-1jbyecp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262777/original/file-20190307-82688-1jbyecp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262777/original/file-20190307-82688-1jbyecp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gilles Pison, based on United Nations data</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The number of emigrants is difficult to measure</h2>
<p>All immigrants (in-migrants) are also emigrants (out-migrants) from their home countries. Yet the information available for counting emigrants at the level of a particular country is often of poorer quality than for the immigrants, even though, at the global level, they represent the same set of people. Countries are probably less concerned about counting their emigrants than their immigrants, given that the former, unlike the latter, are no longer residents and do not use government-funded public services or infrastructure.</p>
<p>However, emigrants often contribute substantially to the economy of their home countries by sending back money and in some cases, they still have the right to vote, which is a good reason for sending countries to track their emigrant population more effectively. The statistical sources are another reason for the poor quality of data on emigrants. Migrant arrivals are better recorded than departures, and the number of emigrants is often estimated based on immigrant statistics in the different host countries.</p>
<p>The number of emigrants varies considerably from one country to another. India headed the list in 2015, with nearly 16 million people born in the country but living in another (see the figure below); Mexico comes in second with more than 12 million emigrants living mainly in the United States.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262639/original/file-20190307-82688-qc54i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262639/original/file-20190307-82688-qc54i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262639/original/file-20190307-82688-qc54i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262639/original/file-20190307-82688-qc54i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262639/original/file-20190307-82688-qc54i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262639/original/file-20190307-82688-qc54i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262639/original/file-20190307-82688-qc54i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gilles Pison, based on United Nations data</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Proportionally, Bosnia and Herzegovina holds a record: there is one Bosnian living abroad for two living in the country, which means that one-third of the people born in Bosnia and Herzegovina have emigrated (figure below). Albania is in a similar situation, as well as Cape Verde, an insular country with few natural resources.</p>
<p>Some countries are both immigration and emigration countries. This is the case of the United Kingdom, which had 8.4 million immigrants and 4.7 million emigrants in 2015. The United States has a considerable number of expatriates (2.9 million in 2015), but this is 17 times less in comparison to the number of immigrants (48 million at the same date).</p>
<p>Until recently, some countries have been relatively closed to migration, both inward and outward. This is the case for Japan, which has few immigrants (only 1.7% of its population in 2015) and few emigrants (0.6%).</p>
<h2>Immigrants: less than 4% of the world population</h2>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/index.shtml">United Nations</a>, there were 258 million immigrants in 2017, representing only a small minority of the world population (3.4%); the vast majority of people live in their country of birth. The proportion of immigrants has only slightly increased over recent decades (30 years ago, in 1990, it was 2.9%, and 55 years ago, in 1965, it was 2.3%). It has probably changed only slightly in 100 years.</p>
<p>But the distribution of immigrants is different than it was a century ago. One change is, in the words of Alfred Sauvy, the “reversal of migratory flows” between North and South, with a considerable share of international migrants now coming from Southern countries.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262443/original/file-20190306-100793-b060op.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262443/original/file-20190306-100793-b060op.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262443/original/file-20190306-100793-b060op.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262443/original/file-20190306-100793-b060op.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262443/original/file-20190306-100793-b060op.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262443/original/file-20190306-100793-b060op.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262443/original/file-20190306-100793-b060op.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gilles Pison, based on United Nations data</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Today, migrants can be divided into three groups of practically equal size (figure above): migrants born in the South who live in the North (89 million in 2017, according to the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/index.shtml">United Nations</a>); South-South migrants (97 million), who have migrated from one Southern country to another; and North-North migrants (57 million). The fourth group – those born in the North and who have migrated to the South – was dominant a century ago but is numerically much smaller today (14 million). Despite their large scale, especially in Europe, migrant flows generated since 2015 by conflicts in the Middle East have not significantly changed the global picture of international migration.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>For more information, see <a href="https://www.ined.fr/fichier/s_rubrique/28889/563.international.comparison.immigrants.2019.en.pdf">“The number and proportion of immigrants in the population: International comparisons”</a>, issue no. 563 of Population and Societies (downloadable free of charge).</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113074/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gilles Pison ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Immigration is seen as a global crisis, but the distribution of immigrants is anything but equal. Which countries have the most? Where they come from? Data provides some surprising answers.Gilles Pison, Anthropologue et démographe, professeur au Muséum national d'histoire naturelle et chercheur associé à l'INED, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1127992019-03-06T11:40:16Z2019-03-06T11:40:16ZHoda Muthana wants to come home from Syria – just like many loyalist women who fled to Canada during the American Revolution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262260/original/file-20190305-48423-177v1ue.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hoda Muthana and child during an interview with 'CBS This Morning.'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bzeMFx8R2k">CBS News screenshot</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>American emigrant Hoda Muthana begged American authorities last month to let her return to the United States. </p>
<p>Muthana, who was 19 when she left her family in Alabama in 2014 to join the proclaimed Islamic State caliphate, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/us/islamic-state-american-women.html">married three IS fighters</a> after her arrival in Syria and was widowed twice.</p>
<p>Ultimately, Muthana claims, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/isis-bride-left-us-syria-interpreted-wrong/story?id=61175508">the birth of her son in May 2017</a> allowed her to see how foolish she had been. </p>
<p>Despite her insistence that she no longer harbors any <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/isis-bride-hoda-muthana-was-an-isis-propagandist-not-some-brainwashed-child">radical sentiments</a>, many Americans remain skeptical of Muthana’s intentions and believe <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/20/politics/hoda-muthana-state-department/index.html">she forfeited her American citizenship</a> when she joined the enemy organization.</p>
<p>While the case has its own modern intricacies, early Americans confronted similar questions concerning the return of colonists who had supported Britain during American Revolution.</p>
<p>Much like Muthana’s insistence that she wants to return to America for the good of her young son, <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?444540-1/british-loyalists-american-revolution">these exiled</a> mothers also played a significant role leading their families back to their American homes after 1783 – despite resistance from their husbands.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262211/original/file-20190305-48429-14ki5vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262211/original/file-20190305-48429-14ki5vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262211/original/file-20190305-48429-14ki5vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262211/original/file-20190305-48429-14ki5vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262211/original/file-20190305-48429-14ki5vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262211/original/file-20190305-48429-14ki5vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262211/original/file-20190305-48429-14ki5vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262211/original/file-20190305-48429-14ki5vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Statue of Loyalist family in Hamilton, Ontario.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.goodfreephotos.com/canada/ontario/other-ontario/united-empire-loyalists-in-hamilton-ontario.jpg.php">Photo by Rick Cordeiro</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Stay or leave?</h2>
<p>During the American Revolution (1775-1783), <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1919095?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">roughly 1 in 5 white American colonists</a> sided with the British. These colonists called themselves “Loyalists.”</p>
<p>When the war ended, the majority of these Loyalists stayed in the United States and <a href="https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/episode-126-rebecca-brannon-reintegration-american-loyalists/">reintegrated into American society</a>. </p>
<p>Others chose to leave. </p>
<p>The formal conclusion of the war in 1783 began a series of evacuations from the last British strongholds of the eastern seaboard. In all, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=uGKsn09oVwQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=liberty%27s+exiles&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj11Pa8s-TgAhUBVt8KHa2OCW4Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">more than 60,000 people fled the American states</a> during and after the war, with the majority of these refugees heading north to British Nova Scotia and the <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Loyalist_Dream_for_New_Brunswick.html?id=dQAVAAAAYAAJ">newly organized colony of New Brunswick</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://balthazaar.masshist.org/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=3&ti=1,3&Search_Arg=Robie-Sewall&Search_Code=FT%2A&SL=None&CNT=10&PID=fPmXWyyNhreMg_Luj-FzNlQPHVT&SEQ=20190303162448&SID=3">Thomas Robie of Marblehead, Massachusetts</a>, was one of the approximately 2,000 people who fled the state early in the conflict. A wealthy merchant, Robie <a href="https://www.masshist.org/revolution/non_importation.php">resisted the colonial effort to boycott British-made goods</a> in the late 1760s, angering the town’s patriot majority.</p>
<p>Fearing for his family’s safety as attacks against Loyalists turned <a href="https://ageofrevolutions.com/2016/02/22/dishonoring-the-loyalists/">increasingly violent</a>, Robie left New England bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, with his wife and four young children in late April 1775.</p>
<p>While Thomas’ business decisions had initially stirred up the locals’ anger, his wife made a more inflammatory denunciation of the town’s rebels. </p>
<p>“I hope that I shall live to return, find this wicked rebellion crushed, and see the streets of Marblehead so deep with rebel blood that a long boat might be rowed through them,” <a href="https://archive.org/details/historytradition00road/page/126">Mary Robie is recorded to have said</a>. </p>
<p>According to Massachusetts lore, it was only her sex that saved her from physical harm.</p>
<h2>Making home in exile</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/g-patrick-obrien-694433">a historian studying Loyalist refugees in Nova Scotia</a>, I highlight how these colonists, and women in particular, navigated the physical and emotional hardships of exile. </p>
<p>All told, roughly 32,000 Loyalists arrived in Atlantic Canada, more than doubling the population and overwhelming the unprepared and poorly funded British colonial government. </p>
<p>In contrast to the fertile land the crown promised, the majority of refugees <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=FlUBBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=this+unfriendly+soil&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiT4e_SnOvgAhVDNd8KHZHlBrQQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">found Nova Scotia to be a barren and forbidding wilderness</a>. </p>
<p>Of the widespread hunger, poverty and despair in Loyalist Halifax in June 1784, the oldest Robie child recorded in her diary, “If I look round me, what thousands I may see more wretched than myself.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261792/original/file-20190304-110110-19lyz4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261792/original/file-20190304-110110-19lyz4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261792/original/file-20190304-110110-19lyz4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261792/original/file-20190304-110110-19lyz4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261792/original/file-20190304-110110-19lyz4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261792/original/file-20190304-110110-19lyz4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261792/original/file-20190304-110110-19lyz4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261792/original/file-20190304-110110-19lyz4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Reception of the American Loyalists by Great Britain in the Year 1783’ from Benjamin West’s portrait of John Eardley Wilmot, 1812.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/vufind/Record/1666586">Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rather than passively accept their fate, loyalist women took on important public roles in exile. <a href="https://earlycanadianhistory.ca/2018/01/08/a-community-of-suffering-the-robie-women-in-loyalist-halifax/">From visiting new arrivals, to mourning at the funerals of total strangers</a>, loyalist women’s empathetic actions built the intangible bonds of community that united a diverse group of refugees.</p>
<p>But few women ever warmed to their adoptive home.</p>
<p>The end of the war in 1783 forced thousands to move north, but it also offered earlier refugees, who had already tired of life in Nova Scotia, the opportunity to return to the United States. Loyalist wives and daughters became among the most outspoken proponents of repatriation.</p>
<h2>Homesick for America</h2>
<p>Although she had condemned the Revolution in 1775, Mary Robie quickly became a critic of life in Loyalist Halifax. She often complained about the dreary Nova Scotian weather and <a href="https://allthingsliberty.com/2018/06/mary-robie-and-the-didactic-qualities-of-reading-fiction/">the monotony of her daily routine</a>.</p>
<p>But after giving birth in March 1784 to her last child, a daughter named Hannah, Mary began to frame her desire to return in terms of her family’s future. She begged her husband “to give up on self” for sake of their children.</p>
<p>Thomas was unconvinced. In 1778, the <a href="https://archive.org/details/cu31924032743332/page/n183">Banishment Act of the State of Massachusetts</a> named him among the Loyalists who had fled the United States “and joined the enemies thereof.” As an enemy of the state, and with his <a href="http://www.common-place-archives.org/vol-13/no-04/griffin/">property confiscated in 1779</a>, Thomas had little interest in returning.</p>
<p>The influx of refugees in 1783 had also brought <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=mJi-CChBEbsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Surgeons,+Smallpox,+and+the+Poor&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjBh6W3z-bgAhVimuAKHVhFD50Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">a number of virulent diseases to Halifax</a>; and when both mother and newborn daughter fell gravely ill, Thomas was forced to yield to his wife’s wishes. He reluctantly allowed his eldest daughter to accompany his wife and newborn back to Marblehead to find medical care. </p>
<p>Mary and her daughters arrived back in Marblehead in July 1784, where she became only more convinced that the family needed to come back for good. </p>
<p>“In short you must come here,” Robie wrote back to Thomas in Halifax, “for I shall never be content to live in the way I have done there.”</p>
<p>Even though she informed her husband that the people of Marblehead “would be glad to have you return and former animosities are all forgot,” Thomas remained unmoved. </p>
<p>Recovered from her illness, Mary had no choice but to bring her daughters back to Nova Scotia in October.</p>
<p>But Mary did not abandon her plan. For the next four years she continued to plead with her husband, eventually convincing him to let her and their eldest daughter return to Massachusetts again in 1788 to sell some of the hardware items he had trouble moving in Halifax. </p>
<p>During this trip, Mary encouraged a rival merchant in town, <a href="https://www.geni.com/people/Esq-Joseph-Sewall/6000000020173069781">Joseph Sewall</a>, to marry her daughter. With a concrete familial connection, Mary Robie had gained the upper hand. </p>
<p>“If you ever expect to see me again,” she wrote to Thomas in 1789, “you must come here.” </p>
<p>Thomas relented to his wife’s demands and landed in New England in July 1790. Although three of the Robie children had returned to Massachusetts, they left behind a son, Simon Bradstreet, who would go on to be one of the <a href="http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/robie_simon_bradstreet_8E.html">leading Loyalist politicians in Nova Scotia</a>. Their daughter, Hetty, remained in Nova Scotia as well. Her husband, Jonathan Sterns <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=WOUbw0m-1pUC&pg=PA342&lpg=PA342&dq=%22jonathan+sterns%22+boston+halifax&source=bl&ots=jbC8p4pNoh&sig=jlFbs13AoKPXPDj7xvJiVpRTzMs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZoZad9c_PAhUq_4MKHbLQAqsQ6AEIJzAC#v=onepage&q=%22jonathan%20sterns%22%20boston%20halifax&f=false">met a more tragic end</a> when a rival politician beat him to death in a street fight. </p>
<p>Although he had been proscribed from returning in 1778, facing a number of <a href="https://voxeu.org/article/america-s-revolution-economic-disaster-development-and-equality">economic problems after independence</a>, most New Englanders welcomed the return of merchants like Robie who had transatlantic connections.</p>
<p>Finding his former neighbors amiable, Thomas re-established himself as a merchant in the nearby town of Salem, while his wife traded visiting strangers with long walks in her garden. </p>
<p>“What fools we were to leave such a place,” she was fond of reminding her husband.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112799/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>G. Patrick O'Brien received funding from The Massachusetts Historical Society and the University of South Carolina.</span></em></p>Like today’s Western women who joined ISIS and now want to return home, American women with British sympathies during the Revolution left the country – but many tried to bring their families back.G. Patrick O'Brien, PhD Candidate in History, University of South CarolinaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1008932018-08-22T01:46:13Z2018-08-22T01:46:13ZThe secrets to managing overseas postings for modern families? Start with the spouse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232434/original/file-20180817-165949-uqc0se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Being assigned overseas is no longer a career choice for a single breadwinner, but involves compromises between couples or within families.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/satisfied-man-woman-girl-looking-out-1006698022">Olena Yakobchuk/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Skilled professionals are increasingly likely to have an equally skilled partner at home. This makes it harder for companies to fill overseas positions when the move affects two professional careers. </p>
<p>Multinational corporations are starting to recognise and try to understand the complexities of managing talent globally. But we wondered whether they are considering the “right” scope of complexities. As an example of these complexities, and contrary to popular belief, the expatriate spouse – not the expatriate – remains the number one influence on the success of overseas postings. </p>
<p>Three major, interrelated elements create this largely unrecognised complexity. </p>
<h2>1. The family context</h2>
<p>An overseas assignment can be an enriching experience for the whole family, but making it a success is a different story. Career paths are no longer choices for a single breadwinner, but compromises between couples or within families.</p>
<p>This means there are a number of stakeholders to consider when an overseas assignment is on offer. The dynamics between the various immediate family members play a major role in whether the assignment is a success. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13678868.2012.721985?needAccess=true">Research</a> often reports organisational support for spouses as either inadequate or misaligned. One reason for this is that organisations do not have a good enough understanding of expatriate spouse experiences and attitudes to relocation. </p>
<p>Most recently, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-76529-7_10">research</a> has identified that there are four different types of spouses – some more resilient and ready for an international relocation than others. This is to say that spouses and their personal and professional career endeavours may differ greatly. And the lack of knowledge about this makes it difficult to manage. </p>
<p>The reason for any inadequacy or misalignment of organisational support might well stem, then, from not fully understanding the journey of the other family members who are likely invested but involuntarily affected by the way the assignment is managed. </p>
<p>This type of reasoning similarly applies to families with a female breadwinner, families with or without children, those who identify as LGBTIQ, single parents and families going through a divorce, among other scenarios. The chart below illustrates the range of family contexts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232212/original/file-20180816-2915-sgy80t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232212/original/file-20180816-2915-sgy80t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232212/original/file-20180816-2915-sgy80t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232212/original/file-20180816-2915-sgy80t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232212/original/file-20180816-2915-sgy80t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232212/original/file-20180816-2915-sgy80t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=741&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232212/original/file-20180816-2915-sgy80t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=741&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232212/original/file-20180816-2915-sgy80t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=741&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Corporate support for people on overseas assignments needs to consider the diversity of possible family contexts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Philosophically, it is about managing the family as a dynamic and complex network of actors. That is in addition to the complexities inherent in any particular individual employee or family member. </p>
<h2>2. The assignment context</h2>
<p>We are seeing an increase in the types of international assignments, including short-term, long-term, rotational, flex-assignments and so forth. You can add to this the <a href="http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29915/1/PubSub7470_Dabic.pdf">propatriate (a professional expatriate committed to their parent company), the glopatriate (a globetrotting expatriate committed to a global career beyond their parent company), the inpatriate</a> (a relocation from the subsidiary into HQ) and the self-initiated expatriate (a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/hrm.21827">non-organisational form of expatriation</a>) among others. We now have many assignment types – some of which have not existed or been recognised as such, say, ten years ago.</p>
<p>The assignment type matters to the multinational corporation. It is the context for the length, purpose and expatriate and family allowances of the assignment. </p>
<h2>3. The location context</h2>
<p>Globalisation continues to create opportunities across borders. These in turn are linked to international assignment opportunities. </p>
<p>Today, countries like China, Brazil, India, Argentina, Mexico, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Angola, Nigeria and Iraq present some of the greatest challenges for international assignees, <a href="http://globalmobilitytrends.bgrs.com/">their partners and children</a>.</p>
<p>But what do we really know about these countries? And to what extent are dual-career families ready (or supported) to relocate to these places and be successful – as a family or as individuals? </p>
<p>Another difficult challenge to manage is the fact that some assignment locations are considered more dangerous than others. <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/JGM-12-2016-0066">Some research</a> suggests this keeps potential expatriates and their families from considering the assignment in the first place.</p>
<h2>Managing challenges of diversity is key</h2>
<p>In short, the increased diversity of assignments – in all ways – presents policy and compliance challenges for talent management departments. Creating the right tools to enable multinational corporations to understand and respond swiftly to these challenges is key to competing and winning with a global talent strategy. </p>
<p>Global mobility specialists must fully understand past, present and potential trends to then acquire the agility needed to manage talent in today’s world – across diverse demographic, assignment and family contexts. </p>
<p>In the end however, if the expatriate and their family are not convinced this will be a good experience, no amount of deliberation or support will make it a success. The real key to success is to ensure the expatriates and their families <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00261.x">understand their “window of opportunity”</a> for such a life-changing move.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100893/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The rise of professional couples has added to the complexity of ensuring overseas assignments are a success for both employer and employee.Miriam Moeller, Senior Lecturer, International Business, The University of QueenslandJemaine Tsoi, PhD Researcher, UQ Business School, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/978682018-06-13T20:36:29Z2018-06-13T20:36:29ZThe Australian women expats who found liberation in the US<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222910/original/file-20180612-112608-u9mk8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The pilot, Jessie Maude Miller (right), became the first woman to fly between Australia and England, before moving the US. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/04/obituaries/jill-ker-conway-83-feminist-author-and-smith-president-dies.html">Obituary writers paid tribute</a> last week to Jill Ker Conway, an Australian writer and historian who died on June 1 in Boston, aged 83, after spending most of her adult life in the US. Educated at Harvard, Ker Conway came to prominence in 1975 when she was appointed the first woman president of Massachusetts’ august Smith College.</p>
<p>In Australia, Ker Conway is best known for her acclaimed memoirs, The Road from Cooraine (1989) and True North (1994), which recount how she fled the narrow, sexist world of her youth to pursue a life of the mind in New England. By the time The Road from Coorain was <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290045/">adapted for television</a> in 2002, Ker Conway was one of Australia’s most iconic expats; a US equivalent to London-based figures such as Germaine Greer and Clive James. </p>
<p>Less well known is the fact that Ker Conway was far from unique. A century before <a href="http://gothamist.com/2014/06/09/australians_everywhere.php">E3 visas</a> enabled today’s entrepreneurs and baristas to create a “<a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/the-hidden-australian-expat-community-living-in-new-york-city/news-story/49486492914524d72025a479400c0752">Little Australia</a>” in downtown Manhattan, young Australians flocked to the US.
Its appeal was especially pronounced for Australian women, who often faced sexism in their attempts to build an independent life at home. Well into the 1970s Australia could be “an inhospitable place for women”, as poet Kate Jennings recalled. When Jennings headed to New York in 1979, she found a reprieve from the “misogyny” that prevailed in Sydney. Many women felt the US was more tolerant of female ambition; one called it a “woman’s paradise”. </p>
<p>By the time Jennings headed Stateside in the 1970s, thousands of women had gone before her. These included anarchist poets, opera stars and film directors, as well as architects, dentists, teachers, librarians, businesswomen and diplomats. They went to the US to further their education, gain professional experience, or simply have an adventure.</p>
<p>Unlike Ker Conway, most returned to Australia after months or years abroad. This trans-Pacific mobility not only transformed their own lives, but also forged professional, cultural and economic links between the two nations. Decades before the “turn to America” announced by Prime Minister John Curtin in 1941, Australian women expats helped pioneer our “special relationship” with the US.</p>
<h2>An alternative history</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.auswhn.org.au/blog/persia-campbell/">Persia Campbell</a> was a star of this cohort. One of Australia’s first female economists, in 1929 she headed to New York on a Rockefeller Fellowship and established an academic career. After spearheading the field of consumer economics, she was later appointed adviser to President Kennedy and became a development expert at the United Nations. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222941/original/file-20180613-153674-atkcpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222941/original/file-20180613-153674-atkcpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222941/original/file-20180613-153674-atkcpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222941/original/file-20180613-153674-atkcpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222941/original/file-20180613-153674-atkcpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222941/original/file-20180613-153674-atkcpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222941/original/file-20180613-153674-atkcpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222941/original/file-20180613-153674-atkcpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President John F. Kennedy with Members of the Consumer Advisory Council, 1962, including Dr Persia Campbell (front right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photograph by Abbie Rowe. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>No less impressive was Campbell’s contemporary <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/allen-mary-cecil-5005">Mary Cecil Allen</a>, a Melbourne-born <a href="https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/artist/1858/">painter</a> who won plaudits in interwar New York and controversially championed US-style abstract expressionism in 1950s Australia.</p>
<p>One provocative figure was Melbourne-born dentist Dorothy Waugh, who trained and then taught at Pittsburgh’s Temple University during the 1920s. When Waugh visited her hometown in 1934, she publicly condemned Australia’s regressive gender politics. </p>
<p>“The fact that I was a woman had no bearing on my appointment to a University position. That is the attitude in the United States and it should be the attitude here,” Waugh insisted.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222942/original/file-20180613-153660-1usm880.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222942/original/file-20180613-153660-1usm880.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222942/original/file-20180613-153660-1usm880.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=741&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222942/original/file-20180613-153660-1usm880.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=741&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222942/original/file-20180613-153660-1usm880.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=741&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222942/original/file-20180613-153660-1usm880.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=931&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222942/original/file-20180613-153660-1usm880.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=931&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222942/original/file-20180613-153660-1usm880.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=931&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The painter Mary Cecil Allen in the 1920s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Library of Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pioneering librarian <a href="http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/radford-wilma-14113">Wilma Radford</a> also went to the US to study. In 1948, Radford graduated from New York’s Columbia University, making her the first Australian to hold a degree in library science. </p>
<p>Back home, she urged Australia to adopt the US model of training librarians at university – a campaign that came to fruition in 1960 when UNSW opened the nation’s first library science school. By 1968, Radford was both Head of School and a full Professor, becoming Australia’s first chair of librarianship. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.womenaustralia.info/archives/AWH002136.htm">Jean Wilmot Bemis</a> made her mark by teaching Australians about the US. A Melbourne-trained journalist, she lived in Boston from the late 1920s. There she hosted an ABC radio program called “American Letters” (1943-65), which advocated Australian-US friendship and espoused the virtues of American modernity.</p>
<p>Wilmot’s broadcasts were a hit, but others found a less receptive audience. When dietitian Alice Caporn arrived in Perth fresh from America in 1938, her newfound enthusiasm for almond milk was condemned by Public Health Commissioner Dr Everitt Atkinson. In an instance of the anti-Americanism then rampant among British-minded male elites, Caporn was denounced as a “food faddist” attempting to spread the “pernicious virus of American ‘hooey’”.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222313/original/file-20180608-121234-1ub07zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222313/original/file-20180608-121234-1ub07zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222313/original/file-20180608-121234-1ub07zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222313/original/file-20180608-121234-1ub07zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222313/original/file-20180608-121234-1ub07zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222313/original/file-20180608-121234-1ub07zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222313/original/file-20180608-121234-1ub07zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222313/original/file-20180608-121234-1ub07zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poster for the 1921 film The Heart of the North, starring Australian-born actor Louise Lovely.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Louise_Lovely#/media/File:The_Heart_of_the_North.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For Melbourne aviatrix Jessie Maude Miller, the US promised fame and fortune. After becoming the first woman to fly between England and Australia, she headed Stateside in 1928 to capitalise on the public fascination with women pilots. There she broke the female record for a transcontinental flight, raked in cash on the competition circuit, and survived a spectacular crash in the Bahamas – all before getting embroiled in a murder scandal that saw her hounded from the country. </p>
<p>Queenslander Dorothy Cottrell had an equally rapid rise and fall. In 1927, this unknown writer became a overnight publishing sensation when she sold her first novel in the US for a fantastic sum. Although confined to a wheelchair, Cottrell relocated to California and built a palatial home with her royalties. A few years later, however, Wall Street crashed and her income evaporated. By 1932, she was penniless. </p>
<p>Australia also exported a steady stream of theatrical talent. <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lovely-louise-nellie-7248">Louise Lovely</a>, Enid Bennett and Sylvia Breamer all adorned the silver screen during the 1910s and ’20s – becoming some of Hollywood’s first stars. Over on Broadway, Adelaide’s <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/anderson-dame-frances-margaret-judith-17007">Judith Anderson</a> was one of the biggest names in the 1920s and ’30s. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222912/original/file-20180612-112608-at2lmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222912/original/file-20180612-112608-at2lmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222912/original/file-20180612-112608-at2lmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222912/original/file-20180612-112608-at2lmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222912/original/file-20180612-112608-at2lmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222912/original/file-20180612-112608-at2lmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222912/original/file-20180612-112608-at2lmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222912/original/file-20180612-112608-at2lmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The broadway actor Judith Anderson.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Melbourne-born performer <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/quong-rose-maud-13162">Rose Quong</a> was one of several Chinese Australians to forge an American career. After a stint in London, Quong moved to New York in 1939 and there won fame as an authority on Chinese culture. Alongside these pioneering career women, the US also attracted more ordinary Australians who wanted to spread their wings. </p>
<p>By 1940, over 12,000 Australians were resident there, half of whom were women. And when Ker Conway left for Harvard in 1960, she was only one of 3,000 Australian women who arrived in America that year. </p>
<p>In their stories we find an alternative history of Australian-US relations that challenges the existing emphasis on diplomacy, politics and war.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97868/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded by an Endeavour Research Fellowship granted by the Australian federal government. </span></em></p>Thousands of Australian women took flight to the US in the early 20th century, escaping sexism at home for success overseas. They included architects, artists, dentists and an economist who advised JFK.Yves Rees, David Myers Research Fellow, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/861662018-05-22T09:48:53Z2018-05-22T09:48:53ZBritons reluctant to appear part of a British expat community in France – Brexit could change that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193971/original/file-20171109-27130-1t4qpxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/vineclad-chateaux-overlooking-vineyard-bordeaux-france-295999805?src=sUdOD4YTFNFx8QJuRjPiMQ-1-1">via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the wake of the UK’s Brexit vote, many migrants to Britain have been made to feel like unwelcome outsiders. At the end of a visit to the country in early May, the UN special rapporteur on racism, Tendayi Achiume, said there had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/may/11/uk-has-seen-brexit-related-growth-in-racism-says-un-representative">been a growth</a> in “explicit racial, ethnic and religious intolerance” since Brexit.</p>
<p>But Britons have long been migrants elsewhere too. My own <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14708477.2016.1165242">research</a> among British people living in south-west France showed how they are often obsessed with their own integration into French society.</p>
<p>Integration is a difficult concept to measure or define. It’s reflected in social cohesion and with being able to work and socialise with people outside your own culture. But it’s not a one-way street. Integration depends on a degree of acceptance from the existing population – some have even <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-brexit-nationals-could-take-a-lesson-in-integration-from-immigrants-63674">argued</a> there needs to be a more active two-way process of adapting to each other. </p>
<p>Among those I interviewed, their obsession with integration sometimes mirrored their attitudes towards immigrants in the UK. One interviewee compared what he saw as isolated clusters of migrants in England with huddles of Britons living abroad together. He said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In England we call them ghettos, when you get all the Caribbean people living here and all the Polish people living there. That shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be in England and it shouldn’t be out here.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many interviewees cited stereotypes of Britons abroad: that they isolate themselves from the locals, depend on British foods, services and each other, and they don’t learn the language. There was criticism, of “other” Britons whom they felt were doing things the wrong way. The stereotypes were also reinforced in dozens of press <a href="https://jomec.cardiffuniversitypress.org/articles/abstract/10.18573/j.2015.10003/">articles</a> about the British in France. </p>
<p>Even since the 2016 EU referendum, media reports on the high numbers of Britons working in Europe have used <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/27/fewer-britons-in-rest-of-europe-than-previously-thought-ons-research">stereotypical images</a> that imply Britons in the EU spend their time sitting around in bars draped in the Union Jack flag. No one wants to be aligned with that stereotype, and the Britons in France whom I spoke with were keen to avoid being seen as part of a British network or community.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193976/original/file-20171109-27116-17rgyuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193976/original/file-20171109-27116-17rgyuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193976/original/file-20171109-27116-17rgyuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193976/original/file-20171109-27116-17rgyuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193976/original/file-20171109-27116-17rgyuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193976/original/file-20171109-27116-17rgyuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193976/original/file-20171109-27116-17rgyuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brits living abroad refuse to be a stereotype.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/london-uk-september-28-2015-draught-334008767?src=FnKvb3iaeDGc13JfHwLbvw-1-6">via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Easier said than done</h2>
<p>Many of those I spoke to felt that they managed quite well in French on a “need to know basis”, relying on more competent acquaintances to translate documents and even accompany them to hospital appointments. However, such dependency contradicts the idea of being integrated.</p>
<p>What surprised me was how creative people became when articulating a sense of what it meant to be integrated – for them. One couple, whose low level of French limited their activities, skimmed over their lack of socialising and emphasised their compliance with French residency laws. They contrasted themselves with the “part-timers” who still drove around with UK registration plates. </p>
<p>Another couple talked about how being treated like “freaks” or “royalty” at a neighbour’s wedding – where everyone wanted to have a photograph taken with them because they were English – showed how they were properly being integrated. Yet their choice of language sounded more as if they were being positioned as outsiders by their French neighbours. </p>
<p>The same people had proudly told me that they filled the car with bacon and teabags on their twice yearly trips home, just a few minutes after describing other Britons as sad and wrong for continuing to eat British foods. They added that the French expected to be shown what the British eat, and therefore they were merely addressing a “duty” to show the French things such as fish and chips and haggis. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193974/original/file-20171109-27106-1vpwc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193974/original/file-20171109-27106-1vpwc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193974/original/file-20171109-27106-1vpwc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193974/original/file-20171109-27106-1vpwc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193974/original/file-20171109-27106-1vpwc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193974/original/file-20171109-27106-1vpwc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193974/original/file-20171109-27106-1vpwc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some obstacles are easier to overcome than others.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/paris-france-17-june-2015-chouquettes-297179267">via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Almost everyone I spoke to was reluctant to position themselves within any kind of British community. People claimed that they didn’t mix with other Britons living nearby, although it became clear that most of them knew each other.</p>
<p>It became clear that being integrated can mean very different things to different people. The Britons I interviewed in France were so keen to avoid the British stereotype that they interpreted the concept of “integration” to fit around their own behaviour. </p>
<h2>Post-Brexit</h2>
<p>All of this could well be changing in the turbulent Brexit landscape. Britons now face an uncertain future regarding their right to reside in France, if the current plans set out in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-brexit-deal-means-for-eu-citizens-and-their-families-88901">draft withdrawal agreement</a> between the EU and UK fall through. </p>
<p>Having caught up with one of my interviewees after the vote in late 2017, I detected a feeling of dislocation, or disconnection, from Britain itself. This made me wonder how far Brexit might now be bolstering a sense of being part of a British community in France, in the face of a common threat. </p>
<p>People are certainly seeking support in numbers, for example the buoyant <a href="http://www.remaininfrance.org/">RIFT</a> (Remain in France Together) network, a campaign and support group of over 6,000 members. These kinds of networks appear to be generating a stronger manifestation of a British-in-France identity. </p>
<p>At the same time I suspect that they will subdue some of the reluctance to be a part of it. As the British incomers seek solidarity, my guess is that they will become less reluctant to be seen as part of the British community in France.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86166/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Lawson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Britons living in France are obsessed with how well integrated they are.Michelle Lawson, Associate Lecturer and Honorary Associate in Applied Linguistics, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/922432018-03-29T10:29:48Z2018-03-29T10:29:48ZExpats beware: losing confidence in your mother tongue could cost you a job<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211580/original/file-20180322-54878-p3jwj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What was that word again?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/home">www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When a former PhD candidate recently asked me to write a reference for her, I found myself facing an unexpected dilemma. She is a wonderful person and a brilliant scientist whom any employer should consider themselves lucky to recruit, and I’m delighted to provide a reference saying just that. </p>
<p>The problem lies in the fact that the job is a lectureship for teaching German. I’m German myself, as is she, and so I felt I should write the letter in German. </p>
<p>I couldn’t do it.</p>
<p>First off, I no longer trust my German spelling. This is partly because the spelling rules have changed in the 20 years since I left, partly because I spoke and wrote Dutch for a long time, where many words sound quite similar but are spelled differently, and partly because my knowledge has simply eroded. What’s more, words elude me and I’m often no longer sure if they mean exactly what I think they mean. My grammar is restructuring itself along the lines of English, which in German translates to simpler, less sophisticated sentences. None of this, I felt, would shine a good light on the candidate.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/lab.17058.sch;jsessionid=15edlqbjs4ckv.x-jbep-live-01">I’m not alone in experiencing this</a>. Having spent any length of time – and this can be as little as a few months – in a foreign context, expats like me tend to feel <a href="https://languageattrition.org/what-is-language-attrition/">like a fish out of water</a> or, perhaps more accurately, like a sea lion out of water. We can survive, yes, but movements which otherwise are natural, fluid and efficient become a huge effort. We flap, we fumble, we wobble along, <a href="http://www.anetapavlenko.com/pdf/I_feel_clumsy_2003.pdf">feeling and looking slightly ridiculous</a>. </p>
<h2>Language attrition</h2>
<p>In linguistic terms this means that we “uhm” and “ah” <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00575.x">a lot more</a>. We <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691815300305">pause more often</a>, our sentences <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=AW09AAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=first+language+attrition+use+maintenance&ots=kbYrJlQhWV&sig=qPoqeiqnrMtaeH0T7vz6LhVRcrA#v=onepage&q=first%20language%20attrition%20use%20maintenance&f=false">go wrong in the middle</a> and we have to backtrack. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bilingualism-language-and-cognition/article/lexical-access-and-lexical-diversity-in-first-language-attrition/631E0B949FECFC6CD677EE914FA0862A">Our vocabulary becomes less sophisticated</a> and <a href="http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/lia.2.2.04yil">our grammar less complex</a>. And there are more subtle effects, to do with the different ways in which politeness and social interaction <a href="http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199697960.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199697960-e-29">differ across languages</a>. </p>
<p>For example, English has only one pronoun, “you”, to address others. Many other languages make the distinction between a familiar and a formal or polite pronoun – for example, French “tu” and “vous”, or Spanish “tú” and “usted”. There are no clear, straightforward rules telling you in which context to use a formal and in which a familiar pronoun, and what is considered appropriate and polite varies hugely between countries. </p>
<p>For example, in the Netherlands I became used to addressing the Rector Magnificus of my university with the informal pronoun and by his first name. In Germany, one was expected to call him “Your Magnificence” (I’m not making this up). Using a familiar pronoun, let alone a first name, would have been unthinkable. Not only have conventions changed over the past 20 years but I feel that I’ve entirely lost my sense of what’s appropriate in any given situation. </p>
<p>Many of these phenomena of what is called <a href="https://languageattrition.org">language attrition</a> are quite similar to the changes in language use often found in the <a href="https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad142763">very early stages of dementia</a> – although, of course, the underlying cognitive processes are completely different. Language attrition is not a neurological condition, but comes about because two languages are fighting it out in one brain. Like people living with dementia, those experiencing language attrition are faced with the stark reality that we assess and judge people based on <a href="https://languageattrition.org/stories-and-responses/">how well and how confidently they use language</a>. When linguistic performance becomes compromised, intelligence, capability, and overall cognitive functioning <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0261927x95141008">are underestimated</a>. </p>
<p>Unlike people living with dementia, people with language attrition may take comfort in the fact that these symptoms are unlikely to persist or get much worse, and that re-immersion in the native language will probably make them disappear within a few weeks.</p>
<p>But for three million EU citizens living in the UK and a million Britons on the continent, many of whom may now be <a href="https://theconversation.com/brexodus-of-eu-citizens-from-the-uk-is-picking-up-speed-92089">contemplating a return</a> to their home country because of Brexit, language attrition could be a real problem. A badly-spelled or clumsily worded letter of application, a fumbling and hesitant performance at interview or – horror of horrors – an inappropriate use of a pronoun, a first name, or the omission of a honorific title, may ruin any chance to prove yourself in the job. Such errors are, of course, completely unrelated to how competent you are to carry out a particular function – but that will not provide much comfort if language attrition has cost you the job of your dreams. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211590/original/file-20180322-54893-1mzre6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211590/original/file-20180322-54893-1mzre6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211590/original/file-20180322-54893-1mzre6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211590/original/file-20180322-54893-1mzre6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211590/original/file-20180322-54893-1mzre6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211590/original/file-20180322-54893-1mzre6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211590/original/file-20180322-54893-1mzre6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How to turn your German back on.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=vy7Kab4sipYriW45qM9Lhg-1-65">via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Do the prep</h2>
<p>So, what should you do if you are thinking of going back on the job market in the country of your birth? Here are some tips that may come in handy:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Always have all documents you submit checked by a fully competent native speaker who is currently living there.</p></li>
<li><p>Think yourself into the language, starting as early as possible. Play out the conversations you may expect to have in the job interview. Consider not only specialised key terms but also the ways in which you will interact with the members of the panel. Do this out loud.</p></li>
<li><p>If possible, look up who the panel members are and what their titles are. If you are unsure, ask a fully competent native speaker what the proper way is to address them. Practise this.</p></li>
<li><p>If you are unsure about certain technical terms or specialised vocabulary, make a cheat sheet for yourself, and don’t feel embarrassed about referring to it during the interview.</p></li>
<li><p>If you can, arrange for a mock interview with friends or family who share your native language.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Some of this may seem over the top – but it could make the difference between you feeling like a graceful sea creature in its element or a clumsy lump of lard wobbling along on dry land.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92243/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monika Schmid receives funding from the ESRC and the Dutch National Science Organisation (NWO). </span></em></p>Language attrition can happen to people who live in a foreign context – and it can be embarrassing.Monika Schmid, Professor of Linguistics, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.