Foreigners: Challenges and solutions

The matter of dealing with foreigners is a phenomenon that is not confined to any single society. It is one that all societies without exception have to deal with.

The matter of foreigners, for instance, in the United Kingdom is a hot topic in the press, in political discussions and among the general population. To most people in the UK — or France for that matter — the problem of foreigners is an issue that is limited to their countries. In the United States, both the media and politicians debate and discuss the matter of immigrants from Mexico and South America. Even as geographically isolated as Australia is, as large as it is and as small as its population is, the matter of foreigners is of overwhelming concern.

The Arab world is no exception when it comes to the issue of foreigners. Gulf countries, for example, are full of foreigners and Yemen itself — whose citizens are working all over the Arab world — has to deal with thousands of refugees from Somalia and other African countries. Lebanon has a mixture of foreigners that includes Palestinian and Syrians as well as others from Egypt and various Asian countries. Jordan has a different problem which is represented by a large number of Palestinians who are considered part of the Jordanian social fabric. In addition, there are thousands of Iraqis in Jordan who have fled Saddam’s rule.

In fact, there are very few places in the world without a significant number of foreigners. The common factor with all nations is the problem of a legal and an illegal workforce in each country. Ironically both wealthy and poor nations voice the same complaint: “People come only for our wealth.”

Despite increasing complaints in the United Kingdom about foreigners and the many wise people who try to seek appropriate solutions, many Britons believe they are a special case. I struck up a conversation with a Briton and I explained to him that the presence of foreigners is an international problem. For example, thousands of Britons who live and work in the United States, Australia and Canada are treated as foreigners in those countries. Moreover, Britons living abroad suffer from anti-foreign feeling in those societies.

The fact is that it is impossible to find a society that is free of sentiments against foreigners. In addition, the high number of immigrants among them should, to a certain extent, motivate citizens to work hard and aim for jobs which are being done by foreigners. It is certainly true that the natives of any country should have priority for jobs which should only be given to those with adequate qualifications, training and proven ability to assume responsibilities. This means it would be much more constructive for societies which complain about foreigners to prepare their own youth for employment. In that way, the so-called problem of foreigners would cease to exist.