On the all things wrong about your stupid and hypocritical "immigration", whatever thing you mean with this term

The pseudo-question on "immigration" (if we want to call it in this fashion) originates from two different explanations of today's world: one limited and another broad.

Nowadays, it has become commonplace to think Italy is being invaded by "immigrants". And what immediately comes to mind? Africans, boat and thirty-five euros. But some will think of indispensable human resources, workers' rights, cultural mediators and language courses. All this when they talk about Africans. It is always about them. What is surprising is that Sub-Saharan Africans are considered foreigners par excellence. Their black bodies are dressed with the mantle of the "alien", but these Africans (and I am now referring to those who have legally entered the country), represent an absolute minority (with a not very significant economic strength) of the all immigrant groups living in Italy. And you can easily go and check the Caritas Immigration Dossier and the ISTAT data (1). You will find amongst the most representative African communities the ones from Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Tunisia and Egypt; notwithstanding, an incorrect and absolutely unfair representation of the "Africans" continues to be maintained and propagated across the Italian media.

Can anyone explain to me why we don't put China, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India under the big category of "Asians"? We don't, and we rightly do so. They are different populations and we recognise their difference, their peculiarities; on the other hand, we put all the Africans (that is, the peoples of the continent) altogether, as if they had something in common and they do not despite being habitants of the same continent; but is it so relevant? No. Ghana and Egypt are not the same thing. Senegal and Tunis are not the same thing. These countries do not represent an immense and varied continent of 54 states. There is simply no African country that can represent the originality and intrinsic uniqueness of the nations and populations on the continent. There is not. It does not exist and cannot exist. Nor can one think that Italy and Sweden are the same and that France represents all of Europe. In Europe, perhaps the gamble would be appropriate given the political history of the last two thousand years. Still, the peoples of Africa have never had anything like that: the continent is too large. In human political history, there has never been a political entity that covers such an extensive territory. Conceiving these proportions is perhaps difficult for most people because we are used to thinking of the African continent as if it were a branch of Europe (just North Africa, of course, ignoring everything else), even in size. Still, it is so much bigger and this realisation has some notable implications.

This observation leads us to make another great discovery.

Almost all Africans, that is, the citizens of the 54 African states, reach Italy and Europe by plane. I know, it is absurd but take a deep breath, and read again: "Almost all Africans, that is, the citizens of the 54 African states, reach Italy and Europe by plane." Therefore, regularly. To state such a fact has become so absurd to the point which is hard to even conceive it when it is true and more absurd to think the opposite but to me is crystal clear why we do so. Illegal immigration is always cloaked as a natural phenomenon when in reality is transnational organised crime that must be opposed with all our strength because it endangers the lives of women, men and children who risk everything they have in the hope of being able to improve their conditions. Hopes that are fueled by their ignorance and for some (and there are) by a certain degree of audacity due to the young age.

Let's go deeper into this point.

Entering in Europe is not easy for everyone outside the eurozone and freedom of movement in EU member states is a right of European citizens only, which is not even unlimited. (2) If you are a tourist and you obtain a visa from a EU member state that is part of the Schengen area, you will be able to travel to other EU countries within the time your visa is valid. For an American, a Chinese, a Brazilian, entering Europe is not easy. You need to have a visa, a round-trip ticket, you must prove to have an income, have an interview and many other things. Now let's take Nigeria as a practical example. Nigeria is a federal state of a growing 190 million people (spread across 36 states within it). It is a country with a productive film industry (Nollywood, the second in the world after Bollywood), the largest number of rich people in Africa (yes, all of Africa), rampant corruption and a wealth of the few that contrasts the poverty of many. If you were an average Nigerian you would have to deal with a bureaucracy that in most cases revolves against you (3), to bribe civil servants with money to complete any operation, the same civil servants that would make it difficult for you and your family to meet the requirements of any visa. Going abroad is not for the rich but it is certainly not normal for the mass of poor people given the numbers of the population. You don't even have the hope of improving your salary situation in the short term. Even if you do, you have the Nigerian passport dilemma that has the worst restrictions in the world due to organised crime and criminal associations active in the country. You are then subjected to multiple checks and all Nigerian passport holders complain about it. So, why wait when your cousin calls you from the UK or Italy telling you that everything is fine? That there is another alternative way by paying people? This is what happens.

From these countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Niger, Eritrea, Ethiopia, to name a few), there is a criminal transport service system with zero guarantees of survival. Forget about the EU Consumers’ Rights directive. Here some people earn their living by hauling people in a bus, and, being this not something legal, and therefore regulated, actors with possible bad intentions can enter at will. And they do. (4) I don't call them traffickers for the simple fact that these people are paid to be taken to a destination. Certainly, there are people who are forced, but it is equally true that there are many people who pay and rely on these jackals. For these reasons alone, we should not encourage the bloody profit of those who make this fateful journey, nor should we send out signals that this is the way to enter Europe, nor should we think that the African states concerned are not doing anything about it. This is another lie.

Nigeria and the World Organization for Migration are working together to repatriate all those who want to return to their homeland and who are in a state of hiding in other countries. (5) There are similar initiatives in Senegal where it is widely discouraged via radio and television not to embark on these journeys and in Ghana as well. Countries that, I want to emphasise, are not at war.

Someone could accuse me of cruelty but assuming that most Africans come regularly and just a very small number come irregularly, in which an even smaller group meets the requirements of asylum seekers, why should Italy "welcome" those who have no right to stay in the country? And why should Europe do something and there is never a discussion on what those African states should do or already do for those who are their citizens?

In Italy, it is a well-rooted belief that people are everywhere sick in the vast African continent, live in horrible conditions, and that it is natural and their sacrosanct right to escape from such a black, infernal place.

An idea promoted in a widespread, continuous and scientific manner by myriads of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that conceal and distort the African reality and propagate a narrative that is functional to the expansion and development of their business. Thanks also to them that in the last fifty years (even before than that), Italians have been convinced that Africans, all of them, are a bunch of idiots who are totally unable to provide for themselves and others.

The idea is that all of Africa, each of the 54 African states, is not only poor and hostile to life but that there is no hope. No redemption. No chance of improvement. Hence, the natural conclusion, namely that all Africans escape from this dunghill, that all Africans want to come to Europe, live in the West way of life (whatever that means) and much more. Africans are curious but love where they are, the vast majority. So why are they running away to Italy? This is also not true. Some go to neighboring African countries, some to Saudi Arabia, some to China (the country that has the highest number of African students in their universities, more than the United Kingdom and the United States) (6) but most of them are in Africa. There is no favour or moral obligation to "welcome them" and the very word with this retro-thought is very racist because it aims at replacing their governments and social order. Since it is believed that they are incapable of taking care of themselves, the "burdensome task" is up to us. An Italian political party has alienated itself from a huge part of the electorate precisely on this point. This party paraded its righteousness showing itself more merciful, more supportive and generally more willing to help a certain number of people who have come illegally compared to the growing number of Italian citizens and regular foreigners who are getting increasingly poor by the day and towards whom the same openness and understanding was not addressed. Some are in even worse conditions than those who come here illegally, but unlike the latter, the former have the right to vote.

And here we come to the other crucial matter: having made the body of Africans object for political struggle over which unprecedented cultural and moral rape is taking place. This has been done having put everyone in a cauldron, absolutely everyone, Africans, descendants and those unfortunates who find themselves victims of powers greater than themselves. And now I'm referring to these poor souls. I speak of those desperate and hallucinated by false hopes. For the most part, young men, illiterate, who speak ungrammatical English or French, with poor education and expectations that exceed reality. These people genuinely expect some sort of El Dorado, a dream that shatters almost immediately as soon as this hellish journey starts. And how is it possible to "integrate" them? What the word integration means is not known. The circuits of a computer can be integrated not human beings especially good ones. Those are fine everywhere. How and why should we integrate people who are not political refugees? And why the Africans and not the Chinese? There are illegal immigrant Chinese and Bengali people, but why isn't there applied fairness and impartiality at the media, political, and administrative levels? Simply put, Africand are not considered an equal. And this is because, unfortunately, those in leadership positions in Italy do not have high regard for Africans and it can be noted in the language. We always talk as if "the civilised world" must somehow act to revive the fortunes of the continent, a Marshall plan, a 'European' solution (yes, but what it actually means nobody knows), "let's help them at home" (7). Who speaks of hospitality thinks that all of Africa literally sucks and that it is right, that it is an inalienable right to escape from there, but would you describe Italy starting from Scampia (Naples) and Tor Bella Monaca (Rome)? And then for a large part of those who undertake this journey, it is far better to stay in the countries they come from rather than risking their lives in a perilous journey and then ending up in countries where you will never be totally in control of your life, countries where you will be condemned to live on alms for the rest of your days, exploited by the unemployed, journalists, lawyers, priests, politicians, non-governmental organisations, unscrupulous farmers, organised criminal groups, ordinary people on the verge of a nervous breakdown who will see in you the source of all their plight, your compatriots too will try to go over your head.. really, I don't understand how one can confidently say that these people's lives are better-off once here, as I don't understand anyone ignoring the emotional toll, the disillusionment, depression, brutality and desolation they experience, I just don't know.

It is even more inexplicable to justify such a massacre by saying that "immigrants" are needed because the country's demographics is falling. Now, we need to encourage people to come and live in Italy, hoping they will have children, but people from all over the world, including Africans. Justifying illegal immigration with the hope that those who disembark on Italian shores will then mate with Italian women and thus increase the population, seems to me very cynical and in a certain sense very inhumane, to say the least. The President of INPS, but not only him, must say that regular immigrants support and contribute to society with the taxes they pay, not those who arrive illegally. These people are not registered, do not have a regular contract (and it is difficult to teach them the skills necessary to be attractive in the labour market) and consequently do not pay taxes. It is not intellectually honest to shuffle the cards talking about immigrants in general as if those who reside regularly can be put on a par with those who come illegally: they are two different groups and distinct issues because we talk about the life, work and the merit of people in society. Let me be as frank as I can possibly be. It is often said that we need "immigration" (illegal immigration, of course) because there are jobs that Italians no longer want to do. This statement is the most racist you will ever hear because it suggests that there are jobs that Italians not only do not want but shouldn't even do and that the State shouldn't even encourage them to do. Unqualifiable. And then it is extremely absurd to see those who claim to be the most progressive amongst us, downgrade the humanity of these persons to mere "resources", and then talk about labour where there is no wage, where there is no legal working hour, where there is no contract, where there are no protections or trade unions, where there is no citizenship due to the fact of being the first victim of the outlawed opportunities described above, in short, where there is absolutely nothing. This is mere exploitation. Blind, classist and unbounded exploitation. Favoring it equals being a criminal in my eyes.

I will not go on talking about the evils plaguing the communities where this wretched of the Earth live such as prostitution, organ trafficking and clandestine abortions. These "migrants", these illegal immigrants, are all disintegrated by these processes, not saved.

Above all, I don't understand those people who have origins from the African continent who continue to feed a whole series of lies and illogical stereotypes about it. They speak of the African Renaissance and then of a world without borders, as if being born in any African state, being "black", gives you the right to a universal passport that grants you unlimited freedom of movement because you are a homeless person, without culture, without history, without roots, in short, a citizen of the world. Too bad the world is too big. The irony of fate is that African states abide by their immigration laws more than Italy does. In 2004 Angola expelled four hundred thousand illegal immigrant Congolese (8); the King of the Zulus in South Africa in 2015 declared that "all foreigners must pack their bags and leave the country", unleashing the mob against refugees that caused the deaths of two Congolese (9) and Nigeria in 1983 expelled two millions Ghanaians residing illegally in the country with threats of retaliation for all those who did not comply with the order (10). They are not examples to follow and these countries must be criticised if their rigidity has resulted in inhumanity and yet Italy and Europe that save and have saved people at sea are criticised, in short, two weights and two measures.

The point of view of these people (and some of them are also my friends) is to see Africans and Africa as victims. A schizophrenic and alienating attitude that swaps one's personal history for a senseless ideological affiliation, but being African, having origins from the continent is not a trading vote. And it doesn't make you special nor a person who suffers more than others. And Africa, the whole continent, is not a pack of migrants and one cannot give the idea of an African Renaissance and at the same time promote the cult of "the wretched of the Earth". The "migrant" is not African and to pass the idea that Africa is inhabited by begging and unproductive people is an insult to the dignity of those same people they say they defend, because they deserve to be treated as equals on the world stage and that poverty it is a condition, not "being African".

The nonsense of these days diminishes the efforts of people like my parents and many others whose first concern has always been to abide by the law, appreciate Italian culture, learn about its customs, knowing full well who they are because they have a homeland and dignity, too. And there are so many people this way. And they are the ones concerned about the climate and the irrationality of recent months. What parent in the right mind would not be worried upon learning that the society in which they have chosen to live considers their daughter or son "a guest", "an immigrant", "a foreigner"? And that is indeed something to worry about. A distinction that is deliberately confused, a bit like racism: a phenomenon that has expired and inflated due to those who continue to exaggerate conflicts more than they should and to make risky associations with America, and thank God, Italy is not the United States of America and its secular and bloody racist constitutional and social history. Not always any attack on one of African descent is racism. Yet it seems like something limited only to Africans. But why insults to Kyenge is racism while to Toni Iwobi, senator of the League, it is perfectly fine to shout at him "field n-word", "slave" and photos and comments degrading his person and humanity, as if being African cannot mean being idiots! The statements of the senator (which I find a lack of respect for his compatriots who die by the hundreds in the Mediterranean) manifest legitimate positions but why is this degradation downsized and even considered right by the professionals of humanity on the left? He is an Italian citizen with Nigerian origins but we don't care, his skin is more important for some, apparently. Iwobi is an Italian citizen but for most people he is just African but not in the categories that these gentlemen like: desperate, unhappy, illiterate, maybe sportsmen or possibly guests to some multi-ethnic party on Sunday afternoon. Shameful.

Humanity concerns everyone. It is not a stamp to show off that the African Union issues through boats from Libya. Humanity really concerns everyone, and Africans are not the only ones to suffer and, above all, not all Africans suffer. The Africa I know is a reservoir of colours, beautiful clothes, young people, many small artisan businesses, many women who manage a business, lightness, hope, intelligence because there are intelligent people on the continent, great dynamism, great stories, as in all realities there is always something not completely right but still we must not see this as hell. There are other ways of living in the world.

Protecting citizenship and strangers is a right and a responsibility of the State. Those who enter illegally are protected if they are fleeing from persecution, natural disasters or are seeing their country destabilised due to foreign intervention. But those who do not cannot go anywhere as they please without consequences, and there are specific reasons and interests of the organised community that must be protected. It is not "populism" or other neologisms resulting from the semantic masturbation of recent years.

What is the solution? Let's start by treating Africans as equals and be fair in thoughts and actions, and then hopefully in our laws.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. THE ESTIMATION OF CITIZENSHIP IN THE BASE REGISTER OF INDIVIDUALS THROUGH THE INTEGRATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE SOURCES (ISTAT), Page 33
https://www.istat.it/it/files//2019/10/La-stima-della-cittadinanza.pdf

2. A) FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS (EUROPEAN UNION), Page 3, Point 2 Directive 2004/38 / EC (a) Rights and obligations
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ftu/pdf/it/FTU_4.1.3.pdf
B) ENTRANCE AND RESIDENCE OF CITIZENS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (ASSOCIATION OF LEGAL STUDIES ON IMMIGRATION), PAGE 1-15
http://www.asgi.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ingresso.e.soggiorno.dei_.cittadini.dell_.unione.perin_.bonetti.27.marzo_.2012.perin_.bonetti-1.pdf

3. TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL (2017), PAGINA 1, NIGERIA 148, ITALIA 54
http://www.transparency.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CPI-2017-global-map-and-country-results.pdf

4. A) THE GLOBAL INITIATIVE, LIBYA: A GROWING HUB FOR CRIMINAL ECONOMIES AND TERRORIST FINANCING IN THE TRANS-SAHARA (2015), PAGE 2-4
https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/TGIATOC-Libya_-a-growing-hub-for-Criminal-Economies-and-Terrorist-Financing-in-the-Trans-Sahara-web.pdf
B) THE ROLE OF ORGANISED CRIME IN THE SMUGGLING OF MIGRANTS FROM WEST AFRICA TO THE EUROPEAN UNION(UNODC), PAGE 35
https://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/Migrant-Smuggling/Report_SOM_West_Africa_EU.pdf

5. ASSISTED VOLUNTARY RETURN AND REINTEGRATION (OIM), PAGE 57
https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/avrrreport2011final_25aug12.pdf

6. A) AFRICAN STUDENTS IN CHINA: RESEARCH, REALITY AND REFLECTION, LI ANSHAN (2018), PAGE 8
http://sites.clas.ufl.edu/africa-asq/files/2_Li_Anshan.HD-ed-2.pdf
B) CHINA HAS OVERTAKEN THE US AND UK AS THE TOP DESTINATION FOR ANGLOPHONE AFRICAN STUDENTS by Victoria Breeze and Nathan Moore (2017), QUARTZ
https://qz.com/africa/1017926/china-has-overtaken-the-us-and-uk-as-the-top-destination-for-anglophone-african-students/

7. TAJANI AT THE EU-AFRICA FORUM; AFRICA NEEDS A 50 BILLION MARSHALL PLAN (ANSA)
https://www.ansa.it/europa/notizie/rubriche/altrenews/2018/12/18/tajani-al-forum-ue-africa-serve-piano-marshall-da-50-mld_8ea795c1-ba99-46b7-83c4-404686cae159.html?fbclid=IwAR2AIwRiYz72nWlEVPwvbwyXyuLSKsPN-1TWieEu1eAD-l6UKQaKhW4Pk4k

8. CONGOLESE EXPELLED FROM ANGOLA THREATEN ANGOLAN REFUGEES IN DR OF CONGO
https://news.un.org/en/story/2004/04/101222-congolese-expelled-angola-threaten-angolan-refugees-dr-congo

9. MOBS KILL AT LEAST SEVEN FOREIGNERS AFTER ZULU KING SAYS SOUTH AFRICA SHOULD BE PURGED OF ‘LICE’ (NATIONAL POST)
https://nationalpost.com/news/world/mobs-kill-at-least-seven-foreigners-after-zulu-king-says-south-africa-should-be-purged-of-lice

10. GHANA REFUGEES MAY REACH 2 MILLION
http://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/03/world/ghana-refugees-may-reach-2-million.html