What's missing in the global debate over refugees | Yasin Kakande
TED Talks Daily
TED
4.1 • 12.1K Ratings
🗓️ 16 April 2018
⏱️ 4 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the ongoing debate over refugees, we hear from everyone -- from politicians who pledge border controls to citizens who fear they'll lose their jobs -- everyone, that is, except migrants themselves. Why are they coming? Journalist and TED Fellow Yasin Kakande explains what compelled him and many others to flee their homelands, urging a more open discussion and a new perspective. Because humanity's story, he reminds us, is a story of migration: "There are no restrictions that could ever be so rigorous to stop the wave of migration that has determined our human history," he says.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This TED Talk features investigative journalist and author Yassine Kakande, recorded live at TED |
| 0:07.0 | 2018. |
| 0:08.0 | I am an immigrant from Uganda living in the United States while waiting for my asylum |
| 0:17.0 | application to go through. |
| 0:19.0 | Migrants do not enjoy much freedom of movement in our world today. |
| 0:23.6 | This certainly applies to those who are desperate enough to navigate chopper and stormy seas in boats. |
| 0:30.6 | These are the risks my cousins from West Africa and North Africa face while trying to cross over to Europe. |
| 0:38.3 | Indeed, it is a rare but fortunate opportunity for a migrant to address a gathering like this. |
| 0:46.3 | But this also signifies what often is missing in the global debate over refugees, migrants and immigrants, voices of the disenfranchised. |
| 0:57.0 | Citizens of many host countries, even though that previously welcomed newcomers, are uneasy |
| 1:03.0 | about the rising numbers of individuals coming into their countries. |
| 1:08.0 | The immediate criticism is that the newcomers appended the stability of social welfare and employment in their countries. The immediate criticism is that the newcomers append the stability of social welfare and employment in their countries, and |
| 1:15.2 | certain and skeptical citizens look towards politicians who are competing against each |
| 1:20.7 | other to see who can claim the prize of the loudest voice of populism and nationalism. |
| 1:27.5 | It is a contest of who is the toughest on migrants, |
| 1:32.1 | the most willing to impose travel bans, |
| 1:34.4 | and the most eager to propose projects in building walls. |
| 1:38.6 | All these restrictions simply address symptoms of the problem, not the causes. |
| 1:43.6 | Why are they coming? |
| 1:46.0 | Migrants can share perspectives if only politicians could be willing to listen. |
| 1:51.4 | In Dubai, I chronicled injustices and inequalities inflicted regularly on the migrant labor force. |
| 1:57.1 | As a result, pressures from the government of the respective countries led to me being forced |
... |
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