Immigrants Are The Future- And what we need to start preparing for now

Happy July 1st, or as we say in Canada…🇨🇦 Happy Canada Day! Today's post is a bit of a change of format and, yes, tardier than I would have liked, but skip to the BIG NEWS section to find out one of the reasons why.

Immigrants are everywhere (including most of the population of Canada built from second and third-generation immigrants). We're not escaping it. They aren't going anywhere, and if anything else, there will be more movement of people in the next decade. Pushing away, devaluing and minimising immigrants' contributions to Western countries is an inequality we must stamp out. We need to practice what we preach.

I speak from experience. I am one.🇨🇦 A Canadian who's migrated to the UK, although often, the term' immigrant' isn't extended to me. In fact, I've been an immigrant now for over half my life. In one country or another, figuring out the place to call home🏡. This is one of the privileges I have over so many immigrants, who aren't leaving for better opportunities (or adventures) but for a future where they are safe, not plagued by natural disasters, violated by brutal dictators or caught in war.

Unfortunately, I've also been touched by these experiences, whether fleeing the tsunami while working in Japan or escaping war in Yemen much earlier in life. They were all life-changing experiences for me, accompanied by a lot of trauma that sometimes feels impossible to process (see my TEDx Talk Equality By Design for more on that). But then there are also incredible new perspectives that guide your life- or maybe an idea about how technology and safety can be a part of that shift (yes, I'm referring to Safe & the City).

⏳Depending on your perspective of time, the further you pass, the more likely it is that someone along your lineage has immigrated to a new land. While some expect the world to become more insulator and nationalist, I'm afraid that's unlikely what we have in store soon.

Figures from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre show over 70% of the 33 million newly displaced people in 2019 moved due to climate-related reasons." Greenhouse gases causing climate change will make this happen. A study from Oxfam suggests that 20 Million people will soon become displayed each year because of climate change disasters. That's nearly 1/2 the population of Canada each year!

🌏 This will become an even more globalised and immigrant-reliant world, so why does it seem difficult for societies to welcome these people and inevitable changes? A good question, but an unanswered one. One thing is for sure. We need to become much better at preparing for this situation, including the opportunities they can bring.

As Hamilton in the Battle of Yorktown sings 🎶 "Immigrants, we get the job done." 🎶

 

Recommended Reads

Books I Recommend It Didn't Start With You Book- How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle. A deeply powerful book written by one of the leading psychologists in trauma, Mark Wolynn. It goes much deeper into our roots, how these may have been passed on and understood by us as children and how to regain your power to overcome these. 

BIG NEWS

Global Talent Visa: A Crash Course for Ukrainians - You are officially the first to know about the launch of this course. This is a FREE, condensed and rapid course designed for Ukrainians and other people in conflict areas, who are seeking immediate but long-term options to work, study and reside in the UK based on their exceptional skills in technology. Know someone who can benefit? Please share this link with them!

In the spirit of the Back to Basics work/life integration you’ve read about it, I’m practising I’m switching off while back in…yes you guessed in Canada. See you in a couple of weeks!

That’s it from me for now. Bye bye! 👋🏻 👋🏻