Double-edged sword

Migration drives the planet. It is because the first humans stepped out of Africa, that we have populations all over the world. Colour got diversified because of climate and thus should have never been the cause of division, but it is, and it is one of the factors against the idea of migration because now it’s “us” v/s them. White against brown and black (“Nations should protect the dignity of migrants,” Dec.16, Gulf Today).

But it’s more than colour of course. We always talk about good quality tourists. We know what that means for economy. Not only does the good quality tourist have more spending power, he helps with the culture by respecting his host country and contributing to it in terms of the etiquette he introduces. That’s how the world learns. The bad quality tourist on the other hand, has not much to contribute either economically or culture wise. Since the bad quality tourist normally and presumably comes from a country that is still developing, he carries with him that same tension of competition, of pinching pennies and the general lack of etiquette.

Ask for me, I know. I live in Goa, a former Portuguese colony. The 400 years that the Portuguese lived here had a great impact in making this Goa European in its thinking and dressing. The annexation of Goa by India saw the bad quality tourists coming in and a chaos in safety and security, dirt all over the place and the general insecurity. They bring with them the mess of their place, in terms of lack of safety as well as lack of etiquette.

Now replace ‘bad tourist’ with migrant and then we can have a valid discussion on migrant rights and whether they include rape and murder and littering the place of the host country.

Joyce D
By email