Next stop, Canada, in new wave of emigration from Iran

Image via WikipediaBy Farshid Motahari Mar 21, 2011, 4:07 GMT

Tehran - There is almost no time when people get together in Tehran that migration to Canada is not discussed.

The North American country has turned into the new Garden of Eden for those who see no future in their homeland of Iran.

'I am done with my homeland, which I used to love, and I want to continue my life living in a place with no restrictions and gender discrimination,' said Haleh, a 30-year-old chemical engineer in Tehran who plans to leave for Toronto in the summer.

She is not alone in her frustration. The number of Iranians seeking a new life in Canada has increased by at least 30 per cent in the past 20 months, according to several agencies in Tehran dealing with migration to Canada.

Observers said one of the main reasons is the June 2009 presidential election, which was overshadowed by fraud. Street protests against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were violently suppressed along with any hope of change in the Islamic state.

A sociologist in Tehran said the enthusiasm before the election and the hope that Iran would move toward democracy has turned into frustration, prompting the younger generation in particular to consider leaving.

'What we witness now is the emigration of young and educated people who see no more opportunities in Iran,' the sociologist said. 'They do not want to waste themselves here but seek a new start in a country like Canada, where they believe their potential could be realized.'

The first emigration wave from Iran happened in the years after the 1979 revolution and the establishment of its clergy-ruled Islamic republic.

The destinations then of those countries.

According to officials, 5 million Iranians live abroad, but observers said the number is even higher because their children born abroad are not necessarily registered in Iran.

A university professor in Tehran questioned how aware these offspring are of their origins. 'They probably do not speak Persian, either,' the educator said. 'They are Iran's lost generation resulting from the country's situation in the last three decades.'

Canada has emerged in recent years as the new destination for emigration. Because of its selective criteria for immigrants, mainly educated and professionally qualified Iranians are allowed in.

A census back in 2006 put the number of Iranians who have migrated to Canada at 92,085. The number is said to be more than 250,000 now.

Because most of the Iranians prefer to settle in Toronto, the city has been nicknamed 'Tehranto.'

One of the new aspects of migration to Canada is that Iranians moving there are not necessarily motivated by money because many enjoy a good standard of living in Iran.

Ali, a 43-year old doctor, and his wife had a good double income and a comfortable life but still decided to move to Toronto.

'I love Canada because every attempt of mine at being happy is not discouraged or dissuaded, disregarded or dis-whatevered,' Ali said.

Mohammad, a dentist, has had his own clinic in Tehran and believes that his income at home would be more than in Toronto, where he is planning to go soon.

'I can earn money in Iran, but what I miss is simply having choices in a country with no choices, either political or social,' he said. 'It's not a place where I want to spend the rest of my life.'

Many Iranians planning to go to Canada saw their political choices ignored in the 2009 presidential election and their protests violently suppressed.

'If I vote for different people and political parties and even if they lose, I still expect them to be active as an opposition and not suddenly removed from the political scenery,' said Farinaz, a 37-year-old architect, who also wants to migrate to Canada.

She was referring to the two main challengers to Ahmadinejad in the election. They have been branded by the government as 'Western mercenaries and agents,' prevented from taking party in political activities and put under house arrest since last month.

Iran's generation under 35 faces numerous social restrictions, especially in contacts with the opposite sex.

'Socially, we have no choices either because we either have to get married or be preached at that having fun is immoral and having passion a sin, which even leads to earthquakes,' said Maryam, a 28-year-old student who has applied to migrate to Canada.

She was referring to a sermon last year in Tehran in which Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi said that social immorality, such as improper women's clothing and sex outside marriage, increases the probability of earthquakes.

Source: 

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

The Philippines now Canada’s top source of immigrants

Image by DaDaAce via Flickr

Michael Villanueva, a 36-year-old Philippines-trained engineer, arrived in Winnipeg a year ago under the provincial nominee program. He works the night shift as a maintenance man at a Winnipeg bread plant, then spends his days in a college course for electricians. He said he knew that emigrating might mean stepping down a rung professionally, but he’s still frustrated. He hopes to take a Canadian engineer’s certification exam once his English skills improve.

The connection to the Roman Catholic church – about 85 per cent of migrants are Catholic – has also been a unifying force for the community, which has simultaneously rejuvenated shrinking congregations. Outside of church, Filipino-Canadians have formed more than 1,000 ethnic associations organized around work, sports or other interests.

Having such robust community networks may be one reason Filipinos don’t tend to concentrate in neighbourhood enclaves, according to Prof. Laquian. Also, the nature of the caregiver program, which places migrants in peoples’ homes, may play a role in the community’s geographic dispersal.

In recent years, the education level of caregivers accepted as immigrants has skyrocketed. Philip Kelly, a York University geographer, said the proportion of caregivers with a university degree has risen to 63 per cent in 2009 from 5 per cent in 1993, making it an even better educated group than the skilled-worker class.

But as the human capital of newcomers has jumped, concerns have intensified about the fate of the children of previous waves. Prof. Kelly said research shows their outcomes are not what one would expect.

“In terms of statistical evidence, it looks like the story is not a happy one. Outcomes for Filipino youth are often quite poor, high levels of high-school dropouts and low levels of university graduation,” Prof. Kelly said. In Toronto, 37 per cent of first-generation Filipinos have a university degree, but that number dips to 24 per cent in the second generation, he said.

Some experts blame the struggles of the next generation on the family dislocation caused by the caregiver program. Stories of women exploited in Canada and families damaged by years of separation have surfaced more frequently in recent years.

For women such as Salve Fungo, the caregiver program is just a way-station on the path to a better life. A computer technician in the Philippines, Ms. Fungo, 36, moved to Canada in 2007. After a little more than two years caring for an elderly woman, she’s re-training as an IT specialist and embarking on the path to citizenship.

She describes it as an attractive proposition: A few years of sacrifice for life in a stable country with free health care and a salary that will allow her to send relatively vast sums home. She already paid her brother’s way through college.

“Most of my friends wanted to come here,” she said. “It’s the ‘in’ thing in the Philippines to come to Canada.”

Source: The Globe and Mail.

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