Apart from the odd father attending to the needs of their families, most Syrians sleep in late in the Jungle in Calais. They are wrapped up inside their tarpaulin and plywood hovels resembling one of those Hoovervilles from Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. Sometimes new arrivals, exhausted, just curl up and sleep on the dusty path, not caring that in this makeshift camp rats are oblivious to men. In fact, this is the very reason why they call it the Jungle; for here men live like animals. The Junglists though, whether Syrian or not, don’t sleep in because they are idle. They have been up all night trying; trying with an indomitable will to reach the white cliffs of England.
Inishturk, an island off the main coast of Ireland, has now joined Canada in officially accepting Americans requesting political asylum from a Donald Trump presidency.
The island has been experiencing a population decline in recent years, and they decided to try to reach out to Americans seeking to flee our current political dystopia by offering a new place to live if the idea of Donald Trump and the Republicans following his lead are just too much.
Mary Heanue, Inishturk’s development officer, was quoted as saying:
I’ve heard there are quite a few people in America looking to move to Ireland and other countries if Donald Trump becomes president. I’d like them to know that we’d love to see them consider moving over here.
Our big concern is employment and trying to encourage families to move over here because the population is declining. The island featured on an Irish TV documentary last year which gave us great publicity and a good few extra bookings. But we ended up having a terrible summer and a lot of people canceled.
They’d be given a huge welcome and they’d find this is a fantastic place to live and to bring up children. Their kids would probably get the best education anywhere in the country too, because the teacher to pupil ratio is nearly one-on-one.
Although winters can be hard and it’s the kind of life that wouldn’t necessarily suit everyone, they’d find it very peaceful here and they’d soon find out there’s nowhere as nice in the world on a summer’s day than here.”
The website IrishCentral.com also got in on the action recently, by publishing their own guide on moving to Ireland in case Donald Trump is elected.
The website describes the details, and realities, of moving to Ireland. It isn’t particularly cheap and the financial restrictions on it might preclude some people from being able to take advantage of it.
However, there are some big things on the plus side. The gun laws are restrictive and you won’t see wannabe cowboys carrying handguns openly in Ireland – a huge plus. They have strong social welfare and services, plus did I mention universal heathcare? Not exactly a terrible idea… They also do take some well-placed digs at our Republican problem, by making a few short jabs at the likes of Bill O’Reilly and Donald Trump in particular, by stressing that you request an absentee ballot so you can still vote against Donald Trump for a nice middle finger from across the pond.
More than likely, Trump will not get elected. However, it never hurts to have a backup plan, especially if you don’t fit into one of the new state-approved ethnic groups (whites only) that will be one of the features of a possible Donald in the White House.
Featured image via Coastal Boating
Christian is from a small town, surrounded by other small towns, in Pennsylvania. He nearly slipped into the conservative K-hole after high school, but was redeemed by Liberal politics and 8 years of Bush. After spending far too long working for corporate America, he has settled back into life as an unapologetic progressive and general caller-out of conservative fallacy and nonsense.
“I will certainly return to my country, whether it is rebuilt or not.”
After his father as taken by Isis, 14-year-old Mohammed became the man of the house. Now, he’s starting a new life in Germany but is keen to cling onto his past.
Filmmaker Marcel Mettelsiefen followed one family for three years as they struggled to survive in besieged Aleppo, eventually becoming refugees and fleeing to Germany.
Watch part 1, Children on the Frontline on All 4: http://bit.ly/1eoNelB
Watch part 2, Children on the Frontline: The Escape on All 4: http://bit.ly/1NqkH48
Users vow to deactivate accounts or turn profile photos red to draw attention to hundreds of deaths in Syria’s Aleppo.
![Smoke rises after air strikes on the rebel-held al-Sakhour neighbourhood of Aleppo on the weekend [Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2016/5/1/8168999128a14e16afed798ba29013c3_18.jpg "#AleppoIsBurning: Calls to boycott Facebook over Aleppo")
Thousands of social media users have pledged to deactivate their Facebook accounts, or to turn their profile photos red, in an effort to draw attention to the Syrian government’s air offensive in Aleppo.
The hashtags #MakeFacebookRed and #AleppoIsBurning were being used to highlight the ongoing offensive, which has killed more than 240 people over the past week and forced many families to flee.
Officially deactivated @facebook
Hopefully many did too & we are not as ignored anymore#AleppoIsBurning
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