Expatriate children don’t know which country is home

DUBAI— “Dubai is our home, but we cannot live here forever,” opine an expat generation of youngsters searching for their roots. They are the offspring of expats who have been staying in the UAE for years, but are still yet to be welcomed by the local society.
“These are the people who do not identify or associate with their own people and culture back home. Our youth today, is divided,” say parents. Unlike the West, where immigrants are accepted by the society and given a social status after a certain period of time, the UAE is yet to address the issue. But fearing a backlash, social workers say that these youngsters can become a ticking time-bomb for the authorities in the future. From the viewpoint of psychiatrists, these youngsters would continue to feel insecure until they find out where they actually belong.
For families that have made the UAE their home for years, returning to their home countries is seemingly impossible. On the contrary, the youngsters prefer to move ahead towards the West and acquire a legal status that in future makes re-entry into the UAE considerably easier, and also solves the ‘residence visa’ problem to some extent. Whatsoever the scenario, the youngsters always find a means to come back to Dubai.
“I have been living in the UAE for the past 23 years. I came here with my parents from Pakistan when I was a child. I had my schooling and even attended university here, and I consider Dubai my home,” says Maleeha A. Maleeha, who has been to her home country only for one or two weeks and that too, after a period of six to eight years during her 23-year stay in the UAE, is definitely bound to think of Dubai as her home. She says: “Dubai does not welcome you like home,” but adds that it is a fact youngsters like her have come to accept.
The luxury Dubai has to offer might not be available to youngsters back in their home countries, especially to those from the subcontinent, which makes the decision to move away permanently even harder.
Maleeha’s family migrated to Canada and got citizenship, but eventually moved back to Dubai because the older people could not stand the cold weather. Her father, now retired, is considering buying property to acquire the 99-year visa status in an attempt to make Dubai ‘home’ for his family. “My mother has made this place a home. We have been residing in the same building for years, and so have our neighbours. These are the people we consider as family,” confides Maleeha.
But as the UAE visa rules have it, the three-year renewable visa stipulation can put an end to the dreams of several people, leaving them heartbroken. “It’s like a permanent sword dangling over our heads,” says 25-year-old Lebanese, Zeina. “We moved to Dubai when I was a child to be away from the war in Lebanon,” she says. “I used to hate it when my parents went for a visit there, and I kept on complaining about the lack of facilities and the discomfort I was in,” she explains. “But, now after all these years, I’m glad that my parents took me there, because these visits gave me insights into what I actually am and where I belong. These visits are the only little knowledge I have of my country,” adds Zeina. “But still I’m sure I will stay in Dubai permanently,” she adds.
Such situations have led to inter-communal weddings, because for parents, it means that their children will stay with them for a longer time. “I prefer to find a match for my daughter in the UAE because this will let her stay closer to me,” says an Indian mother, Geeta Sethi. “I understand my child’s nature which I know has been altered due to her upbringing in Dubai. Therefore, I know my daughter will have trouble settling down in India because she has been away from family politics.”
Giving an insight into the behaviour of these youngsters, a psychiatric doctor said: “These children have been nurtured in a very protective environment. In other words, they are a pampered lot. They have never seen the real world up-close. They have never been exposed to true hunger and poverty which exists in countries where the majority belongs to.” He said that exposing them to the harsher realities of life at any point in time may lead to the withdrawal and rejection of that society. “It might also have a negative effect on their personalities for ever,” he added.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Parallel to this unrest among youngsters in the urban areas, another society is taking shape. In some parts of the emirates, there are people who have been staying here illegally for years. “Though proud to say that they ‘live’ in the UAE, they are hardly able to make ends meet,” says Sabina Asif, who has been working with such cases for years.
“Regardless of the future of their children, a generation is being brought up here that will be misfits in this society in the future. Authorities need to be alerted about these people,” she says. According to her experience, Sabina says that this generation has not had much education because the parents cannot afford it. “The children do not know which country they come from because they have never visited it. Here, parents look at their own comforts, ignoring the future of the children totally,” she says dismally.
—Courtesy Khaleej Times