OliviaM wrote:Hi Eternity!!
to the forum! Tough times in Belgium at the end of the year!! Looking forward to your thoughts.
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Olivia
Personally, I did not have that much impact of the recent events (terrorist attacks in Paris and the lockdown in Brussels). I live in Gent, in which there was no real terrorist threat. I do however work in Brussels and I commute on a daily basis using public transport (train and metro) and it was rather surreal to see war equipment (tanks e.d.) in the center of Brussels and military staff with machine guns guarding the metro stations.
These are indeed rather interesting times. The current situation (immigration flux, threat of terrorism, economic instability, rise of right wing parties, and a Europe which does not seem to have coherent answers at the moment), is to complex to discuss fully in a forum post, but here are some quick views from my side:
There is a very large influx of people coming to Europe. A large majority of these immigrants come from a situation which clearly is horrible (war, terrorism, political, economical reasons). Obviously it is not possible to stop this immigration overflow (how do you stop people who are willing to die to come here..) and I'm not quire sure we should try to stop it (given that these people obviously need help).
However, up until today we have not been successful in integrating the people who are already here, which has a large impact on our society:
- a rather large portion of immigrants is unemployed
- a majority of immigrants coming from Muslim countries have vastly different views on values: most notably on feminism and homosexuality. The effect hereof is already very noticeable in our larger cities (Antwerp, Gent, Brussels)
- Second and third generations from immigrants are more susceptible to radicalization, mostly due to frustration (racism, lack of upward mobility, education, ...). This problem is amplified due to the tolerance policy in specific parts of Brussel. (specific Belgium political reasons).
The problems are rather clear, the solutions however ...
That being said: Belgium is still a very nice country to live in, and I am blessed to be born here.
Sorry for the long post on such a serious topic.
