I was born in Newcastle.  In the UK.   In 1961.  On a Monday.  The number 1 on the UK charts was “I Love You” by Cliff Richard.  If I’d been born a few days earlier it would have been “It’s now or never” by Elvis Presley.  If I’d been born 80 miles north I’d have been Scottish.  If I’d been a girl I’d be called Wendy (or was it Sandra, I can’t remember).

Yesterday we found out that the 39 people found dead in a truck in Essex came from China.   They could have come from Syria or Mexico, or from the Moon for that matter.  They were “illegal” immigrants. They were not meant to be here.  Or so we’re told.

Some of the earliest humans lived in what is now Ethiopia.  The “cradle of civilisation” was located in what is now Iraq. People have been migrating for tens of thousands of years.   All of the countries of “The West” were populated through migration.

You can’t see the borders of countries from space. A visiting alien would not know which country was which when they observed from orbit.  The earth is just a beautiful blue globe floating in space. Unless you believe the flat earth theorists, but I’m not going there.

So why do we have to view people as “illegal”. Is it because we don’t want to pay for them?   Some studies suggest that migration is good for the economy.  Is it because we don’t understand their values?  Are our values so much better?  Who decides?

The point is simple.  No-one decides where they are born, when they are born, whether they are rich or poor, powerful or powerless.  It’s a human trait that we want our children to have a better life than we’d had.  So, some people decide to migrate to another location.  Some risk prison, deportation or death to make this happen.  They spend all that they have to some low-life wanting to make a fortune out of their “illegal” status.

So before we make a decision that someone is “illegal” or should “go back to where they came from”, remember it’s only a twist of fate that made you who you are. 

If the sea levels keep rising due to global warming some of the places that we live in may become uninhabitable. It could be you migrating next. It could be you that is considered “illegal”.

Show some compassion.