Immigration and How Immigrants Are Viewed
In an increasingly global world, it has become much more common for people to travel across the globe. Oftentimes, these visitors end up settling in the country, assimilating into the culture. This is done for many reasons; education, job opportunities, or to escape a volatile political climate[1]. These immigrants eventually may choose to obtain the citizenship of the country they have fled or moved to but this process may be extremely difficult. Moreover, the immigrants may also face constant hostility and discrimination due to their race or immigrant status[2].
Immigration was a common occurrence in Athens with, much like today, an influx of people coming from the surrounding cities to escape prosecution or for economic opportunities[3]. These people were permitted to remain in Athens for approximately a month before they became known as Metics and had to register their presence with their local community[3]. They also had to appoint a sponsor for their stay and were declined many rights available to citizens[3]. Despite this, the male Metic population was shown to make up about a third of the total population in Athens at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War[3].
This is very similar, in some ways, to the procedures immigrants have to go through today to gain residency or citizenship in a country. Kuwait, the country I live in, comprises of a population where immigrants outnumber residents 4-1. For citizens to achieve residency, people have to go through a long application process and have to have the support of a citizen of the country. This can be likened to the Metics in Athens requiring a sponsor[3]. Moreover, visiting a country itself requires some form of documentation, which was not true in Athenian times[3]. Nowadays, people have to apply for a visa to enter a country as a visitor for a limited amount of time and while they are there they are not allowed to work or study. To do this, they must apply for a completely different visa. This visa application process takes a long time and requires many documents proving the person can take care of themselves financially after moving. This is also different to Athenian procedures[3].
Another major law change now is the fact that individuals born in certain western countries like Canada or USA get automatic citizenship, even if their parents are not residents of the country. This is completely different to antiquity where, even if one was born in the city, they would not be given citizenship unless both their parents were Athenian, thanks to Pericles’ Law of 451/0[4].
Much like today, Metics did not have many of the privileges afforded to citizens. They were not given the right to vote and the right to own land. This has changed in some ways compared to antiquity but remains the same in others. Immigrants are still not allowed to vote until their status changes. However, immigrants nowadays can occasionally own housing, depending on the country they have immigrated to. Countries like Canada or USA do not prevent a person from owning land due to their residency status, they simply care whether they can pay for the location. This is very different to ancient Athens, where all Metics were not allowed to own land regardless of how wealthy they were and so lived in rental housing[3]. The rental housing could often be quite lavish though. Despite the change in laws regarding land ownership, rental housing is still the most popular residence option for immigrants.
Metics also only had limited access to courts[5]. Metics were also given harsher penalties for crimes compared to citizens as, if caught without their residential paperwork or found guilty of a crime, could be taken into slavery[3]. Furthermore, Metics could also be subjected to judicial torture, something citizens were protected from. This is a terrible reality still seen in western countries, with minorities in countries such as American suffering harsher punishments even today though, thankfully, judicial torture is illegal in most developed places now. Another horrifying reality was that punishments dealt for killing Metics were less severe than usual murder charges. This is a major issue still seen today, with crimes against minorities carrying fewer punishments in countries such as the US. This was clearly seen in the recent issues surrounding George Floyd which resulted in a series of protests.
Other downsides have emerged as the world progressed too. For example, education and healthcare is significantly more expensive to a non-resident in most western countries. It is hard to compare this aspect to Athenian ones as healthcare was not that refined at the time. Additionally, we do not have much evidence regarding healthcare for Metics.
While Metics in Athens did not have the same rights as citizens, they had the same economic prospects to them. some of the wealthiest citizens in Athens were Metics[3]. This is true to a certain extent today, where immigrants may obtain the same level of success as citizens, but it is considerably harder for them. Universities consider immigrants without citizenship as international students and thus charge them absurdly high tuition which could be hard to afford[6]. Another glaring facet is the unavailability of financial aid for ‘international students’, further reducing the availability of higher education for them. Since many jobs require a higher degree in today’s economy, if someone cannot gain higher education it can reduce their chances of conventional job success
[7].
Metics, however, do have the capability of gaining extreme wealth and fame in Athens. One of the most notorious examples of this fact as Aspasia, a popular hetaria in ancient Athens, and an immigrant from Miletus[8]. She was held in high regard in the country and was referred to in many ancient sources such as Greek tragedies, Greek comedies, and the works of Aristotle and Plato[9]. Aristotle was actually another immigrant living in Athens and, as we all know, he was a popular philosopher and educator and was well respected. This is very much like today where immigrants can gain a lot of wealth and economic success in the country they have moved to.
Despite all of these issues, people still immigrate all around the world for a variety of reasons. Political turmoil or a search for better economic prospects are popular reasons for immigration. Immigrants do suffer discrimination and a reduction of their rights when they move (the discrimination may remain even after they gain citizenship) but these issues may be a far better alternative than what they left behind. Unfortunately, despite the increase in immigration over the years, out policies and attitudes around immigration have not evolved much from antiquity and this is definitely something that needs to be rectified.
Bibliography
[1] Armitsu, Yasue. “Nation, Identity, and Subjectivity in Globalizing Literature.” Coolabah 13 (2014): 1–12. [2] Louis, Winnifred, Victoria Esses, and Richard Lalonde. “National Identification, Perceived Threat, and Dehumanization as Antecedents of Negative Attitudes toward Immigrants in Australia and Canada.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 43, no. 2 (June 2013): 156–65. [3] Renshaw, James (2008)
. In Search of the Greeks. London: Bristol Classical Press. pp. 201, 202.
[4] “Pericles’ Law of 451/0” Accessed November 27, 2020. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0009%3Achapter.
[5] David Jacobs, Richard Kleban, Political Institutions, Minorities, and Punishment: A Pooled Cross-National Analysis of Imprisonment Rates, Social Forces, Volume 82, Issue 2, December 2003, Pages 725–755, https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2004.0013
[6] Choudaha, Rahul. “Three Waves of International Student Mobility (1999–2020).” Studies in Higher Education 42, no. 5 (2017): 825–32.
[7] Reay, Diane, Jacqueline Davies, Miriam David, and Stephen J Ball. “Choices of Degree or Degrees of Choice? Class, ‘Race’ and the Higher Education Choice Process.” Sociology 35, no. 4 (2001): 855–74.
[8] “Plutarch, Pericles Bernadotte Perrin, Ed.” Plutarch, Pericles, chapter 24, section 3. Accessed November 27, 2020. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plut.+Per.+24.3.
[9] “Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, Series 1, Aspasia.” BBC Radio 4. BBC, November 26, 2018. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b040hjy4.
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