… Christmas week – and I’m going batty, nuts, squirley – take your pick!

A last batch of tests with my Grade 9’s and some student papers submitted late to grade before I need to submit my on USB with the grades for 50+ students. That has to be done no later than Friday – which is the same day as I have to be finished with a major report to be sent to The National Statistics Center. I’ve been working on that blasted thing for the last month but the due date sort of snuck up on me…

Oh yes – and then there’s that other small matter:

Christmas!

Good thing I’m not in charge of the Christmas tree this year, or it might have ended up looking like this. I’m leaving all of that to my sister and her family, as I’ll be spending the holidays with them as well as my brother and his family. That is – provided I make it there… The Weather Services are talking about snowstorms and the like for the coming weekend and I have 500 km to drive…

My blogger friend KC  over here has saved me a few times earlier with a meme…

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Egg Nog – any time. The non-alcoholic one is OK any time , one laced with a wee bit of Rum is just right as a night cap.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
As long as there are children around all presents have to be wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
When I was a child, we lit the candles on the tree after supper on Christmas Eve while waiting for Santa to arrive. I can still see how the lights reflected in the little brass holders that were fastened on the branches… The candles were allowed to burn until my parents had drank their coffee and then lit again on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.  So, white lights on the tree and a strand of little LED-lights around the living room window. Generally, I’m not much for decking the house from one end to the other with lights (call me cheap) but what I’d like is to once again have a tree with real candles.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No, it’s not a part of our traditions.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
The Christmas Star goes up in the window on the first Sunday of Advent, as does the 5-armed candle holder.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
Smoked Salmon.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
When I got my first pair of new skis – not hand-me-downs from older cousins. What joy!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I was poking around in the attic for something when I found the mask, a gunny sack and an old coat in a dresser drawer. That happened the spring I turned 6 and I felt totally cheated by my parents – but I didn’t tell them about my “find”… Not until shortly before Christmas that year, when Mom admonished me to be good, if I wanted any presents. That’s when I told her I knew Santa was just a  big fat lie.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes, all of them.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
White lights, some brass ornaments from Denmark, shiny baubles in different colours and some angels that have been around for a long time.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Can’t do much about it – but a Christmas without snow would feel really strange.

12. Can you ice skate?
I prefer not to. I was never any good at it and the ice seems to be further away now than when I was younger… It’s as if I’ve grown taller, or…

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Those skis I wrote about earlier.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Spending time with family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
By the time dessert is on the table, I’m too stuffed. I’m not big on sweets at any time – even less so at Christmas.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Good food shared with family and friends.

17. What tops your tree?
A star.

18. Which do you prefer: Giving or Receiving?
Giving – nothing beats finding that special gift for someone – something they never thought they’d receive as a gift. It doesn’t have to be expensive because it’s the thought behind that people will remember for years.

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?
Not my favourite.

20 Favorite Christmas Show?
Swedish National TV always shows an hour-long program with excerpts from Walt Disney movies. Mickey Mouse, Chip & Dale, Donald Duck and Cinderella are a must for young and old while waiting for dinner to be served.

21. Saddest Christmas Song?
Don’t think I have one…

22. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Silent Night. I’ve heard it sung in many languages and the version that still sends shivers down my spine is sung by a choir from Greenland.

On my way to an Open House at Pangea, I took a drive around town to shoot some pictures. I was actually looking for a good spot for taking pictures of the spectacular colours on the sky, when I saw this:

No, it’s not my best shot but YES – it’s a dipper! I wanted to change to the zoom lense but didn’t dare since I know how shy these birds are. Sure enough – I got to take two pictures before he flew off.

My post from the other day gave rise to a few more questions, which I will endeavour to answer as fully as possible.

KC- I’ve been trying to figure out how the authorities were thinking when they decided there was “no armed conflict” going on in Iraq. I have friends deployed there right now and I know their tour in Iraq is no holiday. Some of them may not make it back Stateside alive – but Swedish Migratory Authorities still maintain that it’s safe to send back minors to the country. I can’t make these two pictures come together – but maybe I’m just stupid.

Given a choice, I’m sure most of these kids wouldn’t leave their homes and families behind and embark on a dangerous journey through strange countries. Most often they are in the hands of smugglers who see them as commodities to be freighted from point A to B at a price (average cost is reportedly $7,000 and up) – with no gurantees what so ever that they will actually make it to their destination. I can’t even begin to imagine how their families feel when they have made the decision to send their 14 year-old to another country under those circumstances.

Laurie – Once they arrive in Sweden they are initially housed in so called Transit Centers until they can be placed in a home run by a county somewhere. The Transit Centers are supposed to be a short-term and temporary solution, but that doesn’t always work. Of 290 counties more than a hundred are not accepting refugees (some of their reasons NOT to makes my blood boil!!!) so some of these children end up living in TC’s for months on end. Once they have been assigned to a county they are housed along with other refugee children in a home with staff present around the clock. Ours, Pangea, used to be dormitory for children who lived too far from town to go by bus (in the 50’s and 60’s) – then used as daycare during a number of years before it was renovated to become home for 20 youths.  In other places they have converted apartments and other buildings, owned by the counties, for the same use.  After they have received permanent status and turned 18, they are allowed to move out on their own. They still get some assistance from the county, but nothing much more than what a Swedish youth will get when moving from their parents.

The other day, I got a question from Laurie from Dog Hair in my Coffee because she wanted to know something about the what’s and why’s of our system with a Migration board, Court and Migration Court of Appeal.

I’ll try and explain it all without this becoming a dissertation that not a single person will be able to muddle through.

Some background:

Sweden has been known as a country with fairly benevolent regulations concerning people seeking refugee status or asylum here. Previously, this was definitely true – as evidenced by the number of persons from various countries who has obtained permanent status here during the last 50 years or so. In the 50’s Sweden welcomed a number of persons from Hungary, after 1968 they came from Czechoslovakia, in the 70’s from Chile, during the next decade or so from Turkey and during the 90’s from the former Yugoslavia and other Eastern bloc countries. The process was fairly straight forward, people came here and were allowed to start a new life. I might add that in those days, Sweden needed young and strong people, willing to work for low wages…

During the last decade, there has been a significant change in attitude, though. This is however something that people in countries torn asunder by war, buckling under inhuman dictatorships or those living under other horrendous circumstances, have not been aware of. On the contrary, at the beginning of numerous “underground railways” the word has been that once you arrive in Sweden, you’d be practically home-free. Unfortunately, there has been some nasty changes in policy – at least if you ask me.

Iraqi citizens are (almost summarily) denied visas because Swedish authorities have decided that there is “no armed conflict” in the country.

Persons hailing from countries like Libya had better be able to show evidence of torture if they hope to stay here…

The Migration Board will deem someone “stateless” and yet try and deport them to the country they were in before arriving here.

Some decisions handed down by the Migration Board defies logic – such as the one given  my youth, -W-. Such as all other children they have denied asylum or refugee status. Such as deporting families who have lived in the country for years and years while their case has gone through the mill… (However, we no longer need workers from other countries…)

In recent years there has been quite a few children (mostly boys) between roughly 13 and 16 who have arrived here on their own. Sometimes they are called “anchor children” as they are believed to have been sent here for a reason. If they obtain permanent status in the country, they can apply for their families to be granted visas. I’m sure some of them came here for that reason – but I think the majority left their native country for other reasons. Like so many of the boys here have said “Do you think I’d leave my home country and my family, if I had a future there?”.

When they arrive in Sweden, they are processed in one of the bigger cities in the south and then placed in a county that has agreed to welcome “unattended minors” while their case is tried. The Migration Board will then interview the child two or three times with a lawyer and an interpreter in attendance. The questions may seem fairly straightforward but some of them are definitely posed in an effort to make the person contradict themselves. If the result is that the person is not granted a visa, an appeal is made to the Migration Court and the whole process sort of starts all over. Most of the time, the Court will make a decision without hearing the person “personally” – but about 20% are actually called to the proceedings and allowed to present their case. Another negative answer leaves a final option  – appealing to the Migration Appeal Court – where a limited number of cases are tried.

I’m sure I haven’t been able to explain all of this properly so if anyone reading this feels even more confused now – keep on asking questions and I’ll do my best to answer them!

Here’s something to be thankful for – I think the lawyer assigned to –W- must be one of the better ones in the Migration racket. Yes, I’m calling the handling of refugees and asylum seekers a racket, but not for the reasons you may think. More about that later.

We had a lengthy talk with the lawyer over the phone yesterday (an interpreter was present in his office) and today I received a copy of the preliminary appeal. When I read the decision by the Migration Board, I literally drowned in their rather convoluted explanations as to on what grounds they had made their decision to deport –W-.

Once the lawyer had peeled off all of that, there wasn’t a whole lot of substance to the 9 pages of officialese. Instead, it became painfully obvious how weak their arguments were, especially since later reports from various agencies clearly refute some of the “findings” they based their decision on.

A stateless person is under no circumstances welcome back to the country where –W- lost his parents and spent 5 years in an orphanage, and most certainly NOT someone of Palestinian ethnicity.

Although this country has ratified various agreements forbidding torture and racial persecution that is by no means a guarantee that these agreements are enforced by national authorities.

They have even ratified the UN children’s convention – but that does in no way guarantee that it is being honoured on any level of society. (indeed, Sweden is also a signatory to that convention, but we deport children to countries like Iraq, Yemen and Libya.)

Our hope now is that the Migration Court will see things differently than what the Board did. They do review cases from a different point of view than what the Migration Board does. Their mandate is to follow the letter of the law and the decisions are taken by persons trained in law.

Why do I think Migration is a racket? Well, I still can’t shake this nagging suspicion that –W- was denied permanent status as part of a drive to fulfill some quota or other… Much like there is a whole lot of sobriety controls along the roads when the police need to up their numbers of drunk drivers caught…

It must be my over-all mood that makes me crave colours right now!

I don’t really like green – at least not on me – but when Mother Nature hs painted the world in all shades of green, it is beautiful!

Late yesterday evening I headed out to my friends cabin, where Loki has been since Thursday. I got there way after dark, so the only thing we did was actually just eat and then collapse on the beds while digesting a good dinner.

We also talked at great length about what is happening in the county – jobwise – and by the end of it I was feeling a whole lot better about the situation. My friend -E- also works with Special Needs students and we both think we’d make a good team – so maybe this staff-cut will prove itself to be a blessing in disguise…

The weather is still socked in, so no great pictures from today.

… or maybe I should call it a bad week.

Yesterday I was given the official word that my job in administration is no longer. The county is going through a major re-organisation of the entire administration and my 50% is one of the positions that will be cut. I’ve sort of expected it for some time – but it still hurts, and I really question the wisdom in making it effective as of year-end. You’d think we’d be given the chance to at least finish the fiscal year before this change in staffing is made, but no.

This doesn’t mean that I’m out of a job as I still am employed by the county – just that I’ll be moved to something else. I have already talked to the principal and there is a possibility that I’ll be working with special needs students – at least during the coming semester.

Can’t quite decide if I should be happy or not…

Today -W- and I had an appointment at the offices of the County Family Services. They are in fact in charge of the asylum seeking youths – I am just appointed as trustee to look after their affairs, arrange for dental apppointments and the like. This appoitment was booked a few weeks ago while we were sure -W- would be granted his permanent status and I had in mind to cancel it yesterday, since everything has changed in the last few days. I forgot to do that, so we had no choice but to attend… -W- looked so sad when I picked him up, but once we came in to the social worker he sat up, holding his head high. He answered politely and with integrity to all questions even that some of them must have felt like a slap in the face (How do you envision your future?)…

At the end of the hour, he stood up, shook hands with the social worker and thanked her.   Could I have acted with such grace? No, I highly doubt it!

This view (again from the window at work) brought home what it was that became Ted Harrison’s inspiration when he first arrived in the Yukon. Skies like  this sustain me ( at least for a few hours…) for him it became a distinguished career as a Northern artist.