Masculinity, Sexuality and Illegal Migration: Human Smuggling from Pakistan to Europe

230 Pages·2011·2.344 MB·English

by  Ali Nobil Ahmad

Masculinity, sexuality
and illegal Migration
studies in Migration and diaspora
series editor:
anne J. Kershen, Queen Mary, university of london, uK
studies in Migration and diaspora is a series designed to showcase the
interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary nature of research in this important field.
Volumes in the series cover local, national and global issues and engage with both
historical and contemporary events. the books will appeal to scholars, students
and all those engaged in the study of migration and diaspora. amongst the topics
covered are minority ethnic relations, transnational movements and the cultural,
social and political implications of moving from ‘over there’, to ‘over here’.
also in the series:
Globalization, Migration and Social Transformation
Ireland in Europe and the World
Bryan Fanning and Ronaldo Munck
isBn 978-1-4094-1127-7
Childhood and Migration in Europe
Portraits of Mobility, Identity and Belonging in Contemporary Ireland
Caitríona Ní Laoire, Fina Carpena-Méndez, Naomi Tyrrell and Allen White
isBn 978-1-4094-0109-4
Experience and Representation
Contemporary Perspectives on Migration in Australia
Keith Jacobs
isBn 978-0-7546-7610-2
Expatriate Identities in Postcolonial Organizations
Working Whiteness
Pauline Leonard
isBn 978-0-7546-7365-1
Multifaceted Identity of Interethnic Young People
Chameleon Identities
Sultana Choudhry
isBn 978-0-7546-7860-1
Masculinity, sexuality
and illegal Migration
Human smuggling from Pakistan to europe
ali noBil aHMad
Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan
First published 2011 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © Ali Nobil Ahmad 2011
Ali Nobil Ahmad has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be
identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or
by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Ahmad, Ali Nobil.
Masculinity, sexuality and illegal migration: human
smuggling from Pakistan to Europe. – (Studies in migration
and diaspora)
1. Human smuggling–Pakistan. 2. Human smuggling–Europe.
3. Pakistan–Emigration and immigration–Social aspects.
4. Illegal aliens–Europe. 5. Pakistanis–Europe. 6. Male
immigrants–Europe.
I. Title II. Series
364.1’37’089914122-dc22
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ahmad, Ali Nobil.
Masculinity, sexuality and illegal migration : human smuggling from Pakistan to Europe / by
Ali Nobil Ahmad.
p. cm. – (Studies in migration and diaspora)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-0975-5 (hardback)
1. Pakistan–Emigration and immigration–Social aspects 2. Europe–Emigration
and immigration–Social aspects. 3. Human smuggling–Pakistan. 4. Human smuggling–Europe.
I. Title.
JV8753.A56 2011
364.1’37–dc23
2011022580
ISBN 9781409409755 (hbk)
ISBN 9781315594200 (ebk)
Contents
Series Editor’s Preface vii
Preface and Acknowledgements ix
Part I: IntroductIon
Introduction 3
Part II: drIves
1 Gender, the Household and Migrant Masculinity 51
2 Sexuality and Migration: Thinking Beyond the Economic 67
Part III: death
3 Fortress Europe, Afro-Eurasia: Human Smuggling
and Restrictive Economy 95
4 Eroticism, History and Base Materiality: Migrant Experience
in Travel and Transit 113
Part Iv: Loss
5 Myths and Realities of Return and Arrival: Gender and Generation
in Pakistani Migration 143
6 Time, Space and Illegality in the New Migrant Economy 159
Conclusion 179
Bibliography 183
Appendices 199
Index 209
Contents
Series Editor’s Preface vii
Preface and Acknowledgements ix
Part I: IntroductIon
Introduction This page has been left blank intentionally 3
Part II: drIves
1 Gender, the Household and Migrant Masculinity 51
2 Sexuality and Migration: Thinking Beyond the Economic 67
Part III: death
3 Fortress Europe, Afro-Eurasia: Human Smuggling
and Restrictive Economy 95
4 Eroticism, History and Base Materiality: Migrant Experience
in Travel and Transit 113
Part Iv: Loss
5 Myths and Realities of Return and Arrival: Gender and Generation
in Pakistani Migration 143
6 Time, Space and Illegality in the New Migrant Economy 159
Conclusion 179
Bibliography 183
Appendices 199
Index 209
Series Editor’s Preface
Masculinity, Sexuality and Illegal Migration
As stated by Ali Ahmad, this book’s author, migration studies most commonly
focus on an economic landscape upon which their genderless actors are propelled
by economic forces. He considers this practice to be unsatisfactorily objective and
one dimensional; presenting the migrant protagonists as merely foot soldiers in the
global army of labour, one which is moved around in response to the emotionless
demands of western society. The intention of this book is to dispel this approach
and replace it with one which is more complex and which, accordingly, takes
account of the emotional and sexual lives of male migrants, in the case of this
volume, young men from Pakistan. As Ahmad explains, the originality of his work
lies with its, ‘specific focus on the driving dynamics of masculine ideology’ –
sexuality enhanced by affluence. Bearing this in mind, the author provides his
readers with an all-embracing account, which has its foundations in a rewarding
combination of a critical analysis of migration theory both past and present,
together with an exploration of pertinent psychoanalytical discourses on gender
and masculinity which, as he argues, provides a ‘framework for the study of
smuggling and migration’. For his actors are men from a society in which wealth
and masculinity are vital constituents of perceived success, the need for which
provides the incentive for submission to human trafficking and illegal migration
as a means of entry into Europe. However, this is not just a theoretical work, and
it is the empirical research carried out amongst first and second generation male
migrants in London, Italy and Pakistan which provides the substance of the study.
For those concerned about a gender bias the author does provide a contingent of
female voices, for without the demands of the female, there would be less need for
the displays of successful masculinity.
The binary to the abstract presents the empirical element of the book, one
which is set within a political-economical context and one which has an historical
dividing line created by the closing of the open door of migration into the United
Kingdom. For the early migrants from Pakistan, illegality was not a factor.
Until the immigration legislation of 1962 took effect entry was permissible and
employment readily available. It is only in the past few decades that illegality and
its hardships have become virtually the sole option for the ambitious male emigrant
from Pakistan. If we link ambition with male sexual drive, then it becomes easier
to understand why, even taking account of the hardship and risk to life, entering a
country through its back door, as contraband, is the choice of many.
Though the majority of the migrants interviewed by Ahmad confess to having
left their home country in order to grow rich, few admit to this having been to
viii Masculinity, Sexuality and Illegal Migration
prove their manhood and bolster their sexuality. Perhaps some did not even
make the connection, so deeply embedded can it be in their subconscious. The
interviews reveal that migration and remigration are painful experiences. Few of
those who settled in London in the 1960s and 1970s achieved the rewards hoped
for: the streets were not paved with gold, and life in East London reduced rather
than enhanced self esteem. What the migrants cling to now is a myth of return,
one that day by day fades further into a distant dream; affluence and enhanced
sexuality now being a part of the dream. Yet it is little better for many of the
returnees, forced to demonstrate the success they never had, presenting an image
of well-being and achievement by means of bank loans and car rentals. However
it is this false picture and the conviction, ‘I can succeed where others have not,’
that encourages today’s young men to make the sacrifice of being smuggled into
an uncertain future. And it is an understanding of the motivations that ensure the
survival of human smuggling across borders that makes this book an important
addition to the library of migration studies.
Anne J. Kershen
Queen Mary, University of London
Preface and Acknowledgements
The Grand Trunk road is one of South Asia’s oldest and most famous overland
connections to the West. A short distance from the part of it that runs through
Mandi Bahauddin, a district in Pakistani Punjab, lies a village called Chot Dheeran
where towering minarets adorn the houses of Paris-based Pakistanis. These
phallocentric symbols of excess built by men who migrated with the aid of human
smugglers shame the nearby homes of those who cannot afford to send a family-
member abroad. Empty and padlocked, sky-scraping émigré mosque-mansions
are often surrounded by poor connecting roads, inadequate sewerage systems and
brick-kilns worked by entire families (including children) earning little over a
dollar-a-day.
The juxtaposition of private wealth and public deprivation in Chot Dheeran
raises a series of pressing questions about the motivating drives, causes and
consequences of human smuggling. What, for instance, is the relationship between
wealth, religiosity and masculine power reflected in the construction of these
homes that can be seen for miles, and what is their likely impact on aspirant young
(and not so young) men in adjacent villages?
The argument of this book is counterintuitive. Its central claim – that human
smuggling from Pakistan is driven by irrational forces – might well raise eyebrows
given all the obvious reasons to leave Pakistan for a more ‘secure’ environment
like London. On the other hand, scarcely has there been a more appropriate
moment to highlight the idiosyncrasies in men’s ‘economic’ decision-making:
the spectacularly silly risk-taking that precipitated the recent financial crisis
makes a mockery of neoliberalism’s claim that markets are guided by benevolent,
equilibrating, invisible hands.
Potlach is an indigenous American practice of escalatory gift-giving. It
fascinated the French philosopher and writer Georges Bataille, who viewed it as
emblematic of humanity’s need for unproductive expenditure – its preoccupation
with nobility, honour and rank above mere conservation and reproduction. Potlatch
is about openly humiliating, defying and obligating a rival to respond with a more
valuable gift, which must be returned with interest: a destructive form of ritual
poker with no useful, rational or economic end in which each player risks and
squanders wealth in organised acts of wasteful excess (1997: 172-4, 213).
For Bataille, Potlach explained the inflation of credit and banking systems.
I reckon it sheds light on the building of mosque-mansions in Chot Dheeran.
An outlandish claim perhaps, but one supported by interviews with some 80
migrants whose narratives form the empirical core of this book. I hope I have done