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Claire Keegan'snovella Small Things Like These has won this year's Orwell Prize for political fiction.

The Orwell Prize for political fiction is a 3,000 (approx. $4,640.84 Cdn) award that was launched in 2019. It is a companion to the Orwell Prize for political writing, the Orwell Prize for journalism and the Orwell Prize for exposing Britain's social evils.

The Orwell Prizes 2022 were presented in an awards gala on Thursday, July 14 in London.

Set in Ireland in the mid-1980s,Small Things Like These is amoving tale of faith, forgiveness and the authority of the Catholic Church. The book's protagonist,Bill Furlong,is faced with a moral dilemma when he discovers a shivering, ragged girl locked in the shed of a local convent.

Small Things Like These was also a 2022 Rathbones Folio Prize finalistfor the best literary work of the year.

"The focus of this novella is close, precise and unwavering: a beautifully written evocation of Ireland in the 1980s, precisely rendered; of a good man and his ordinary life; and of the decision he makes that unlocks major, present questions about social care, women's lives and collective morality," the jury said in a statement.

"The very tightness of focus, and Keegan's marvellous control of her instrument as a writer, makes for a story at once intensely particular and powerfully resonant."

Keegan is the Irish author of prize-winning short fiction, including two story collections, Antarctica and Walk the Blue Fields.

In a recentinterview with Writers and Company's Eleanor Wachtel, Keegan saidSmall Things Like These explores moral philosophy, human decency and the authority of organized religion.

"People were hugely brutalized in this country by the Catholic Church. They were so far removed from any type of decency, they didn't even know what decency was anymore. And they were also rewarded financially for it," said Keegan.

"People get lost morally and I mean truly lost. And then they hide behind a screen of morality which the church gives you to wear. It's very powerful. People become afraid of you, and look up to you."

LISTEN | Claire Keegan on Writers and Company:

Writers and Company1:05:50Claire Keegans Small Things Like These is a story of moral crisis, heroism and the human heart

The Orwell Prize for political writing went to the book The Fourth Time, We Drowned by Irish author Sally Hayden. The nonfiction work examines the migrant crisis across North Africa and the experiences of refugees fleeing dictatorships, violence, persecution and war.

"Hayden's reporting is an extraordinary exploration of a modern reality using modern means: truly a book of our times. While many people seeking refuge from the terrible logics of repression, war and poverty cannot easily cross frontiers, phone and Facebook messages can," the jury said in a statement.

"Both Sally Hayden and Claire Keegan have, in very different ways, written gripping stories about things that should alarm us: there are awful truths right at the heart of our societies and systems. However, in their wit, elegance and compassion, these powerful winning books also help us think about the choices we make, and how to make the future better. Orwell would be proud," said Jean Seaton, the director of The Orwell Foundation, of the 2022 book prizes.

This year's Orwell Prize for journalism went to the Guardian journalist George Monbiot.

Ed Thomas won this year's prize for exposing Britain's social evils for his work on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis in the U.K. for BBC News.

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Claire Keegan's novella Small Things Like These wins 2022 Orwell Prize for political fiction - CBC.ca

A woman and a girl of 4 were found dead on a migrant boat off Spain's Canary Islands, Spanish rescue services said on Friday.

A total of 27 people had left the west African coast in a barely seaworthy dinghy, seeking to reach the Canaries archipelago.

The Spanish coastguard said the two bodies were discovered after a fishing boat came to the vessel's assistance on Thursday.

Officials said a third person was airlifted to hospital with chest pains.

The boat was found off the coast of the island of Lanzarote. Some reports, citing local officials on the Canary Islands, said the woman and child had been crushed in the overcrowded dinghy.

Another boat, said to be carrying about 50 people, was intercepted on Friday.

Non-government organisations say women and children are increasingly embarking on the dangerous route to the islands of EU member Spain.

The death in March last year of a girl of 2 from Mali, after days fighting for her life in a Canaries hospital, sparked debate in Spain.

She had made the perilous journey with 51 other migrants, including her mother and sister.

This year, 9,308 migrants have arrived in the islands up 27 per cent on the same period last year, the Spanish Interior Ministry said.

This is despite a decrease in migrants trying to reach Spain in recent weeks, after Madrid and Morocco normalised diplomatic relations. This followed a months-long crisis centred on the disputed Western Sahara territory.

Many migrants trying to reach the Canaries set sail from southern Morocco, near Western Sahara.

Last year, more than 40,000 migrants arrived in Spain, mainly via Morocco.

Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras said 4,404 migrants died or went missing while making the journey twice as many as in 2020.

Updated: July 15, 2022, 7:20 PM

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Woman and child found dead in migrant boat off Canaries - The National

The farmers market in Galway, where my husband and I stopped regularly, became a place where our identity was open for discussion. People usually noticed that we were foreigners, even if we didnt talk much. One time, Housam and I were walking holding hands when we passed by a group of young men hanging out. They smiled at us and one of them said, You are the most beautiful non-Irish couple Ive seen around.

The follow-up questions that came after statements like this, exposing my nationality, were unique. At first, I loved satisfying peoples curiosity: better they hear it from me than from the media. But sometimes it was overwhelming, and I didnt want to talk about home while waiting for the bus or having a haircut. Are you going back? Are you Muslims? You dont look Syrian. What do you think of al-Assad? How do you think it will end?

Housam was more patient than me. He explained politics and religion and extremism even to those who didnt want to listen. Once, we were blamed for forcing the Irish to travel overseas looking for jobs. Ironically, it came from someone who was not Irish. In general, the Irish were warm and loving. Having their own share of wars and troubles made them more empathetic to the Syrians around them. And for that I was always grateful.

In September 2015, during one of our strolls in the city, we noticed a brown shipping container standing in the middle of a shopping street. Eight volunteers had decided to lock themselves inside the container for 24 hours with just two bottles of water each, a portable toilet and no food. The art installation, designed by the Giddy Biddy Collective, aimed to raise awareness of the migrant crisis and the struggles endured by migrants to reach a safe haven. I walked away to hide my tears and my identity. I checked Twitter later to read more and decided to leave a virtual thank-you note for telling my peoples story.

Suad Aldarra and her husband, Housam Ziad. Photograph: Aidan Crawley

Luckily, one of the volunteers replied, and thats how I met Cait Noone, a dean at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and one of the supporters of the project, who invited me to come back and say hi. Caits smile can be spotted from the end of the world and would make you walk towards her like an insect following the light. She noticed the accumulated tears in my eyes, and she opened her arms to hug me. I didnt resist the generous embrace of a stranger. I needed that hug, but I couldnt understand why. I didnt go in containers or on boats. I didnt drown. I wasnt kidnapped or tortured or sold for slavery and sex by human traffickers. I am safe. But why am I feeling vulnerable?

A journalist there wanted to do a story about Housam and me. We talked about the war and the struggles, hoping to raise awareness. It was only after wed finished and left that we realised how much we had been through. We had never talked about it.

Our story was published in the Connacht Tribune. I dont know if it made much of an impact. Still, when I saw a picture of Housam and me with a full-page article in the newspaper, I realised that our normal life had become a hot story, accompanied by words like survive and tragedy and home and hope and new beginnings and gratefulness. We had become news, despite our efforts to escape it.

Every morning when I scanned the news, Syria would be in the headlines. Country X is fed up with the refugees. Country Y is closing its borders in their faces. A boat sank carrying refugees from Syria. A Syrian refugee did something bad. A Syrian refugee did something good.

Every morning, I read the news. I read it all. I looked at the dead bodies, the exploded remains, the miserable faces at borders, the bodies skeletal from hunger, the weeping mothers and the scared kids.

I would close my web browser, wash my face, drink my coffee and go to work, helpless, hopeless and in denial, fighting the pressing thought that I didnt deserve to survive. I would greet my colleagues and complain about the weather and the overpriced food in the cafeteria and other first-world problems.

Early in 2016, I got an invitation through Euraxess to speak at the European Commission in Brussels about the challenges of the refugee crisis, and to share my story, along with two other Syrians.

It was overwhelming to be in a room with everyone talking about the one topic I didnt want to talk about. But I was desperate to do something, anything, to help Syria, to heal Syria. I thought I was over the idea of having a homeland I couldnt return to, but the memories were pushing hard to the surface, and I tried my best to push them back down. I fought the urge to cry whenever someone mentioned a statistic about displaced, dead, drowned or illegal refugees. I tried not to think about how those numbers and percentages represented people I knew and cared about.

I have to be strong, I thought. I have to represent the resilient Syrian, the one willing to do the impossible to survive.

Then it was my turn to talk. It was tricky to do this without opening the box of memories. I kept it professional. I did not talk about how I was terrified by the explosions that happened a few metres away from me. I did not mention how I used to go to sleep early, wearing many layers of clothing, because it was too cold and too dark to stay awake. I skipped the part about my engagement and marriage during the war. I briefly mentioned my father-in-laws martyrdom, but I definitely did not mention how we saw photos of his body all over social media. How it haunts us still.

I never talked about how we didnt dare to dream of having a kid because we were too damaged to raise a child in this unfair world. I skipped many stories, a lot of pain and tears that had no place at that conference. Instead, I talked about timelines and statistics, gave examples of ongoing initiatives and suggested ideas that could be life-changing for many refugees. The conference ended with a lot of applause and I felt good for doing my bit and not falling apart.

On the plane back to the place I called home, I closed my eyes above the clouds and let the pilot do his bit. The flight attendant broadcast a message to the passengers over the tannoy. It wasnt about seatbelts, nor was it about our location or destination. It was about Syria.

Syrian children are facing a lot of pain and suffering from cold and hunger. Please help us raise funds to support them. I looked around to see people getting out their wallets and putting money in an envelope with the Unicef logo on it. I was grateful for all the kind hearts on that plane, but heartbroken to hear my countrys name mentioned in a donation campaign.

At that moment, all the blocked memories rushed in. The miserable faces, the dead bodies, the explosions, my little cat, my grandmother. My whole life burst from my overloaded memory, and I wept.

Suad Aldarra now lives in Dublin with her husband and son. This is an edited extract from her new memoir, I Dont Want to Talk About Home, published by Transworld.

The rest is here:
'I didn't want to talk about Syria while waiting for the bus or having a haircut' - The Irish Times

Berlin/San Jose More than 1,238 lives have been lost during migration in the Americas in 2021, among them at least 51 children, according to new data published by the International Organization for Migrations (IOM) Missing Migrants Project (MMP). At least 728 of these deaths occurred on the United States-Mexico border crossing, making this the deadliest land crossing in the world, according to the data.

The dangers facing people on the move throughout the region revealed by the data were highlighted on 27 June with the discovery of 53 bodies in an abandoned tractor trailer in San Antonio, Texas, and the hospitalization of 16 survivors. This tragedy increases the total number of deaths so far in 2022 to 493, and it serves as a reminder of the underreported migrant deaths that take place at the United States-Mexico border and throughout the Americas, and of the families left behind.

The number of deaths on the United States-Mexico border last year is significantly higher than in any year prior, even before COVID-19, said Edwin Viales, author of the new IOM report on migrants in the Americas in 2021. Yet, this number remains an undercount due to the diverse challenges for data collection.

Despite the ongoing pandemic, an increasing number of people from Latin America and the Caribbean are undertaking dangerous irregular journeys. Mobility restrictions enacted in response to the pandemic and not yet lifted may also have led to a funnel effect, driving migrants with limited options to increasingly dangerous routes.

Many deaths recorded on these routes are from countries with high numbers of asylum seekers. At least 136 Venezuelans have died in transit in the last 18 months, in addition to 108 Cubans and 90 Haitians. However, the largest demographic in the available data on migrant deaths in the Americas is unidentified people. The countries of origin of over 500 people whose deaths were recorded since 2021 are listed as unknown.

Our data shows the growing crisis of deaths during migration in the region, and the need to strengthen the forensic capacity of the authorities to identify deaths on these routes. We cannot forget that every single number is a human being with a family who may never know what happened to them, said Viales.

Despite commitments to save migrant lives and prevent further deaths and disappearances in the Global Compact for Migration, and despite relevant obligations under international law, the situation on the ground remains extremely dangerous for people on the move in the Americas.

In the Progress Declaration of the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) held in May 2022, the United Nations General Assembly reaffirmed the collective responsibility to preserve the lives of all migrants and take action to prevent loss of migrant lives and, in this context, remained deeply concerned that thousands of migrants continue to die or go missing each year along perilous routes on land and at sea, in transit, and destination countries. In April 2022, the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM) in an extraordinary declaration also underscored the importance of saving lives by establishing coordinated international efforts on missing migrants.

A report with analysis of 2021 data on migrant deaths in the Americas can be found here (executive summary in English). The full version of the report in Spanish can be found here.

The latest Missing Migrants Project data on the Americas can be found at missingmigrants.iom.int/region/Americas

***

For more information please contact:

Jorge Galindo at IOM GMDAC, Tel: +49 1601 791 536, Email: jgalindo@iom.int

Safa Msehli at IOM HQ, Tel: +41 79 403 5526. Email: smsehli@iom.int

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Latest Migrant Tragedy in Texas Highlights Crisis Along Deadliest Migration Land Route - International Organization for Migration (IOM)

The realities of migration and a tumultuous refugee crisis are not just on Turkey's agenda but the entire world. The number of people who leave their homes and countries for various reasons and flock to foreign countries is increasing rapidly. Some are on the road alone, others are with their families, their elderly parents and their children wrapped in swaddling clothes. The journey into the unknown becomes even more frightening with the difficulties they encounter in the countries they arrive in.

Recently, the issue of immigration the extent and its result cannot be forecasted was discussed recently at a two-day conference held in Istanbul. I was among the observers of the Global Parliamentary Migration conference held on June 20-21, hosted by the Turkish Parliament with the initiative of Parliament Speaker Mustafa entop. After the conference, where potential solutions to the migration and refugee problem and necessary steps to be taken were evaluated, I met entop to discuss what was on my mind.

I first wanted to touch on Turkey's immigration burden, which is heavier than most countries. When I asked for entop's views regarding the necessity of easing this burden, he said: "It is necessary to alleviate the heavy migration burden on certain countries and ensure that it is shared fairly."

Everyone, from politicians and bureaucrats to citizens, shares the same idea on this issue. After all, Turkey has been hosting the highest number of refugees in the world for eight years. Our population is 85 million, and according to official statements, there are 4 million refugees in the country, 3.6 million of which are Syrian. That means that around 5% of the population consists of refugees. Yes, the number is high and this is a cause of concern. While the issue of migration and refugees is common, many Western countries continue to ignore it.

Based on what I witnessed, I can say that the prohibition of discrimination in the West generally remains on paper. Prejudices, xenophobia and double standards prevail throughout that part of the world. Instead of taking responsibility for a tragedy, they shift the burden of migration and the responsibilities entirely on the shoulders of the surrounding countries. Is this state of ignorance sustainable? By looking at the influx and reasoning, I would say absolutely not. At this point, all countries must act with a humanitarian and conscious approach. To take action, governments must not lose time.

So what is the reason behind this state of ignorance regarding the issue of migration? Is Islamophobia the reason they want to close their doors on refugees, or the resulting economic burden that the refugees would bring to their countries?

If you ask me, it's the lack of empathy. I would fully endorse this statement from entop: "Actually, there is no multiculturalism in Europe. From time immemorial, Europe showed no tolerance for those who were different and expressed no desire to live together. Even among themselves. Catholics, Protestants and Jews lived separately. Europe does not have an inclusive, comprehensive culture that can transform into high culture."

As someone born and raised abroad, I agree with him 100%. Turkey, unlike Europe, comes from a multicultural world. Turkish people live in a land where people with different languages and religions have lived together for over 1,000 years. That is why integration is much easier for Turkey.

In my opinion, it is incorrect to say that the West maintains considerable distance from migrants coming from the Middle East and Africa because of religion. Even if they behave with more tolerance toward immigrants from within Europe compared to those from the Middle East, they are closed to immigration among themselves. Ultimately they do not want to include people from other countries. This is the main problem. But it is an inevitable situation. In the new world order, whether they like it or not, all countries will experience this, and they will continue to receive immigrants, legally or illegally.

I believe that migration will continue because war is not the only reason people sail into the unknown. There are even more important reasons for migration beyond war and safety. Of course, people are unsafe because of conflicts and wars. They are trying to escape their homeland. But this problem can be solved. In my opinion, economic difficulties and the lack of humane living conditions are among the reasons that should be considered more seriously. After all, when people facing hunger cannot find a job in their own country and their hopes are exhausted, it becomes inevitable to embark on a deadly journey.

Furthermore, another more permanent and long-term reason for migration has emerged in recent years: Climate change. Many regions are becoming uninhabitable even though there are job opportunities. Famine, drought and abnormal meteorological circumstances compel people to leave their homeland.

Although there are distinct reasons behind this inevitable migration, there is a general concern that the demographic of society has deteriorated, regardless of how much we try to empathize. Ignoring this reality is objectionable, as it will set the stage for social outrage. It must be explained that this situation is not unique to Turkey. There is an unstoppable movement everywhere, from Europe to Africa. Noticeable demographic changes are happening in the world.

When immigration is mentioned, countries like Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sudan first come to mind. But the Russia-Ukraine war has changed this perception. The war caused Europe to confront the issue of migration more closely. Western countries had to experience the events they once watched from afar right under their noses. According to official figures, approximately 7 million people moved to nearby countries within a month and a half.

I remember the speaker of the Polish parliament saying at the meeting of the European Union Parliament Speakers in Slovenia that 2 million people came to his country in 15 days. This statement did not create the desired effect in the room, and no one found this figure interesting. Then he said "the population of Slovenia is 2 million. Imagine, a Slovenia came to us in 15 days." Finally, the audience came to their senses with this concrete example. At that moment, it made me think that it was time to understand that these numbers are not just mathematical equations but that each number represents a helpless person. It is time to show empathy and be a humanist rather than a racist.

There is the reality I mentioned before: The number of people in Turkey disturbed by the rate and intensity of migration to the country is not low at all. Some are worried that this situation will become permanent. I wanted to get some information from entop regarding what authorities think about this and what they are doing.

I found his response hopeful: "Of course, we all know the magnitude of Turkey's burden. But one should not think that it is completely permanent. Turkey is a destination country on the one hand and a transit country on the other. Since it is located at the intersection of Asia, Africa and Europe, there may be transfers via Turkey. After all, there will be a voluntary return when conditions improve in Syria. I think most of them will go," entop said.

I do not believe this return has anything to do with worsening conditions in Turkey, as some claim. Because I know this: Life is difficult for refugees everywhere. They are not citizens, the jobs they can do are limited, and they are trying hard to hold on in a country where they do not even know the language.

In terms of Syrians specifically, most of those in Turkey are living under difficult conditions. Therefore, I think they will prefer to return to their country over time. Also, if Western countries support Turkey's investment in the safe zone as they have promised, the return process will accelerate. But the West's approach of "this is your problem and their problem" paints an embarrassing picture for humanity and seeks to intensify the problem.

But there is still hope that the promises made will be fulfilled and everyone can return to their motherlands and loved ones as soon as possible.

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