Would immigrating to a western European country be feasible midst the recent state of the world?
Posted by Financial_Wear_4771@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 9 comments
To give you a bit of context, I am a gay man born in a Muslim majority country (will leave out some details to avoid being doxxed). I worked pretty hard to escape my country so I took on computer science as my major and then managed to get accepted by a global top 30 university to pursue a master's degree in computer science, more specifically artificial intelligence.
As I am approaching the end of my degree the country I am studying in has been regressing rather badly in LGBTQ+ rights and immigration here is moving from hard to impossible. After my studies I was actually considering United States as the place to set roots in however I seem to be the intersection of least liked genres of a human beings by the upcoming leadership so that does not seem to be very plausible as of now. Canada is having an immigration crisis at the moment and they seem to have halted everything related to immigration as well. New Zealand and Australia deport people based on their HIV status (I am negative and very careful however since this is an issue that specifically affects the demographic I am a part of even the possibility of being deported over this is a terrifying aspect).
Other places in Asia such as South Korea and China aren't very good in terms of homophobia and places like Japan offer working for abysmal salaries while being subjected to a lot of xenophobia. I guess Taiwan is the exception however there is a constant threat of invasion.
So, this leaves me out with Europe however there are quite a lot of challenges. First of all, I am for sure not white passing at all and the xenophobia that exists in Europe seems to be particularly more indulgent with people who have similar looks to me I suppose (not presenting any value judgement here, I am aware of the incidences that took place in Europe). Secondly, while I believe I excel in English, I can't speak any language spoken in Europe (other than English) and I may have passed the age to learn a new language? I guess there is Ireland and UK however I am not sure how welcoming they would be considering the recent incidents. On top of that UK not being in EU does indeed make it less attractive. Plus, I do really like Continental European art, non-car centric architecture, social government and high standards when it comes to human rights.
So my question is, has anyone been in my position? How did it go? If not, how do you think the current climate in your country in terms of xenophobia and homophobia and the state of the tech sector? What kind of reactions would I get in your country as an immigrant?
tomorrow509@reddit
London town sounds ideal for you however you have already discounted it. Maybe you could try living there a few years, see how it goes and plan from there? The weather sucks but it is a real melting pot of people from all over and of every sexual orientation - Be it G, B, L, or T.
killinnnmesmallz@reddit
I'm living in the UK at the moment and quality of life has really gone down since the pandemic. I would not recommend it as an option although you make fair points about it being socially accepting.
tomorrow509@reddit
In what ways do you think quality of life has suffered? I left shortly before Covid hit and I'm a bit curious about this.
killinnnmesmallz@reddit
Expenses - especially rent - have gone through the roof (I think somewhere in the realm of 25% in the past last three years). Costs for virtually everything else have also gone up while wages remain stagnant.
Access to the NHS is near impossible in the city now. I regularly see posts on reddit showing 72 week waits for specialist appointments (60 weeks if you're urgent). And that's only if you manage to get a GP appointment to even get the referral in the first place. I increasingly have to pay to go private which makes me feel like I'm back in the US at times.
Public services as a whole are still not good at the moment, with trains regularly being cancelled or delayed (meanwhile the cost keeps increasing). Many more homeless people are on the streets.
There's been a noticeable change in the atmosphere since the pandemic and cost of living crisis. People seem more stressed and melancholy than before and the city just doesn't have the same feeling of liveliness that it did when I moved over in 2019. I never thought I'd see the day where I'd consider moving back to the US but it's now something I'm considering because life here feels pretty intolerable.
STEMgirl2003@reddit
Britain is in the same position right now along with Canada and Australia when it comes to migration. In fact last Tory government was the first to tight migration out of all English speaking countries and Labour is just following along and even tighten more given how stronger Reform is getting at the moment. Ireland is going through one of the worst housing crises in history and rightfully Irish are not very fond of foreigners when they cannot get homes in their own country.
I think Germany is the best bet for you, relatively easy to get a visa but bear in mind that its not an English speaking country and is extremely bureaucratic to the point where many people do consider leaving it.
General_pragmatism@reddit
Go to Israel, its in your region and they are okay with LGBT.
mikkogg@reddit
Might just be ethnically cleansed there, but no big deal hey :)
averysmallbeing@reddit
He's a Muslim, they will make him disappear.
Defiant_Still_4333@reddit
You will probably feel like the intersection of least liked genres of human beings in a lot of Western countries at the moment.
The UK would be a brave choice, there's a fair bit of social unrest bubbling away, divisiveness is approaching US levels.
Have you considered Thailand? I feel like it's a good balance of LGBT friendly/progressive communities with religious/ethnic diversity across the country. Slightly less tolerant way down south, as you'd expect, but you would feel safe and welcome in Bangkok.