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BBC Trending: Is this manga cartoon of a six-year-old Syrian girl racist?
"I want to live a safe and clean life, eat gourmet food, go out, wear pretty things, and live a luxurious life… all at the expense of someone else," reads the text on the illustration above. "I have an idea. I'll become a refugee."
The image and caption were posted by a right-wing Japanese artist last month. Now, more than 10,000 people have signed a Change.org petition in Japanese urging Facebook to take it down. The petition, posted by an account calling itself the "Don't Allow Racism Group", claims that several people have reported the illustration and demands that "Facebook must recognize an illustration insulting Syrian refugees as racism."
Although the Japan Times reported that Facebook did not take the picture down, saying it did not go against community guidelines, the artist herself removed the picture. But she remains defiant about her motivations for posting it in the first place. Toshiko Hasumi told BBC Trending that she believed the people signing the petition were left-wing activists. "I draw many political mangas [Japanese comics] which are not favourable to them," she said. "This is why they targeted me."
(Score: 2) by Hyperturtle on Friday October 09 2015, @08:18PM
I do think there are a number of people seeking to abuse the system regarding how or why they seek asylum... but I am having difficulty believing that a depiction of a 6-year-old girl can be considered an accurate reflection of the 6 yr old's mindset.
I am sure she has no idea what asylum laws are like or even what the word means. Even if its what her parents want, most children are traumatized simply by being forced to move to a new home and make new friends, let alone run a political and humanitarian gauntlet.
The comic would have rung true to me if an example of a high maintenance pretty young asylum seeker were depicted... but from the looks of things, it seems to be mostly young men of military age, couples with young children, and old people.
I have not seen pictures or read any stories about high maintenance women looking for a free ride in their quest for asylum, but it could very well be that the really pretty ones got captured and sold by less scrupulous parties. The sex trade is rough in that area of the world. I have few doubts that some of the young girls who aren't old enough for that sort of thing have been captured and forced into it while attempting to migrate with their parents.