Where is the Leo?

—Leo, the orphaned snow leopard cub from Naltar Valley Pakistan, made his New York debut September 25, 2006 greeted by delighted officials from two continents who worked to save one of the world's most endangered and beautiful mammals. Leo was brought to the Bronx zoo after his mother and siblings were killed in Pakistan in 2005. The snow leopard cub was found by a goatherd in the Naltar Valley in the Karakorum Mountains of northern Pakistan. After caring for the growing cub in their house, the herder and his family approached representatives of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which was working in the region, for help. The cub then was moved to Gilgit where the Pakistani government took over its care.

Initially the idea was to shift the Leo in a Pakistani zoo to save the unique and wonderful breed however, the lack of facilities, veterinary expertise and wildlife health care in Pakistani zoos made the officials to think alternatively. The American embassy in Pakistan was then approached to save the Leo by temporarily shifting in the USA.  

Actually, Leo's story began on July 14, 2005 when the Gilgit office of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) was informed by a shepherd in Naltar Valley, Northern Areas that he was in possession of a male snow leopard cub. The WWF-P team travelled to Naltar and brought back the cub for veterinary inspection to their office. The cub, who was estimated to be around Seven Weeks old at the time, was found to be in healthy condition.

Snow leopards are among the world's most endangered big cats. An estimated 3,500 to 7,000 remain in the wild, restricted to remote mountains of Central Asia, according to Bronx zoo officials. Pakistan has 200 to 400 snow leopards in the wild.  Snow leopards still are hunted for their pelts, in spite of the fact they are a protected species under the Convention on International Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora and are listed on the World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species as endangered.

A ceremony was held attended by a Pakistani State Minister as chief guest, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan at that time Ryan C. Crocker as guest of honor, and numerous wildlife specialists, diplomats and media, and the orphaned snow leopard who answers to the name of "Leo" was handed over to officials from the Wildlife Conservation Society/Bronx Zoo for participation in a captive breeding program in New York, USA. The temporary transfer of the snow leopard from Pakistan to the U.S. marks a culmination of months of dedication and cooperation among Pakistani and American wildlife experts and government officials to help save an endangered species. Well-knitted cooperative effort enabled a team of wildlife experts to travel to the remote valley and transport the ‘Leo’ by jeep to Islamabad. Leo arrived in New York on August 9, 2006 aboard a British Airways plane after an officially arranged quick transfer through Heathrow Airport in London to minimize the effect of the summer heat.

Leo after landing on the US soil was given special protocol and treatment. The unique species was treated as ‘Special Guest’ and a ceremony was organized too. The first lady of Pakistan at that time Ms. Sehba Musharraf spoke at the eve and added that Leo marks "the beginning of a new dimension" in the multifaceted U.S.-Pakistani relationship. Leo will return to Pakistan," she said but before he returns, Pakistan will develop a snow leopard conservation center for rehabilitation and breeding facilities for snow leopards with the support of the United Nations and in cooperation with the Bronx Zoo. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, McMurray called Leo's arrival "an important success story in the global effort to conserve endangered wildlife."  Steven Sanderson, president of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and its Bronx Zoo, said that the cub will be an inspiration to 2 million zoo visitors each year.  He informed that “We are uniquely situated to care for this wonderful animal because we were the first zoo in the world to show snow leopards over 100 years ago and since 1903, we've had 90 snow leopard babies at the Bronx Zoo”. He assured to participants of ceremony that Leo will have the best of care and a wonderful situation. He expressed that the beautiful snow leopard "is a symbol of shared values between our two countries, a sense of devotion to natural resources, and preservation of our heritage both cultural and biological.”

This romance for Leo temporary transfer between U.S. and Pakistan’s government went fine and he shifted in Bronx Zoo since September 2006. In July 2013, the Bronx Zoo in New York City has showed off its newest resident, a snow leopard cub. The cub was the first son of an orphaned snow leopard named Leo from Pakistan. The New York Times noted that Leo was paired with Maya, a proven breeder, and the cub was actually born in April, 2013.

In 2013, government leaders and officials from all snow leopard range countries came together in a meeting at the Global Snow Leopard Forum held in Bishkek the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic. On the Bishkek Declaration countries including Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have signed which “acknowledge(s) that the snow leopard is an irreplaceable symbol of our nations’ natural and cultural heritage and an indicator of the health and sustainability of mountain ecosystems; and we recognize that mountain ecosystems inhabited by snow leopards provide essential ecosystem services, including storing and releasing water from the origins of river systems benefitting one-third of the world’s human population; sustaining the pastoral and agricultural livelihoods of local communities which depend on biodiversity for food, fuel, fodder, and medicine; and offering inspiration, recreation, and economic opportunities.

To help spread the word amongst the people, government authorities and conservation groups in each range country, 2015 has been designated the International Year of the Snow Leopard. All range country governments, nongovernmental and inter-governmental organizations, local communities, and the private sector will take this year as an opportunity to further work towards their shared vision to conserve snow leopards and their valuable high-mountain ecosystems.

The media report also claimed that the US Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) will assist in the development of a snow leopard rehabilitation centre in the Northern Areas of Pakistan-administered Kashmir as part of efforts to deepen its relationship with a key ally. Los Angeles Times quoted Patrick Thomas, curator of mammals at Bronx Zoo statement in a report that it would probably take three or four years before Leo and a female leopard would produce offspring. He said the zoo could send a female leopard back with Leo when he returns to Pakistan.

The establishment of USAID-funded program with the WWF and the Snow Leopard Trust is a way forward to save the rare wildlife in the Pakistan. Snow leopard is just one example of endangered wildlife in Pakistan. Organizations like the WWF, The Society for Torghar Environmental Protection, Snow Leopard Foundation, WalkAbout Films, the Himalayan Foundation, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and Pakistan’s wildlife and forestry departments are working to protect the snow leopard and other animals that need protection: the Markhor, the common leopard, the pheasant, the Indus dolphin, and the brown bear, just to name a few. A documentary film in the context of animals like Leo “Snow Leopard: Beyond the Myth” demonstrates how a rare creature’s existence depends on sustained cooperation among local communities, organizations, the private sector, and government authorities.

Leo is a dad now with his family in America. He was shifted there temporarily during Musharraf’s regime. He has grown up well with extended family. The mountains of Naltar Valley Pakistan are missing him badly with an innocent question that where is my LEO? And perhaps Pakistan or U.S. government is able to reply. 

Immigrants, Expats & Refugees: Who is who?

-Perplexity between “Immigrants” and “expats” heated the debate in recent years to draw the fences of identification for both classes.  When somebody is expats and when an immigrant, it leaves the mind in two states. The narrative of these terms makes the concept bit easier though not clear practically to differentiate between the both.

According to Miriam-Webster the word “Expatriate” is actually a verb or an adjective and means someone “living in a foreign land” and the word “Immigrant” is a noun and means “a person who comes to a country to take permanent residence”. Further the German word “Expatriate”, which comes, obviously enough, from the Latin (ex - out of and patria - fatherland) is used to refer to a ‘qualified worker who goes abroad to work for an international company for a specified amount of time’.

The issue in not merely to bifurcate the two words in terms of their meanings but to understand the legacy associated with these terms in different countries. For example, an Asian is immigrant in Europe but an American is expats in same territory. When Brits move abroad they are far more likely to be called “expats,” a label that conjures up images of sunburned British skin not used to a warm climate and a career in industries like diplomacy, media, or finance. So, if Brits who move to another country are not ‘immigrants,’ but rather, ‘expats,’

What exactly is the difference between the two terms; need more deliberation to make the concept simpler. English speakers also tend to use the word expat to refer to a 'better class' of immigrant. This is an engineered explanation available for readers to get the gist easily rather to brainstorm in nitty-gritty of the terms. Generally, a concept prevailed for a longer span that the difference between both is as the ‘immigrants stay in the adopted land while expats eventually leave.’

The differentiation between immigrants and expats found in common usage usually comes down to socio-economic factors, so skilled professionals working in another country are described as expatriates, whereas a manual labourer who has moved to another country to earn more money might be labelled an ‘immigrant’. There is no set definition and usage does vary depending on context and individual preferences and prejudices. There is a slight difference reflected in the narratives attached to each. Successful American immigrants such as Indian Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo or Ukrainian Jan Koum, co-founder of WhatsApp, are heralded for “making it,” but they never fully shed the “immigrant” label or a mention of where they came from. With an Anglophone like, say, Rupert Murdoch of Australia or Tina Brown of Britain, their countries of origin seems less relevant. In those cases it seems intention doesn’t as much matter as arriving from a former colonial superpower. Or take an Arab Gulf country like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where there are a staggering 7.8 million non-citizens out of a total population of 9.2 million. The vast majority of those foreigners are migrant workers building the shopping malls and luxury condos that make the country appealing for the small slice of affluent “expats.”

Another interesting cum surprising definition of the terms states that you are a ‘migrant’ when you are very poor ‘immigrant’ and when you are not so poor and you are a rich person then you are an ‘expat’. In the lexicon of ‘Human Migration’ there are still hierarchical words, created with the purpose of putting white people above everyone else. One of those remnants is the word “expat”. The definition of expats as provided in the different dictionaries and encyclopedias one should expect that any person going to work outside of his or her country for a period of time would be an expat, regardless of his skin colour or country. But that is not the case in reality; expat is a term reserved exclusively for ‘Western White’ people going to work abroad. Africans, Arabs and Asians are immigrants. However, Europeans are expats because they can’t be at the same level as other ethnicities. They are superior. Immigrants is a term set aside for ‘inferior races’. Mostly writers are very strict to encapsulate the difference between both terms as when you see Americans or Europeans living on shores that aren't their own, you inevitably see them referred to as "expatriates." But when you see Asian, Arabs or Africans living on shores that aren't their own, they get a different label of “immigrants”.

The concept leading to heated debate of being superior or inferior in terms of race and ethnicity. Where skin color, language, and land matter to choose the name as ‘Immigrant’ or as ‘expat’. An African migrant worker states the reality as he experienced that top African professionals going to work in Europe are not considered expats. They are immigrants. He says, “I work for multinational organizations both in the private and public sectors. And being black or coloured doesn’t gain me the term “expat”. I’m a highly qualified immigrant, as they call me, to be politically correct.”

To make the discussion more interesting one can argument that Westerners don’t like referring to themselves as immigrants because the word “immigrant” has such inferior connotations. An immigrant is an unwanted job-stealer, while an expat is a foreigner who could be leaving any day. An immigrant is on a desperate search for a better life while an expat is on an adventure. The usage of these words reveals a certain double standard. Whether you are an expat or an immigrant depends not on your residency plans, but on the relative wealth of your native country. Although, this reality is so unfortunate to judge someone’s prestige, position and humanity on the wealth scale. While, on the other hand this unfortunate reality exists even in the 21^st century with its fullest might. 

Here are the main conclusions: “Some arrivals are described as expats; others as immigrants; and some simply as migrants. It depends on social class, country of origin and economic status. Anyone with roots in a western country is considered an expat. Who decides what ethnicity a person should have to be called a migrant? Who decides what socio-economic background, or legal status, qualifies someone for the ‘expat’ label? Let’s scrap the ‘migrant’ label and call everyone living outside their native country an expat.

Other than immigrants and expats another term is quite common as ‘refugees’. Cross borders human trafficking is a veteran phenomenon. Since the industrialization, urbanization and modernization; the lure to select a better living place is quite natural desire. European Union, America, Australia and many other states in the world opened their borders for immigration purposes to enrich their soils with skilled man powers. However, despite all legal and security measures, illegal human trafficking in different parts of the world including Europe, America, Africa and Asia is still an unstoppable pain. During and after the World War-I (1914-1918) & II (1939-1945), a huge sum of masses left their home lands as refugees in the neighboring states for search of shelter. 

            Immigrants, expats or refugees is not simply a matter of human displacement from one land to another whereas, its case of ‘identification’. Like the immigrants and expats, a refugee’s definition is core to get the gist of discussion. For example a refugee “move out of fear or necessity such as to flee persecution, or because their homes have been destroyed in a natural disaster etc.” Another available definition in the literature makes it simpler for readers that refugees are defined as persons, who move out of one’s country due to restriction or danger to their lives.”  For comparison we can say that immigration is considered a natural phenomenon in population ecology, whereas the refugee movement occurs only under some kind of coercion or pressure.

            The reasons for being immigrants or expats are usually driven by economic factors, or they want to be close to family. Whereas, refugees are forced to relocate for reasons such as fear of persecution due to war, religion or political opinion. Historically, number of incidents are on record where people choose to moved out from their native lands to other states due to war conflicts, independence movements, religious  and secretarial confrontations etc. In the recent years, post 9/11 trauma of terrorist attacks on skyscrapers of World Trade Center and subsequently launches of US war against terrorism boost the masses relocation as refugees in some part of Gulf and South Asia particularly in Afghanistan. The states discloses that number of people living as refugees from war or persecution exceeded 50 million in 2013, for the first time since World War Two. The overall figure of 51.2 million is six million higher than the year before, a report revealed compiled by the UN refugee agency.  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) claims that refugees should not be forcibly returned and should not go back unless it is safe to do so, and they have homes to return to. For many - among them the more than 300,000 mainly Somali refugees in Kenya's Dadaab camp - that is a very distant prospect. Some camps, the UN refugee agency admits, have become virtually permanent, with their own schools, hospitals, and businesses. But they are not, and can never be, home. The worldwide total of 51.2 million forcibly displaced represents a huge number of people in need of help, with implications both for foreign aid budgets in the world's donor nations and the absorption and hosting capacities of countries on the front lines of refugee crises.

            Immigrants, expats or refugees; any of these identification is not natural rather situational. One would always prefer not to lose the ‘identification’ and ‘pride’ belonging to a nation, tribe or state. Respect, care and fair deal in any case of identification on any land is imperative if not legally then humanly.

Note: Article is also published in Weekly PULSE Islamabad.