Why Are Asians, African, And Arabs Immigrants But White People Expats?

"The word," according to Wikipedia, "comes from the Latin terms ex ('out of') and patria ('country, fatherland')".

"Defined that way, you 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," writes Mawuna Remarque Koutonin, a social activist for Africa Renaissance, in his article on The Guardian.

So when Africans, Arabs, Asians are all immigrants. Why then Europeans are expats?

"Because they (Europeans) can't be at the same level as other ethnicities. They are superior. Immigrants is a term set aside for 'inferior races'," writes Koutonin.

"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'."

In a recently featured story 'In Hong Kong, Just Who Is an Expat, Anyway?', Christopher Dewolf writes that "expats are free to roam between countries and cultures, privileges not afforded to those considered immigrants or migrant workers."

Koutonin highlights the main conclusions from the WSJ piece:

“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. It's strange to hear some people in Hong Kong described as expats, but not others. Anyone with roots in a western country is considered an expat … Filipino domestic helpers are just guests, even if they've been here for decades. Mandarin-speaking mainland Chinese are rarely regarded as expats … It's a double standard woven into official policy."

According to Koutonin, top African professionals going to work in Europe are not considered expats. They are immigrants. Period.

"I work for multinational organisations 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," says an African migrant worker.

Well, it's "directly related to an outdated supremacist ideology," Koutonin writes.

"Most white people deny that they enjoy the privileges of a racist system. But our responsibility is to point out and to deny them these privileges."

"If you see those 'expats' in Malaysia, call them immigrants like everyone else. If that hurts their white superiority, they can jump in the air and stay there. This outdated worldview and ideology must be brought to its end!"