From the depths of Arab heritage, a saying emerges: “The tail of the dog will never straighten, even if you put it in a mold for forty years.” It’s a proverb that embodies the challenge of human nature when the course of life is marked by crookedness.

In our modern times, this proverb accurately applies to a group of Arab expatriates who migrated abroad, not to seek a better life or build an honorable future, but to reproduce their corruption and crime in lands that are not theirs.

Criminals without borders

When a person thinks of migration, the dream of a decent life and hard work comes to mind, but some Arab migrants brought with them the ugliness of their souls, and saw in freedom an opportunity to deepen their corruption. This group tarnishes the reputation of the honorable majority of migrants who build bridges between their cultures and their new homeland.

In the streets of Europe and America, you find these individuals repeating the same behaviors that made their original homelands fertile ground for corruption and chaos. Drug trafficking, fraud, violence, and exploiting Western laws that are often more lenient than they deserve.

Escaping the homeland … and reproducing chaos

What makes it more bitter is that these criminals often claim to have escaped from oppression or poverty in their homelands, but as soon as their feet touch the soil of their host countries, intentions turn into greed and violence. Instead of taking advantage of opportunities to rebuild their lives, you see them fishing in waters of freedoms whose value they do not understand.

You find them creating parallel, closed communities, filled with the chaos they fled from. They reshape the “forgotten neighborhoods” in the heart of Western capitals, where the law is violated, and where the values of deceit and fraud prevail over any attempt for change.

Neither the return corrected nor the exile amended

The problem lies not only in the behavior of these criminals but in the fact that they define our culture as Arabs in the ugliest terms before the world. These actions provide an excuse for those who want to portray Arabs as mere symbols of chaos and violence.

And just as the proverb says, no matter how hard these countries try to contain them, the tail of the dog remains crooked. Neither strict laws nor great opportunities can reform their sick souls.

Is there hope?

The solution does not lie only in condemning these individuals, but in delving deeper into the reasons for producing such a group in our homelands. Corruption, oppression, and distorted family upbringing are factories for producing these models.

However, the real challenge remains in restoring the value of ethics and hard work among Arabs, whether at home or abroad.

Perhaps one day we will break this stereotype and prove to the world that the tail of the dog, although resistant to correction, can be surpassed by producing new generations that reflect the beauty of true Arab values.