BY AYESHA KAJEE, MAY 14 2015, 09:28
IN THE 12 months till October 2014, Italy’s maritime search operation Mare Nostrum rescued 140 000 people attempting to cross the Mediterranean in boats launched from Libya and Tunisia.
The would-be immigrants hailed from as far afield as Sierra Leone, Syria, Eritrea and Cameroon. The replacement of Mare Nostrum by the downsized Operation Triton has been heavily criticised by rights groups after estimates that, during April 2015 alone, more than 1 200 people have drowned in their attempts to reach Europe.
Global migration has reached unprecedented levels. From South America, the Far East and the Caribbean into North America; into Europe from Africa and the near East; and within Africa itself, huge numbers of people have left their homes to seek a better life elsewhere. In some cases the migrants are fleeing civil strife and associated terrors, while in others they are merely pursuing enhanced economic opportunities.
Two striking consequences common to large movements of people are xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment in the destination countries, and the tendency to criminalise migrants by draconian administrations intent on “documenting” them. As a result, “undocumented”, “alien” and “illegal” immigrants have become the world’s newest class of criminals.
The notion that recent migration levels can be attributed, at least in part, to colonial legacies, is not new. Contemporary civil wars in Africa and the Middle East, as well as abject poverty and underdevelopment, are rooted in colonial systems of resource extraction, slavery, and uneven distribution of public goods.
Colonial paradigms are still evident today, with developed countries using their economic dominance to dictate the rules of global and regional immigration systems .
Patterns of migration from Africa to Europe also reflect colonial legacies, often tending to be from the former colony to the former coloniser, a trend whose logic is based on familiarity with the language and culture of the destination country. Thus, Italy is a “natural” destination for migrants from Libya, Eritrea and Somalia, while migrants from Francophone Africa are often ultimately headed for France or French-speaking parts of Belgium and Switzerland.
Earlier this year, Australian prime minister Tony Abbott urged the EU to follow his country’s example of turning boats around and sending them back and of detaining and deporting migrants back to their point of origin.
The downscaling of Triton underlined a degree of coldness among policymakers, who view search-and-rescue missions as “an unintended pull factor” that encourages migration, in the words of British Foreign Office minister Lady Anelay. But this preference to let people die at sea may be forced to change, given recent warnings from Islamic State militants that they intend to conquer the Vatican.
The European Commission is proposing that EU member countries should accept refugees on a quota basis. Aid organisations and some EU member countries support the idea, pointing out that providing asylum is a human right, and activists would argue that Europe has a moral responsibility to atone for colonial-era atrocities.
Added to this is the more recent EU complicity in the deterioration of states such as Libya, Syria, Tunisia and Egypt. The role played by Western administrations in bringing about the chaos in post-Gaddafi Libya and the humanitarian tragedy in Syria, as well as political and economic tensions in Egypt, should not be forgotten.
While military solutions such as destruction of the vessels have been proposed, this is not a long-term solution. The levels of desperation in the regions of departure are high enough for people to attempt a crossing numerous times, despite the dangers. Similarly, placing the onus of controlling their borders on the countries of origin through treaties, extends paternalism and control and has proved ineffective.
The only practical method for dealing with global migration must be multi-pronged. On the one hand, destination countries such as the EU member states need to accept and legalise reasonable quotas of refugees and other migrants, to decriminalise migrant workers , and to implement civic education systems that prevent xenophobia and enhance assimilation. Missions such as Triton are needed to prevent unnecessary deaths. But, in the longer term, policies that take into account the underlying reasons for mass migrations, including conflict, persecution, impoverishment and socioeconomic marginalisation, must be considered.
Former colonisers (and those guilty of recent interference) need to make amends. Failure to do so will result in continued migration and greater vulnerability to the types of conflict and impoverishment which were the initial push factors.
IN THE 12 months till October 2014, Italy’s maritime search operation Mare Nostrum rescued 140 000 people attempting to cross the Mediterranean in boats launched from Libya and Tunisia.
The would-be immigrants hailed from as far afield as Sierra Leone, Syria, Eritrea and Cameroon. The replacement of Mare Nostrum by the downsized Operation Triton has been heavily criticised by rights groups after estimates that, during April 2015 alone, more than 1 200 people have drowned in their attempts to reach Europe.
Global migration has reached unprecedented levels. From South America, the Far East and the Caribbean into North America; into Europe from Africa and the near East; and within Africa itself, huge numbers of people have left their homes to seek a better life elsewhere. In some cases the migrants are fleeing civil strife and associated terrors, while in others they are merely pursuing enhanced economic opportunities.
Two striking consequences common to large movements of people are xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment in the destination countries, and the tendency to criminalise migrants by draconian administrations intent on “documenting” them. As a result, “undocumented”, “alien” and “illegal” immigrants have become the world’s newest class of criminals.
The notion that recent migration levels can be attributed, at least in part, to colonial legacies, is not new. Contemporary civil wars in Africa and the Middle East, as well as abject poverty and underdevelopment, are rooted in colonial systems of resource extraction, slavery, and uneven distribution of public goods.
Colonial paradigms are still evident today, with developed countries using their economic dominance to dictate the rules of global and regional immigration systems .
Patterns of migration from Africa to Europe also reflect colonial legacies, often tending to be from the former colony to the former coloniser, a trend whose logic is based on familiarity with the language and culture of the destination country. Thus, Italy is a “natural” destination for migrants from Libya, Eritrea and Somalia, while migrants from Francophone Africa are often ultimately headed for France or French-speaking parts of Belgium and Switzerland.
Earlier this year, Australian prime minister Tony Abbott urged the EU to follow his country’s example of turning boats around and sending them back and of detaining and deporting migrants back to their point of origin.
The downscaling of Triton underlined a degree of coldness among policymakers, who view search-and-rescue missions as “an unintended pull factor” that encourages migration, in the words of British Foreign Office minister Lady Anelay. But this preference to let people die at sea may be forced to change, given recent warnings from Islamic State militants that they intend to conquer the Vatican.
The European Commission is proposing that EU member countries should accept refugees on a quota basis. Aid organisations and some EU member countries support the idea, pointing out that providing asylum is a human right, and activists would argue that Europe has a moral responsibility to atone for colonial-era atrocities.
Added to this is the more recent EU complicity in the deterioration of states such as Libya, Syria, Tunisia and Egypt. The role played by Western administrations in bringing about the chaos in post-Gaddafi Libya and the humanitarian tragedy in Syria, as well as political and economic tensions in Egypt, should not be forgotten.
While military solutions such as destruction of the vessels have been proposed, this is not a long-term solution. The levels of desperation in the regions of departure are high enough for people to attempt a crossing numerous times, despite the dangers. Similarly, placing the onus of controlling their borders on the countries of origin through treaties, extends paternalism and control and has proved ineffective.
The only practical method for dealing with global migration must be multi-pronged. On the one hand, destination countries such as the EU member states need to accept and legalise reasonable quotas of refugees and other migrants, to decriminalise migrant workers , and to implement civic education systems that prevent xenophobia and enhance assimilation. Missions such as Triton are needed to prevent unnecessary deaths. But, in the longer term, policies that take into account the underlying reasons for mass migrations, including conflict, persecution, impoverishment and socioeconomic marginalisation, must be considered.
Former colonisers (and those guilty of recent interference) need to make amends. Failure to do so will result in continued migration and greater vulnerability to the types of conflict and impoverishment which were the initial push factors.
