Migration crisis
How the West can end it
BRITAIN and France are drowning each other out over who is responsible for the flow of refugees into the two countries. The usually quarrelsome neighbours have found a new reason to, well, quarrel. On Nov 24, 27 refugees drowned in the bitter cold waters of the English Channel when trying to cross into Britain from France. According to the United Nations, it was the worst such disaster since 2014, when it began keeping records of sea crossings. Britain says France should allow it to patrol French waters because the latter is doing a bad job of stemming the refugee flow. France, for its part, says Britain is allowing itself to be a magnet for illegal workers. Both are wrong. The reason for the wave after wave of refugees into Europe isn’t because Paris is bad at patrolling the French waters or that Britain is acting as a magnet for illegal workers. The refugee crisis is a direct result of the colonial habits of not only France and Britain, but also the rest of the West.
Consider the origins of the 27 who died in the English Channel. According to the Middle East Eye, a regional news portal, all 27 — 17 men, seven women, one who was pregnant, and three children — were from Iraq. Others, who had made it to Europe or died trying to reach the continent’s shores, were from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Iran and parts of North Africa. Writing an op-ed piece in the portal, Jonathan Cook, puts it thus: “That is not accidental. There is probably nowhere the legacy of Western meddling — directly and indirectly — has been felt more acutely than the resource-rich Middle East,” Take Palestine, where the West’s colonial policy of divide and rule shows up in all its brutality. Think Britain and the Balfour Declaration. Think America and Zionist settlement colonialism. On Tuesday, thanks to its allies in the West, Israel proudly announced to the world the completion of its 64km “wall of iron, sensors and concrete” that stretches the length of the Gaza Strip above and below ground. A three-year, US$1.1 billion effort to deny the Palestinians a liveable life. Yet the West, like the town criers of the 18th century, dressed in red and gold robes, white breeches, black boots and hats to match, strut the world talking about how good they are at democracy and human rights. America, the colonist fresh out of Afghanistan, is even hosting the world’s first-ever democracy summit. Oh, how they miss the irony of it all.
And the West must be blind, too, not to see why the imprisoned Palestinians want to seek refuge in Europe. There is only one way to end the refugee crisis. The West must put a stop to its colonial habits. As for those refugees who are already in Europe, accommodate them. Do not let them be stranded at borders where they freeze to death. Or keep them in camps where they are tortured like slaves. Europe’s colonial ways are not only trapping refugees thus in Europe, but also in Libya. Last month, a number of rights groups called on the International Criminal Court to investigate “crimes against humanity” committed against refugees held in Libyan camps. The refugees are in Europe and in “contracted out” camps elsewhere because the actions of the West drove them there. End colonialism and the refugee flow will stop.
The refugee crisis is a direct result of the colonial habits of not only France and Britain, but also the rest of the West.