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"Refusing the refugees"
YellowTimes.org - 11.06.2002 17:29
A rash of right wing victories across Europe has tapped into the popular sentiment that immigrants and refugees are to blame for Europe´s sluggish economy, high unemployment rate, and social problems.
"Refusing the refugees"
Printed on Tuesday, June 11, 2002 @ 00:19:02 EDT
By Andre Achong
YellowTimes.org Columnist (United States)
(YellowTimes.org) – My first article for YellowTimes.org was entitled "The Myth of American Immigration." In this article, I essentially accused America of getting hysterical over what I felt was a bogus American immigration "crisis."
A number of readers took umbrage at my assertion, and one remarked that America´s attitude towards immigration was quite liberal compared to that of Europe. I remember replying that yes, some European countries like Germany and Italy have a well-documented hostility towards foreigners, but on the whole, Europe was quite more enlightened than the United States when it came to welcoming newcomers.
I have since realized how wrong I was.
Hidden between tired "War on Terrorism" babblings and India-Pakistan nuclear saber rattling, some disturbing news is coming out of Europe concerning immigrants and asylum-seekers. It seems that the continent (with Britain disappointingly outlining their distasteful plans in a White Paper) wants to get medieval and seal its borders fortress-style. Poor regions from Africa to the Middle East to the Balkans have been put on notice: the welcome mat has been pulled.
A rash of right wing victories across Europe has tapped into the popular sentiment that immigrants and refugees are to blame for Europe´s sluggish economy, high unemployment rate, and social problems. Terrorism concerns stemming from September 11 has made the entire continent super sensitive to outsiders, and have given the right wing the ammunition it needs to threaten Europe´s multicultural self-image and grab even more power for itself.
The late Dutch populist leader Pim Fortuyn said out loud what many of his countrymen were thinking, and views that would have been branded as xenophobic and racist 20 years ago are now embraced by the mainstream. French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen has also made his way into the mainstream by endorsing an anti-immigrant platform. Fortuyn and Le Pen may have been considered fringe 10 years ago, but no more. They are waking up the neighbors with populist ideas that lay the blame for Europe´s problems squarely at the feet of those who are just trying to make it.
But the Fortuyns and the Le Pens are not to blame for the hysteria. For several years now it has been ordinary people like housewives, fishmongers and university students who have been trafficking the idea that immigrants are stealing jobs from native Europeans and making the streets unsafe with gang activity and organized crime. These are not neo-Nazi skinheads, or swastika-waving fascists, but everyday people you would find at the bistro, the supermarket, or the library.
Unfortunately, the centrist political parties of Europe refused to look closely at the effect of immigration on their populations, and did not want to talk about immigrants, crime and pressures on their infrastructures for fear of being lumped with the right wing and branded as xenophobic. But that silence through the years has been costly because the right wing has seized the chance to use immigrants and refugees as a means to win parliamentary seats.
Meanwhile, the asylum-seekers who are fleeing genuinely horrific conditions in their own countries keep hearing the door slam all over the continent. Countries like Denmark and Britain that prided themselves for having relatively liberal attitudes are suddenly making it more difficult for asylum-seekers to obtain refugee status. According to the Guardian on June 3rd, the Danes plan to make legitimate refugees wait up to seven years for "green cards" place restrictions on the right to marry, and implement a "fast-track" deportation system. The British have plans in place to separate "good" refugees from "bad" refugees and employing what is insidiously called the "refuse and return" policy that would deport asylum applicants within days of their arrival in Britain.
Australia has also seen the emergence of a powerful right wing that has gained important ground by demonizing refugees. Prime Minister John Howard realized an impossible victory for a third term by declaring asylum-seekers public enemy number one. He implemented a plan that included dispatching naval ships to permanently seal off the coasts and locking refugees in barbwire-surrounded detention centers. Mr. Howard has also exported asylum-seekers to primitive camps on Australia´s isolated and impoverished Pacific islands, the Guardian wrote on May 30.
And just like in Europe, while some people were embarrassed by Mr. Howard´s stance, the vast majority of Australians apparently supported his hard line position. What Mr. Howard probably failed to mention, according to the previous Guardian article, was his cynical scheme to get re-elected and assuage voter discontent would cost £1 billion over five years, and result in fewer Australians getting disability benefits and every Australian having to pay more for prescription drugs.
This new war on the poorest people in the world can only end one way: badly for the developed nations. European populations are aging and birth rates are falling. Native Europeans are also finding that they have a preference for service-oriented jobs rather than blue-collar work. Who, then, will fill these labor gaps? Who will accomplish the jobs that native Europeans do not want to do anymore? Who is expected to keep Europe´s economic engine running while it gets older and less able to perform?
The European Union has maintained that mobility is what will take the Union into the future, but clearly they mean the mobility of money, not people. Finger-pointing, panic, and playing the blame game seems to be the rule of the day, along with sticking ones´ head in the sand.
Migration from poor regions to regions with opportunity has been something the human race has always found a way to do, and it is not something that will ever be stopped; therefore, it is ironic that the Europeans have failed to understand this. The United States is completely populated with the ancestors of Germans, Italians, Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Dutchmen, and Irishmen who left their respective countries in great numbers in the 18th and 19th centuries for the greener pastures of America. It is sickening they would close their own doors now, when they were on the other side not so long ago.
Or how about the fact Amnesty International, in an April 19 New York Times article, recently expressed disappointment in Spain for being racist in its treatment of refugees and immigrants. I guess the Spanish history books do not go as far back as the 15th century when Spaniards single-handedly colonized most of South and Central America and virtually wiped out the Indian civilizations there.
It is true that European countries will not be doing their populations any favors by allowing their infrastructures to be overtaxed by refugees and immigrants. But there is no reason to blame refugees and immigrants for every socio-economic problem, either. The truth is immigrants add to a country´s economic growth, and they contribute more to state coffers than they take in welfare benefits.
While Britain´s tabloids are prodding their politicos about the constant stream of refugees invading through the Channel tunnel, the British treasury is saying that migration has added a half-percentage point to the UK´s trend rate of growth. Noticed the lot of Russians and Ukrainians working in construction sites in the southeast of England? They are not depriving native Britons of jobs, but they are helping to alleviate severe labor shortages, according to the Guardian.
There is a lot of blame to go around for Europe´s economic woes. Several of the countries that are cracking down are guilty of digging their own economic graves with no help whatsoever from refugees and immigrants. Germany has powerful unions that guarantee incredible salaries, medical benefits, and huge chunks of vacation time for their employed.
Sweden, Norway and Denmark have too-good-to-be-true social services like free childcare and generous welfare packages that are the envy of the world. Across the board there are the bloated government payrolls; the over-production of goods; the Japanese recession; the United States recession; the South American recession; the list can go on and on.
A wise man once said it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. Time will tell if the Europeans ever get around to lighting their candle.
[Andre Achong is a world citizen concerned with the issues affecting the disenfranchised. He is proud to give a voice to the people through YellowTimes.org. Andre lives in the United States.]
Andre Achong encourages your comments:  aachong@YellowTimes.org
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