Millions of people around the world are forced to flee war, poverty, exploitation, oppression and ecological destruction in search of a better life. At their destination, however, they are often faced with new challenges: racism, discrimination, exclusion and even the danger of being killed. Increasing hostility towards refugees in European countries is an constant problem.
The phenomenon of displacement is directly linked to the historical legacies of colonialism and imperialist globalisation. The wealth that Europe acquired through the colonisation of the peoples of Africa, Asia and Abya Yala (America) has laid the foundation for today’s inequalities.
The formation of large groups of refugees in parts of the world close to the centres of war and conflict and their return to the imperialist metropolises is entirely politically motivated. The great destruction caused by the war has led to the formation of a mass of war victims who are unable to survive in their own countries. In this respect, refugeeism is a humanitarian problem, a human rights problem, a political problem; it has gained global character, beyond being local and regional.
Both economic migration and political migration are natural channels of class struggle. Regardless of the level at which it develops, population mobility at all levels is an expression of the search for a new world and a new future by the world working class and the oppressed, the disenfranchised, the vast and diverse social sections dragged to destruction by the capitalist imperialist system of exploitation and war.
Today, migrants and refugees come from lands plundered by European and Western colonisers for their imperialist expansionist ambitions and economic interests. Migration is not only a result of wars or economic reasons, but also of colonial policies of the past and neo-colonial practices of the present.
Colonialism was shaped by the aggression of Western European imperialist states to control and occupy different parts of the world economically, politically and culturally since the 15th century. This process was not only limited to the plunder of local societies’ resources; it also led to the displacement, forced labour and migration of millions of people.
In this respect, migration waves are a completely justified and legitimate action of the poor, the victims and the oppressed. The fact that immigration and refugees have become one of the most important problems of the imperialist countries, a structural problem, shows this. With the recent large and extensive influx of immigrants, the structural crises in these countries are aggravated and new imperialist and racist-fascist tendencies find the opportunity to develop through immigrant hostility.
The road to imperialist blocs lead to new wars
Today, militarism between the imperialist blocs is rapidly escalating. All the conditions preparing the imperialist war of division are developing. The contradictions between the world rulers, which are already confronted as two imperialist blocs, are sharpening. The militarist escalation is materialised as war in two regions. These two battlefields/regions stand before us as the gateways to the 3rd Imperialist Partition War and a new hell on earth. The first of these is the war between Ukraine and Russia. However, in reality this is a war of strategic attrition launched by the USA, NATO and the western imperialist bloc against the Russia-China bloc, a war to tear Russia away from China and devour it. The second war front is being reshaped today in the Middle East by the hegemon of the imperialist world, the USA, Britain and their allies. The USA, Britain and Zionist Israel have attempted to change the geopolitical structure of the Middle East through war and occupation. The process that began with the aggressions of Zionist Israel, which first drove the Palestinian people into genocide with these ambitions and then expanded to Lebanon, is now in full force with the attacks of the entire Zionist-imperialist bloc on the Syrian people and the revolution in Rojava. The imperialist-Zionist bloc is trying to fortify the region in line with its own imperialist interests. This situation obviously means a new wave of migration. Millions of people from war zones are trying to reach European metropolises with the hope of a safer and better life.
Ecological destruction policies and migration
Another reason for the refugee problem is that ecological destruction and environmental degradation (climate change, depletion of natural resources, deforestation, water crises, etc.), makinh people unable to sustain their lives. Migration due to ecological destruction is a global crisis and has not only environmental but also economic, social and political dimensions. This situation often continues to lead to large-scale migratory movements.
‘We are here because you are plundering our countries’
This slogan, which points to the plunderers in order to make the historical inequalities between peoples more understandable, expresses the real reasons quite clearly. What migrants and refugees demand with these words is not only a refuge, but also the exposure and accountability of colonial injustice. However, this righteousness is suppressed by the racist policies, propaganda and practices of imperialist states.
The immigration and refugee policies implemented by the European bourgeois states in recent years draw attention with their discriminatory and oppressive practices. These policies, both in legal framework and in practice, have a racist and fascist character and point to the capitalist system that systematically excludes refugees and immigrants.
The fascist-racist approach of the European imperialists, the so-called ‘Fortress Europe’ policy, is full of examples of violence and discrimination, including the closure of the borders to refugees, which disregards human dignity. The European Union’s border policies are based on denying refugees access to the continent. Organisations such as FRONTEX use military means to prevent migrants from reaching Europe by land and sea. Thousands of refugees die in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe. This situation, which is consciously manipulated by European states, is tried to be reflected as ‘migration accidents’ and rendered socially invisible. Those who are on their way to refuge are labelled as the ‘criminals’ of this tragedy.
Racism and Police Violence against Refugees
In many European countries, police violence against refugees is a systematic form of racism. Law enforcement agencies, motivated by xenophobia and racist attacks, function as part of policies aimed at criminalising, isolating and deterring refugees and migrants.
Many refugees are forced to live in camps, isolated and deprived of their basic human rights. Police raids, arbitrary detentions and violence add to this pressure. Halim Dener, Oury Jalloh, Amed Ahmad, Adama and Nahel are a few examples of the lethal dimensions of police violence. These incidents are not isolated. They are indicators of the racist system in Europe and show that law enforcement agencies are not held accountable due to the ever-increasing powers of the police.
Police violence is supported by racist laws and policies. With recently updated legal practices such as the Foreigners Law in Germany and the Immigration Law in France, the residence obligation and the camp system turn the daily lives of refugees into prisons. This system has created an system in which refugees are kept under both physical and psychological pressure.
European states are increasingly resorting to racist-fascist methods to deport refugees. The forced handing over of 3 Kurdish political migrants to the Turkish state in France last summer is an indication that these practices will become widespread.
Refugees are often imprisoned in camps in inhumane conditions, where they are deprived of access to basic needs. Examples such as Moria Camp in Greece and Lampedusa in Italy are concrete evidence of Europe’s discriminatory practices towards refugees.
The Role of the Media and Social Divisions
The media has become one of the most important instruments fuelling hostility towards refugees. Every election period, the bourgeois media target immigrants and refugees with manipulative discourses such as ‘increase in crime rates’, ‘economic burden’ or ‘integration problem’. This propaganda aims to divide the public and distract attention from real problems such as unemployment, inflation and the housing crisis. These discourses prepare the ground for racist policies and increasing hostility towards refugees. And with the recent Hanau and Solingen massacres in Germany, this ground is not only limited to the aggression of law enforcement officers, but has also mobilised racist-fascists.
The deliberate characterisation of refugees as a ‘threat’ strengthens the grounds for blaming them for economic problems, crime rates and cultural conflicts. These discourses are fuelling anti-refugee sentiments among people and are being used as leverage for bourgeois states to tighten their immigration policies.
International solidarity requires awareness and responsibility
We can see that colonial barbarism and wars are being carried more and more by the imperialists. The peoples of Europe are being mobilised against the victims of these wars and economic exploitation. So what should we, migrants and refugees, do to defend our rights here, to achieve equal rights to life, but also for those we leave behind?
How can we come together internationally and recognise that an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us? What should we do to grow and practice our solidarity, so that it is stronger than all attacks and attempts to divide us? In an environment where refugee communities and political organisations in exile are criminalised by states, how can we raise our voices wherever we are and prevent the usurpation of the right to asylum and protection?
Let’s talk about how we can build solidarity and struggle with activists who have accompanied and led struggles, with our friends who have experienced the problems of refugees and are still living in camps, and look for solutions at the International Conference on the Struggle against Migrant and Refugee Hostility!