Struggle For a world without Border
We cannot and should not remain any more indifference against the increasing pressures and limitation on refugees and immigrants by anti-immigrant laws and policies of the western governments. Immigrants and refugees along with all the progressive and revolutionaries and all who side with the justness must wage a conscious, united and organised struggle against these pressures and misinformation about the refugees and immigrants.
The flood of migration of millions who are forced to leave their home and country is increasing in an unprecedented scale. Millions are displaced in their own countries and 2 to 3 million have been heading towards the western countries in less than 2 years. Those who have lost their last hope for a normal life in their own country take a dangerous route towards the west in a hope of saving their life and their family from war, poverty, hunger, prison, the dominant dictators and a horrifying situation.
Many of the refugees have to travel long ways on foot and with thirst and hunger where they have to deal with smugglers the security forces and border guards of the countries on their way to Europe such as those of Iran, Turkey, Libya, and Egypt and so on. Mediterranean Sea where separate the European countries from the poor countries, has been the killing field of thousands refugees, old or young and children that in many cases no trace of them has been left out.
The refugees, their family and their children and babies spent the last winter in refugee camps in Greece and other countries in the Eastern Europe in an inhumane condition. Thousands of refugees who managed to reach Calais in France (who want to go to UK) had no better situation if not worse. These refugees are under continuous pressure and insult of the governments of these countries and their brutal forces. These conditions is breaking the heart of all the freedom lovers in a world scale and at the same time reveals the cruel face of the European and western authorities who are trying to cover their racism with the mask of democracy and human rights.
The women and children together constitute the majority of these refugees. The children who in lieu of playing and going to school , have to constantly flee the wars, bombs and cannons and their childhood is stolen by the warmongers, now along with their family or even alone are going through a dangerous path in a hope of a normal life. The women have always been the main victim of the wars and the poverty. Furthermore the women because of being a woman have been at risk of violence in particular the rape and sexual abuse. There have been countless cases that women have been raped by the smugglers, camps’ authorities, fellow travellers and even by men of their own family. Many women vulnerable due to the poverty and disastrous war situation are stolen and sold or by force and deception are smuggled into the US and European countries to be exploited as a sex slave or a prostitute and produce more capital in the billion dollars so called ‘sex industry’ in the west.
The end of the ‘journey’ and arriving in the ‘destination’ is not the end of the refugees’ problems. Those who succeed to get to the European countries they must grapple with various problems. They will be faced with different sorts of discriminations, threats, despise, insults and accusations. It could take years before their statues to be accepted or rejected. They will be deprived from the basic rights during this time and the shadow of the abuse of police and other governmental authorities and the hassles of working ‘illegally’ is spread over their head all the time. The various factions of the European states are competing with each other on how to impose pressure and limitation on refugees. They accuse the immigrants and refugees of abusing their social and welfare services. They are blamed for the lack of job and employment, and are introduced as the cause of the increase of the number of crimes such as, murder, rape, drug dealing and robbery. They are being depicted as useless people who are going to be a burden on the system and live at the expense of the tax payers. They use this propaganda to shape the public opinion against the refugees and introduce them as the cause of problems and difficulties to buy legitimacy for their racist and anti-refugee policies. These policies is not only promoted by openly fascist and the right wing parties but also by the main governing parties, even those so called left factions.
There is no doubt that there are many in these countries that are more conscious to be fooled and deceived by this racists manoeuvring. Many people know well about the importance of the solidarity with the refugees and solidarity with the people in a world scale and know that the functioning of the western governments in the third world countries are the main cause of the destruction of the home of those who refuge to the west.
Today the most refugees are those from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, the countries that have been the centre of the imperialists’ wars, invasion and occupations in the third millennium. 4 million Syrian, a country with less than 20 million populations, had to leave their country and refuge somewhere else.
Afghanistan from the time it was occupied by Russia in 1981 that triggered the direct intervention of the US and other western countries in that region has had continuously more than 6 million refugee outside the country and 2 million displaced inside the country.
The powerful imperialists’ countries with their wars and invasions and under the pretexts of bringing democracy or fighting fundamentalism but in fact for their own global interests and also the reactionary powers in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India with their meddling in the Middle East and South Asia for increasing their influence, have made the countries in these region into a centre of contentions and has made the lives for the people in these regions impossible. The imperialists’ interventions not only have not brought any democracy or have not liberated the women but as it was expected have strengthened the fundamentalism. Fundamentalism that did not have much ground in Iraq or Syria has become the most important bases of fundamentalism and a monster such as Daesh (the Islamic State) has been created- due to the imperialists interventions.
From the other side the imperialists economic policies and in particular their policies in the last two or three decades known as globalisation of economy has further distorted and has caused a long lasting structural crisis in the economy of the oppressed countries in Asia, Africa and other poor countries. Its results have made the living for the most people in the most of the oppressed countries impossible. For many people in the Asia and Africa in order to stay alive there is no more choices but to leave behind their home and country and alone or along with their family refuge to another country.
Dictatorial states that are mostly supported by the western imperialists have also been another reason that people have to flee their countries. Imprisonment, torture, and execution of the political opponents by the Dictators and also fundamentalists’ regimes such as Iran, has given rise to the waves of refugees from these countries.
But all these problems are somehow related to the functioning of the world capitalists system that creates and intensifies the inequality between the rich and powerful countries from one side and the poor and oppressed countries from the other side. And this division in a world scale is maintained and intensified with the political, economic and military mechanism. The functioning of this system is the cause of a situation that is known as ‘refugee crises’.
What is the imperialists’ solution for this so called ‘crisis’? Continue the wars, more invasions, suppressing the immigrants and refugees in different ways including condemning them to be drawn in the sea and as a whole to continue the functioning of this hellish system and protecting it as much as possible. For example the cancellation of Mare Nostrum operation in Mediterranean Sea that its main task was to help refugees, because many of the western leaders and in particular David Cameron the former UK prime minister believed the operation was encouraging the refugees to come to the west. Also with the pretext of targeting the smugglers, created another war. The other task the European leaders have committed themselves is to financially aid the Turkey’s brutal regime to put a stop on the refugee’s move towards Europe or helping the Afghanistan financially in order to accept the deported refugees.
For all these reasons the immigrants must fight against the pressures and limitations. In fact they have been fighting against these and against their unclear situation and against being confined within the refugee camps in various countries.
The refugees must unite and stand against the pressures and threats of the right wing elements and forces and also the fascists and racists’ forces. They must make the real causes of so called ‘refugees and immigrant crisis’ clearer for the masses of refugees and the masses of the countries they refuge and win over the solidarity and support of the progressive and revolutionary forces and individuals. And struggle against the system that is the cause of such situation and fight for a society in which there is no sign of oppression and exploitation and no border that would separate the human beings from each other.
Developing the sporadic and scattered struggles to a unified struggle for a certain goal will magnify our voice. There is a need of an organised struggle that would deeply expose the system that is the cause of such displacement in a world scale, a struggle with the aim that its real, scientific and liberating solutions is to put an end to the oppression and exploitation systems. For such an aimed and prolong struggle the refugees and immigrants need their own organisation such that they can wage their united and coordinated struggle and win over the solidarity and the support of the masses of the people in the country they are resident and fight united for their rights and also for a world without oppression and exploitation, and a world without border.
