By Jeremy Dewar
Imagine you have just a few hours to gather your most valuable possessions, pack them into bags or, if you’re lucky, a vehicle, and with your family start a journey whose destination is uncertain. There may be hostile militia in the streets, environmental damage may have transformed the landscape, or you may have little to no money because the economy has collapsed. The point is you have to leave—now.
This happens to millions every year. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) there are 123 million forcibly displaced people in the world today. The majority, 74 million, remain in their country of origin, their homes destroyed or too dangerous to return to.
Of those forced to flee their country, three-quarters end up in poor countries and two-thirds in neighbouring states. In Lebanon, one of the poorest countries in the world, one in eight of the population are refugees from Syria or Palestine. In Britain, one of the richest, there are just over 500,000 refugees, less than 1% of the population.
One much repeated lie is that asylum seekers must apply for refugee status in the first country they arrive at. One only has to think about this to realise why this is untrue: a few of the poorest countries in the world would have to accommodate the vast majority of refugees and become quickly overwhelmed as a result, leading to millions of deaths.
Many travel to Europe, partly because richer countries can offer some respite and a future, and partly because these powers colonised their countries in the 19th century, leaving behind language and cultural ties. Many therefore have family in Europe; if you were forcibly displaced, wouldn’t you run to kith and kin? Wouldn’t you try to start anew with some knowledge of your new environment?
But even compared to our fellow Europeans, Britain is not considered a ‘soft touch’ for asylum seekers. Germany, France, Spain and Italy all take more displaced people, both in raw numbers and per head than Britain does. The idea that the UK is the victim of a European Union racket to dump their asylum seekers on us is just another Brexit lie.
Who is coming and why
Tory and Labour governments have trumpeted their efforts to bring persecuted and besieged people here from Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Ukraine. All those schemes ran dry years ago. Sickeningly but predictably the UK has turned its back on thousands of Afghans who collaborated with the British army during its years of illegal occupation. This is the true face of imperialism.
Most refugees are displaced for one or several of three reasons: extreme poverty, caused by a collapsed economy; war or repressive regimes or insurgencies, targeting ethnic, sexual or religious minorities, and political opponents; environmental disasters, often caused by global heating. Very often it is a combination of all three.
According to the latest government figures the most refugees this year have come from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Eritrea and Bangladesh. This matches the above criteria to a tee.
Pakistan and Bangladesh have both suffered devastating floods for the second year running. The former severely represses the Pashtun and Balochi people; the army and secret services constantly interfere in political life. In both former British colonies the economy is in ruins, plagued by IMF programmes, high inflation and unemployment.
Afghanistan and Iran, suffering respectively from decades of western imperialist invasion and sanctions, are deeply misogynistic regimes that do not hesitate to murder women and girls for the slightest deviation from imposed cultural behaviours. Yet Yvette Cooper’s Home Office is deporting people to these countries right now.
Eritrea, in east Africa, is one of the most repressive regimes in the world. National service lasts a lifetime, meaning anyone, be they a labourer or a doctor, can be called up at any time for any purpose, usually as a means of free labour. There are virtually no democratic rights.
Not only do all these people have a right to seek asylum in the UK, but Britain has a duty to welcome them here. Both historically and currently British imperialism has impoverished these countries, halted their economic development, caused climate catastrophe through polluting the planet, and armed their dictators and generals.
Refugees have a right, here to stay, here to fight!
