Whether it’s the United Kingdom’s slogan, “Stop the boats”, or America’s “Deport illegals now”, immigrants are very much in the firing line of some of the world’s richest countries. Immigration seems constantly to be in the news across the Western world, with both legal and illegal immigrants finding themselves the unwelcome focus of populist rhetoric.
In the UK, a desire to “take back control” over the country’s borders was at the heart of the successful Brexit campaign in 2016. If anything, attitudes toward immigrants have hardened since then. We now have Sir Keir Starmer, a Labour prime minister and former human rights lawyer, promising tougher rules for every area of immigration. In a recent speech, he mirrored the emotive language of the far right, asserting that “we risk becoming an island of strangers”. Anti-immigrant populism has also been flourishing for many years across continental Europe. Desperate migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea in small boats from North Africa have elicited a compassionate response from some, but have also provided the catalyst for some hostile, anti-immigrant fearmongering. Similarly, in the United States, last year’s presidential campaign was characterized by Donald Trump’s extreme rhetoric on illegal immigrants, in one rally even claiming they were “attacking villages and cities all throughout the Midwest”. Since his election, he has been making good his promise of “mass deportations”, now a cornerstone of his administration.
Throughout the West, people seem to have retreated from the inspiring words chiseled on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. Rather than being welcomed, immigrants are now more likely to be demonized or deported.
Yet — and this is the crux of the matter — we are all descended from immigrants.
The history of humanity is the history of immigration. Since the earliest migrations from Africa into Europe and Asia many thousands of years ago, the mass movement of people has been a constant feature of our evolution. Some migration has been steady, gradual and relatively peaceful, driven by the search for food, favorable climates or more hospitable environments. Other migration has been more aggressive, the dramatic result of invasion and conquest. Notable examples include the eras of the Roman Empire, Imperial China’s Han and Tang dynasties, Viking kingdoms, the Mongol Empire, and the more recent British, Spanish, Portuguese, and other European empires. Alongside the population movements associated with imperial conquest, there have also been the depressingly regular migrations of those escaping persecution, be they Jews, Huguenots, Parsis, or other minority groups. Others have been motivated to seek sanctuary in new countries to escape poverty, famine, warfare or other disasters. Irish immigration to the US at the time of the devastating 19th century famine is but one example. Other migrants fell under the category of being unwilling immigrants, one of the most infamous examples being the victims of the trans-Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 19th centuries.
So one way or another, we are all the descendants of immigrants. Some of us don’t know or don’t choose to think about how we came to be where we are, though “new” countries such as the US, Canada and Australia have traditionally taken great pride in their European heritage. It seems ironic that some of these countries built on immigration are now among the most hostile places for immigrants. The Europeans who first journeyed there all qualified for the term “illegal immigrants”, though of course they preferred the label colonists or pioneers. Undeterred by any resistance they met from the indigenous populations, they were intent on making better lives for themselves in their new homes, even if this involved what some have termed genocide. After all, it was argued, it was their duty to civilize other parts of the world, imposing their “superior” European cultures and religions. In pursuing their own self-interest, they believed they had God and civilization on their side, in addition to their guns.
The US, with its proud “melting pot” image, is perhaps the epitome of a nation of immigrants. So, logically, if this policy has now been reversed and Trump — who is of German and Scottish descent — wants to oust “illegals”, he should be expelling everyone apart from those descended from the Apache, Cheyenne, Sioux and other Native American tribes. Even these shouldn’t be completely safe from expulsion, as their original ancestors are thought to have migrated from Eurasia approximately 25,000 years ago.
You would think that societies that were built on colonialism, or those like Britain that grew rich from colonialism, would have a more sympathetic attitude to those people now emulating the original colonists, escaping poverty, war or persecution to seek a better life elsewhere. The main difference with the new wave of illegal immigrants is that their goal is to find security, a job and to live peacefully, rather than seizing control of their host countries and killing anyone who resists them.
The arguments of those wanting to “send them back” can seem convincing. “We’ve no room for immigrants.” “There aren’t enough schools, houses or medical facilities for immigrants.” “There aren’t enough jobs for both us and immigrants.” “Immigrants aren’t like us.” “Immigrants are diluting our cultural identity.” “Immigrants don’t want to fit in.” With some people, these are genuine concerns, often associated with inadequate infrastructure. With others, the concerns mask underlying racism, xenophobia or bigotry. However, even if we ignore the prejudices of the latter group and take all the concerns at face value, does that really justify sending immigrants back to the war-torn or poverty-stricken places from which they came? If citizens of countries built on colonialism and immigration now decide that the opportunities they gained from this heritage are no longer available for newcomers, they need to reflect on how hypocritical this can seem.
If First World countries have lost their consciences or their humanity, and really do want to pull up the immigration drawbridge, there’s only one realistic way forward. That is to remove the push factors driving people to leave their home countries in search of a better life. As climate change exacerbates problems around the world, these push factors for immigration will only become stronger and the current influx of hopeful immigrants will turn into an unstoppable tide.
If rich countries are serious about controlling immigration, they need to work in concert to stop wars, end persecution, eliminate poverty, and fight climate change. Strengthening the United Nations’ peacekeeping role, massively increasing foreign aid, helping the poorest countries to transform their economies, and meeting climate targets are the only ways to reduce the flow of illegal immigration. Unfortunately, the opposite policies now seem to be in the ascendancy. The UN has lost its authority, overseas aid programs are being cut, free trade is in decline, fossil fuels are making a comeback, and an isolationist rather than international mindset is back in fashion.
This trend needs to be reversed. We have to acknowledge that we are all descended from immigrants, that many of us have benefited hugely as a result, and that if we now want to manage immigration we need to do so with compassion. Talk about becoming “an island of strangers” isn’t helpful. A more constructive approach would be to stop seeing our planet as a world of strangers. We are all linked by our common humanity.
The author is a British historian and former principal of Sha Tin College, an international secondary school in Hong Kong.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
