Everything politicians tell you about immigration is wrong. This is how it actually works | Hein de Haas

This is the best summary I could come up with:

A toxic combination of poverty, inequality, violence, oppression, climate breakdown and population growth appear to be pushing growing numbers of people from Africa, Asia and Latin America to embark upon desperate journeys to reach the shores of the wealthy west.

All of this results in the popular idea of a “migration crisis” that will require drastic countermeasures to prevent massive waves of people arriving in the future, apparently exceeding the absorption capacity of western societies and economies.

The misleading assertion that poverty causes migration conceals the fact that labour demand has been the main driver of growing immigration to western countries since the 1990s.

They choose instead to talk tough and revert to acts of political showmanship that create an appearance of control, but that in effect function as a smokescreen to conceal the true nature of immigration policy.

To break away from this legacy of failed policies, politicians need to gather the courage to tell an honest story about migration: that it is a phenomenon that benefits some people more than others; that it can have downsides for some, but cannot be thought or wished away; and that there are no simple solutions for complex problems.

For example, do we want to live in a society in which more and more work – transport, construction, cleaning, care of elderly people and children, food provision – is outsourced to a new class of servants made up mainly of migrant workers?

The original article contains 1,009 words, the summary contains 240 words. Saved 76%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

This is a fantastic article.

Politicians from left to right know this reality, but they don’t dare admit it out of fear of being seen as “soft on immigration”.

This is far too generous. They want a cheap workforce and they want to keep it cheap. Demonising migrants and taking years to provide them with papers and the legal right to work, with a permanent threat of deportation regardless of residency rights, is not intended to reduce their numbers, it is intended to make them easier to exploit. And, by lowering the bar for the most exploitable, making everyone else easier to exploit too.

The fishermen

On November 22, Joanne circulated a letter among the migrant crew. “I have been made aware the crew members are contacting an outside representative,” it read, possibly referencing a call Quezon made to Stella Maris seeking help for Susada. “I am also aware that crew members have been leaving their port without permission or making our office aware. Sadly the actions by these crew members are beginning to ruin the trust and faith we have placed in our Filipino crew.” It concluded by noting they would make reports to local police and UK immigration authorities “if necessary”.

Disgusting people.

A superb article. Well written and researched

Thanks. This was a very informative article