Headlines describing clashes between asylum seeking migrants and the local population in the UK for example started gaining momentum late last year. Sexual crimes against minors, assaults, robberies, negative economic impacts, and welfare tax burdens are some of the reasons cited to prompt local outrage and protest marches. A controversial asylum hotel in Epping Esses UK was recently shut down by local council responding to community protests.
For the last 5 years mass migrations of people have flooded in to the countries of the EU and the United States and Canada. Why? On the surface, the corporate news reports essentially they’re seeking asylum and are escaping harsh living conditions. However the larger question as to why mass numbers of people migrate across borders is rarely explored. We hear a presentation from the Vienna Migration Conference. Author Kelly Greenhill who wrote the 2010 book titled Weapons of Mass Migration: Forced Displacement, Coercion and Foreign Policy is in conversation with an International Center for Migration Policy Development representative. This presentation is from 2022. Greenhill is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Tufts University.
In this presentation its explained how certain nations will use “migration diplomacy” as leverage to achieve diplomatic, political or economic goals. Essentially human beings are used as bargaining chips. France for example, is reported to be not doing enough to stop the flow of people invading the UK and this inaction is seen as a form of migration diplomacy. Countries such as Libya, Morocco, and Turkey also use the threat of uncontrolled migration to exert diplomatic leverage on European countries. We learn how Alexander Lukashenko used migration diplomacy as retaliation against EU sanctions. The sanctions were levied for his disputed re-election in 2020 and human rights abuse.
What about the United States and Canada? During most of the Biden administration and prior, corporate media news regularly reported on caravan after caravan crossing the U.S. border from Mexico and more people flowing in from Canada. By the end of 2024 upward of 30 million people were brought into the United States from countries worldwide. How is it possible millions of asylum seekers quietly set out in travel and surprise the population of target countries?