It remains unclear quite what happened in Ceuta yesterday, though reports speak of 50,000 migrants attempting to cross from Moroccan to Spanish territory, and at least 57 deaths. We make this statement provisionally, as more detail can be expected to emerge in the coming days.
Unsurprisingly, little of the coverage or commentary focuses on the human tragedies of these deaths, the grief of their loved ones, or indeed the misery that would drive so many to flee their homes for an uncertain future. Nor, indeed, is there mention of the fact that Ceuta is a Spanish colony in Africa, and that – far from an invasion – this is a case of people swimming around a fence, from one part of North Africa to another; or that the Spanish courts recently ruled that migrants intercepted near Ceuta can’t be summarily returned to Morocco.
What we can say with certainty is that the forces of institutional and state racism are making hay, with Von der Leyen and Giorgia Meloni, among others, taking advantage. The far-right Italian government has unilaterally, and in breach of its basic rules, suspended the Schengen agreement for Spain. Irish wannabe-Taoiseach Jim O’Callaghan – the enthusiastic deporter of children – has moved quickly too.
The process of dehumanisation of migrants is well advanced, and isn’t showing signs of slowing. History shows us where that leads.
This is living proof of the quagmire capitalism creates. People are immiserated, criminalised when they try to make a better life, and the rich turn ordinary people against one another while admiring their own profit margins.
Until such time as we move to a system which values humans as humans, rather than as units of profit generation, it is guaranteed that despair will drive people in their thousands to migrate, leaving their homes, communities, networks. And it is guaranteed that this will always be exploited by the ruling class and its agents – including the far-right and populist right.
The choice remains a system that fosters human wellbeing, or one that turns people against one another, crushing the most vulnerable in pursuit of wealth.
The choice is socialism or barbarism.
Unsurprisingly, little of the coverage or commentary focuses on the human tragedies of these deaths, the grief of their loved ones, or indeed the misery that would drive so many to flee their homes for an uncertain future. Nor, indeed, is there mention of the fact that Ceuta is a Spanish colony in Africa, and that – far from an invasion – this is a case of people swimming around a fence, from one part of North Africa to another; or that the Spanish courts recently ruled that migrants intercepted near Ceuta can’t be summarily returned to Morocco.
What we can say with certainty is that the forces of institutional and state racism are making hay, with Von der Leyen and Giorgia Meloni, among others, taking advantage. The far-right Italian government has unilaterally, and in breach of its basic rules, suspended the Schengen agreement for Spain. Irish wannabe-Taoiseach Jim O’Callaghan – the enthusiastic deporter of children – has moved quickly too.
The process of dehumanisation of migrants is well advanced, and isn’t showing signs of slowing. History shows us where that leads.
This is living proof of the quagmire capitalism creates. People are immiserated, criminalised when they try to make a better life, and the rich turn ordinary people against one another while admiring their own profit margins.
Until such time as we move to a system which values humans as humans, rather than as units of profit generation, it is guaranteed that despair will drive people in their thousands to migrate, leaving their homes, communities, networks. And it is guaranteed that this will always be exploited by the ruling class and its agents – including the far-right and populist right.
The choice remains a system that fosters human wellbeing, or one that turns people against one another, crushing the most vulnerable in pursuit of wealth.
The choice is socialism or barbarism.