In mid-July, 57 European and African ministers and representatives of 10 organizations met in Rabat, Morocco, to discuss undocumented immigration from Africa to Europe. The Euro-African Conference on Migration and Development was convened in the midst of a rapidly growing humanitarian crisis.
Up to 100,000 Africans embark on dangerous journeys to Europe every year in search of work. Of those who make the
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This year, 10,000 undocumented immigrant workers—twice as many as last year—have landed on the Canary Islands, a major point of entry for immigrants to Spain. At least a 1,000 people have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea crossing to the Canary Islands since late 2005
The European Union has already pledged to further restrict points of entry—providing vessels and aircraft that started patrolling on July 18—while France, Spain, Britain, Italy and the Netherlands all recently passed legislation restricting the rights of immigrants from North Africa and Eastern Europe and tightening controls at their respective borders.
The conference was held in response to African countries’ demands that Europe stop the repressive policing and restriction measures. They understand that African immigration to Europe is a result of the severe economic underdevelopment of their countries.
Hundreds of protesters outside the migration conference said that the conference only paid lip service to the pressing issue of development. Abdelhamid Amine, head of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights said, “We believe that despite rhetoric about aid, Europe’s approach on migration is a war against African migrants,”
The economic development proposed by the conference is not intended to truly ameliorate Africa’s poverty. The imperialist countries negotiate loans—the interest of which further impoverish African nations—and claim that this aids development. Conference plans revolved around ensuring that African professionals who immigrate invest in their home country and that African students return home.
The grants that are offered by European countries—like the 10 million euro Spanish grant to help small-business owners in Africa—are not only insufficient to deal with the crisis of underdevelopment, but they pale in comparison to the debt Europe owes Africa for hundreds of years of plunder. The brutal European colonization of Africa throughout the late 1800s is the real culprit in Africa’s economic underdevelopment.
Furthermore, the European capitalist class benefits from the super-exploitation of undocumented immigrants, who live and work under the worst conditions and are paid minimal wages. Said Charchira, the leader of a migration research institute in Germany, noted that “Europe has profited from Africa’s natural resources for decades. Today, it attacks another resource: the human capital.”
Immigration is a global issue in today’s world that is dominated by imperialism. In his 1916 pamphlet, “Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism,” Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin noted, “One of the special features of imperialism is the decline in emigration from imperialist countries and the increase in immigration into these countries from the more [economically] backward countries where lower wages are paid.”
As long as capitalism’s drive for greater profits allows capital to flow across borders freely while restricting the movement of workers, migration will continue to be a humanitarian crisis for millions of workers from oppressed countries across the globe.
