Migration, from tragedy to transformation

Jorge Faljo

2023/04/02

The tragedy that befell the imprisoned migrants in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, has drawn worldwide attention to the immediate cruelty of the path that migrants travel in Mexico. This tragedy rivals in numbers those that are recurrent among migrants who, from Africa, seek to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean in fragile boats that often fail to complete the journey. But there is a fundamental difference; in this case, these people were under the responsibility and formal protection of the government of Mexico, even if the operation of that space had been contracted to a private company.

The United Nations has asked the Mexican government for a thorough investigation of the facts while also calling for safe, regulated, and organized migration routes to be established. That is to say, it is not only about finding and punishing the guilty parties; staying at that level would be of little relevance from the perspective of a problem of enormous magnitude that must be analyzed on various levels that present an ascending complexity.

Mexico's migration policy will have to be reconsidered; this cannot be done without questioning US migration policy. The problem is global, and migration pressures have grown strongly worldwide. In 1980, international migrants were 2.3 percent of the world's population; 20 years later, in 2000, they accounted for 2.8 percent, and another 20 years later, in 2020, they were 3.6 percent of the world's inhabitants. In absolute numbers, there were 102 million migrants in 1980, 173 million in 2000, and in 2020, they reached 280 million.

What is truly serious is that while expulsive pressures of population increase in poor countries, the capacities and willingness to integrate migrants in rich countries are depleted. It could be said with some irony that the good times of global migration have run out.

Mexico must be particularly attentive to the issue. According to the United Nations (UN), Mexico is the second-largest country of origin of migrants in the world. India has the first place with 18 million. However, while Indian migrants go to various countries, mainly in the Middle East, Mexicans go to one destination in the vast majority. This makes Mexico-US the main corridor for migrants on the planet, with 11 million accumulated by 2020. Twice and a half that of the next corridor, Syria-Turkey, or India-United Arab Emirates.

And if Mexicans are added to those from Central, South America, and the Caribbean, Mexico becomes a highly concentrated global corridor for the migration journey. So the challenge is enormous... and will intensify here and everywhere.

The main causes of migration are armed conflicts, a poor socioeconomic environment, and in recent years, climate change has positioned itself as the world's leading cause. It is foreseeable that emigration will increase due to the worsening of expulsive pressures.

On the one hand, we are facing an endless succession of armed conflicts. The invasion of Iraq, the recently ended war in Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine, conflicts in Syria, Yemen, and in some regions of Africa, not to mention coups d'état, fomenting rebellions, and omnipresent economic sanctions, are, in most cases, battlefields of the great powers that translate into millions of internal and international refugees.

There is significant deterioration in the living conditions of much of the world's population. The predominance of the free market has resulted in greater dominance of countries and large companies that dominate technological advances and productivity increases. Inequity within each country and acting without protecting conventional production and job generation decreases the chances of continuing to live in many countries.

The acceleration of climate change results in more frequent and severe droughts, floods, fires, hurricanes, and storms. Large regions of the planet become hostile to life in countries and regions that lack democratic governments and economic conditions that work to mitigate environmental disasters.

On the other hand, it turns out that even in rich countries, poverty among the population has skyrocketed. This became more noticeable after the conflict in Ukraine, exacerbated by waves of economic sanctions that have broken distribution chains, driving up the prices of energy, grains, and food worldwide.

Strikes, marches, roadblocks, and public service suspensions demanding wage increases have become an everyday occurrence in Germany, England, France, and to some extent, throughout Europe. Some major shocks to national governments are predictable. Policy options are becoming increasingly extreme. One only needs to see the prevailing inequality in the United States, which translates into a socio-political conflict that has at times come close to the possibility of a coup d'état, something unthinkable a few years ago.

More and more people, abandoning what little they have and risking their lives, desperately seek to enter deteriorating paradises simply because life has become impossible in their places of origin.

The response of rich countries is to entrench themselves and erect barriers. Their political context is even conducive to blaming the desperate for their own problems, accusing them of introducing violence, drug addiction, and all kinds of ills into their countries. This argument is baseless, given the evidence that, particularly in the United States, it is their own internal situation that generates the most irrational everyday violence, the propensity for drug addiction, and right-wing terrorism.

The poorest regions, devastated by climate disasters and governments incapable of facing national elites allied with large global corporations, also suffer from migration, the loss of their population with better job skills and more entrepreneurial spirit. Not only the poor but also the middle class see their most educated individuals reduced.

However, ultimately, migration, despite its importance and the need to rethink how to manage it with respect for human rights, is also the warning siren of more serious events.

The underlying issue lies in an economic model that is failing globally to address the fundamental challenges of providing decent employment, education, healthcare, and a sense of well-being in a context of social harmony and personal safety. This model breeds significant disparities and, to compound the issue, is wreaking havoc on the planet through the excessive consumption of the most affluent nations and social classes. The pandemic has exposed the self-interest of the mighty, while perpetual wars pave the way for the potential self-destruction of humanity.

The latest tragedy on the heavy list of migrant tragedies should prompt a deep and relentlessly critical reflection on the path humanity is following.