The flowers bought on a trip to a local supermarket, the coffee, the wheat. It’s cheap, and good. The pretty packaging conceals the sweat and tears that went into its production. The barcode does not reveal the names of children and adults that worked in prison-like factories or farms, earning barely enough to feed themselves, and their families.
At a time when climate scientists are pleading for us to reduce our carbon emissions, why are the flowers in our local supermarket coming from Kenya? Those growing, feeding, harvesting, packaging, transporting, stocking, and clearing the flowers are not paid a living wage, yet the CEOs and large shareholders of supermarkets lounge in million dollar yachts in emerald blue-seas.
This is neo-liberalism, “free market” economics, where making, selling, and consuming are counted in numbers. The people doing the making are ignored. There is “free movement” of goods, not people. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexicans make the goods, those from the U.S. and Canada consume, while a small minority profit. The U.S. politicians and business people who deify the agreement seek to keep the makers in Mexico, out of sight.
But, what if the makers decide “no more”? What if they decide they want to live in the wealthiest continents? Decades of neo-liberal policies have wrecked countries, imperial conflicts have displaced many, and authoritarian dictators have forced others out.
People risk their lives to leave their homes, their communities - the places ravaged by neoliberalism, authoritarianism and conflict. They travel in rickety boats without life jackets, although they cannot swim. They climb mountains and hills, in hopes of finding a safe haven.
Rather than challenging the policies that force people from their homes, mainstream media outlets unabashedly attempt to incite hatred. Let us get together and hate the migrants fleeing destitution, or persecution, or both. That is, the migrants whose family members are now mining the material for the batteries in our iPhones, sowing our next suit, or working with carcinogenic materials that will form the circuit boards in our next laptop.
British Prime Minister, David Cameron, describes migrants seeking entry to Europe as arriving in a “swarm” and media reports speak of these same people as creating a "jungle" in Calais, France. While Western white migrants abroad are deemed “expats” exploring a different culture for a time, those from the Global South seeking a better life or protection from persecution are derided.
The British Foreign Secretary warns British people that thousands of desperate people drowning in the Mediterranean are “marauding” foreigners who must be prevented from coming here because they will threaten our “way of life”. It has become the norm to speak in openly racist ways in Britain, and politicians and mainstream media have led the charge. Previously, Brits could tease our friends across the pond for openly sexist and racist Fox news style reporting, safe in the knowledge that our media did not stoop so low. No more.
David Cameron and Angela Merkel would like us to believe that the migrant crisis is disproportionately impacting European states, despite the fact that countries such as Lebanon, Pakistan, and Ethiopia often accept the largest numbers of migrants. Tabloid media, and mainstream media both unashamedly repeat incorrect figures of the numbers of people seeking asylum in Europe. They simultaneously suggest that migrants will steal jobs meant for Brits, and that migrants are lazy, and will claim benefits – crucial funds meant for British people. Failing to acknowledge the paradox in holding these views simultaneously, let alone the fact that neither of these statements are true.
The sneaking normalization of racist commentary seems to be a growing trend. Yet, in spite of this, there have been some wonderful shows of solidarity, from the Greek island of Lesvos where many locals welcome and support Syrian and Afghan asylum seekers, to protesting for the closure of inhumane immigration detention centers, and solidarity vans moving with food, clothes, games, and sanitary items from London to Calais. Bikes beyond Borders plan to ride as many bikes as possible from London to Calais and leave them there with the migrants, giving the migrants better access to basic essentials and advice services. Migrants Solidarity Convoy to Calais raised thousands of pounds within days of launching a crowd funding campaign.
British activist Syed Red Bokhari described the development of a self-organized town in Calais which has its own economy with several shops and restaurants, a church and mosques. He also talked of the dire conditions people lived in – makeshift rents barely standing, and barely providing shelter.
In one emotional encounter in Calais, Syed spoke with a 10-year-old boy from Afghanistan. “After Britain bombed and occupied his country it now it locks him away at our door step because the authorities know he has a right to claim asylum here,” said Syed.
The solidarity initiatives highlight that not all British people have swallowed the bitter pill of hatred being sold by our politicians and media. As one white British, mother of two, volunteer at an Asylum Welcome event in Oxford said to me; “I have a fundamental belief that people should be able to live where they choose, and that’s why I want to volunteer here, at the center.” Other hopeful Asylum Welcome volunteers spoke of their desire to provide friendship to those locked up in the nearby detention center Campsfield, detainees who crave contact from the outside world.
Those donating their time and money to these initiatives provide hope for a better world. Indeed, the struggle for migrants’ rights is inherently linked to the struggle for a better world – where freedoms of movement and dignity are cherished, and cannot be bought or sold.