Open Borders: The Case Against Immigration Controls, Second Edition

226 Pages·2004·0.83 MB·English

by  Teresa Hayter

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OPEN BORDERS
The Case Against Immigration Controls
Second Edition
TERESAHAYTER
P
Pluto Press
LONDON • ANN ARBOR, MI
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First published 2004 by PLUTO PRESS
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
and 839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106
Second edition 2004
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright © Teresa Hayter 2000, 2004
The right of Teresa Hayter to be identified as the author of this work has
been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Hayter, Teresa.
Open borders : the case against immigration controls / Teresa Hayter.
p. cm.
ISBN 0–7453–2245–X (hard) — ISBN 0–7453–2244–1 (pbk.)
1. Europe—Emigration and immigration—Government policy. 2.
Immigrants—Government policy—Europe. I. Title.
JV7590 .H39 2000
325.4—dc21
00–009580
ISBN 0 7453 2245 X hardback
ISBN 0 7453 2244 1 paperback
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Designed and produced for Pluto Press by
Chase Publishing Services, Fortescue, Sidmouth, EX10 9QG, England
Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England
Printed and bound in the European Union by
Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne, England
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CONTENTS
Preface to the First Edition vii
Preface to the Second Edition ix
Introduction 1
1 Migration, and migratory myths 8
World migration 8
Postwar migration to industrialised countries 10
Migration to Britain 13
2 Border controls 21
Racism 21
Early history of British immigration controls 36
Controls on Commonwealth immigration 43
Fortress Europe 57
3 Refugees: Tightening the screw 64
The debasing of refugee rights 64
Legislation and legal processes in Britain 76
The criminalisation of refugees 95
Destitution 105
Detention 112
Campsfield immigration detention centre 123
4 Resistance 134
Resistance in Britain 134
The sans-papiersmovement 142
5 Re-open the borders 149
Immigration controls and human rights 149
Immigration controls do not work 152
Immigration and jobs, wages and conditions 155
v
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vi Open Borders
Immigration and public expenditure 161
Immigration controls and racism 163
Migration and the Third World 166
Free Movement 171
Appendix 173
Bibliography 184
List of organisations and campaigns 189
Index 193
TABLES
1.1 Foreign population as a percentage of total resident
population in European countries, 1997 10
1.2 Estimated net immigration from the new Commonwealth
from 1953 to the introduction of controls in mid-1962 19
1.3 Net migration to/from Britain, 1871–1991 20
3.1 Asylum applications in Britain in the 1990s 70
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PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
This book was written thanks to a grant from the Joseph Rowntree
Charitable Trust, for which I am extremely grateful. The trust accepted my
proposal to take a radical look at immigration controls. The Joint Council for
the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) very kindly supported my application and
gave me freedom to express my opinions. I am particularly grateful for the
help and support of Don Flynn.
The book is also based on over six years of campaigning against
Campsfieldimmigrationdetentioncentre,asamemberoftheCampaignto
Close Campsfield. A good many of my examples of the mistreatment of
refugeesaretakenfromtheexperiencesofthosewhoareorhavebeenlocked
upinCampsfield.IbelievethatCampsfieldexemplifiesthismistreatment,
andthatitisnotextremeoruntypical.Icanreportonitfromfirst-hand
experience.NineofuswereoutsideCampsfieldwithplacardswhenitopened
on26November1993,andIhavebeentonearlyallthemonthlydemon-
strations ever since. I have had the great good fortune to meet many
refugees,bothinsideandoutsideCampsfield,andofcourseamindebtedto
them for much that is in this book. I hope they approve. I have visited
refugees not just in Campsfield but also in Winson Green, Rochester,
Blakenhurst and Bullingdon prisons and at Harmondsworth detention
centre.IhavebeentoseveralappealsandbailhearingsinBirminghamand
Londonandtalkedtomanylawyers.Elevenasylumseekershavestayedin
ourEastOxfordhouse,forperiodsrangingfromafewdaystoovertwoyears,
andhavebeenunfailinglyconsiderateandgoodtohavearound.Idonot
acceptthemoraldistinctionbetweenpoliticalrefugeesandthosewhocross
frontiersinsearchofwork.But,forwhatitisworth,myexperienceisthe
reverseofthatoftheHomeSecretaryJackStraw,whotoldTheEconomist,as
itreportedon14February1998,that‘OfalltheasylumapplicationsIhave
dealtwithinmyconstituency,onlyonewasgenuine.’Ofthemanyasylum
seekersIhavemet,onlytwowerenotrefugeesinthenarrowpoliticalsense.
One,whoentertainedusinourhouseforseveralmonths,wasstraightfor-
wardlytryingtoimprovehislife.Theotherwasayoungandverydistressed
Peruvian.AssoonashestartedtalkingtousinCampsfield,hetoldushewas
notinfactamemberofSenderoLuminoso,buttheoldestofsixchildren
lookedafterbytheirmother.ShehadraisedthemoneytosendhimtoBritain
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viii Open Borders
bymortgagingtheirhouse,inthehopehecouldsendbackmoneytosupport
them. He had got through immigration and found some cousins, who
advisedhimtogotoCroydonandapplyforasylum.Hedidso,andwas
arrestedandsenttoCampsfield.
IamgratefulforthegenerousencouragementofBobSutcliffe,whourged
metousewhateverIwantedtofromhisbookNacidoenotraparte,which
advocates‘therighttototalworldwidefreedomofmovementandresidence’,
whichunfortunatelyisstillonlyinSpanishbutfromwhichIhaveplundered
manyideasandfacts.NearlyallthequotationsofpoliticiansinChapter2are
fromPaulFoot’sextensiveresearchinHansardforhisbookImmigrationand
RaceinBritishPolitics,withhiskindagreement.ThesectiononFortress
EuropeismainlybasedonamuchmoredetaileddocumentwhichDonFlynn
haswritten,andisavailablefromhimattheJCWI.Thesectiononthetrial
oftheCampsfieldNineismostlybasedonanarticleIwroteforRedPepper.I
amverygratefulforcommentsonthefirstdraftfromFrancesWebber,Bob
Sutcliffe,BillMacKeith,PritamSingh,SteveCohen,RobinCohen,Rohini
Hensman,AnnDummett,MeenaSingh,TonyRichardsonandDonFlynn.I
hopeIhavedonesomejusticetothem.ThanksalsotoAnneBeechandPluto
PressforcommissioningthebookandtoBillMacKeithforhiscopy-editing.
Note on translation: The translation of the proceedings of the FASTI
conference is by Bill MacKeith. The rest, from French and Spanish, are by
the author.
Bibliographical note: The figures in Chapter 1 are mostly from Sutcliffe. The
quotations of politicians in Chapter 2 are from Hansard, nearly all of them
from Foot; a few are from Spencer (see Bibliography).
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PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
Thefollowingisadescriptionofsomeofthechangesthathavetakenplace
inthetreatmentofrefugeesandmigrantssinceIwrotethisbookin2000.
Becauseanyattempttodescribeindetailthelatestchangeswouldbeoutof
datebythetimethiseditionwaspublished,Ihavenotchangedthemain
text.ButIhavemadesomeadditionstothelistoforganisations,thebibli-
ographyandtheindex.Ihavealsoaddedasanappendixour‘Manifestoof
theNo OneIsIllegalgroup’,whichweproducedinManchesterinSeptember
2003.Wehopeitwillhelptowincampaignersformigrantsandrefugeesto
theviewthatfreedomofmovementisanelementaryhumanright,aview
thatissofarmorewidespreadinotherpartsofEuropethanitisinBritain
(seepp.146–8),andthatgroupswillbesetupinBritaintocampaignfor
thisright.
Since 2000 the application of immigration controls has become progres-
sively more vicious. There has been virtually nothing in the way of improvement
or reform. Everything has been done to make the suffering of refugees and
migrants worse, in the largely mistaken belief that this will cut their numbers.
The government is conducting what has become known as a ‘war on asylum’.
It attacks asylum seekers for their supposed abuse of the system and singles
them out for harsh treatment. It drives them into illegality, locks them up,
does not allow them to work, reduces them to destitution, splits up their
families, labels them ‘illegal immigrants’ and promises to deport more of
them if it can’t stop them coming in the first place. It also increasingly rounds
up others, mostly Caribbean, South Asian and African, who are sometimes
described as ‘over-stayers’ and who may have lived for years in this country
and have jobs, houses and families, for sometimes minor infringements of the
immigration rules. The government thus bears heavy responsibility for the
growth of the hysteria against asylum seekers and so-called ‘illegal immigrants’
(the terms are often used interchangeably; so much so that the Press Complaints
Commission was moved to pronounce that the phrase ‘illegal asylum seekers’
should not be used, since there is no such thing).
In the process the position of asylum seekers as the new object of race hate
campaigns has become entrenched. Their demonisation has no obvious jus-
tification. Such increases as there have been in their numbers are, more
than ever, related to the wars perpetrated by the major powers: first Kosovans
ix
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x Open Borders
and then Iraqis (in the months before the US/British invasion of Iraq in March
2003) accounted for almost the entire increase. In 2002 the largest numbers
of applicants were from Iraq, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Afghanistan and China,
in that order. As before, the overwhelming majority come from areas in
which there is severe political persecution or conflict, for which, again, the
West bears much responsibility (see pp. 5–6). If such conditions arise, gov-
ernments impose visa requirements on their nationals, as they have done
recently for Zimbabweans, thus making it virtually impossible for refugees
to travel legally to Britain (see pp. 95–105). They are nevertheless fully
entitled to claim asylum under international treaties, and in the last few
years around half of all asylum seekers eventually got refugee status or excep-
tional leave to remain (ELR – now replaced by the more restrictive
‘humanitarian protection’). Many more of them ought to do so, but fall foul
of the cruelly unjust and arbitrary system for determining whether they are
‘genuine refugees’ (see pp. 89–95). Those who have, with exceptional
enterprise and courage, managed to flee poverty rather than wars or political
persecution are likely to be similarly the victims of the actions of major
Western powers. The reality is that most asylum seekers, whatever their
reason for migrating, are highly educated and are often dissident members
of the elite. Many take a large drop in their standard of living. They cost
public money almost entirely because of the escalation of the repressive
apparatus which is supposed to stop them coming here, and because they are
no longer allowed to work (see below). If they do work, they are forced to work
long hours for low wages in jobs that do not require their qualifications. The
British are lucky that they come here.
Moreover, whatever the scaremongers may say, the number of asylum
seekers migrating to Britain is relatively small, both compared to refugees
elsewhere in the world and compared to other types of migration to Britain.
Less than 2 per cent of refugees in the world as a whole are in Britain,
although a recent poll showed that people believe the figure is 25 per cent.
According to Home Office statistics on Control of Immigration, there were
84,130 asylum applications in Britain in 2002, which was the peak year. In
the same year, and in each of the preceding five years, there were around 8
million visitors from abroad. There were 1.3 million returning British and
other nationals. 369,000 foreign students were given leave to enter. 235,805
people were given official permission to work in Britain. Yet the Labour
government constantly reiterates that it is doing its best to reduce the numbers,
not of visitors, students, employees of multinational corporations, workers
and so on, but of people applying for asylum. On 7 February 2003, in an
interview on BBC’s Newsnight, the prime minister Tony Blair announced
that the government would halve the number of asylum applications, from
its peak of 8,900 a month in October 2002, by September 2003. It claims
credit for a recent decline in applications (although this is likely to have more
to do with the situation in Iraq).
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Preface to the Second Edition xi
Thegovernmentsaysitsactionsarenecessarytodefeatracismandthe
farright.Buttheybothpandertoandfeedthesectionsofthemediawhose
politicalagendaitistostirupracism.TheDailyMail,theDailyExpress,the
Sunhavealmostdailyheadlinesdisseminatingliesandslanderaboutasylum
seekersand‘illegals’,someofthemusinglanguageandinformationwhich
appeartohavecomefromofficialsources,attackingrefugeesforsupposed
crimes, scrounging and ill health, for being too many, or for resorting to
catchingandeatingswans.Thegovernmentonlyveryrarelyseekstocounter
themedia’sliesanddistortionswiththetruth.ItspoliciesencouragetheTories
tooutbidit.OccasionallyeventheToriesaremovedtocriticisesomepar-
ticularlyilliberalgovernmentmeasure;OliverLetwin,shadowhomesecretary,
forexample,saidthatchildrenshouldnotbeconfinedin‘accommodation
centres’(seebelow)forsixmonths;thereshouldbeamaximumten-week
limit. More often, the Tories make half-baked proposals such as that all
incoming asylum seekers should be confined to an unspecified off-shore
island.TheBritishNationalParty(BNP)hasmadefulluseofthegrowthof
prejudiceagainstasylumseekersinitssometimessuccessfullocalelection
campaigns, especially in areas where no asylum seekers or refugees live.
Asylumseekersthemselves,especiallythosewhoarebeingdispersedoutside
LondonandtheSouthEastwheretheircommunitiesarestrong,arebeing
subjectedtoincreasinglevelsofviolence,suchthatmanyfeartoleavetheir
accommodation.TheInstituteofRaceRelationshasrecordedonitswebsite
24deathsinracistattackssince1999,includingfourmurdersofasylum
seekersinthelasttwoyears,andtenmajorviolentattacks,including,for
example,systematicattacksonIraqiKurdsinHull,resultingininjuriesto
atleast13ofthem;theyheldademonstrationinJuly2003toprotestagainst
failurebythepolicetoprotectthem.Thegovernment’spolicieshavealso
helped bring a small organisation called Migration Watch, now widely
quotedasanauthorityonimmigrationandthesupposeddangersof‘over-
population’, out of the woodwork. Its chair, Sir Andrew Green, former
ambassadortoSaudiArabia,testifiedtotheHouseofCommonsHomeAffairs
CommitteeonAsylumRemovalsinSeptember2002asoneofthreemain
‘experts’. Yet its chief researcher is Professor David Coleman, of Oxford
university,whohasheldofficeintheEugenicsSocietyanditssuccessorthe
GaltonInstitute,bodieswhichpromotethenotionthatthepurityofthewhite
raceshouldbepreserved.
It is hard to see why the government aids and abets the racists, unless it
is that it is so unpopular on most issues that it believes it can regain a little
popularity by appearing to be stemming a ‘flood’ of asylum seekers who
might otherwise ‘swamp’ British schools and the welfare state. The detention
of asylum seekers, for example, which is one of the harshest consequences
of immigration controls and causes great suffering for migrants and refugees,
is little more than window-dressing. It does not serve its main function of
deterring potential immigrants, and it does not even make it easy to deport
people. In the end the government seems to be doing little other than trying