[Dryerase] The Alarm!--Eye on the INS--Fortress Europe

[Alarm!Wires]

An aging Europe can be found locked in its fortress
By Michelle Stewart
The Alarm! Newspaper Collective
“It is difficult to point to any winner in the Danish election, but the 
losers are easier to identify. They are all those with dark skin, 
humanism and decency. Goodnight, Denmark.”—Dagens Nyheter, Swedish Daily 
Paper.

Recently, I have caught myself speculating on the possibilities of the 
European Economic Community, curious of the ways immigrants are treated 
there, and how immigration is handled. Here in North America, we bought 
into NAFTA hook, line, and sinker; however, the only borders it opened 
up were those associated with capital. NAFTA served the interests of 
industry as the borders became increasingly porous to goods.
In the past, I assumed that Europe had better will toward immigrants, 
that the Union was demarcated by both an investment in capital as well 
as a recognition of the needs of migrating people. That assumption was 
both naïve and wildly unrealistic. I realize, now, as I look into the 
various projects the EU has undertaken, that a trade bloc is a trade 
bloc—it is obligated to trade not people.
It is interesting then to consider Europe, and to look at the issues 
facing that bloc and how many of its policies and ideologies are common 
to the US’s notion of trade bloc participation. Last month member 
countries of the EU met in Seville, Spain with the key issue at hand 
being illegal immigration and how it effects national security—sound 
familiar?
Tony Blair has recently threatened to cut “third-world” aid for those 
countries which don’t assist in halting “illegal” immigration. Does this 
not seem like ridiculous logic? Penalize the impoverished country 
because its citizens are fleeing (with good reason) in search of a 
better life. Of course, to actually address this issue correctly, Mr. 
Blair and many other world leaders would have to face the situations 
they have caused.
The ripple effect of European colonialism can not be forgotten in many 
reaches of the world, especially when one considers the fall-out of 
colonialism and the rise of neo-colonialism. But members of the EU trade 
bloc do not want to address these matters, since it is much easier to 
speak poorly of their southern neighbors than it is reconcile the past 
and present, and attempt to assist them. As it stands, the largest 
groups of illegal immigrants originate from Ecuador, China and Angola; 
they most commonly arrive in Madrid, Paris, Dublin and London posing as 
tourists with forged documents.
In May, the interior ministers (of EU member nations) met in Rome to 
consider a new plan to create a unified EU border police. One of the 
more controversial proposals is to fingerprint all incoming immigrants 
from any nation outside of the EU—sound familiar? Consider the US’s new 
interest in tracking Arab visitors from selected countries, and 
requiring biometric identification for all new visitors. But back to 
Europe….
Each nation would  share database information and personnel in the 
interest of securing the border that surrounds the EU. The policy would 
heavily affect the airports (the main point of entry for immigrants) and 
seaports. Of the nations highly interested in this program are France 
and Italy; those in vocal opposition are Germany and Spain. Consider the 
above-mentioned cities that receive the most illegal immigrants, and it 
becomes apparent that the combination of Tony Blair’s intolerance of 
immigrants alongside of France’s support for the new border patrol will 
likely usher in this new policy.
In some nations, the very presence of immigrants has become cause for 
hysteria. Take for example, Denmark, where a recent election brought 
“immigration concerns” to the forefront. By the end of the election, the 
party just right of center was victorious by displacing the Danish 
Social Democratic Party, ending its nine-year rule. More shocking for 
some was the popularity and significant showing by the Danish People’s 
Party which came in third in the election boasting a twelve percent 
support base. Part of the Danish People’s Party’s platform was to oppose 
Denmark’s participation in the EU and to reduce the rate of immigration. 
The far-right party somehow found a constituency which strongly believed 
the claims that Denmark was being over-run with immigrants and that they 
were affecting the way of  life in the country.
One must consider the standard of living and the rate of immigration in 
Denmark to recognize the significance of this mindset. The reality is 
that Denmark enjoys one of Europe’s lowest unemployment rates, and the 
population is such that less than eight percent are foreign-born. So, 
what is the threat? Or maybe it is not so much a threat, but instead an 
increasing level of animosity. In a nation such as Denmark, when one 
considers those above mentioned factors, it becomes clear that the claim 
that Europe is becoming wholly xenophobic is perhaps merited. It would 
appear that Denmark, and other nations, face limited threats to their 
standard of living and instead are concerned with the “color” of their 
nation-states.
Taking a close look at the politics in  Denmark or the ideas of Tony 
Blair, it becomes clear that there are no shining immigration policies 
to be found on the other side of the ocean. If we look to trade blocs to 
solve immigration problems we will have a long and oppressive wait ahead 
of us, since these blocs only consider people in relation to how they 
can best serve the labor needs of capital.
In the US, the EU and other trade zones, we are seeing the expansion of 
a dual border policy; the border is only opening due to the needs of 
capital, while it becomes increasingly restrictive to immigrants. This 
then poses an interesting final question: the population of Europe is 
continuing to fall, and  in the next twenty years the elderly population 
will be over twenty percent of the nation’s population—what does this 
mean? Economists and population experts would both agree that the only 
way to maintain the workforce population is through immigration.  How 
will this play out in the coming years as an aging Europe needs young, 
foreign blood?
 

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