This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org. License [2]: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/Int'l. ------------------------ Global free movement would improve everyone’s lives By: [] Date: 2022-01 Free movement is seen as an unworkable position – but it is our current immigration system, both in the UK and globally, that is unworkable. It is barbaric, it produces exploitation and, with the rising threat of the climate crisis, it is unsustainable. For too long, the status quo has been accepted as the default ‘common sense’ approach, but border enforcement policies are a relatively recent phenomenon. In the UK, they date no earlier than the 1905 Aliens Act (and until 1962 the UK had an open-door policy to Commonwealth countries), while the first fence on the US-Mexico border was erected only in the 1990s. While there is no doubt that border enforcement policies are deadly, their effectiveness is questionable. Yet they cost us a fortune – from complex technologies to back-room deals signed with regimes in different countries to contain their populations. Then there is the incalculable loss incurred by systems preventing people from reaching opportunity and from being entitled to work, change employer or unionise. And this is before we even discuss their cost in human lives. The overwhelming economic case for free movement has been made repeatedly, but the argument from a human and workers’ rights perspective – for migrants and non-migrants alike – rarely gains a mainstream hearing. Get our free Daily Email Get one whole story, direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up now Migrants’, workers’ and human rights activists have been forced onto the back foot, able only to resist the increasing brutality of our border regimes rather than arguing for an entirely new migration system. But we must not lose sight of the complete overhaul that is needed, and challenge the false logic that underpins the status quo. Many things that we today consider to be basic rights were once viewed as unrealistic and too radical, such as universal suffrage. Attitudes and policies have been changed before and we can do so again to make what was once unthinkable possible, and then obvious. As climate change devastates communities around the world, many more will be forced from their homes. Will those in the West, the states that have contributed the greatest emissions, abandon those least responsible but most affected? Or will we attempt to work out a global system that supports migration of this scale in the most humane way possible? The crises we face require bold solutions that go beyond existing limited programmes to assist small numbers of people. All but a tiny minority of the world’s richest people are excluded from the opportunity to obtain a visa and travel to escape persecution or to seek a better life for their families. People are dying attempting to cross the Channel and other Western borders, and those who survive their journeys face increasingly restricted rights in the countries in which they settle. Often they are denied benefits, housing assistance, the right to change employer or reunite with family members. In some cases they are banned from working at all, leaving them at risk of destitution or becoming victims of exploitative rogue employers. [END] [1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/nadia-whittome-global-free-movement-improve-everyones-lives/ [2] url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ OpenDemocracy via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/