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October 14, 2005
De-Facto Darwinians
The Spanish Left and Immigration
It reminds you of a children's game: if you don't succeed in getting over the fence, you're out of the game, but if you get even one hand or foot onto Spanish territory, you win the prize. - infoKrisis
Some 30,000 people are waiting in North Africa in hopes of entering Spain illegally through Ceuta and Melilla, European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini reported Wednesday at the EU Council of Justice and Interior Ministers. - 20Minutos
And, no, they're not just going to go away.
In fact, according to a correspondent cited in 20Minutos Editor-in-Chief Arsenio Escolar's blog:
In the Sub-Saharan countries, a new and very dangerous slogan is going around: "Vamos a Melilla" (in Spanish), dangerous because here one doesn't think about space and time as one does in Europe (to walk thousands of kilometers and take two years to arrive at the objective of Melilla is not an obstacle in the minds of many young Africans). So it's feasible to assume that the Sub-Saharan pressure on Melilla will increase, and by a lot.
So what is to be done? Already, the lack of nerve is begining to show. Spain's Socialist government has begun to backpedal from its belated hard line, suspending immediate expulsion of those immigrants who breached the double walls surrounding Ceuta and Melilla and wringing its hands over the possibilty that the African gatecrashers might cut themselves while attempting their mini-invasions.
Now, the truth is that the left has never met an immigration control measure it likes or an immigrant that it doesn't (with the exception, I suppose, of an anti-Castro Cuban). However, it can't really admit that it is for open borders and retain any popular credibility.
So virtually the entire Spanish left has adopted the position that the only "real" solution lies in ending African poverty. 
The Spanish Communist Party (PCE), for example, has demanded that the military forces which were sent to Ceuta and Melilla to help defend the border be withdrawn, that the "violent and disproportionate repression" cease and that all repatriation of the illegal immigrants end. Predictably, the Party declares:
...there are no real solutions without getting to the root of the problem.... A solution is possible only in the medium and long term, with effective measures for the eradication of poverty...
It should be obvious by this time, after 50 years of decolonization in Africa, that this is no solution at all. It is particularly unbecoming to our Marxist friends, who, as good historical materialists, ought to recognize that just throwing money at Africa will not lead to development. Whether one subscribes to the "Brenner Thesis", Dependency/World Systems Theory, or any other Marxist theory of development, it should be obvious that economic development is a social process, based on particular constallation of social forces - one which simply does not exist in most, if any, of Sub-Saharan Africa.
For the rest of us (non-Marxists), anyone who cares to speak honestly will admit that the history of the continent since colonialism ended has largely been one of violence, corruption and general social retrogression, in spite of the already massive amounts of aid poured into Africa so far. The new Marshall Plan promoted by the EU will be no more transformative than any previous aid programs. Waiting for Africa to develop and prosper before really controlling immigration means never doing so.
Only the firmest commitment to really enforcing border security will succeed in deterring illegal immigration. Then Europe can lend Africa a meaningful helping hand with humanitarian and developmental assistance which just might, over many decades, make a difference there.
But, in real life, much of Africa will more likely continue its descent into chaos and pre-historic misery. Tens of thousands of Africans will continue to attempt to escape from this misery by illegally emigrating to Europe. Europe, meanwhile, will continue to maintain a porous border which only the most enterprising, the strongest, and the most intelligent will succeed in crossing, while the weakest will be left behind at home or will perish on the trip. For Europe, this might even be the best way to screen the immigrants - allowing in the only strongest candidates. Not exactly natural selection, perhaps, but still Darwinian through and through.
Posted by John at October 14, 2005 12:10 AM
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