My friend Deshe has just had his application for asylum rejected by the Brit "Home" Office. The "Home" Office is an ironic name for a (Westminster) Government Department which seems to spend most of its time splitting up families and not allowing folks to live together.
The "Home" Office clearly think that Eritrea is a safe place to return to. Clearly not so safe that Deshe can't prefer a life of destitution here (contrary to the lies of the Daily Mail, asylum seekers get NO benefits) to the prospect of death on his return.
Deshe's problem of course is that he has no money. If he had lots of money, some smart lawyer would easily persuade the "Home" Office that he would be a valuable addition to society. Freedom of movement is only a right for the wealthy.
When I was a kid at the height of the Cold War with the USSR, the constant propaganda was that these poor devils in the socialist world had no freedom of movement and couldn't travel anywhere. Nowadays you just have to be rich.
The rich and the poor have an equal right to be homeless and unwanted. The rich seldom exercise that right of course. If you're poor, travel will cost you more, like everything else. The deep irony of capitalist relations of production and exchange is that the richer you are, the cheaper everything becomes. The converse is also true. The poorer you are, the more expensive everything is.
If you're wealthy and have a visa (and if you are wealthy you almost certainly get one) you can buy your airline ticket and jump on a plane for a few hundred quid. If you're some poor kid from China or Afghanistan you will pay thousands to a trafficker. That will be your entire family's savings if you're lucky.
Of course if you are not lucky, then you will simply have to pay off these guys from your earnings when you get here.
The journey will be dangerous, uncomfortable and will often incur the risk of injury or death. Months and years of illegal toil at less than minimum wage to pay off the traffickers awaits.
The constant threat of deportation at the hands of those brave warriors of the "UK" Border Agency is also in store. The Border Agency don't protect us from "terrorism". Far from it. These heroes specialise in dawn raids on restaurant waiters and takeaway workers.
Logic would suggest that if these are your prospects then you would have to be pretty desperate to want to come here. The Daily Mail is happy for us to believe the lie that asylum seekers are in it only for the money. If you write for the Daily Mail of course you will write whatever your owner tells you to.
It used to be that if you married a foreign national then they had the right to reside with you. It was a basic right of citizenship. Nowadays, you can only bring your spouse into the country to carry on family life if you earn more than £18,000 a year.
A classic Marxist view is that capitalism transforms everything into a commodity, including human relationships which become economic relationships. Clearly it is a view which the "Home" Office (and the Daily Mail) endorses.
The "Home" Office clearly think that Eritrea is a safe place to return to. Clearly not so safe that Deshe can't prefer a life of destitution here (contrary to the lies of the Daily Mail, asylum seekers get NO benefits) to the prospect of death on his return.
Deshe's problem of course is that he has no money. If he had lots of money, some smart lawyer would easily persuade the "Home" Office that he would be a valuable addition to society. Freedom of movement is only a right for the wealthy.
When I was a kid at the height of the Cold War with the USSR, the constant propaganda was that these poor devils in the socialist world had no freedom of movement and couldn't travel anywhere. Nowadays you just have to be rich.
The rich and the poor have an equal right to be homeless and unwanted. The rich seldom exercise that right of course. If you're poor, travel will cost you more, like everything else. The deep irony of capitalist relations of production and exchange is that the richer you are, the cheaper everything becomes. The converse is also true. The poorer you are, the more expensive everything is.
If you're wealthy and have a visa (and if you are wealthy you almost certainly get one) you can buy your airline ticket and jump on a plane for a few hundred quid. If you're some poor kid from China or Afghanistan you will pay thousands to a trafficker. That will be your entire family's savings if you're lucky.
Of course if you are not lucky, then you will simply have to pay off these guys from your earnings when you get here.
The journey will be dangerous, uncomfortable and will often incur the risk of injury or death. Months and years of illegal toil at less than minimum wage to pay off the traffickers awaits.
The constant threat of deportation at the hands of those brave warriors of the "UK" Border Agency is also in store. The Border Agency don't protect us from "terrorism". Far from it. These heroes specialise in dawn raids on restaurant waiters and takeaway workers.
Logic would suggest that if these are your prospects then you would have to be pretty desperate to want to come here. The Daily Mail is happy for us to believe the lie that asylum seekers are in it only for the money. If you write for the Daily Mail of course you will write whatever your owner tells you to.
It used to be that if you married a foreign national then they had the right to reside with you. It was a basic right of citizenship. Nowadays, you can only bring your spouse into the country to carry on family life if you earn more than £18,000 a year.
A classic Marxist view is that capitalism transforms everything into a commodity, including human relationships which become economic relationships. Clearly it is a view which the "Home" Office (and the Daily Mail) endorses.
Really sorry to hear about your friend. Let us know if there's anything people can do to support him.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment... Deshe is weighing up his options..
ReplyDelete