Morality of Restriction on Free Immigration 02

 It’s a mail posted to Silchar.yahoo group on 10^th May, where a group discussion on “Morality of restriction on free immigration” is going on using SIX HAT METHODOLOGY”. It’s my post in Green Hat part.

 

Dear

Friends ,

I’m still not sure if we can talk in a short way in this vast topic.

While we failed to come in terms with our neighboring province and Countries it’s impractical to say that strengthening borders with Bangladesh will solve the Immigration issues. Delete Border is an International Movement, which is gaining ground in west very fast and I’m sure today or tomorrow it will gain support in this region as well. People are thinking fur liberally about these problems.

      Though the link was there in my previous post, still you read here, what it has to say about the whole problem. “The Autonoom Centrum is an action group in Amsterdam / the Netherlands focusing on globalisation, migration and international conflicts. Important to the AC are concepts such as 'the world belongs to everyone', freedom and individual development, defined by responsibility with regard to the group, both on a small scale (the AC collective) and a large scale (society). The AC values multiformity, differences and confrontations above more of the same.

 

Migration:

Migration is on the increase in our globalised world. Migrants to the rich Western world 'with no frontiers' find its borders are hermetically shut to them. The divide between 'us' and 'them' is increasingly visible everywhere. The AC boundlessly resists the exclusion, imprisonment and deportation of refugees and people without documents. The AC campaigns against charter and other airlines and services involved in deportations. The AC develops alternative views on migration and, on a small scale, offers assistance to refugees who have dropped out of the system.

International conflicts:

As the AC views the world as an interconnected whole, it does not limit its activities to local initiatives - even though these constitute our basis. We visited East Timor (1999) and Palestine (2002) in the capacity of independent monitors. Together with a number of East Timorese we have founded a human rights centre in East Timor.

Action and graphic design:

Campaigning in the broadest sense of the word takes centre stage at the AC. This may involve developing alternatives or campaigning to express critiques and exert pressure. In this confrontations with opposing parties, engaging in conflicts with the government, corporate industry and the dominant culture take place and laws are broken. These actions may take the shape of demonstrations and occupations and other effective acts. But other means of expression are also important, such as visual imagery, video, literature, music, graffiti and advertising. A critique of society and alternatives for that society also take shape through cultural and graphic forms of expression. The AC works with various artists, designers and other creative people, to try and re-echo this in its actions and campaigns.”

Deleting Borders can be seen as distant target. But, for now you see how the west is thinking , Here are what Coalition for World Peace, an Affiliate of United for Peace and Justice has to say : “Migrants have been criminalized for who they are and where they are from- not for doing harm. If anything is harmful, it's punishing people for trying to survive the results of colonialism, capitalism, and globalization (which most US citizens enjoy the benefits of). When it is nearly impossible to make a living and nearly impossible to migrate legally, anyone would travel to where they have more opportunities. Why then would advocates for immigrants' rights legitimize the arrests of undocumented immigrants by complaining only about the "legal" people who get caught up in the racial profiling sweeps? We mustn't buy into the efforts to divide us! We need to bring down the walls between us, as well as the physical walls- the border walls, the jail walls, and the walls of the detention centers.

It should be a crime to imprison people for trying to survive! Today the economic gap between poor and rich countries is over two times greater than in 1960. Also the gap between poor and rich people in most countries (including the United States) has increased. People in “developing countries” are forced out of their own countries, seeking a way to feed, clothe, and house their families by going to areas with employment opportunities. Unfortunately, the U.S. economic and military interventions overseas that aid and abet its global corporations, have contributed to keeping and enlarging these gaps through elitist policies. The current U.S. economic foreign policy based on globalization is an important contributor to the inequities of the current global economy.

What can we do?

Indeed, the current immigration debate, U.S. aggression overseas, and the export of jobs are all related. The U.S. government with its support of globalization and free trade is responsible for the immigration influx. We must:

   Fight globalization: join the efforts to fight against the WTO and the Free Trade Agreements.

   Stop U.S. aggression abroad: it is our responsibility to stop our government's aggressive foreign policy which devastates people's lives and nations’ economies around the world.

   Protect the rights of immigrants: we need to acknowledge the cause of the immigration. We should not criminalize immigrants, but support the right for family reunion and an easier legal path to citizenship.

Here again you read what WWW.UNOFEDERATION.ORG has to say about the problems,”UNO does not resist the economic revolution known as globalization, nor the

changes fueled by the technological revolution of the information age (see “The

World is flat’ by Thomas Friedman). To that end, we expect that the US will

become part of a free trade zone that encompasses the Western Hemisphere. This

country should continue to restructure itself to remain competitive in the global

economy. The reality of globalization is that of freer movement of workers in and

out of countries that are within zones under trade contracts.

We do not anticipate that any immigrant group would remain autonomous or

culturally unassimilated and we feel that the resultant biological hybrid vigor would

lead to a stronger and more vigorous economy and country.”

If we really want a strong and united NE India we too can think in that way. Sanjeeb Baruah also think in that way . According to him the migrant labours like Amir Ali has modernize the Agricultureral Economy of the state like Arunachal.  “Development is bound to bring more people to Arunachal and other parts of the Northeast that are still sparsely populated. For instance, if the goal is to bring about a transition from shifting cultivation to settled cultivation, it cannot be done without significant expansion of the labour force. The story of migrant sharecroppers like Ali, who makes intensive use of family labour, simply illustrates this economic logic. The expansion of the labour force is even more of a prerequisite when it comes to other economic activities such as building roads or introducing modern businesses, industry or services. It is a new world of informal land markets and economic opportunities growing behind the legal fictions of community ownership of land and customary law that attract immigrants like Ali to Arunachal Pradesh.”

Here I would love to quote David Paterson, The New york governor has to say about the voting right of the problems, “Paterson weighed in on a proposal before the New York City Council to extend voting rights to noncitizens. He told a crowd gathered at the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade that he believed noncitizens should be granted voting rights. He stressed he was asking for a change in policy, rather than a new law, citing that although 22 states and territories between 1776 and 1920 allowed the practice, none do now. Governor Spitzer issued a statement that he did not agree with Paterson's position, and claimed he was unaware Paterson would be speaking on the matter. Paterson had tried to introduce legislation granting voting rights to noncitizens as a State Senator fifteen years earlier.”

If we do not want to go so far, for now, we can listen to Sanjeeb again, “Border fencing will not provide a magic answer unless we confront how the Partition has played out in the east. We complain about thousands of illegal Bangladeshis in India. Bangladesh however, completely denies such a claim. That is possible partly because the issue is unresolved inside India. Our citizenship practices have not been able to negotiate an authoritative line between the Hindu nationalist idea of homecoming and illegal immigration. To do that risks the Indian state’s foundational ideology.

It may be productive to consider that cross-border movement of people might continue with or without a border fence. Theoretically speaking, a multi-level and transnational citizenship regime that decouples citizenship from nationality is possible. It could combine voting rights in Bangladesh, with full rights of personhood in India. A notion of citizenship as a combination of rights associated with personhood and the workplace separate from voting rights provides a possible way out. While some rights could be universal, others could remain tied to nationality. Resident and migratory foreigners could have the former, but not the latter.

Once we find a definition of citizenship, both legal and authoritative, it might be easier to have a rational discussion with Bangladesh about cross-border population movement. An Indo-Bangladesh protocol on labor movement can reduce some of the immediate strain. That may be the first step toward developing a transnational citizenship regime for an existing transnational economic space.”

I know the main cause of anxiety of Some exclusively NE Indian Communitities like Assamese is elsewhere. Becoming Minority in their own land and the fear of loosing their own Identity. I, too, concerned about the problem. Rather, though it might sound unbelievable, I’m afraid that from 2011, after the next census, we can see a new face of Offensive and aggressive Bengali Chouvinism in the whole state of Assam in particular and NE India in general. But that is another topic we can discuss separately. For now, I wish, we should give more stress on positive development of Look East Policy of India government. So, that we can have a soft and, if possible free borders with the East Asian Countries, so that that we can migrate and do business freely with them like European Union. Being an anti-capitalist I do support the policy, because it will really weaken the American hegemony over our economy.

          That’s all, for the GREEN HAT phase on this topic from me. If you want we can extend the time for this phase. But, for that it would be a great help, if you let us know your suggestion by tomorrow ( SUNDAY). I’m not sure if I have understood the Method we’ve taken up for the discussion. I’ll request Bikram to clarify the methodlology, if there is any lack from my side.But, In this phase I’m sure I’ve not added any new informations. What ever I’ve said were from the links I’ve added in my early post.

With Thanks

Sushanta Kar