From the Mailroom: Immigration from North Africa

Abdellah Elabdallaoui offers a comment entitled “Lost Flocks”:

Concerning the problem of immigration between Morocco and Spain; I can tell you that it is not a Moroccan-Spanish problem But a continental one as well. It is an Afro-European problem. As you know Morocco has been functioning as the gate of Africa to Europe in the course of history, and so it frequently recieves waves of immigrants from all African quarters who long for living on the other coast like the Wetbacks of Mexico who like to live on the other green bank of Colorado River,USA.But, there are many prominent and rational reasons for that : first, the economic disequilebrium between The North and The South has fuelled the phenomenon. In other words, the lack of a solid economic basis of the countries of the south that could secure a decent life, made its population movement towards The North so tense and violent. Second, the appalling and sordid living conditions of central Africans caused by hard climatic natural conditions and famine made flocks of Blacks sweep across the African desert up the North. Third, the colonial drawbacks affected the real developement of those countries, since the colonial powers abused their raw materials to build up thier own current economies to protest now and say that we have to fight illegal immigration. Furthermore, these powers impovrished the population by imposing heavy taxes without contributing to the colonised countries’real developement and crippled the wheel of progress and prosperity of nations then. Fourth, the ignorance and lack of a deep and thorough view of africans to their own situation makes them idealise the other and forget about themselves as an “I” which is a real mistake.There must be a South-South co-operation for developement .A project that guarantees and saves the culture and identity of these nations as Elmahdi Almanjara , a Moroccan thinker always states.But, it wouldn’t be shameful if Northerners granted a hand of help provided that it would be a passive one that includes The Southerners and makes them emmersed and with self relience to build up their own economies by themselves not given ready deliciuos meals. Southern economies should nomore be built on donnations .Fifth, poverty and the policy of the prioritised elites are deadly factors that converge to result in this tide of immigrants.None would think of immigration if citizens share equal opportunities of national patrimoine, employement opportunities and face no more segregating social classes.because nowadays segregation is nomore based on the skin color. Concludingly, like many other bad phenomena, illegal immigration is an international burden that needs to be consulted with care. Moreover, the international community has to make great efforts to overcome the seriuos problems of the nations’ instability if they would like to have a better peaceful world of this third millennium.

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Interesting, as Kitty Calavita has documented, Spain lacked any comprehensive immigration law until the time it sought to join what became the European Union.  Now, it sees the same types of problems as seen in the United States: a large undocumented population in the construction, service, and agricultural industries, a militarization of the southern border, increasing numbers of migrant deaths, etc. 

KJ