SENZA CENSURA n.15
Italy, november 2004
 

IMMIGRATION: WAR FRONT
The evolution of imperialist strategies against immigration in the era of the "war to terrorism"

Facing the relationship between internal and external front, by the light of the present developments of this matter, we think it´s necessary to deepen what is happening today towards immigration.
If they weren´t enough the black lists and the changes to the Right of Asylum in a more and more limiting way, the rakings and " extra-judicial expulsions" of "unwanted" immigrants, the debate about immigration to a European level, as yet stated in the previous issue of "Senza Censura", tends more and more to be part of the present strategy of "war to terrorism", or better to be part of the management of contradictions deriving from this war itself.
So we have not to consider casual (beyond the specific roles of the ministers involved in the meetings preceding the European Council on 5th November, where it will be defined the path to follow) that the immigration problem is faced together with that of "terrorism".
"It´s necessary to eliminate the grey zone, the area of sympathizers which gives space to terrorism. The European policy on expulsions has got this aim..... The expulsion for national safety is the only instrument which unites the necessity of repression with the respect for warranties, because it allows to hit the area of adjacency..."
These words belong to the Public Minister Stefano Dambruoso, well-known magistrate which has leaded the greater failed inquiries which carried to arrest many immigrants; on these inquiries Mr. Dambruoso has built his future as ONU´s consultant on anti-terrorism policies, together with some inquiries on many comrades, included some members of our editorial staff.
He will be surely satisfied, at least in part, by the results of the G5 held in Florence on 17th and 18th October. In fact, the 5 Ministers of the Interiors decided to define on European level a common procedure to uniform national legislations about administrative expulsions of people suspected to belong to "terrorist organizations".
During that meeting, as reported by the whole medias, were defined the repressive strategy towards immigration and "terrorism".
Defining a repressive structure on European level, has been started the creation of a Committee for Internal Safety which will have a central role to define the next strategies in communitarian key, the sharing and filing of information to whom the single national structures will enter, with Europol as operative brain.
Yet previously was activated the information exchange between EU and USA about the data on aerial passengers (PNR- Passenger Name Records), and another passage is done inserting biometric data into passports.
Referring to the present USA standards, the European Antiterrorism Coordinator Gijs De Vries stated that the passports´ data can be read form more than 20 meters without presenting the paper itself.
The exigency to insert the biometric data on passports was widely felt by the European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, Vittorino, who thinks to be important to extend this decision even to the new member countries, and to the future ones, inviting also the USA to grant these the same treatment of free circulation.
In a document by the European Commission they state that, for a full use of these new identification systems, it has to be fully used the Visa Information System (VIS)and the new Schengen Information System (SISII).
In that document itself they are faced the basic lines on which it will be defined the European strategy about immigration and borders´ safety.
Clearly, the enlargement gives the European bourgeoisie other problems about borders´ safety. It will be created a new information system (SISII) in which the new countries will be integrated.
In short-medium term will have to be "banned" the internal borders between these and the EU but, as provided by the adhesion treaties, it will have to be adopted a common strategies to manage the external borders. In this sense it has to be ensured the action of the External Border Agency and it is taken into consideration the hypothesis to create a European Border Corps which looks after the borders´ safety. The document goes on stating that the future result of the management of immigration will depend on the capacity to oppose the "clandestine immigration". In that sense the new Constitutional Treaty will face also the question of repatriation and readmissions.
In communitarian key the immigration problem, beyond its placement into the "war to terrorism", is part of the so-called "European Neighbourhood Policy" and in its present evolution of the "European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument".
In accordance with some documents with regards to this matter, the bilateral agreements are not seen homogeneously among European countries as resolution or instruments to reduce immigration.
In accordance with some official reports it didn´t take place the prospected moving of the "clandestine" solution of the immigrant will towards a legal dimension, turning to legal ways managed by the states´ representative offices. Opposite opinion towards the agreements with third countries not directly belonging to the EU. With these countries were fundamental the operations of police cooperation even without agreements for the "readmission". The different "incentives" towards "collaborators" are represented by technical support, police cooperation, training of border police, furnishing of military material necessary to prevent illegal migrations. Not with all the third countries were drawn up agreements for repatriation, even if the further development in the Euro-Mediterranean dimension of the legislation on immigration yet gave its results. A further development towards a positive outcome could be made easier using economic and financial incentives, through the communitarian financing projects for third countries (Tacis, Meda, Eneas).
I)n the middle of this year took place the annual meeting of the C4 (see the square) about the Iraqi war´s consequences in the Mediterranean, in particular related with the risk of immigration from south to north. The condition they are going to face is represented by the fact that "...Europe lives a political tension caused by wide immigrant masses legally or illegally coming inside. Sometimes this problem is considered inevitable, more often it´s considered a problem for internal and external safety" and that "...as criminal activity, besides, the clandestine immigration is no more a national prerogative, but it involves an international cooperation to analyze the complex nature of clandestine immigration, finding different ways to prevent it". The document underlines that "using clandestine labour is of use to support economic systems and enterprises, sometimes partially reliable and competitive, thanks to low costs. In some countries, for example, clandestine people are used as low cost labour in agriculture and social-family assistance and in prostitution. Clandestine immigration can be considered the ideal labour source extremely flexible and cheap".
So we have not to underestimate, beyond the necessity to stop the development of contradictions in the Mediterranean which generate a more and more negative image of Europe and the West for those peoples which need to emigrate, the creation of "Detention Camps" directly in the transit countries.
Beyond some disagreements emerged during the G5 meeting in Florence, they unanimously think that the request to enter a country can be accepted or not. We can presume that anyway these structures will be built.
The real intention is to shift to the transit countries the "politic and image charge" of detention camps, because they should have the interest to be not departure and death places for immigration towards EU.
Some critic observers think that the creation of camps in African countries is linked to the policy of "Safe States", about which the EU countries split up, because they want to keep their national autonomy in the management of immigration, that is the management of internal political contradictions (and then the approval), which could derive from EU´s political choices about this matter.
The definition "Safe country of origin" tends to classify some countries among those from which the requester comes for which the asylum request is considered "unfounded". This decision is taken supposing that in those countries civil rights and ideological freedom are "safeguarded". But these concepts seem faint, in a scenery of global war to "terrorism".
Instead it´s clear the other side of the medal represented by the immediate repatriation or removal from EU´s borders of the requester coming from one of these countries. This will favour the creation of camps for repatriated people. Not very different from what we have seen during these weeks into detention camps yet existing in Libya.
This has to be faced inside the clash between Imperialist Bourgeoisie and Metropolitan Proletariat. In particular considering how this fully answers to the concept "that terrorists will not have a place to hide themselves".
The international war campaign has granted a wide autonomy to internal repression, has legitimated the worsening of internal law on terrorism, has allowed a wider space to "extra-judicial" and territorial activity in suppressing revolutionary people, and also immigrants and suspected "Islamic terrorists".
A strategy based on a deep "ideological restructuring" all over the world. A transformation which yet was applied through the European black list. They tend completely to annihilate the concept of "Legitimate resistance" and on the bourgeoisie level "the juridical prerogatives of every country" if out of IB´s interest. The immigrate, coming from areas where greater is IB´s oppression (direct or not through its local servants) is obviously bearer of his/her experience, of the clash in his/her country of origin, and with this, sometimes, even of his/her social relationships. This is enough, into a world stretched out towards bourgeoisie´s peace, through the war to terrorism, to be a "danger" for the IB and a "problem" for its opportunism.
The choice is then based on a very simple question: to grant the last international bourgeoisie right or to maintain he present political and social system, preventing every form of unsteadiness. This is a question which has got some importance for the struggle against the counter-revolutionary strategy.
What does this determine? That those countries which collaborate to maintain the social political system, assume the right to let the others take part in their struggle against their internal enemy.
And the immigrants which claim their right to struggle, which escape from repression, in these countries will not have acknowledged their condition, but they will be imprisoned as "terrorists" or expulsed.
The same treatment will not be kept for those which "fight against the enemies of capitalism and democracy", which are welcomed and financed for their "cause". The Cuban example teaches in this sense.

The support to anti-immigration policies means benefits for those countries which will support these policies (see what recently happened in Libya).
In the C4 debate is considered this aspect stating that "...a first reward could be made up by the raising of privileged shares reserved to legal emigrants: Italy is by fact promoter of that initiative raising, in 2004, its privileged share of legal emigrants to 20.500 unities (it´s foreseen a growth of 3.000 Tunisians and 2.500 Moroccans). Then, we have to observe some important things like cooperation agreements, united training of Mediterranean countries´ police, permissions for seasonal workers, etc.".
There are many examples. The Italian government in August signed an agreement with the Libyan government about the control of clandestine immigration; agreements with Libya yet were pointed out into EU´s documents, forecasting trainings and police cooperation, furnishing of means and equipments.
Other European countries signed agreements with Morocco, both for the readmission and for cooperation on borders. The EU created a group into the Euro - Mediterranean Partnership to define better instruments for police cooperation and judicial homogeneity, and systems of electronic identification.
Joined operations between Italian and Tunisian police yet are in act to oppose immigration.
It´s clear how much repression against immigration and agreements are functional to a more great police and military cooperation on a general level. Beyond financing projects for Euro - Mediterranean integration, have been instituted specific programs.
The MEDA JHA II program has got the aim to give sources to implement cooperation and to face the problems linked to immigration and "criminal" organizations. Its aims are the joined control of borders and flows, the struggle against "criminal and terrorist" organizations even through the possibility to stop the flow of financing, the homogeneity of the juridical system and the judicial cooperation against trans-national organizations.
In the next weeks there will be many appointments among European institutions to find a common understanding towards immigration. From the Summit of the European Council at the beginning of November, to informal meetings among Justice and Interiors Ministers.
It seems that few is understood by those who have got to oppose these policies.
It´s necessary to make a step forward, to understand the existence of a proletariat with international trait which has got to find its identity. That is a process with a natural development inside the increasing contradiction, but which needs to find real ground of re-composition and clash unity which can allow to prevent or limit internal and external counter-revolutionary actions.
In this moment we think that is important to support the immigrants which, into a scenery of war to terrorism, suffer the weight of repression. And to single out as privileged referent in the anti-war opposition that part of metropolitan proletariat forced to "migrate" on the base of imperialist robbery policies. Probably, with the practice we will be able to make a step forward towards the re-composition of a metropolitan proletarian inside whom the immigrants are surely a basic part.