The image of the father and daughter who drowned in the Rio Grande while attempting to cross over into the United States will not be forgotten too soon. Some days ago, it was a seven-year-old Indian girl from Punjab who fell short of the US border. The tragedies are unending. Nations, nationality, national borders: for those desperate for a better life these are but stumbling blocks.
Human migration has continued apace for millennia but the idea of nation states has retarded and attempted to regulate this process. Those wishing to flee the poverty and squalor of their homelands and migrate to richer lands in the hope of a better future always faced stiffly challenges in their quest. The recent rise of ultranationalist politicians in countries facing the brunt of immigration has set the stage for many more such human tragedies.
A member of Mexican National Guard watches the border with the US at the Anapra area in Ciudad Juarez, State of Chihuahua, Mexico, on June 26, 2019. – Mexico’s president vowed Tuesday to investigate the controversial detention of migrants trying to cross the US border, saying the 15,000 troops he has deployed there have no such orders. (Photo by HERIKA MARTINEZ / AFP)
A number of countries have battened down the hatches to prevent immigration of unskilled and even skilled migrants. The United States caps on H1B visa holders signaled the end of the outsourcing boom that was a boon for many skilled Indian IT professionals. UK’s restrictions on those on student visas attempting to stay and work was followed by Brexit, which was in reality a popular revolt against EU’s liberal occupational mobility regime.
Climate change is now upon us. The monsoons are playing truant. Entire villages are being abandoned as people move in search of water and livelihoods. A quarter of humanity now lives on the drought-stricken Indian subcontinent. What will happen to such a huge mass of population that runs out of water is anyone’s guess. The migration wars are only beginning.