Disaster Capitalism

the shock doctrine & forced migration - By Ophelie Lawson

You might wonder, what on earth is disaster capitalism and the shock doctrine?

Let me explain: The “shock doctrine” is a political strategy that consists in using the public disorientation following large-scale crises and disasters - wars, natural disasters, pandemics - (in other words massive collective shocks) to push through policies that systematically deepen inequality, enrich elites and which would normally never be accepted in ordinary circumstances. It uses the public’s disorientation following a collective shock to push through radical pro-corporate measures, often called “shock therapy”. Shock tactics follow a clear pattern: wait for a crisis, declare a moment of what is sometimes referred to as “extraordinary politics”, suspend some, or all, democratic norms – and then force the corporate wishlist throughout hastily. The term Disaster capitalism is described by Naomi Klein in her book The Shock Doctrine (2007) as the way that private industries spring up to directly profit from large-scale crises. Capitalism uses disasters and catastrophes to privatize new sectors of society and imposes free-market reforms, creating private company profits but failing in terms of democracy, fairness, and justice. It hides behind situations that create hardship for people, profiting from the collective shock.

This concept of disaster and crisis profiteering

isn’t new. In her book, Naomi argues that it really intensated under the Bush administration after 9/11. The aftermath of 9/11 left Americans disoriented and in shock. The Bush administration seized the collective shock and fear felt by Americans after the attack and declared this sort of never-ending security crisis, privatizing security state, launching the ‘War on Terror’, and enabling the “Patriot Act” which violated many constitutional rights. Homeland security is now a $200 billion industry. Homeland security companies gained a lot thanks to the atmosphere of crisis and fear that was being spread through media outlets. (The patriot Act is a Anti-terrorism law, passed by the United States Congress and signed by George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. The purpose of the USA Patriot Act is to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world

It gives the government rights to look at records on an individual’s activity held by third parties, allows security services to access computer data held by individuals and businesses without prior authorization and without notifying users.)

Now you might wonder, how does that apply to the so called ‘refugee crisis’ ?

Refugee flow is a thematic that has already gained worldwide attention. In 2015, Greece was the main entry point for over one million refugees, forced migrants and migrants who fled to Europe by sea. 1,000,573 people reached Europe across the Mediterranean, mainly to Greece and Italy that year. A further 34,000 crossed from Turkey into Bulgaria and Greece by land, according to the UNCHR The number of people displaced by war and conflict was in 2015 the highest seen in Western and Central Europe since the Balkan crises of the 1990s. (UNHCR) This period is known as the ‘European migrant crisis’, aka the so called ‘refugee crisis’. And much like any other “disaster,” the crisis has been and is continuously exploited for political and economic purposes, it is the perfect excuse for governments to push through radical agendas, as we have seen unraveling over the past few years. Policy makers within Europe have used the“ refugee crisis” to push for more restrictive, selective, and securitised immigration law and border control. Then, the pandemic happened. And for governments, it was the perfect opportunity to push through even more radical agendas. Another ‘disaster’. Earlier this year, for instance, the Eu started experimenting with new digital measure to prevent people from crossing, with the Greek border police firing bursts of deafening noise from an armored truck over the frontier into Turkey. Using “sound cannon,” to protect its borders. This was part of new experimental digital barriers that were being tested during the quiet months of the coronavirus pandemic and installed while Europe was still dealing with disorientation and shock in the middle of a pandemic. During the pandemic, EU member states have used illegal operations to push back at least 40,000 asylum seekers from Europe’s borders. Their methods have been linked to the death of more than 2,000 people, an article from The Guardian revealed the following investigations. Using the pandemic to both push through their agendas and ‘protect’ the borders. Meanwhile, private companies have secured and made profits through providing technology and infrastructure to help strengthen border enforcement, but also through providing services that have helped different countries to house, feed, detain and also deport arriving people, making ‘illegal’ border crossing their core business idea: Private security companies, defense contractors and others. Capitalising on crisis.

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT FOR REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS IN THE UK TO OBTAIN AN EDUCATION? By Cleo Hanson

According to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 1951 Refugee Convention, education is considered a basic human right (UNHCR). However, many refugees and asylum seekers in the UK face multiple barriers to accessing education. A proper education can help people find jobs, make money to support themselves and rebuild their lives, and protects young refugees from sexual exploitation and child labour.

Financial difficulties play a major role in preventing refugees from accessing education. Asylum seekers cannot claim benefits, nor do they have the right to work in the UK and are forced to subsist on £5.66 a day if they have no source of income (Refugee Action). This can prevent families from affording transport for their children to get to and from school.

Young asylum seekers looking to attend higher education may find that it is harder for them to study than their peers who are UK nationals. Students seeking refuge are categorised as international students and therefore must pay higher fees and often cannot apply for student loans (UNHCR). The fact that asylum seekers do not have the right to work means they cannot get a job to afford the fees and the living costs.

Furthermore, the ability to speak English is vital for finding work, making connections, and doing basic everyday tasks in the UK. However, according to a report by Refugee Action, nearly two thirds of refugees who responded claimed that they did not receive enough ESOL teaching hours. In addition, three quarters of parents said that lack of childcare prevented their ability to attend English classes. As a result, two out of every three respondents said their lack of English proficiency made them feel as though they were not ready to work in the UK.

There is also a large gender disparity between the education of refugee men versus women. Men who seek refuge in the UK are more likely than women to know how to read and write (LSE). In addition, they were more likely to attend ESOL classes. The fact that women are usually the primary caregivers of children may affect their attendance of ESOL lessons.

A lack of financial stability can dramatically reduce a person’s ability to receive a good education, and due to UK government policy, asylum seekers often struggle to support themselves and their families.

Allowing asylum seekers the right to work and giving them better financial support could mean improved access to education for themselves and their children. Moreover, not enough is being done to ensure that refugees are learning English, which is essential for living, working, and studying in this country. A quality education can help improve life chances for both children and adults alike and more needs to be done to make it accessible.

For more information:

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Education www.unhcr.org/uk/ education.html,

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, STAR is Still Fighting For Refugee Access to UK Higher Education www. unhcr.org/uk/refugeeweek/ star-is-still-fighting-for-refugeeaccess-to-uk-higher-education/,

Refugee Action, Facts About Refugees www.refugee-action. org.uk/about/facts-aboutrefugees/,

London School of Economics, Refugees and Integration in the UK: the Role of Gender blogs. lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/ refugees-and-integration-in-theuk-the-role-of-gender/

WHY REFERRING TO ASYLUM SEEKERS AND REFUGEES AS MIGRANTS CAN BE HARMFUL By Ophelie Lawson

Moria camp 2.0

In the mainstream media, often, when the issue of refugee flows is brought up the word ‘migrant’ easily follows. The world is often used to refer to refugees, or/ and asylum seekers. Media outlets often choose to refer to groups of asylum seekers and refugees as migrants. But a migrant is not a refugee neither an asylum seeker. The common mistake of referring to asylum seekers and refugees as ‘migrants’ can be way more harmful than it seems.

The definition of a ‘refugee’:

It wasn’t until 1951 that an internationally recognized definition of ‘refugee’ was given. In 1951, countries convened in Geneva to sign the Geneva convention, aka the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which was updated in 1967. The Convention defined who a refugee is and outlines the rights of the displaced, as well as the legal obligations of nations and states to protect them.

The U.S. government first declined to ratify this convention but did approve the Standards and procedures for enacting the convention, that was agreed to in the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, in 1968. Following the Vietnam War and the U.S. experience resettling Indochinese refugees, Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980, which incorporated the Convention’s definition into U.S. law and provides the legal basis for today’s U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).

As of January 2020, 145 State parties approved it. The convention defines a refugee as someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. There is however a protection gap and no clear definition regarding climate refugees. They are not covered by the convention.

According to statistics published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, every year since 2008, an average of 26.4 million persons around the world have been forcibly displaced by floods, windstorms, earthquakes or droughts. This is equivalent to one person being displaced every second.

The definition of an ‘asylum seeker ’:

An asylum seeker is an individual who is seeking international protection (refugee status). An asylum seeker is someone whose claim has not yet been finally decided on by the country in which he or she has submitted it. Not every asylum seeker will ultimately be recognised as a refugee, but every refugee is initially an asylum seeker. (Amnesty International) According to UNHCR figures at the end of 2019, there were at least 79.5 million people around the world who have been forced to flee their homes. Among them are nearly 26 million refugees, and 4.2 million asylum seekers.

The definition of a ‘migrant’ The definition of a migrant might vary since, at an international level, there is no universally accepted legal definition of the term like is the case with a refugee.

Migrants choose to move not because of a direct threat of persecution or death, but mainly to ‘improve’ their lives by finding work, or in some cases for education, family reunion, or other reasons. Economic migrants choose to leave their countries and move in order to find a better life and they do not flee because of persecution but rather for economic reasons. Therefore they do not fall within the criteria for refugee status and are not entitled to receive international protection. Migration involves the voluntary decision to move to another city/country for better economic opportunities. Refugees are forced to flee in order to escape violence and insecurity. Each country has its own immigration laws and processes regarding migrants. For refugees, they must comply with norms of refugee protection and asylum that are defined in both national legislation and international law. If it is a term used for people of color, economic migrants are often perceived as ‘stealing opportunities’, while referring to white people, economic migrants are simply called expats. Forced Migration is “a general term that refers to the movements of refugees and internally displaced people (those displaced by conflicts within their country of origin) as well as people displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or development projects.” It’s crucial in today’s environment to understand the difference between an asylum seeker, a migrant, and a refugee because of all the misconceptions and misunderstandings around those terms. Each term has distinct meanings, although people often assume they mean the same thing. The term asylum seeker, which is often used, has, at a global level, no technical legal significance. The term is a way of referring to a person who’s seeking refugee status but whose refugee status has not yet been determined by the host government. Referring to asylum seekers and refugees as migrants can influence importantly the way that these people are going to be treated. A refugee by law is given international protection and the state in which they ask for asylum must protect them and give them the necessary support for them to survive and be safe. A migrant however is not required by law to be protected and is often seen in Europe’s politics as coming to have ‘better’ opportunities. The use of the term migrant by the media to describe people arriving in Europe because of fleeing their country is painting a picture of high numbers of people not coming to seek safety but for better lives, hence it does not steer compassion and empathy in the eyes of the public justifies their suffering, and marginalisation, and the non-respect of their human’s rights. Using the term “migrants” might also take away the focus on the circumstances leading to the people’s forced migration and place it instead on the desirability of their presence in the host state. Because Migrants are not forced to move, they still have the protection of their own country. Calling refugees and asylum seekers “migrants” implies that their home countries are safe places, where people are not risking their lives and could still have some kind of protection. Conservative governments often take that approach because they do not want to accept people from other countries. Hostility or openness of these populations is often influenced by the news material the host population consumes. The world “refugees” attracts the general public (compassion and empathy) more than “migrants” does. The desire to direct the public towards not sympathizing with these refugees and not helping them, especially in financial terms, might also be a reason why people/governments would rather classify them as migrants. Many media outlets also seem to not be aware of the complex and challenging process of claiming asylum in Europe. https://mojatu.com/why-referring-to-asylum-seekersand-refugees-as-migrants-can-be-harmful/

LIFE IN A REFUGEE CAMP, AN INTERVIEW WITH FABRICE, RESIDENT OF MORIA 2.0 IN LESVOS, GREECE By Ophelie Lawson

On September last year, after fire ravaged the old refugee camp Moria, Europe’s largest refugee camp, located on the Greek island of Lesvos, a new temporary camp was built: the temporary reception and identification centre known as Mavrovouni, or Moria 2.0. It has been 7 months now since the opening of that camp, and what was supposed to be a temporary solution is slowly becoming a permanent one. I spoke with Fabrice, who I met on the island of Lesvos back in 2019, and who’s been living in the new camp since it was built, and also a former resident of the old Moria camp. Fabrice came to Europe asking for asylum in February 2019, fleeing persecution in his country of origin, hoping for safety. Instead, he has had two rejections to his asylum claim and has been trapped on the island, living in the worst conditions of a refugee camp, for over 2 years now. Fabrice, you have been in Lesvos for almost two years now and you have been living in the new Moria camp since September of last year, have the conditions of the camp improved since September or since the European commissioner, Ylva Johansson went to Lesvos and promised better conditions?

Yes, it’s been two years now that I have been on the island, the old camp was harder than living in hell, the life of every person could end in any seconds there. There was crime, violence, rape, theft, fire, no decent sanitary or hygienic conditions, static situations on administrative procedures. It was like in a jungle, everyone made his own laws as they heard it. All of this was happening right in front of the eyes of the Greek authorities who were incompetent and incapable of solving our problems. Because there was a constant flow of new people, I don’t know if when they see us piling up and dying it did them good, until the camp was set on fire. For the new camp, things started better. Now things seem to be a bit more neglected. When she [The European commissioner] came to visit us, we didn’t even have time to approach her. The locals of the island did, they had opportunities to yell at her and ask her how much longer asylum seekers would be kept on the island until they are assessed and evacuated to the continent. For us asylum seekers who were supposed to have a chance to talk to her, unfortunately, we were not given such an opportunity. She was only shown the important places of the camp through a guided tour. She did not even have time to talk with women, young people and community leaders for them to explain some of our daily difficulties. Her visit did not improve anything for us, the administrative procedures continued in the same slow pace, complicated accommodation conditions, hygienic and sanitary situation always the same. In fact, after this, single women and families who were housed in containers with few conditions to cope with, for instance, bad weather, were relocated in tents made of weak fabric. The money that the EU had spent is much more for the infrastructure of their country, asylum seekers are not beneficiaries, our situation continues just the same and is getting worst. Convoys and transfers to take people out of the camp and to the mainland are not happening as often. Now if you are done with the asylum procedures you have to organise your departure from the island by your own means, you have to buy a plane ticket or a boat ticket to go elsewhere, that’s the reality.

How is life in the new camp? Is there a lot of change in daily life and routine from the beginning?

Life in the new camp is still as always: stressful, everything can change overnight, the security situation is still starting to worry us little by little, there is insecurity that is starting to gain ground, there have already been a few cases of rape, thefts and assaults, people stealing phones. Electricity in the camp is still very unstable, the food is not well cooked. Women and children exposed to very unsanitary conditions and likely to contract all kinds of germs and infections. Continuous negative decisions, wave of rejections to asylum claims in all communities. NGOs have reported the presence of lead exposure in the area, which is expected to impact and put in danger several people but no one is talking about it, so the situation is deteriorating slowly, in silence. No one is paying attention.

Read more: rb.gy/yqjd2t

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN GREECE FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS? AND WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT IT? By Ophelie Lawson

At the border of Europe are refugee camps that are not being talked about enough. Refugee flow is a thematic that has gained worldwide attention, as it should. It is sometimes hard to believe, especially out of context, that human beings amid the 21st century are still forced to leave their countries because of war, crime, violence, persecution, colonisation, and climate change. Displacement has been happening for as long as we can remember. And the fact that refugees are being neglected and their human rights constantly grossly violated in crowded camps is something we have heard so often that we have come to think of it as normal.

Because of the Eastern Mediterranean migration route between Turkey and Greece, Greece is currently hosting the largest refugee camps in Europe, as it is a point of entry. In 2015, it was the main entry point for over one million refugees and migrants who fled to Europe by sea, seeking safety dangerously in inadequate vessels run by people smugglers. (UNHCR) Moria Camp 2.0 is currently known as being the largest one. It is located on a Greek Island in the Aegean sea called Lesvos, about 11 hours from Athens by boat. Officially, the camp is called Mavrovouni Temporary Reception and identification centre, but is formally being referred to as Moria 2.0. It was built to replace the original camp Moria which burst into fires in early September 2020. 20000 people were trapped in the old camp and displaced after the fire. Many people were deported to other countries, moved to villages and cities on the island and or to Athens. The new camp hosts 6,780 people. But over 9000 refugees and asylum seekers still reside on the island of Lesvos. The majority of the refugee population on the island (the expression “refugee population” includes both refugees and asylum seekers) comes from Afghanistan (70%), the Democratic Republic of Congo (10%) Syria (7%), Somalia (6%) and Iraq (1%). Women account for 23% of the population and children 35% according to the UNHCR. Asylum seekers generally have to wait for a protracted period of time in the reception and identification centre (refugee camp) before they are granted refugee status. Some people have been waiting for months or years. However, only a small number of asylum seekers are provided with a solution to their situation, whether through having a refugee status or being able to go back to their country. Many are stuck inside refugee camps and facing the worst living conditions for an extended period of time. What is heartbreaking is that the conditions of those camps are not safe especially for single women. And people who are stuck within those camps have come to Europe for no other reason than to seek safety. Safety is not only the comfort of having a stable home or a roof over your head, food on your plate every day, or an income, which all of them are deprived of, it is also freedom from harm or danger, the state of being safe: a safe place. The state of safety also depends on how welcomed in a community you are. How safe are you within that community, how accepted, how integrated? Europe is failing refugees and refugee camps are a symbol of Europe’s failed migration policies. Many ngos and human rights activists are constantly denouncing the living conditions within those camps. The reason why asylum seekers are accommodated in camps for an extended period of time seems to stem from the understanding of European governments that the situatiıon of refugee camps should be temporary. This state of impermanence is what the host country wants the situation to be. However, the reality is different. Inside Moria camp, in Lesvos, I have met and interviewed people that were there for years. Asylum seekers are not reaching safety while they enter Europe. On the contrary. Greek refugee camps at the borders allow the authorities and Europe to ‘maintain’ more control over refugees as they are all in one place and over the flow of refugees entering Europe through that route. But it is denying them of their humanity, keeping them in terrible inhuman conditions in the name of national and international security. The nature of refugee migration is forced, as they cannot go back to their countries as governments themself are declaring war, persecuting them, and are not ready and willing to protect them or accommodate their identities.

I believe the international community should pay close attention to the political decisions that are being made in Europe about refugee camps, and also the way that people seeking safety are forced to live. That neglect which the refugee population is facing is occurring because of political unwillingness, global indifference, and the personal interests of European governments. And it is justifying the daily gross violation of the human rights of thousands of people seeking safety. Read more: tinyurl.com/5d7k5j8m