War and genocide, immigration controls, detention centres, dawn raids, surveillance and monitoring, racism and xenophobia, thousands of deaths as people attempt to cross borders. Many profit from this system of control. This happens both directly through the running of immigration prisons as well as by managed migration of the global labour market. Whilst capital flows freely, the movement of people is controlled and restricted.
Through efforts to increase power and amass wealth, imperialism has created a huge gulf between the comparatively rich ‘nations’ of the West and developing countries, and this parasitic relationship continues. Rich countries exploit the land, resources and people in the majority world in order to fuel profit driven economies and consumer societies. Of course there are vast inequalities within countries and this exploitation is driven by the interests of a minority which is increasingly transnational itself, with global elites cooperating to maintain their dominance. Borders are necessary to defend the wealthy and to maintain this inequality. ‘Nation states’ and protectionism are economically and politically desirable in this system, promoting the economy, managing the labour market and enforcing the borders, whilst others flee the very wars and poverty caused by this violent cycle or live exploited and precarious lives as 'illegals' or asylum seekers.
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