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People shout at counter-protestors as they participate in an anti-migrant rally and protest outside of Gracie Mansion on 27 August 2023 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
- UN migration
chief, Amy Pope, has stated that anti-migrant rhetoric is surging from
politicians worldwide seeking to gain popularity before the flurry of elections
set to take place in 2024. - Pope warns that
this rhetoric can have serious consequences, leading to increased reports of
violence and discrimination. - She emphasises
the need for a more positive narrative around migration and creating more safe
and legal migration pathways.
With 2024
set to see more elections worldwide than any previous year, the United Nations’
migration chief says increasing anti-migrant rhetoric from politicians seeking
to score points is harming societies.
While the
expected rematch between US President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald
Trump, in November has drawn keen attention, numerous other high-stakes ballots
are also coming up this year.
Amy Pope,
who last year became the first woman to head the UN’s International
Organization for Migration (IOM), told AFP in an interview this week that with
so many elections looming, anti-migrant rhetoric was ramping up “around
the world … to fuel campaigns”.
Politicians,
the IOM head said, were taking “what can be a very easy route to lay
whatever has gone wrong within society, whether it’s crime rates or inflation,
unemployment or insecurity … at the feet of migrants”.
With around
half the global population due to go to the polls in 2024, migrants were
“easy” targets, she said, because “migrants don’t vote”.
In the
United States, where migration has arguably become one of the main focuses of
the presidential contest, Trump has claimed there is an “invasion” at
the southern border, and suggested recently that some of those entering the
country are “not people”.
Such
comments can have serious consequences, warned Pope, a 50-year-old US lawyer
who has worked for both Democratic and Republican administrations.
‘Dehumanising’
“When
there’s dehumanising of any population, there are increasing reports of
violence, increasing reports of discrimination,” she said.
“Ultimately,
that is bad for society.”
And, she
stressed, the fear-mongering is rarely rooted in what is happening on the
ground.
She said:
Rhetoric and reality just don’t meet.
Some
countries where anti-migrant rhetoric is rampant actually need more migrants to
keep their societies thriving, she said, pointing, for instance, to the
significant “labour shortages in countries across Europe”.
“In
reality, the need for migration is not only existent… but it is going to
increase fairly significantly in future years.”
In the
United States, meanwhile, Pope pointed to a recent report by The Economist
magazine indicating that high immigration enabled the US economy to rebound
quickly after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Migration
meant the country “had enough people to come in and drive the innovation,
the labour, the economic demands”, she said.
Pope said a
more positive narrative around migration was vital, as was creating more safe
and legal migration pathways for people to travel.
Recent IOM
statistics showed that 8 565 people died on irregular migrant routes across
treacherous deserts and seas in 2023, making it the deadliest year since
records began a decade ago.
“Certainly
the (real) number is much, much, much higher,” she acknowledged, adding
that the upward trend was likely to continue.
She said:
The number of people on the move is at a historic high and the pressures on them to move are only going to grow.
‘Needs are
urgent’
Creating
more safe and regular migration pathways was the best way to avoid people
setting off on dangerous journeys, Pope said, adding that it would also benefit
the countries they are trying to reach.
“I am
inspired to do this work because the needs are urgent, but also, I think there
are better ways to respond,” she said.
“No
one wants to see large numbers of irregular migrants come across borders or
come across the Mediterranean or come across the Channel,” she said,
acknowledging that that can “create pressures on societies”.
Asked about
the situation at the US southern border, Pope said her “number-one concern
is that people have the right to seek asylum”.
At the same
time, Pope warned that the huge US backlog of cases indicated that asylum was
seen as the only route into the country.
The
possibility of coming in through other “safe, legal, regular pathways is
just insufficient”, she said.
“This
points to the real urgency to come up with better ways of dealing with (US)
migration needs,” she said.
Without
finding a “better match between people and opportunity, we will continue
to see pressure at the border”.
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