Thread by @EthnicMediaSvc

Today at 11 am PDT we're discussing the increasing flow of #migrants worldwide and how countries are tightening their borders in response. Follow the link below for the livestream 👇
ethnicmediaservices.org/media-briefing…
@ekztarf @TowerAmali @Climate_Refugee @hossein_ayazi

@ekztarf @TowerAmali @Climate_Refugee @hossein_ayazi Welcome to today's briefing. We've got a panel of excellent speakers. Our moderator today is @PilarMarrero who notes the increasing flow of migrants is not an issue that can be boiled down to the US southern border.

@ekztarf @TowerAmali @Climate_Refugee @hossein_ayazi @PilarMarrero Our first speaker today is @ekztarf, Senior Policy Analyst with Migration Policy Institute’s International Program. "What we're seeing on the US southern border is not a phenomenon restricted to the US. It is happening in other parts of the world."

Within the last 100 years in terms of the #s of people on the move... is really unprecedented. Europe received nearly 1 million asylum applications in 2022. This is on top of the 4 mil Ukrainians displaced by the war.

Turkey and the Middle East both hosts migrants and is also a transit region. Some 4 million migrants are currently residing in the country. In Africa, more than 200k have been displaced by the fighting in Sudan. This is on top of the 800k already displaced by violence.

More than 7 million Venezuelans have left the country in the last decade. "Truly something that has touched a lot of world regions."

Fratzke also says the movement of migrants is also becoming more global. In the Americas, it is not just Central Americans but people from across the world. More than 1300 ppl per day cross Panama en route to the US, according to the UNHCR.

There are a lot of people from China, Russia, Central Asia and Afghanistan arriving in Brazil as a first stop to arriving at the US border.

What is driving this? "It is a complex mix of factors," says Fratzke. Political persecution, generalized violence, economic and environmental factors.

Economic challenges post-Covid have roiled markets worldwide. In Haiti, many who have come to the US were living in South America for many years prior to coming to the US.

Climate exacerbates much of this. Refugees are often living in the most precarious places. The Rohingya in Bangladesh are housed in camps that are highly vulnerable to sea rise and rising temps.

There is a lack of legal pathways for people to move globally, explains Fratzke. Opps to move for family reunification are very restricted to traditional nuclear families and have long wait time.

And there are just few opps to travel legally to seek asylum or protection. Using smugglers and falsified documents are often some of the only means for people.

Policy frameworks, meanwhile, are woefully not up to the task for responding to these challenges are are behind much of the chaos we have seen.

Most of the Ukrainians are women and children, says Fratzke. Many of those coming across the Mediterranean are younger men looking to support their families at home. But Fratzke says most countries tend be more open to women and children, even though young men are vulnerable.

Our next speaker is Andrew Rosenberg, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Florida and author of Undesirable Immigrants: Why Racism Persists in International Migration.

What is the connection between the rise in global migration, populism and the climate crisis? "We need to think historically about where the 'migrant crisis' comes from," says Rosenberg.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, we have seen inequality and economic vulnerability increase, and in the global north this is given as one cause of the rise of populism and the scapegoating of migrants.

Rosenberg notes that the "colorblind" prejudice that underscores much of global migrant policy is in fact informed by a history of racist and colonial subjugation that created the conditions now driving much of the global migrant flow.

Add to all of this the fact that #climatechange is deepening the conditions driving much of the migration from the global south, just as the north seeks to establish a "climate fortress" that locks people out.

This conflict will further exacerbate prejudices in the global north, creating a vicious cycle. We cannot consider these issues in isolation, says Rosenberg, referring to the concept of the polycrisis.

It is critical to consider the role of race and history in this unfolding crisis.

What does history tell us about this current moment? According to Rosenberg, the effect of inbound migration has been seen to be a net-positive. Still, he adds, "Its not obvious to me... how we can describe to the public at large these truths."

Our next speaker is Amali Tower, Founder & Executive Director, Climate Refugees. "Today over 100 million people are displaced worldwide." 86% of these people are hosted in the global south.

About 23 million people are displaced by climate change. Most of this happens internally, she adds. We don't know about cross-border displacement and there have been no official assessments about how large this number may be.

Here in the US there have been growing numbers of migrants seeking asylum. In the dry corridor region of Central America, in 2016 over 3.5 million people needed assistance due to an extended drought. El Niño led to a significant increase in irregular migration.

Some people have been reluctant to identify as being climate displaced because laws do not officially recognize climate change as a legitimate claim to asylum status.

Countries most vulnerable to climate change in the global south spend more money working to close their borders than prepare for climate change. "Border security is their climate policy."

The US gov't has created an app for migrants to apply to gain entry, but access is deeply problematic, says Tower. Border security directly undermines the international right to migration and asylum.

And the ending of Title 42 has come with a new and tighter migration ban under Title 8. This is a "global strategy" countries use to keep the most vulnerable out. "There is an extreme racist component to all this."

As it stands now climate refugees cannot claim asylum status in the US. Efforts to widen the 1980 Refugee Act to change this have stalled.

Our final speaker is Hossein Ayazi, Policy Analyst, Global Justice program at the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley.

Three key questions emerge from this discussion: The first is, how possible is it for climate displaced people to move? Across int'l law, "climate refugee" is not a legally protected category.

The second question: media has largely focused on the global north opening or closing their borders. Yet less attention is paid to the structural causes of this displacement. "Why are ppl from the global south so profoundly vulnerable?"

And the third question: How is the global south building climate resilience? And what demands do they have of the global north?

So why is the global south so vulnerable? Colonialism, wealth and resource extraction have hindered resilience in a host of ways. Today, predatory lending and rising debt among developing nations have crippled their ability to be more resilient.

Pro-global north policies have led to 2 outcomes: sharp shrinkage in funds for education, health and infrastructure that might help these countries cope with #climate impacts.

They have also entrenched relations of dependency on global north countries, in some cases upwards of 60% of nations' GDPs are depended on climate vulnerable industries like agriculture and fishing. All of this feeds into the growing flow of migrants.

A recent survey by the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley shows how local economies in the global south are working to build resilience. Most say their long-term strategy is to scale up sustainable agriculture.

Sustainable food systems are a way to build #climateresilience, says Ayazi.

The global north needs to reduce resource exploitation, he adds. A "just transition" from fossil fuels is a key step in this process as are climate reparations to address the conditions we see today.

As we think about what drives people to move, there are underlying factors and proximate causes like economic downturns, military conflict that can help us better understand what is driving migrant flows and where they are coming from, says Susan Fratzke of @MigrationPolicy.

We need to shift to understanding that what we are talking about is forced displacement and migration. That implies there is a global responsibility and that responsibility is failing, says Amali Tower. This drives a collapse in int'l trust and empathy.

Check out this survey from the Othering and Belonging Institute: belonging.berkeley.edu/african-just-t…

Thank you to all our speakers today. You can find a recording of today's conversation at the link below along with additional reporting. ethnicmediaservices.org/media-briefing…

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