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Restricted (Im)mobility, Violence and Racism as Remnants of Colonialism

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Restricted (Im)mobility, Violence and Racism as Remnants of Colonialism

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Haiti-Dominican Republic
In order to attend an international market in the border, Haitian people are waiting for hours until Dominican guards let them in. Dominican Guards delay their entries so that the Dominican sellers can take the good spots in the market. However, this is not the only restriction Haitians experienced. Haitians who live in the Dominican Republic experience various kinds of discrimination, violence and racism by Dominicans. They are even threatened with murder.

According to the citizenship laws of 1929, those who are born in DR territory were given citizenship regardless of the descents of their parents. However, the citizenship law has changed in 2010 so that citizenship can only be given to those who are born in DR territories and to documented, legal parents. Additionally, citizenship of people who gained citizenship according to the 1929 law, are taken away from them if they were born to non-citizen parents. The purpose of this racist law was to deport Haitians.

For that reason many Dominican citizens became stateless all of a sudden, even though they were born in the territories of DR. Since 2015, 55.000 people deported and 128.000 fled to Haiti voluntarily in the face of violence and threats. Some of them live in the camps near the border. There are many checkpoints and controls in DR in order to detain and deport black people. The violence and discrimination Haitians have been facing are the remnants of colonialism which introduced racism and created assymmetric economies that render Haitians economically and politically vulnerable today.

For further information, watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WvKeYuwifc&t=396s

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There are 106 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and 92 Bangladeshi enclaves in India. For 68 years, nearly 50.000 people living in enclaves were trapped in the enclaves because the borders were closed. No utilities, gas and electricity and health-care services were provided to enclaves and no co-operation occured between the two governments which had violent consequenses. For example, children were denied basic education and those who could access to education in the neighboring towns had to carry fake ID’s because they were considered as foreigners otherwise. People from Bangladeshi enclaves could not be admitted into an Indian hospital and they could not go to police when crimes happened. This restricted mobility continued until 2015 when India and Bangladesh accepted each other’s enclaves.

For further information, watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4taOXaSwjlY
For what happened after 2015, watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq_zTfUykyE

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When Britain drew a border in India which divided the country into Pakistan and India in 1947, many people had to leave their homes and families. The border also seperated Amritsar and Kartarpur which are holy places of Sikhs. While Sikhs used to make pilgrimage between these two sites, Sikhs were cut off from their holy site after the partition. For that reason, many Sikhs were coming to the border patrol to look at their holy sites from distance with telescopes. They had to get a visa in order to visit their religious place which remained on the other side of the border. After 70 years of seperation and restricted mobility, Kartarput Corridor has opened which enables visa-free for Indian Sikhs to visit Kartarpur; however, Pakistani Sikhs are still unable to use this corridor without a visa.

If you are interested, you can watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5Ps1TZXAN8&list=PLJ8cMiYb3G5dRe4rC7m8jDaqodjZeLzCZ

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The Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) require asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims are processed, placing them in an especially vulnerable situation.

For asylum-seekers trapped in Mexico under MPP, the coronavirus is just another in a series of challenges. Some said they were less worried about getting sick than the likely impact the pandemic will have on their asylum cases. David, a migrant from Honduras, said the biggest problem isn’t the coronavirus but the response to it. “What I’m worried about the most is if they stop the program, I think the border is going to close. I heard that they are going to shut down the programs.”

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In July in Tijuana about 500 asylum seekers were processed. About 9,900 were on the waiting list by the end of the month.

By August, the list had grown to more than 10,000 people, according to Al Otro Lado, a legal services organization for migrants. With an average of 34 people allowed to cross each day under a Border Patrol policy known as metering, the waiting time is now estimated to be six to nine months.

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The southern border of the U.S. has long been a crossing point for people coming from Mexico, or through Mexico from other countries, into the U.S. Most of these individuals came from the Northern Triangle of Central America: Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. In all these countries, U.S. foreign policy and investments in brutal regimes in the 1980s during the Cold War created climates that became rife with violence and distress that continues today.

In January 2019, the Trump administration implemented the “Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP)" in California then expanded it to Texas in March. Known colloquially as the “Remain in Mexico" program, the initiative has been extended along the border. Rather than remaining in the U.S. to await their hearing, asylum seekers are now sent back to Mexico. It is estimated that at least 42,000 asylum seekers have been sent to northern Mexico cities along the border awaiting their trials. However, Mexico is bussing people back to the Southern border, near Guatemala-Mexico border, but there is no plan in place for helping them access their trial in the U.S.

Opponents to the “Remain in Mexico” program cite extreme violence in border cities and other safety concerns, including kidnapping and rape, as reasons why the U.S. should continue to allow refugees to remain in the country. Additionally, it is difficult to find an attorney while in Mexico.

Numerous media stories have covered the problems of overcrowding, lack of hygiene facilities and health care access, as well as food shortages.

The COVID-19 pandemic is also causing concern for those detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The conditions in some of the camps for unaccompanied children have been reported as deplorable, lacking in food, health care, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and other services. Children have died or became severely ill in these camps as well.

For further information, see: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/four-severely-ill-migrant-babies-hospitalized-after-lawyers-visited-border-patrol-facility_n_5d0d3bbce4b07ae90d9cfe4f?fbclid=IwAR1W45Wx2yzWVs16RfvTU0ejCHMylX_hR_1HEJItyNJ6FvZrR-CI74MUVP0

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Korean students who live in Japan are exposed to harassment and bully on their way to school. Not only crossing physical borders involve violence; cultural and intellectual borders involve violence as well.

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Control of Palestinian movement has been a feature of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territory since its inception in 1967.  However, over the last 14 years the draconian system of movement controls used by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory has become increasingly institutionalized and restrictive. The permit system was put in place in the early 1990s which requires that all Palestinians obtain military issued permits to move between the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem or to travel abroad. Additionally, Israel controlles the movement of Palestinians through variety of obstacles; permanent checkpoints, partial checkpoints, flying checkpoints, road barriers, roadblocks, road gates, wall gates, earth mounds, and trenches. An OCHA survey conducted in July of 2018 recorded a total 705 permanent road obstacles in the West Bank, in addition to an average of 60 flying (temporary) checkpoints per week.

All of these factors contribute to forced displacement, severely limit Palestinian access to basic resources including land and water and basic services including health care and education, and perpetuate a system of segregation and legal and structural inequality between Palestinians and Israelis. Understanding how Palestinian’s freedom of movement is restricted is important to understanding the severe impact of Israel’s occupation on average Palestinians.

As a general rule, permit-holding Palestinians can only access Jerusalem and Israel through the checkpoints, must cross by foot, and are forbidden from operating a vehicle in East Jerusalem/Israel. In order to obtain a permit, Palestinians must first obtain a magnetic card (a requirement introduced in 2005), which is a secondary form of identification that holds biometric data such as the holder’s fingerprints and a facial scan. It is only issued to Palestinians who have been granted security clearance by the Shin Bet, Israel’s intelligence agency.

Due to the hardships Palestinians face at Israeli checkpoints and crossing borders Palestinians lost 60 million working hours annually due to the Israeli occupation. Time lost at Israeli checkpoints cost Palestinians an estimated $274 million every year. They experience two types of delays:

Infrastructural delays; Checkpoints that regulate access into Israel/Jerusalem effectively bar all residents of the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem) from entering or passing through Israel/Jerusalem, thereby forcing a route change. Along these altered routes, Israeli checkpoints that regulate internal West Bank movement also cause delays, even if unmanned, by funneling traffic into a single lane. Often, these single lanes include a rumble strip, which is a ribbed portion of the road that precedes the checkpoint and forces the vehicle to slow down.

Procedural delays; Delay times are increased when soldiers decide to stop and search vehicles at checkpoints. The stop and search procedures create secondary delays as traffic accumulates in the queue and exacerbates congestion.

The total number of hours lost due to infrastructural delay and procedural delays combined is 59,702,934 annually.

For further information, see: http://www.arij.org/files/arijadmin/2019/mobility_2019.pdf

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Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are trying to cross into the Europe via Melilla in order to flee from religious conflicts or to find a job. They gather in camps near  Melilla where they develop strategies to cross the border. During their attempts, sometimes they got injured, sometimes they are harassed by the police.

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Europe’s most fortified border is in Africa

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Refugees who survived the sea tell their experiences of restricted mobility.

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Dying to get here - The survivors of the migrant graveyard | Channel 4 News

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US-Mexico Border - Deaths by Border Patrol

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US-Mexico Border - Deaths by Border Patrol

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The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which includes the Border Patrol, is the largest federal law enforcement agency in the country. CBP's lack of accountability and oversight paired with its culture of violence has resulted in the loss of lives of U.S. citizens and noncitizens.

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19.000 refugees died crossing the Mediterranean in the last 6 years

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19.000 refugees died crossing the Mediterranean in the last 6 years

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October 3, 2013: A total of 368 people died in a shipwreck off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, including many women and children. There were 155 survivors.

August 22, 2014: More than 200 people are killed in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya. Many bodies wash up on shore.

April 14, 2015: There's a shipwreck off the coast of Libya with 300 victims, according to survivors' accounts.

April 18, 2015: Overcrowding and incorrect maneuvers cause a shipwreck in the Strait of Sicily with at least 700 victims. Some witnesses spoke of up to 900 victims, making it the most serious tragedy of all. Only 28 people survive.

August 5, 2015: A fishing boat overturns near Libya. There were 600 people aboard, 300 of whom are rescued. Only 25 bodies are recovered.

April 18, 2016:  A large wooden boat sinks with about 500 migrants aboard, nearly all of whom go missing. The boat had departed from Libya and was headed for Italy.

June 3, 2016: In the Libyan coastal city of Zuwara, the dead bodies of migrants wash up on the beach, stretching a full 25 kilometers. At least 117 bodies are recovered.

November 3, 2016: 239 migrants die in two shipwrecks off the coast of Libya.

March 23, 2017: There's a double shipwreck in which at least 240 migrants die on the route between Africa and Spain.

April 13, 2017: Nearly 100 migrants go missing from a boat of 120 migrants off the coast of Libya.

May 7, 2017: At least 113 people go missing at sea after a rubber dinghy sinks off the Libyan coast, near the town of Al Zawiyah. The Libyan Coast Guard and some fishing boats rescue only seven people.

September 1, 2018: Over 100 migrants, including 20 children, die when their two rubber dinghies that had departed from the coasts of Libya sink.

June 11, 2019:  Seven migrants die off Lesbos.

August 27, 2019: Five bodies are retrieved off al Khums, east of Tripoli, although 40 people were reported missing.

October 7, 2019: Just a few days after the anniversary of the 2013 Lampedusa tragedy, a boat sinks near the island, leaving at least 13 people dead.