Contrary to what they say more and more politicians, The current world is not living a period of massive migratory movementsthe Dutch sociologist and geographer maintains categorical HEIN DE HAAS.
The author of Immigration myths (Peninsula Editorial, 2024) And professor at Amsterdam University, he is also one of the founders of the International Migration Institute (IMI), based in Oxford.
In an interview with AFP, it disassembles a series of common places released by numerous politicians in the United States and Europe.
P: You talk about political “myths” around immigration, by the right as on the left. What are they?
A: The most widespread myth is probably the one that affirms that we live a period of mass migrations that would be essentially caused by poverty, violence and human misery. And that these migrations have reached such an point that they threaten employment, social services, the security and identity of our societies.
Actually, the amplitude of these movements is less than we believe. The migrants represent approximately 3.4% of the world populationand that percentage has not moved much for decades.
Refugees represent 10% of all international migrants, that is, 0.35% of the world’s population. And beyond some short -term fluctuations, this proportion remains relatively stable.
However, politicians often extrapolate the short -term increases of the arrivals of refugees and migrantsand they imply that these presage a future invasion.
The main cause of immigration is not poverty or violence in countries of origin. On the contrary, the phenomenon increases as poor countries become richer, because migrating costs money and requires ambition. Actually, the main cause of migrations is the hardship of labor in destination countries.
So immigration does not “suffer” as much as many politicians believe, but rather “is chosen.”
P: Who takes advantage of those myths?
A: politicians who propagate and recycle them. Immigration serves as an ideal scapegoat in the face of social discontent (growing inequalities, job precariousness, lack of approachable housing, erosion of public services …)
Actually, these problems have been mainly caused by neoliberal economic policiesthat for example have reduced the taxation of the rich, cut the protection of workers, eroded public services and careless social housing.
The second political function of the “myth of invasion” is to mobilize fear and hatred with respect to certain groups of migrants and minorities.
By presenting immigration as an existential threat, xenophobic speeches exploit our deepest fears and allow certain politicians to present themselves as the defenders of their peoples against the foreign enemy.
P: How would you describe migratory trends in Europe since the beginning of the century?
A: In the short term fluctuations closely related to economic cycles are observed.
After the 2008 financial crisismigrations to Europe decreased for several years.
However, after the Covid crisis, unprecedented labor, has caused an increase in legal and illegal migration to North America and Western Europe.
The refugee flows have been very irregular, with temporary peaks when there have been wars close to Western Europe, as was the case with Syria from 2015 and with Ukraine since 2022.
But seen in the long term, these refugee movements They are less massive than it is believed.
In Europe, which has clearly increased since 2000 is immigration linked to work. The aging of the population, together with a rise in the educational level, has increased the number of jobs considered precarious, that Western European workers no longer want or cannot perform, in sectors such as agriculture, construction, restoration, home delivery or cleaning tasks.
