Contribution of the Communist Workers' Party – For Peace and Socialism (Finland)

Dear comrades,

to begin, I would like to thank the organizers of this event.

The question of migration is of course very topical, not only because of the thousands of dead migrants that wash up on Europe’s shores every year, counting 2500 dead in 2023 alone, but also because of the response to this by many of the European governments and opposition parties. The dominant attitude of the bourgeois parties is a “full boat” and the further strengthening of “Fortress Europe”. It is the role of the communists to challenge these ideas with a scientific analysis of the causes of migration and dynamics of migration under imperialism.

The splitting of the working class and the working people through national chauvinism and racism weakens them in their ability to fight back against the degradation of their livelihoods. National chauvinism and racial hatred are the chief methods by which the capitalist class stabilizes its rule. This is especially true in moments of decline, like in the case for Europe at the moment. To oppose this we have to demand equality for migrants, especially equal pay and working conditions.

In general, capitalism can never treat its populations, citizen or not, as more than a source of labor-power – that life-spending force that keeps its corpse artificially alive. The need for workers, suitable to the current labor market, is the driving interest behind the EU’s migration policies and not any benign interest in them as people. In all our calls for the humane treatment of migrants we should never forget this feature of the capitalist mode of production and that only the workers’ state can do away with the barbaric ways by which the capitalists of all countries secure their position in the world imperialist system.

I would like to give a quick overview of Marx’ contribution to the law of population under capitalism. Marx rejected a national chauvinist attitude and was steadfast in his commitment for proletarian internationalism. He was also able to rebuff supposedly “scientific” theories, like that of Malthus, which claim that it would be impossible to feed a growing population and which are regurgitated until this day, even though they have been thoroughly disproven by praxis. It is possible to feed, cloth and house all the 8 billion people on this planet, and some billions more, if there is a need. Under capitalist management enough food, clothing and shelter is produced to satisfy the needs of each person. It is only due to the profit oriented production and distribution, that much of what is produced ends up in landfills and much of what is needed is not produced. In this process of anarchic accumulation, much energy and human labor is wasted, while at the same time destroying the foundations for human life. This finds its expression in the climate crisis.

That vast wealth on the side of the exploiting classes dependent on the abject poverty of millions was visible to all observers of the rise of capitalism. The question was how to analyze this fact of life. From this observation Marx developed his theory of the capitalist law of population, which posits that relative overpopulation, is created by capitalist accumulation, by the increase in the organic composition of capital, by increasing dead labor in relation to living labor. The result of higher productivity per worker, the vast accumulation of wealth in private hands, finds its expression in a reserve army of labor, an overpopulation in relation to what can profitably be employed. This population can be found in all countries, but its situation is especially dire in countries where large masses of people lack access to modern medicine, to birth control and family planning and where religious or otherwise outdated ideas persist and lead to high birth rates, a greater relative overpopulation and an exacerbated downward pressure on wages. This is often compounded by the lack of trade-unions, which are violently suppressed, not only by the bourgeois governments of those countries, but also with the helping hand of their former colonial masters and their new imperialist masters in the East and West. These are the economic conditions under which millions of future migrants are born, in the search of a better life for themselves and their families, and who undertake the arduous journey towards the imperialist motherlands, that began this process of social deterioration. Only under class society, where the relations of production have for a long time limited the development of the productive forces and of human progress, could the birth of a new child not be seen as a blessing for the parents and society, but as another mouth to feed and a pair of hands too many.

Migration is therefore nothing but the capitalist law of population applied across nation-states. The wealthy countries with low birth rates do not have to secure their working force with domestic workers alone, but can fill vacant jobs with workers from abroad. When they no longer wish to receive additional labor-power, i.e. “the boat is full”, they close their border and only let those in that are still needed by the labor market. This is where racist rhetoric and anti-migrant legislation find their place.

The reserve army of labor, especially through the European common market and its freedom of movement for workers, has opened up new flows of migrant labor for European capital. Large reserve armies of labor can be found in the impoverished former Comecon countries, on the territory of former Yugoslavia and in many countries of the imperial periphery. The relatively high wages of the European core economies, Germany, France, Italy, Skandinavia, constitute a pull-factor for this flow of workers. This system is especially suited for migrant workers that return home, once their work is done or their contracts end.

In addition to this, large masses of people have been displaced in the attempt of the imperialists of all countries to extend their foothold, the affected people mostly coming from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Ukraine. With the addition of Venezuela, these constitute the countries of origin for 73% of the world’s refugee populations.^[1] The preferred methods are diplomatic pressure, economic sanctions and precision guided bombs.If we are fighting against the EU’s policy on migrants and refugees, we have to, foremost, fight against the involvement of EU-members in imperialist wars, political meddling and economic sanctions.

The people that are the victims of these policies find themselves in the search for a secure place to live and work. For many who can afford the journey costing thousands, this is Europe. The path to Europe is littered with obstacles, from extortionate rates for smugglers, to dehumanizing and often deadly treatment along the main migration routes, to the hostile reception by the target countries and systemic racism and a lack of proper integration causing many who can afford it to return. Those that stay either got lucky, or they are one of the thousands who are forced to work in debt bondage to the organized criminals that got them to the EU, or because their family is reliant on their income.

This is the background of the EU’s new Pact on Migration and Asylum. Pushbacks and other violations of international, European and national migration laws are the norm, not the exception and the inhumane treatment under capitalist auspices are a given. 

What legislation does the Pact contain? The Pact is going to increase the legal coverage for the inhumane actions of the border and coast guards of the EU. At the same time it shortens deportation times, thereby decreasing the already slim chances of migrants to appeal to rejection of asylum and consequent deportation. It gives a legal framework for the detention of refugees, for even more intense surveillance, by taking fingerprints – from the age of 6 – and storing them in a Europe-wide database. This database will be accessible by all European Police and Migration authorities. Through the so-called Crisis and Force Majeure Regulation, which even adopts the rightist formulation of “instrumentalization” of refugees, it will be possible to lift even the minor protections for migrants still remaining in the legislation.

Even more telling are all the things that are not included in this legislation. It does not address the practices of pushbacks. It does not change the EU’s policy of externalization, under which migrants are supposed to remain in some country outside of the EU, often under cruel and dehumanizing conditions and all of this paid for by the working people in the EU. A prime example is Libya, which used to be one of the most highly developed countries in Africa before NATO intervention and has since seen the return of smuggling of migrants, human trafficking and even open-air slave auctions. Meanwhile the pencil-pushers in the EU institutions are keeping their hands clean of it. In deepening the process of externalization the EU does not shy away from declaring countries they call “terrorist-ruled” at other occasions, like Afghanistan, safe countries of origin. The attempt to further widen the definition of a “safe country of origin” has recently been overturned by the European Court of Justice, but we can be sure to expect another such push at the next opportune moment.

The inhumane laws enshrined are not the beginning of the anti-migrant policies of the EU, but they are a new stage of escalation. The anti-migrant policies of the EU will not be combated by calling for more humane anti-migrant legislation, like many bourgeois NGOs have done.

Our work will also not just be done by exposing the theater between the different branches of government. We always have to remember that the real struggle is an extra-parliamentary one, that is waged with the real weapon of the working class, its ability to withdraw its labor power, to organize marches and demonstrations, to block weapons shipments, in short; real solidarity with our class brothers and sisters from abroad.

All the forces that obstruct this class solidarity, the bourgeois politicians of all colors, if liberal, far-right, conservative or social-democratic, the reformist leadership in the trade unions, and all other forces that try to promote class collaboration, have to be unmasked and unceasingly attacked for their unfulfilled promises and their attacks on our class and the people. Especially with the threat of a rising far-right and fascist movement, we have to point out that a less racist policy is not a humane policy either. The rightists have to be exposed for their empty rhetoric, but so has to be the rhetoric of the “humanists”, the proponents of democracy and human rights! No inch of ground to the rightists, but don’t shake the hand that feeds them either!

Comrades,

To conclude my report I would like to summarize our responsibilities. Many of our parties are still small and do not yet constitute a socially relevant force. All of us have much on our plate and our resources are limited, which is why it is all the more important to prioritize our work.

I have spoken here about the Migrant Question and it is undoubtedly an important one. We have other responsibilities as well, and how to prioritize our work can only be done on the material analysis of our conditions and a class analysis. Without this we cannot identify the revolutionary subject, and which sections of the working class are accessible for revolutionary ideas and what sections can actually develop the economic, political and military power to overthrow our capitalist governments. We have to take this question very seriously, as we are entering into the “hot phase” of our time. After the USSR was dissolved, there was not much counterforce to the Western hegemony that we got so used to. Today however we are facing a different world; a world of multiple imperialist camps vying for hegemony and their “fair share” of markets and resources, getting ready for an all-out war by 2030. Meanwhile all the existing contradictions are deepened by racing towards a hot-house earth, in which life for millions will be severely affected. These millions – displaced by war or climate change – will move. They will also move to Europe. The EU’s Pact is a preliminary response to these scenarios, but legislation alone does not decide the faith of these people. It will be real and tangible facts on the ground, the reality of class struggle which will decide the lives of millions.

We are currently not in a position to stop the impending slaughter, but we must ready ourselves for it. Let us not waste this coming opportunity to get rid of the rotten system that has brought us to the abyss again. Clara Zetkin said in 1924, in relation to fascism, that it was “punishment because the proletariat has not carried and driven forward the revolution that began in Russia”^[2].

 

Comrades,

Let us avoid this punishment in the future. Let’s be brutally honest with ourselves and work determinedly for the socialist revolution.

Together we can win!

 

^[1] What is a Refugee? Definition and Meaning. (n.d.). USA for UNHCR. Retrieved October 6, 2024, from https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/what-is-a-refugee/

^[2] Clara Zetkin: The Struggle Against Fascism. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2024, from https://www.marxists.org/archive/zetkin/1923/06/struggle-against-fascism.html