Xeno-Racism and International Migration

Abstract

from the issues of other migrants. In a liberal democratic context the problems of refugees and asylum seekers need to be addressed through internationally accepted and agreed mechanisms. Yet, these issues are generally subsumed under immigration laws. Historically, domestic immigration laws that govern the selection, importation, regulation, exploitation, and control of labour have been racist. This exemplifies the contradiction/dilemma that has been central to the nation-building process of white settler colonies. On the one hand states espouse the values of liberal democracy. However, on the other, the core of these states is colonial and racist because of their historical formation that was deeply rooted in racism and colonialism. Immigration policy cannot be separated from labour and by logical extension also from the movement of global capital. Capitalism and globalization require cheap labour. Global capital moves without borders to where cheap labour is readily available. International instruments like the General Agreement on Trade in Services (), the North American Free Trade Agreement (), and the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas () facilitate and enhance the free movement of capital, while labour from the so-called Third World is locked within their national spaces and blocked from entering the West, stigmatized by a discourse concerning the “undesirables”: illegal immigrants, aliens, economic migrants, and bogus refugees. In the process, economic inequalities are generated, which force people to migrate to places where they can sell their labour. Simultaneously, Introduction This special issue of Refuge marks the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance convened by the United Nations General Assembly from August  to September , . The conference is taking place in the context of rising xenophobia and anti-refugee sentiment in the public discourse as well as increasingly restrictive laws in the North, accompanied by a powerful juggernaut called globalization. Migration is a key area where racism and discrimination continue to pervade all levels of policy and institutional practice. While refugee issues are expected to be part of the official conference agenda, we have proposed this special issue to further animate the debates and discussions surrounding racism and migration in the international context.