Are refugees and migrants examples of modern-day slaves?
When slavery first started, disunity was caused between free people to destabilise countries and make people vulnerable to be captured as slaves.
Today, arguably many nations are destabilised by foreign powers. People then are drawn into want and need because of a dysfunctional society. In its worst form, people are forced to flee their native lands to seek a better life elsewhere, and to cultivate that basic human need, to stay alive and live in safety.
Refugees and migrants, like slaves struggle to have their status recognised by their adopted society, they engage in hard and/or low paid work, they are often hated, abused and victimized.
I see the growing refugee crisis and movement of migrants across the world are symbolic of the rejuvenation of the power, or spiritual principality of slavery, manifest in a new form.
It is no surprise to me that The United States of America is chief of those nations causing instability in other nations. When people are refugees the children caught up in this are destined to suffer, not only upheval but the loss of their education, and therefore poor education and all that entails in terms of the potential limits on opporunities open to these children when they grow up, just further deepens the cycle of disruption, exploitation and pseudo-slavery.
It’s a cruel game those with power play, to lurk behind the scenes, carrying out their work, so they think, in darkness, devouring the resources of other lands, underpaying people in those lands for their labour to feed the capitalist system of exploitation where the profits on these resources are mostly earned abroad, thus creating poverty in those countries which have been exploited. Wars, destabilization, currency manipulation and extortionate lending all feed into this vicious cycle of devaluing people and lands as a tool to keep people suppressed, lacking the elements to truly define themselves, because they live under the definition of their oppressors.
When migrants and refugees take flight, many in power will complain about their influx, draft policies to “control” and help with integration, while knowing, but not wanting to admit, that the influx of these people into other countries is a natural consequence of capitalism and is needed to reinforce the notion that wealth, value and security are to be found in the lands of the oppressors. The sad fact it that a person who is less valued by the oppressor, can only have wealth, value and security in the doled out portions that the systemic, implicit mechanisms of control will naturally allow, even attempts to branch out beyond this predetermined way of life are likely to fall into stereotypes – the migrant footballer or sportsperson, black market trade, drugs; truly integration is the illusion of inclusion. To integrate fully is to deny oneself ones ability to truly define oneself, because the definition of integration is set by a people who, because of their pride, devalue and oppress other people to preserve “their own”.
4 “Look at the proud: he is inwardly not upright;
but the righteous will attain life through trusting faithfulness.
5 Truly, wine is treacherous;
the arrogant will not live at peace
but keeps expanding his desires like Sh’ol;
like death, he can never be satisfied;
he keeps collecting all the nations for himself,
rallying to himself all the peoples.
6 Won’t all these take up taunting him
and say about him, in mocking riddles,
‘Woe to him who amasses other people’s wealth!—
how long must it go on?—
and to him who adds to himself the weight
of goods taken in pledge!
7 Won’t your own creditors suddenly stand,
won’t those who make you tremble wake up?
You will become their spoil.
8 Because you plundered many nations,
all the rest of the peoples will plunder you;
because of the bloodshed and violence done
to the land, the city and all who live there.9 “ ‘Woe to him who seeks unjust gain for his household,
putting his nest on the heights,
in order to be safe from the reach of harm.
10 By scheming to destroy many peoples,
you have brought shame to your house
and forfeited your life.
11 For the very stones will cry out from the wall,
and a beam in the framework will answer them. (Hab 2:4–11 CJB).