Eni Lestari, International Migrants Alliance (IMA)
March 2024
Greetings from the International Migrants Alliance. We are honored to be invited to contribute to this important Theoretical Conference on Economic Crises Under Imperialism.
The crisis of overproduction, according to Marx’s discussion, is caused by the contradiction between capitalism’s tendency to increase productive forces at the expense of restricting real wages that gravely affect the consumption of workers and the masses.
Historically, there have been many economic crises stemming from overproduction, and unscrupulous and elite-aligned policies that only favor the monopoly capitalist, neoliberal system. From the economic depression of the 1920s to the 2008 financial crisis, and the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, there have been periods of booms and busts in which capitalist overproduction acts as a force pushing millions of people across the globe to financial difficulties and precarity.
Using the lens of the developing world, the crisis of overproduction generated by monopoly capitalism transfers the burden to marginalized communities, especially to the oppressed and exploited people of poor countries and neocolonies. The post-war neoliberal agenda has forcibly linked developing economies with those of wealthy countries through a series of economic policy conditionalities (e.g., structural adjustment programs) initiated by the Bretton Woods Institutions led by the US and Europe, as well as the expansion of multinational companies in other countries.
Neoliberal policies have been insidiously facilitating profit increases by extracting cheap labor and resources not just in heavily capitalistic states but more so in poor, underdeveloped countries – a major characteristic of imperialism. This entails plunder, eroding lands, and undermining labor conditions resulting in a population that does not have any viable means to earn and subsequently turns to migration as a lifeline for survival. Governments in poor neocolonies ride on this desperation to systematize labour export to salvage its economy from faster deterioration and keep the restive population from exploding into social and political unrest.
At the same time, neoliberalism expands the army of unemployed people in the labor-importing countries by relocating labour-intensive production activities to underdeveloped countries where cheaper, more flexible, and repressed labour are more abundant. With the abundance of working class people with diminished purchasing power, the crisis of overproduction becomes ever more acute. Yet, capitalists continue to make colonies and neocolonies their milking cows, profiting off of their raw materials and labour to maintain the dominant economic system that only benefits them.
In making sense of this relation, one can deduce that the current migration regime is a product of the crisis of overproduction and capitalist greed.
The World Migration Report 2022 of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) revealed that 3.6% of the world’s population or 281 million people are considered international migrants in 2020. Most migrants go to Europe, amounting to 87 million individuals (30.9% of the international migrant population), followed by Asia, North America, Africa, Latin America, and lastly, Oceania. Meanwhile, 169 million people are considered migrant workers based on 2019 data.
Zooming into countries, migrants primarily go to the United States, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United Kingdom. On the other hand, most migrants come from India, followed by Mexico, Russia, China, and Syria.
Out of the population of international migrants of working age (15 years old and older), actual migrant workers account for 68.8%. They mostly work in high-income and upper-middle- income countries where a noticeable overturn has been identified in recent years – many migrant workers have been coming more to upper-middle-income countries than high-income ones as the former experiences steady economic growth while the latter implements stricter labor migration policies. This is because as monopoly capitalists expanded their resource- extractive activities and relocated labour-intensive production activities to underdeveloped regions, some of the so-called “emerging economies,” such as Taiwan and Korea, and the Gulf region, also experienced rapid economic growth requiring additional migrant labour to sustain. Hence, these middle-income countries have also become major migrant destination countries. In short, the expansion of monopoly capitalist global value chains has increased and altered migration flows to ensure the supply of exploitable labour at the lowest cost for capital accumulation on a world scale.
Regarding geography, 61% of migrant workers mostly resided in three subregions alone, namely, Northern America, the Arab States (mainly the Gulf countries), and Northern, Southern and Western Europe.
Despite risks that would result in further economic regression and poverty, capitalists, in collusion with powerful and wealthy nations, and local elites persist in their efforts to undermine migrants and their lived realities. Several major issues surface when discussing the relations of global migration with the current configuration of our economic system today:
migration for development and financialization, foreign trade and protectionism, privatization of social services, and the climate crisis.
I. Migration for development and financialization
The failure of the monopoly capitalist, neoliberal system to give people some respite from their homegrown economic crises is placed on the shoulders of the marginalized and, in our case, migrants.
With increasingly volatile global economic situations, the financial contributions of migrants to economies have become important drivers of “development” in both host and home countries. Dubbed “migration for development,” the World Bank, in its World Development Report 2023, highlights how remittances and knowledge transfers have had a positive impact on the labor market and keep the world afloat amidst the polycrisis.
Particularly, remittances are considered stable instruments in making sure that economies can stay resilient as much as possible amidst shocks. World Bank data from last year shows an estimated 3% increase in remittances to East Asia and the Pacific, amounting to USD 133 billion. Most of this was supported by the sustained growth in remittance flows to the Philippines. Similarly, 2023 estimations show an expected 8% increase in remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean, thanks to the growing flows between the US and Mexico. For South Asia, there is an estimated 7.2% growth in their remittances in 2023 while Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to have an increase of about 1.9%. On the other side of the fence, 2023 remittance flows to Europe and Central Asia, and Middle East and North Africa are expected to decline.
It is critical to note that while remittances are considered more stable than foreign direct investments (FDIs) and official development assistance (ODA) as an antidote to poverty, evidence shows that it is merely used as leverage to investments and loans that further drives developing countries into crisis. The burden of debt repayments only produces and reproduces economic crises, ripening conditions for forced migration. Furthermore, remittances are smokescreens that mask the actual socioeconomic conditions of many migrant-sending countries. For one, remittances are mostly used for consumption, not investments, so they become unsustainable in the long run. Secondly, the hard-earned money of migrant workers is used for taxes, businesses, and other government programs but is not effectively cascaded to support public services. In this case, it just becomes a tool that perpetuates the unjust system that breeds poverty, unemployment, and forced migration.
With the continuous growth of remittance flows worldwide, it is also becoming entrenched in the financialization agenda of commercial banks, money transfer networks, and multilateral development banks such as the IMF-World Bank. Financialization is characterized by “the increasing role of financial motives, financial markets, financial actors and financial institutions in the operation of domestic and international economies.” In the context of financialization, neoliberal shifts in the political economy of development for remittance- sending and receiving societies intensify.
The role of money transfer operators and big banks in the financialization of remittances is an added factor in increasing their profits from the earnings of migrant workers. They also consider financialization as an antidote to the impending impacts of financial crises and overproduction.
In 2023, the global average of remittance cost is 6.20% with South Asia garnering the lowest cost when sending remittances and Africa having the highest cost.
Although discounts and “no fee” policies have become famous, especially in countries where remittances abundantly enter, hidden costs still apply, slashing the amount remitters give to their families back home. According to a research done between 2017 and 2021, European remitters lost EUR 4.6 billion (USD 5 billion) in fees hidden in exchange rate mark-ups in a single year while American remitters paid USD 2.2 billion in mark-ups. The money extracted from fees merely goes to the pockets of big banks as profits.
Other than remittances, financialization in migration is manifested when migrant-receiving countries and businesses align their capitalist motives with trends within the market economy. Particularly, temporary migration schemes fit in this where some destination countries recruit cheap labor during economic upswings and then kick them out during periods of decline so as not to be obliged to provide wages, benefits, and assistance. This systematic facilitation of labor flexibilization fosters deeper labor precarity and economic insecurity of migrants while they feed the economies of other countries. This makes their economies more “robust” under conditions of increased volatility resulting from financialization.
Such schemes are present in the Pacific region, where New Zealand and Australia seek out fruit pickers from nearby Pacific islands to work for them during harvest season. This has been institutionalized already in said countries by providing temporary work visas to workers. Clearly, this is an effort that aims to allow this labor system to persist and regularly contribute to feeding powerful economies and businesses. There are over 1.6 million temporary work visa holders in Australia (from information dated until August 2021), while New Zealand has approved temporary visas for more than 92,000 workers in 2023.
II. Privatization of social services
As the international community continues to be buried in the labor market mechanisms, governments have also endeavored to make public services private and inaccessible to many people.
In underdeveloped countries, healthcare, education, transportation, and utilities among others have become the banes in people’s lives. Many times, these fundamental services are brought to the hands of corporations through public-private partnerships (PPPs) causing rising costs just to address basic needs. Governments are now allocating less and less budget for these important sectors. For instance, some countries in South Asia spend less than 4% of their GDP on healthcare. Meanwhile, subsidizing education has also become a lesser priority to 40% of low and lower-middle income states. The lack of support for these necessary services
contributes to worsening living conditions of individuals and communities. With expensive and inaccessible services, many are pushed to pursue opportunities in cities and abroad to afford to have a decent life back home.
On the other hand, developed countries also have their share of privatizing social services. Particularly regarding child and elderly care, families prefer to hire domestic helpers to avoid pricey care facilities. And because women in wealthy countries are relatively more active in their labor force, cheap domestic care is extracted from women in the global South to offset expenses.
III. Foreign trade, Protectionism
In recent years, economic protectionism has risen among powerful countries to defend their dominance in their own regions and alliances and insulate themselves from the impacts of global economic crises. From 2009 to the last quarter of 2023, the US implemented the most trade policy measures that advocate for protectionism, followed by China and then Germany.
With the ongoing trade war between China and the US, regional economic mechanisms (e.g. APEC, IPEF, RCEP, NAFTA etc.) have also emerged to expand influences on alliances in the developing world. But in terms of migration, the tides are turned in many directions.
For one, economic protectionism in the US and Europe, for instance is in line with ultra-right- wing movements anchored on national chauvinism and racism. This was manifested in Donald Trump’s “America First” policy (which is still being rolled out under Biden) and in many European countries’ push against the entry of refugees and “irregular” migrants (mostly from Muslim countries and Africa) in their territories.
In Europe, when migrants wish to seek employment, they are extensively racially profiled. They are forced to assimilate into a new society and labor market which do not regard their contexts. In addition, securitization policies have been increasing lately which largely involve anti-Islamic sentiments related to terrorism and crimes.
In the US, protectionism measures against migrants take the form of unnecessary excessive bureaucratic procedures that hinder many from acquiring social services and other benefits. In particular, a lot of cases of migrants from South America, the Philippines, and China have to wait for 20 years just to be able to complete the citizenship processes of their families. Meanwhile, migrants from Central America are in danger of getting deported or violently attacked when they try to seek employment in the US. Due to difficulties posed by formal labor migration schemes and lack of protection, they are forced to enter through the Mexico border. Many deaths have been recorded in recent years due to the dangers faced by those crossing to the US in search of better living conditions.
In both the European and US cases, migrants and refugees who assert their rights also experience severe crackdowns. Their political rights are repressed, protests and other forms of solidarity actions are criminalized, and many laws are used as tools to hinder their freedoms. One example of diluting laws is the UK’s deprioritization of its Human Rights Act. With this,
refugees seeking asylum will undergo more stringent mechanisms while also experiencing severe discrimination and violence.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East, especially in countries in the Gulf, schemes like Saudization and Qatarisation aim to increase the hiring of local nationals. While this has an impact on some sectors, these countries still rely heavily on foreign workers in more dangerous and precarious jobs such as domestic work and construction.
In the face of undermining enemies in the geopolitical and economic sphere and pursuing protectionist measures, tapping highly skilled workers (especially those in tech) from underdeveloped countries has become more prominent as developed countries engaged in trade wars are racing to monopolize advanced technologies. This reveals two points about migration dynamics in relation to competition within the monopoly capitalist system. First is that immigration policies are becoming more discriminatory rather than restrictive across the board. As mentioned in previous paragraphs, “irregular” migration is severely restricted especially since they are considered a “burden” to wealthy states. They would have to house them and provide social services. Meanwhile, the talents of highly skilled workers are essential to keep the host countries more competitive, that is why they are considered valuable, albeit still subjected to discrimination. Secondly, this trade of highly skilled people results in a brain drain in developing countries. In poorer countries where industries are not at par with those abroad, the more educated segment of society is lured into the migration regime and is commodified. This worsens the predatory cycle of underdevelopment and migration in many global South nations today.
- Climate crisis
In the context of the climate crisis, the plunder of global South natural resources is forcibly displacing farmers and fisherfolks from their communities. Production in a capitalist sense means over-extraction of resources and people. Marxist logic would point out that this entails the deliberate degradation of lands and waters to feed the existing exploitative system. This results in extreme weather events affecting millions of frontline communities around the globe.
Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the Asia Pacific region, are two of the most abused regions when it comes to illegal mining and deforestation to make way for projects imposed by big businesses.
The deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, for instance, can be traced back to multinational corporations that do their mining and plantation activities in the area – some infamous corporations are Cargill, Alcoa, Norsk Hydro, Minerva Foods, and even Walmart. Due to this, Indigenous Peoples are forced to leave their ancestral lands behind as big businesses are also backed by local elites and the military.
In the Pacific, whose carbon emissions are just 0.8% of the whole pie, communities have been facing severe livelihood disruptions as strong storms increase in their region. The gloomy reality of the Pacific Islands sinking within the next couple of decades if destructive forces
continue is pushing people to go to nearby countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Here, they would have to compete with other people to acquire income while also battling the impacts of being uprooted from their culture, which is heavily linked to nature.
In Africa, mining has also eroded ecosystems. With tech companies acquiring raw materials by unearthing copper, lithium, and aluminum, among other minerals, many are subjected to forced labor for meager salaries. Many populations take the risk to migrate to places near mines as their original industries start to regress. For instance, the Geita township in Tanzania quadrupled in size within three years following the opening of Geita Mine—the largest open- pit gold mine in the country.
The current capitalist mode of production is the prime suspect in destroying the Earth and the climate. The G8 nations (US, European Unions, Russia, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, and Canada) alone are responsible for 85% of carbon emissions while the entire global North was responsible for 92% (data as of 2015). Yet, the global South bears the brunt of the impacts of the climate crisis – destroying crops, diminishing marine life, and displacing people from their communities.
Fossil fuel production remains profitable for multinational companies despite the promise to reduce it, according to the UNFCCC. In COP meetings, dirty energy executives shamelessly sit as policymakers while affected countries and communities face shrinking civic spaces and human rights violations for protecting their lands. As these abuses continue, more and more people are pushed to flee from where they originally belonged and look for ‘better’ opportunities elsewhere.
Obviously, people would not stay in a place marred by extreme risks to life and livelihoods. Due to the impacts of the climate crisis, climate refugees are growing in number. Data from the European Parliament revealed that since 2008, over 376 million people have been forcibly displaced due to extreme weather events. In 2022 alone, a record number of 32.6 million people had to leave their countries and communities to seek refuge away from disasters. To cover the impacts on many communities, migrants have to double down on working and sending bigger remittances to support their families left behind.
With the continuing destruction of lands and waters in developing countries, those who till the lands and fish our food must acquire jobs elsewhere. In effect, food security is also at stake as fewer and fewer people are engaged in agriculture.
In all these issues concerning the current state of our economic system and migration today, the state acts as a major facilitator to pool its citizens towards the claws of capitalism despite all the risks that come with it.
Political elites in individual countries act in collusion with powerful states by implementing anti-people and market-oriented policies that only benefit a few. Many powerful countries even go the extra mile to support authoritarian regimes to consolidate power. Such was the case in the Philippines, where the Marcos dictatorship was heavily backed by the US. His regime and
all the socioeconomic policies it enforced became the breeding ground for the growth of exploitative labor exportation schemes in the country.
Furthermore, states have a hand in how corporations can do business in their territories. A good chunk of state bureaucrats, both in developed and underdeveloped countries, are involved in extractive and oppressive businesses but are still inclined to support entities that destroy lives and the environment. Such relations have given way to privatized social services and dubious agrarian and economic reforms, which are core factors in the continuous push to forward forced migration.
States in the underdeveloped world are complicit in the crisis of overproduction in connection with migration because they take advantage of the labor power exerted by their citizenry to mask the impacts of economic downturns. But it is also worth discussing that these states’ actions result from centuries-long dependency on previous colonizers and big capitalists. In framing it this way, we could further understand and dissect the ever-evolving dynamics of the current economic and social system shaping migration in today’s time. Simultaneously, tackling the complexities within the capitalist and migration regimes will allow us to pinpoint where accountabilities must be exacted and to whom years’ worth of reparations should be unconditionally given.
Amidst the economic crisis and the pernicious migration regime it perpetuates, migrants are resisting exploitation and oppression. We continuously build our organizations and movements on the ground to fight for our rights as workers, defeat schemes of labor flexibility, expose and resist neoliberalism and its impacts on our lives, and advance people’s movements in our home countries that struggle for freedom, democracy, peace and justice against imperialism and all reactions.
We will continue to fight, and – together with the masses of toiling people and the oppressed – we know that we will win.
Down with imperialism!
Long live international solidarity!