In the role of moderator, Najat El Hachmi, writer and columnist, focused the session on the phenomenon of migration from its various perspectives (birth rate, labor market, ideology, and political representation parties, among others), but also on the role of the media regarding this complex reality that shapes today’s societies.
Hein de Haas, sociologist and author of “The Myths of Migration,” began his explanation by establishing a distinction between long-term migration and short-term migration, with the existence of conjunctures—such as those linked to the Covid-19 health crisis or the Russian invasion of Ukraine—marked by peaks in migration dynamics. Beyond specific peaks associated with phenomena of these characteristics, he clarified that 3.5% of the world’s population are international migrants and that 1% are refugees.
The main change in migration patterns over the last century, from a European perspective, is that Europe has shifted from being a point of origin of migration to a destination for immigrants coming from outside its geography. That is, in the European case, there has been a “reversal in the trend of migration flows.” And “contrary to what most people believe, the majority of migrants today are regular,” he wanted to confirm, although the media sometimes show a “distorted view.”
The role of the media
“The media play a fundamental role, just as political leaders share responsibility for constructing these stories and narratives,” de Haas proclaimed. “I have heard that climate change will also generate large migration movements, which is not entirely true. (The argument) is used to promote the fight against climate change and the narrative against CO2 emissions. Development agencies emphasize the idea of helping the poor so they do not migrate from their places of origin. This is not based on any evidence. Middle-income countries are where most people decide to migrate; it’s not only the poor,” he reflected on the matter.
He continued: “The media have the responsibility to counter this narrative. Using harsh images of caravans and small boats generates many clicks and revenues,” but “the idea that migration from south to north is a desperate escape is false.” And he was categorical: “The media could do a much better job of exposing the political hypocrisy surrounding the migration narrative.”
Labor market and fertility rate
Regarding possible ways to mitigate the negative image associated with migration, the expert recommends politicians change migration policies, since “the last forty years have not worked and never will.” He denied that human trafficking is the cause of irregular migration, and instead said it is “a reaction to the lack of border controls, in a context where we tolerate irregular migrants doing types of unregulated work that natives do not want to do.” Therefore, “we cannot have a debate about migration if we do not carry out a debate about the labor market and who will take care of our children and elderly.”
In his view, “migration is often driven by labor demand. The best way to stop it is an economic crisis. We saw this in 2008 in Spain and the United States. There is a direct correlation between economic development and migration.” On the other hand, “we will have to learn to live with low fertility rates. Migration will not be able to solve this problem because it is insufficient. We would need fifteen times more migrants to reverse the structural demographic crisis,” he weighed with the audience.
How right-wing and left-wing parties approach it
In this field and based on an analysis of migration policies conducted by the sociologist and his team from the University of Oxford, he found that “there is not much difference between right-wing and left-wing governments regarding the restrictive nature of their respective migration policies.” However, “there is a gap when it comes to narratives: the right wants to limit it, and the left wants to promote it,” he distinguished.
Hein de Haas concluded with the following argument: “Many politicians want to maintain a tough image against migration, and if the press buys the narrative, as is happening, they will continue to do so. As we said before, the media have the role of questioning politicians on this matter.”
