Alongside Emmaus, sailor, artist and writer, Titouan Lamazou supports freedom of movement and settlement. He briefly explains why there’s no point regulating migration flow.
Titouan Lamazou is a French sailor, artists and writer. On 23 May, he received a universal citizenship passport from the Organisation for Universal Citizenship for his commitment to freedom of movement and settlement. He’ll also be lending his support to two community leaders from Emmaus Saint-Etienne in France who are to swim and kayak across the Gibraltar strait this August. Here, he shares his views about current migration policy and emphasizes their absurdity. “The earth belongs to no-one”, he reminds us.
“You are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody!”
‘Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men’, 1755, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“To me it’s obvious that if France, Europe and the rest of the world opened up their borders and therefore agreed to share the “fruits of the earth”, our lives would be a lot better.
From a humanist – or quite simply, humane point of view – laws that consider migrants as illegal aliens are brutal and unjust, and their consequences are all too often tragic.
From a purely economic point of view, erecting wire fencing around the edges of Europe and maintaining its custodian – Frontex – in order to stem immigration is, in my view, pointless and moreover costs an extortionate amount of money. This kind of policy is just as absurd as if, one day, we decided to construct gigantic sea walls along the coastlines to hold back the rising waters and then claimed to have lessened climate change.
In contrast to what some would have us believe, immigration to France and Europe is hardly of tsunami size proportions. Renowned economists have long maintained that opening up borders would benefit the "host countries”. But if we did need to be concerned with limiting the arrival of “foreigners”, building walls would serve no purpose; this would only create more poverty. You see it on a daily basis.
Migration because of poverty and conflict, or migration brought about by climate change are all due to the same scramble for power and wealth by a tiny minority of people, who sate their appetites at the great expense of the rest of humanity.
With regard to the management of migration and immigration, policy-makers should take inspiration from these essential lines from the ‘Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men’.
Let’s make a start by applying article 13.”
Titouan Lamazou
