Unoriginal Oppression
Russia’s manufactured migrant crisis is neofascist plagiarism
It’s not every day that your travel plans get tangled up in international conflict.
On the way back from the in November, I had to figure out a new way to get back to St. Petersburg, Russia. Originally, I was to fly to Helsinki, Finland, and take a bus to Piter. I’d completed this border crossing a couple of months prior and had few worries about it.
However, Finland closed all but one of its borders with Russia while I was abroad, necessitating a new strategy. Ultimately, I ended up taking a boat from the Finnish capital to Tallinn, Estonia, and a bus from there to St. Petersburg, ultimately collapsing into bed after about 36 hours of travel. What motivated the Finns to do this?
Hapless migrants from the Middle East have been used to destabilize the newly-minted NATO member. Reports suggest that they have been furnished with bus tickets, bicycles, and misinformation to show up at border checkpoints seeking asylum. As inhumane as this policy is, it is hardly original.
In fact, just like many bad ideas that come to Russia originate in the US, this one is no exception.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Kremlin is copying Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pulling a similar stunt in 2022, when he sent migrants to “blue” states. The bad faith argument was that “States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by inventivising illegal immigration.” However, even this isn’t the origin of this contemptible move.
Neofascism has a direct line of descent from the American Confederacy and its successor regimes, so the fact that the migrants-as-political-pawns stratagem arose against the Civil Rights movement shouldn’t be a surprise. “Reverse Freedom Rides” saw Black Americans from the segregated South sent to some of the same places modern migrants are sent today, including summering spots for the wealthy in Massachusetts. Sent to the North without contacts or capital, Black Americans’ plight was supposed to embarrass Northern whites who, it was thought, would reject them.
However:
the prevailing sentiment was that the Reverse Freedom Rides exposed the callousness of the Southern segregationists, not the hypocrisy of Northern liberals. Private citizens from across the country wrote to offer their support. Some suggested housing the Reverse Freedom Riders in their own towns and homes; others wrote checks
The same logic is apparent in the actions against Finland.
Unfortunately, rather than combating inhumanity with humanity, the border closures and xenophobic language used by both Finland and the EU show that the tactic has legs. The best way to call the “traditionalists’” bluff is to be open-hearted, generous, and welcoming to those in need, especially those considered “other.”
At its core, revanchist culture war is waged by plutocrats and their less sophisticated allies seeking to keep working people divided and poor. Rather than rely on hard power to further isolate (but domestically strengthen) such regimes, letting people move freely is the best weapon against them.
