Open Borders

In this new edition of Open Borders, Teresa Hayter assesses the impact of the increasing severity of border controls since they were first introduced & makes the controversial case for their abolition. Hayter focuses on postwar immigration controls, especially the use of such controls against the peoples of former European colonies & East Europeans, and their effects on asylum seekers. She examines the recent history of European coordination of border controls & the notion of ‘Fortress Europe’. Hayter argues that the existence of controls leads to great suffering & abuse of human rights, & that immigration controls are racist & help legitimate racism. She demonstrates that immigration controls have actually had a limited impact on controlling numbers.To illustrate her arguments, she draws on empirical material, especially from Britain in the 1980s & 1990s, relating in particular to the use of detention, arbitrary decision-making & the denial of benefits. She compares British government policies with policies elsewhere in Europe & calls for the free movement of people & the abolition of border controls. The new edition brings this seminal work up to date with a lengthy preface exploring how the practices of the British government over the past few years has continued the process Hayter outlines in the main text – of abusive & irrational border controls & the criminalisation of entire communities. This second edition also updates the bibliography & list of campaigning groups, and ends-with a new manifesto for a world without borders, declaring ‘no one is illegal!’