Globalisation definitions and writings often appear to be central communication and its expansion on a worldwide scale; however the effects it has on those that fall behind is not well documented. Amid the foray of refugee discussions within the media and the government, the reason why people are seeking refuge unlawfully in the first place is rarely brought up. “Among the most public signs globalisation have been the rise of unemployment in the advanced economies of the west and inflation in the Third World, the steady dissolution of the social welfare state and the advent of trade liberalisation.”
With strict immigration laws enforced towards the end of the twentieth century, the number of asylum seekers rose, developing from an issue of human rights into an issue of immigration control. “The paradigm has now shifted to criminology, moving from border control to fight against transnational organised crime. How refugee and asylum seeker policy have become mired within the world of smuggling and trafficking, and the effect this has had on ‘right to asylum itself is the focus here.” (Morrison 2003).
As first-world countries continue to develop through globalistation, struggling countries will continue to battle, resulting in the asylum seeker issue growing into an even bigger problem. “Globalization refers to the growing interconnectedness of different parts of the world, a process which gives rise to complex forms of interaction and interdependency”(Thompson, 1995:149) What is missing from this is definition is the fact that there are limitations on third-world countries interconnecting and developing with developed countries.
References:
Morrison, J 2003, ‘“The dark side of globalisation”: the criminalisation of refugees’, in R Robertson & KE White (eds), Globalization: critical concepts in sociology, Routledge, London, pp. 474–7.
Thompson, J. (1995). ‘The Globalization of Communication’ In Thompson, J. The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media, (pp.149-173). London: Blackwells.
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