Migration, immigration, refugees and asylum seekers: A
position for the working class
In recent years there has been an increased public focus in Ireland on the issue of
immigration into the country.
There is no doubt that there are problems arising at present from how immigration into
Ireland is carried out. Even for those who see no problem with the current fashion in
which immigration is occurring, there is no question that the process is open to being
abused by those who control it.
Various elements have used the problems arising from immigration to make political,
personal and nancial gains by o ering false analyses and solutions.
The IRSP’s position is that the problems arising from immigration are a symptom of a
broken system. The movement of people throughout the world should be based on
their free will, not them being pushed from their home country due to poverty and war
to be used by exploiters elsewhere, and not with the view to being used in
undermining the working class of other countries. The reason that immigration doesn’t
occur without such problems is due to a system in Ireland and internationally which
prioritises the wealth and power of massive corporations, banks and landlords, over
the wellbeing of the people as whole.
Concerns with issues arising from the state’s immigration policy cannot be viewed
without reference to the broader issues a ecting Irish society, and the IRSP is clear in
its position that we must work toward building a 32-County Republic in which the
working class- the majority- controls all such policies in our own interests.
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Introduction: A summary of the working-class position
It is an obvious demand of the Irish working class that policies on who enters Ireland
are based on our own interests. Regardless of one’s views on immigration at present,
this is clearly the only reasonable position.
• The Irish Working Class must demand a policy on who enters and resides in this
country based on what is in our collective interests- but this cannot be achieved
under the existing political system.
• Currently individuals and institutions such as large businesses and corporations,
banks and landlords, called capitalists, decide on who enters Ireland and resides
here.
• This is because these capitalists own and control the resources and wealth of
Ireland- whoever controls the wealth and resources of a nation will control its
political and economic decisions, including on immigration.
• Capitalists make such decisions based on their own interests, wishing to make
as much pro t as possible, and this causes many of the problems arising from
policies involving the movement of people. Even for those who see no problem
at present with immigration- the process of immigration remains open to abuse
in its current form.
• The problems arising from immigration policy are tied to a great many
other problems, the only way to ensure that these problems are resolved is
for the working class to control the wealth and wealth-producing resources
of the country and to ensure political and economic decisions bene t
everyone.
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Why is immigration and refugee policy an issue?
The numbers entering Ireland, like many other political and economic policies, a ects
the well-being of the Irish people. An obvious example of this is that increased
numbers can mean increased demand on resources which are scarce. Realistically,
immigration can easily be carried out in a responsible fashion which is bene cial to
everyone involved- so we must question why problems are arising from it.
Who is making the decisions?
Ireland exists under the system of capitalism. This means that Ireland’s economy, our
resources and wealth, are owned and controlled privately by capitalists, capitalists
include individuals and certain institutions such as large corporations, landlords and
banks. Capitalists own the resources, and the working-class must slave to make pro t
for the capitalists in return for a wage, the working class must also pay them for
housing.
How are they in control of these decisions?
Those who own and control our wealth and resources- the capitalists- determine the
political decisions. The decisions of large corporations, for example, can have a
greater impact on Irish society and the Irish economy than any government decision.
Politicians under the current system are merely the puppets of the capitalists. This is
why changing the government, but not the system, will not achieve anything.
On what basis do capitalists decide on numbers entering and leaving the country?
Capitalists wish to always make as much pro t as possible o the backs of the
working class. They own the big companies, and they want as much work from
workers as possible while giving as little as possible in return, they own the housing
market, and they want to take as much rent as they can while providing sub-quality
accommodation, and so on. How many workers, renters, etc. enter and leave the
country is an important factor in all of this.
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How do the capitalists use the movement of people into a country?
Sometimes capitalists seek more workers, or workers with speci c skills, which they
feel unable to attain in a given country. However, it is also a case that workers who are
migrating do not want to live in their own countries will work and live in conditions that
native workers may not. Irish workers who do try to challenge wages, rent or
conditions, can be threatened with replacement by a foreign worker.
Capitalism sustaining itself
The capitalists own the resources of the country, and so the rest of us must work for
them and pay them just to live. To maximise pro t the capitalists exploit workers,
charge high rents, and charge huge prices for access to resources such as healthcare,
education and transport. Of course, then capitalists fear that their system may be
challenged by the working class- that we may demand control of our own resources,
or even better conditions.
An e ective way for the working class to better their conditions and take control is for
the workers to unite and refuse to produce for or pay rent to the capitalists. To lessen
the chances of this happening capitalists can bring increased numbers of people into
the country, so if the working class begins to refuse to work, or refuse to pay rent,
they can be easily replaced with foreigners who will accept poorer conditions rather
than face having to return to their home country.
Some weapons of the capitalists
Foster division: The capitalist plan has a weakness however: what if immigrant
workers began to unite with the Irish workers to stand up to them? That is why pro-
capitalist political parties will attack and criticise foreigners while also bringing them
into the country. They want them here to use them for pro t, but they want division
between foreign and native workers. Capitalists have the option then too to choose
the ethnic, cultural and religious makeup of who comes into the country, and how
many, and how quickly they bring them to the country, they can do this in such a
fashion that achieving unity between workers of di erent backgrounds is very di cult.
False opposition: Capitalists will also promote false opposition to themselves. This
includes those who deem any criticism of policies relating to the movement of people
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as ‘racist’ and attempt to silence any critics. On the other side there are those who will
promise to reduce immigration but make no mention of challenging the capitalist
ownership of Ireland’s wealth and resources. They criticise ‘the foreigners’ taking up
local housing, but not the foreign vultures buying up entire blocks of housing to rent
back to the working class at una ordable rates. The capitalists also promote false
opposition to themselves which focuses on conspiracy theory or on racial, ethnic, and
religious aspects. None of the above threatens their control and none of the above will
see change in any sense to immigration policy, this is why so many politicians elected
on the promise of reducing immigration ultimately do nothing.
The only solution for the working-class
Whether one agrees with the current scale of movement of people into Ireland, a
policy on this matter left in the hands of capitalists to control in their own interests at
least has the potential to be used to the detriment of the working class. The only
solution to this ultimately is the organisation of the working class to demand control of
Ireland’s wealth and wealth-producing resources. This has been the call of the recent
generations of Irish patriots through to the heroes of our history, that the workers of
Ireland control the resources of Ireland. From the democratic program of the First Dáil:
We declare in the words of the Irish Republican Proclamation the right of the people of
Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies to be
indefeasible, and in the language of our rst President, Pádraig Mac Phiarais, we
declare that the Nation's sovereignty extends not only to all men and women of the
Nation, but to all its material possessions, the Nation's soil and all its resources, all the
wealth and all the wealth-producing processes within the Nation, and with him we
rea rm that all right to private property must be subordinated to the public right and
welfare
Irish Republican Socialist Party
392 Falls Road, Belfast, BT12 6DH
irsp.ie
Contact us - [email protected]
Join us - [email protected]
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