Belén Fernández: Hyper-territorial Europeans who swear by the sanctity of borders conveniently overlook European history itself in their quest to push the boundaries of self-righteousness.
…In his new e-book Maps of Exile, published by Warscapes Magazine, Somali-Canadian journalist Hassan Ghedi Santur observes that – in addition to Europe’s “destructive colonial legacies” – more recent Western military machinations have also contributed significantly to current migration patterns.
Beyond the more obvious examples like the Western-backed destruction of Iraq, Santur points out that “many European countries continue to sell billions of Euros worth of weapons to various countries in Africa and the Middle East where violence has compelled thousands to flee”.
For instance, he cites the 2016 revelation that Britain had signed off on $4.1bn of arms exports to Saudi Arabia during the inaugural year of the latter kingdom’s bombardment of Yemen. Writes Santur: “Saudi Arabia has been using these weapons against Yemeni rebels – all too often killing civilians – even though their British-made cluster bombs are banned by the Convention on Cluster Munitions, an international treaty to which the United Kingdom is party”. More here.