The flowers bought on a trip to a local supermarket, the coffee, the wheat. It’s cheap, and good. The pretty packaging conceals the sweat and tears that went into its production. The barcode does not reveal the names of children and adults that worked in prison-like factories or farms, earning barely enough to feed themselves, and their families.

At a time when climate scientists are pleading for us to reduce our carbon emissions, why are the flowers in our local supermarket coming from Kenya? Those growing, feeding, harvesting, packaging, transporting, stocking, and clearing the flowers are not paid a living wage, yet the CEOs and large shareholders of supermarkets lounge in million dollar yachts in emerald blue-seas.

This is neo-liberalism, “free market” economics, where making, selling, and consuming are counted in numbers. The people doing the making are ignored. There is “free movement” of goods, not people. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexicans make the goods, those from the U.S. and Canada consume, while a small minority profit. The U.S. politicians and business people who deify the agreement seek to keep the makers in Mexico, out of sight.

But, what if the makers decide “no more”. What if they decide they want to live in the wealthiest continents? Decades of neo-liberal policies have wrecked countries, imperial conflicts have displaced many, and authoritarian dictators have forced others out.

People risk their lives to leave their homes, their communities – the places ravaged by neoliberalism, authoritarianism and conflict. They travel in rickety boats without life jackets, although they cannot swim. They climb mountains and hills, in hopes of finding a safe haven.

Rather than challenging the policies that force people from their homes, mainstream media outlets unabashedly attempt to incite hatred. Let us get together and hate the migrants fleeing destitution, or persecution, or both. That is, the migrants whose family members are now mining the material for the batteries in our iPhones, sowing our next suit, or working with carcinogenic materials that will form the circuit boards in our next laptop.

Recent European media reports depict people fleeing poverty, conflict, and possible torture as “swarms” creating a “jungle” in Calais, France. While Western white migrants abroad are deemed “expats” exploring a different culture for a time, those from the Global South seeking a better life or protection from persecution are derided.

The migrant crisis is seen as disproportionately impacting European states, even though countries such as Lebanon, Pakistan, and Ethiopia often accept the largest numbers of migrants. Tabloid media, and mainstream media both unashamedly repeat incorrect figures of the numbers of people seeking asylum in Europe, and claiming benefits.

Yet, in spite of this, there have been some wonderful shows of solidarity, from the Greek island of Lesvos where many locals welcome and support Syrian and Afghan asylum seekers, to protesting for the closure of inhumane immigration detention centers, and solidarity vans moving with food, clothes, games, and sanitary items from London to Calais. Bikes beyond Borders plan to ride as many bikes as possible from London to Calais and leave them there with the migrants, giving the migrants better access to basic essentials and advice services, currently over an hour’s walk away.

The struggle for migrants’ rights is inherently linked to the struggle for a better world – where freedoms of movement and dignity are cherished, and cannot be bought or sold.

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