A new New York Times guest essay by Jeff Crisp explores the growing tendency of states to expel refugees and other migrants to countries with which they have no prior connection.
The Trump administration has deported thousands of foreign nationals to countries other than their homeland in recent months, often sending them to destination countries with poor human rights records.
Jeff Crisp writes that these deporations mark a significant evolution in a practice that has been gaining traction throughout the developed world, amid an increasingly hostile environment towards migrants and refugees.
He higlights in particular the new use of such deportations for international leverage:
"By deporting foreign nationals to often unstable third countries, the Trump administration is not only creating a novel class of exiles with little hope of returning to either the United States or their country of origin, but also explicitly using these vulnerable populations as bargaining chips in a wider strategy of diplomatic and geopolitical deal-making."
Not only do these deportations often sidestep due process and violate international law while imposing additional stress on people who have undergone traumatic journeys, he warns they will have corrosive consequences for international politics.
"They encourage smaller, weaker countries to engage in transactional behavior, commodifying human life by trading immigrant bodies for cash, development aid, diplomatic support and international impunity."
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