Integration is synonymous with acculturation. This is the thesis defended by anthropologist Miquel Azurmendi during his speech yesterday at the "Towards a unitary European Law on Immigration" conference held these days in Arrecife with the participation of judges and magistrates from all over Spain.
Azurmendi delivered a speech completely removed from what is politically correct in which he began by opposing two theses that currently dominate the academic world, especially the university world. On the one hand, the idea that our (Western) states cannot be considered true states of law because they do not recognize the same rights for immigrants as for nationals. And on the other hand, the conception that it is not good to integrate immigrants into our culture because they have to preserve their roots and their way of understanding the world. Azurmendi is strongly opposed to both positions.
Assault on legality
Regarding the position that defends equal rights between immigrants and nationals, the anthropologist said that irregular immigrants who arrive in a small boat "assault legality, regardless of whether they are good people and whether they come in very bad conditions, they enter your house without knocking on the door." "Today, irregulars have rights that they do not have in their countries; from the outset, to be treated as people: they cannot be touched, they have the right to a lawyer, to legal assistance and to free healthcare."
However, immigrants are not recognized certain political and social rights, such as the right of assembly, unionization and demonstration. They also do not have the right to vote. But Azurmendi denies that this is a reason to disqualify our rule of law: "As long as there is no social integration, talking about the right to political participation is a farce."
Equal before the law to be different
Regarding the position of those who defend the non-assimilation of foreigners and the "alliance of civilizations", the anthropologist stated that what must be done, on the contrary, is "assimilate immigrants" and teach them the values that inspire our constitutions, even if they lose elements of their original culture along the way. He recalled that "we all suffer a process of acculturation during our lives" in which we change and build ourselves as different from our parents as we want.
In Western societies it is defended that "we are all equal before the law to be different, that is the guarantee of pluralism" of a State of Law. According to this thesis, immigrants must be assimilated so that they are as different as they want to be, with respect to education and the world in which they were raised. In this sense, he said that "immigrants who arrive in small boats come because they want to change their lifestyle, and they are not usually the poorest people. They pay a sum of money and are involved in mafia networks with contracts of 20 years of complete submission to the mafia."
Improve life in Africa
What needs to be done, in his opinion, is improve the living conditions of Africans, prevent money from remaining in the hands of monarchs, leaders and hierarchies, and convince Africans not to come to our countries.
This Monday a small boat arrived on the coasts of Lanzarote at 03:00 in the morning and this morning another one arrived. Azurmendi assured that it cannot be said that the mass of Spaniards are intolerant. "What we all think is that we should receive people in good conditions. The important thing is what can we improve."
The path to social assimilation
Once immigrants, whether irregular or not, are in our country, Azurmendi proposes a path for their social assimilation. He stated that the integration process must be connected to a device that they do not have, the Law. That is, their cultural values must be tied to our laws.
Azurmendi is committed to integration through three channels: Firstly, "a school that seeks the truth (the truth as consensus, as transaction) and coexistence." The anthropologist warned that this school does not exist today in Spain or France, for example. Secondly, "participation in political deliberation by citizens, which implies knowledge of the Spanish language, in this case, and of the most recent history of the country." And thirdly and lastly, "a sense of Justice capable of discerning that others also have rights; a solidarity to modulate our rights taking into account the general interest." What is commonly called civic education.
These three elements must be developed, according to Azurmendi, in the neighborhood, in the purchase, in the daily closeness of day to day. The authorities would decide, according to specific laws, who is prepared to vote, through an individual analysis of each case. But returning to reality, the truth is that not even the nationals themselves are integrated in the sense that the anthropologist explained. The debate remains open.
