International corruption is to blame for rising inequality, mass movements of people and war – we must end this system of oppression

Offshore neo-colonialism is now in existential conflict with North Atlantic civilisation

Illegal migration has become an existential question for Europe’s institutions. The marathon European Council summit on 28 June was evidence of this; European leaders struggled to summon domestic and international support for a viable solution.

The panic is clear. Last month, the grim story of the Aquarius – a ship carrying 629 migrants from the shores of Libya to Europe – gripped European media, even while major world events such as the extraordinary meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, and the debut of the FIFA World Cup in Russia were going on.

The refusal of several European governments to receive the coastguard ship, with its guests aboard, led to this new European crisis and a vociferous exchange of words at the top level between Rome, Paris and Madrid. This was followed by political flailing in Berlin, triggered by a conflict with Chancellor Merkel’s coalition partners over, again, the question of migration.

While the Aquarius was docking in Spain, Frontex reported a huge decrease in illegal migration to Europe, perhaps intended to calm anxious voters. European officials are scrambling to proclaim the end of the largest migrant crisis since the end of the Second World War.

Today’s situation is clearly far more stable than that of 2015, when nearly two million “new Europeans” arrived at the borders of the EU. But the European elite is not out of the woods yet.

Civil wars in Libya and Syria, which are thankfully, it seems, tapering off, were not the sole source of the mass flight of people. Indeed the entire Arab Spring, which profoundly destabilised the Middle East and North Africa, was arguably brought about by systemic issues originating far from this region.

The Aquarius was refused entry to Italian ports and had to travel with naval ships to dock in Spain (AP)

On the Aquarius there were citizens from 26 countries including Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Many of these peoples have no claim to the title “political refugee”, which signifies they have been persecuted for their beliefs in their home country. On the boat, journalists showed the world poor, wretched human beings, not political dissidents. These desperate people were frequently fleeing poverty and penury rather than repression from state authorities.

In the countries they hope to reach, they believe it is possible to enjoy a higher standard of living due to the social safety net and the generosity of locals. Even if this were not the case, these people believe the West to be like this because of what they see on social media. Rather than political freedoms, they were simply in search of a better life.

But this situation is not inevitable. If corrupt plutocrats in Africa, Asia and the Middle East did not plunder vast amounts of wealth from their countries, their people would be richer and could live with dignity. They would be less likely to embark on a deadly journey on rickety dinghies to European states.

Yet it is also Europe’s tax havens and cooperative finance industries, blue-chip banks, legal firms and accounting agencies that have contributed to making corruption an international phenomenon.

International corruption is reliant on relations between the corrupt elite of poor nations and the financial centres of the West. Today, according to the most conservative estimates, the net cash outflow from developing countries is around $1 trillion per year. More than $100bn is pumped yearly out of African countries, whose citizens are the main “clients” of the Mediterranean smuggling routes.

This dirty money, looted by corrupt officials and financial swindlers, often finds its way to Europe, where today upwards of $30 trillion has been accumulated. This is not far off half the planet’s annual GDP. The international oligarchy, which brought the world to crisis 10 years ago, manages these shadowy funds. If we take into account the advent of new financial instruments based on blockchain technology, we are facing a threat to the global financial system so severe 2008 would seem like a mere downturn.

It is time for European leaders to pull their heads out of the sand and kill the cancer at the heart of Western society. Offshore neo-colonialism is now in existential conflict with North Atlantic civilisation. The only solution is to completely dismantle this system of oppression; by targeting corrupt officials and embezzlers, and by redistributing wealth back to the developing world.

In Russia, one often refers to the privileged citizens of the Western world as the “golden billion”. If this golden billion wish to save themselves, they need to address the damage they have wreaked on the other six billion.