Thesis 100dpi

There have always been natural obstacles to the movement
of plants and animals: climate, mountain ranges,
oceans, but the pace of change with these obstructions
offers a chance to adapt and therefore often ignites the
flames of natural diversity. Human-wrought barriers
however, whether they are suburban roads or international
border walls, tend to have the opposite effect:
They are sudden, defy nature’s logic, and, though some
species may see benefits, the overall impact erodes
biological diversity.
Walls, however, can significantly affect natural processes too. A
research from College of Life Science at Peking University found that
the Great Wall of China has altered the genetic structure of the same
species of plants on both sides of the wall by blocking its natural gene
flow, that aids in the evolution of a species.
Another version of a contemporary ‘‘Chinese wall’’ - almost 5 meter
high fence in the US- Mexico border is said to block the natural flow of
flood water, which in turn disrupts plant life at a UNESCO biosphere
reserve in southwestern Arizona, known as Organ Pipe Cactus National
Monument.
‘‘The fences can curtail animals mobility,
fragment populations and cause
direct mortality.”
Review of European, Comparative and International
Environmental Law, October 2016
74 REFUGIUM
When the Berlin Wall
was torn down a quarter-century
ago, there
were 16 border fences
around the world. Today,
there are 65 either
completed or under construction.
The walls do little to address the roots of insecurity and migration
– global asylum applications and terrorist attacks have risen hugely
despite the flurry of wall-building.
They are mostly effective against the poorest and most desperate,
says Reece Jones, a University of Hawaii professor and author of ‘Border
Walls: Security and the War on Terror in the United States, India
and Israel’.
Like the French Maginot Line—a defensive system built in the 1930s
that the Nazis merely avoided while invading France in World War II—a
border wall can sometimes be sidestepped with an alternative route,
albeit one that is often more dangerous. Jones states that, “The substantial
increase in deaths at borders is the predictable result, since it
funnels immigrants to more dangerous routes through the deserts of
the US southwest or on rickety boats across the Mediterranean.’’
The experience showed that the walls are not efficient against the
drug threat. ‘Well-funded drug cartels and terrorist groups are not affected
by walls at all because they have the resources to enter by safer
methods, most likely using fake documents,’ Jones claims. In 2015
Mexican police discovered an 800 meters long underground canal for
drugs transportation extending from a house in Tijuana to San Diego.
The canal was equipped with a rail car system, lined with metal beams
to prevent collapse and ventilated.
With the rising poverty and effects of climate change people will
migrate no matter what the nature of the wall is - there is always an
alternative, but often dangerous route. The choice is left to the governments
to make - either to continue building barricades or to seek for a
more future-oriented and sustainable solution.