Along the Watchtower
by Nathan Akehurst

Europe’s war on migration is everywhere. This book unearths the forces behind it and how they’ve reshaped our society.

Thousands of people die preventable deaths at Europe’s borders every year. And the situation keeps getting worse.

From eastern Polish forest swamps to the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas to the corridors of power, Along the Watchtower describes how Europe’s war on migration has spun out of control.

Through the stories of people seeking safety and the humanitarians who assist them, a portrait of a vast machine of slander, surveillance, violence, and criminalisation emerges — one that has spilled over from targeting migrants to putting us all at risk.

States and profiteers have transformed the liberal Utopia, imagined by proponents of a bigger Europe, into an armed fortress willing to tear up the rights and values it once espoused.

As climate breakdown, geopolitical shifts, and economic and political crises drive both a movement and a backlash against it, Along the Watchtower asks how we got here — and how we might demand a different world before it’s too late.

Reviews:
“This is a profoundly important book – about the moral black hole at the heart of the Western response to migration. The issue will dominate politics in Europe and North America over the next 20 years, as growing numbers of refugees are compelled to flee both from surging conflict and devastating climate change against a backdrop of whipped up nativism and xenophobia at home. Our governments’ response to this challenge has often been a callous suspension both of international law and basic decency.

Akehurst’s prose is vivid, evocative, compassionate and elegant. It is based on considerable first-hand field observation as well as deep academic research. It’s a book which anyone who wants to understand where we’re heading needs to read – even if at times it chills the heart.” ~ Andrew Gilmour, former UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Visiting Fellow of All Souls, author of The Burning Question: Climate and Conflict – why does it matter?

“Across Europe and North America, governments have attacked migrants and refugees to avoid blame for the crises they have created. Along the Watchtower exposes the grim and heart-breaking consequences of rhetoric and policy, weaving deeply personal stories with history and theory into terrifying tale of state violence, climate change and war. Above all, Along the Watchtower is a powerful and much-needed antidote to hatred, showcasing the humanity of people just trying to find a place of safety, as well as those seeking to hold out the hand of friendship to fellow human beings in need." ~ Jeremy Corbyn MP, former leader of the Labour Party

By grinding wretched people migrating into raw material for its border-industrial complex, Europe forfeits its integrity and thus accelerates its disintegration. Along the Watchtower is a must read for those who wonder why Europe lost its way. ~ Yanis Varoufakis, economist, author and former Greek finance minister

Along the Watchtower is a haunting and incisive interrogation of the rise of fortress Europe, and an epitaph to many of the lives that have been lost in its construction. Akehurst reveals the many layers of violence and imperialism that underpin Europe's war on migration, as well as the astonishing bravery and compassion of those resisting it. ~ Grace Blakeley, commentator and author, 'Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom' , Personal