By World BEYOND War Ireland, February 18, 2022
The first in this series of five conversations with Niamh Ni Bhriain and Nick Buxton hosted by World BEYOND War Ireland as part of its 2022 Wednesday Webinar Series.
It is sobering that 30 years on from the fall of the Berlin wall, the world has more walls than ever. From six in 1989, there are now at least 63 physical walls along borders or on occupied territory across the world, and in many countries, political leaders are arguing for more of them. Many more countries have militarised their frontiers through the deployment of troops, ships, aircraft, drones, and digital surveillance, patrolling land, sea and air. If we counted these ‘walls’, they would number in the hundreds.
As a result, it is now more dangerous than ever before for people fleeing poverty and violence to cross borders, after which the border apparatus is still an active threat. We are truly living in a walled world. These fortresses segregate people, protecting privilege and power and denying others human rights and dignity. This conversation explores lives lived in an increasingly walled world.
