The geography and history of camps

It has too often been claimed that today, camps or detention centres for migrants are completely new, something never seen before. This stance ends up supporting the ideas of those that say history ended after the Cold War and everything that has come thereafter is brand new. Likewise, dismayed by the tragedies that happen in these camps and, more generally, in the realm of modern massive migrations, it has been claimed that the risk of a ‘clash of civilizations’ has only appeared now (out of nowhere?). It is as if the West (and East) and South of the world had not been divided for centuries by a clash between the European masters and their colonial subjects. The outcome of these beliefs has been the image of detention camps for migrants as a tragic new invention, to be eliminated. Yet, knowing the history gives a different perspective.