Holding You Against Your Will: Why Our Freedom Truly Matters.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by saharaweeklyng.com

“How the denial of liberty crushes dignity, opportunity and progress and why reclaiming freedom is the first, last and only path to justice.”

Freedom is not a decorative privilege or a political gift bestowed by those in power. It is the core substance of human dignity, the foundation upon which every modern society is built, and the indispensable right that determines whether a human being is treated as a person or as a possession. To be held against your will — whether through physical detention, economic oppression, legislative injustice, or deliberate bureaucratic cruelty — is to be stripped of the very oxygen of humanity. This essay exposes the many faces of unfreedom, including one of the most shameful contemporary examples: the arrest and detention of foreign nationals for documentation the host country itself refuses to issue.

At the moral level, freedom is non-negotiable. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states unequivocally: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” This is not poetic language — it is a binding ethical standard. Any government or institution that undermines liberty undermines the global moral order and breaks faith with the universal principles that hold civilization together. When a person is confined, coerced, or punished unjustly, the offense goes beyond the individual; it is an assault on humanity’s shared dignity.

Freedom as the Engine of Human Development

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen provides one of the most powerful frameworks for understanding why freedom matters beyond emotion. In Development as Freedom, he argues that liberties — political, social, and economic — are the mechanisms through which societies progress. Freedom is not a luxury; it is the engine of development, innovation, and social harmony. When people can choose, speak, work, move, and organize without fear, possibilities expand. When these freedoms are constrained, societies stagnate, talent dies, and poverty deepens.

This is why the denial of documentation to foreign nationals — followed by their arrest for lacking the same documents — is one of the most grotesque modern forms of unfreedom. It is a deliberate entrapment, a manufactured criminality, and a violation of the fundamental human right to liberty.

When You Are Arrested for Papers the Host Country Refuses to Provide

Across various countries, especially in regions struggling with immigration policy, migrants and foreign nationals face an unconscionable paradox:

They are expected to possess valid documentation, yet the same governments often refuse, delay, or frustrate the issuance or renewal of these documents.

Then comes the nightmare:

They are arrested, detained, or threatened with deportation for not having the very papers the state intentionally withholds.

This is not law enforcement — this is systemic harassment.

This is not immigration management — this is state-induced vulnerability.

This is not justice — this is engineered captivity.

Respected migration scholars have described this phenomenon as “administrative violence” — the use of bureaucracy to punish, immobilize, and control individuals without the transparency or accountability that accompanies normal legal processes. Criminologist Dr. Didier Fassin calls such practices “the criminalization of mere existence.”

To arrest a person for a document they cannot obtain is to hold them against their will in the purest and most destructive sense.

The Psychological and Social Violence of Forced Detention

Detention — especially unjust detention — destroys more than physical freedom. It erodes dignity, shatters mental stability, and silences potential. Philosopher John Stuart Mill’s powerful declaration remains timeless: “Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.” When a state violates that sovereignty, the result is humiliation, broken trust, and civic alienation.

Foreign nationals who are detained for documentation issues experience more than temporary confinement:

They lose jobs and income.

Their children suffer educational and emotional trauma.

Their mental health deteriorates through fear, uncertainty, and stigma.

They become targets of xenophobia and public suspicion.

They are treated as criminals without having committed a crime.

The injustice is compounded by the knowledge that their only “offense” is being trapped by a system designed to fail them.

The Political and Economic Cost of Denying Freedom

Societies that weaponize documentation or manipulate immigration laws pay a heavy price:

They lose the contributions of skilled workers.

They drive innovation and entrepreneurship out of their borders.

They weaken social cohesion.

They damage international reputation and diplomatic credibility.

They create cycles of resentment, fear, and hostility.

Freedom House reports that societies restricting personal liberties or targeting minorities with arbitrary detention experience higher instability, weaker economies, and declining democratic ratings. Political repression does not produce safety — it produces fragility.

Freedom Is Never Voluntarily Given

In Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote:

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

This applies not only to citizens but also to migrants, asylum seekers, and foreign nationals living under unjust administrative structures. Freedom must be insisted upon — legally, socially, diplomatically, and morally.

Freedom Is Responsibility, Not Chaos

Nelson Mandela reminds us:

“To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

True freedom thrives in societies where:

Laws protect, not persecute.

Institutions serve, not suffocate.

Documentation systems enable, not entrap.

Immigration frameworks respect human dignity, not exploit vulnerability.

What Must Be Done

To prevent people from being held against their will — physically or administratively — societies must:

Guarantee transparent and fair documentation processes for migrants and foreign nationals.

End detention for documentation the state refuses to issue.

Establish independent oversight to prevent abuse.

Ensure that immigration enforcement aligns with international human rights standards.

Educate the public to dismantle the xenophobic narratives that justify these injustices.

Hold leaders and institutions accountable for policies that violate human dignity.

Summative Insight: Freedom Is Humanity’s Most Sacred Asset

Being held against your will (whether in a jail cell, a detention center, or inside the invisible cage of bureaucratic oppression) is the most brutal violation of human dignity. Freedom is not optional; it is the priceless heartbeat of existence. When states arrest people for documents they themselves refuse to provide, they are not ENFORCING LAW; they are MANUFACTURING INJUSTICE.

A society that cannot protect liberty will never achieve peace, progress, or prosperity.

And a people who do not defend their freedom will eventually lose it.

Freedom is the one inheritance we cannot afford to bargain away. It must be defended, protected, insisted upon, and expanded — for ourselves and for everyone who calls our society home.