Immigrants and Europe

Illegal immigration into Europe continues to make the headlines. Boats full of immigrants capsized. An abandoned van on the Austrian-Hungarian border found with bodies of 71 would-be immigrants. Chaos and riot police at railway stations in Austria and Hungary. The UN estimates that smuggling people into the EU is now a $3 billion a year business.

Why exactly is Europe so open to immigrants? Let’s go down in time. After World War II, there was a severe shortage of skilled labourers; hence, laws were enacted throughout Europe to make movement easy for Western European citizens. Next, non-Western immigrant workers were needed and welcomed for the dull and dangerous jobs. But when the economy slowed during the oil crisis of 1973, Europe discovered that the immigrants had settled in: they refused to go back!

In the 1970’s, the European Court of Justice expanded the ease of movement to not just workers, but also any Western citizen. Even then, some feared that this would just lead to “welfare tourism”. Today, with the EU including relatively porous countries like Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, those very laws are coming back to bite Europe. Once inside those countries, immigrants can go elsewhere! Or as János Lázár, an aide to the Hungarian prime minister, recently grumbled:

“The leftist approach of the European commission, according to which anybody should be allowed into the territory of the European Union.”

But the recent spike in immigrants is not due to economic reasons; rather, it is a refugee crisis. Russia and Slovakia use that to score a point by blaming Western Europe “for the civil wars in Syria and Libya and the ensuing refugee crisis”.

Germany, which almost seems to like to carry its Nazi era guilt for endless periods, is far more welcoming of illegal immigrants than other countries. But even they are reaching their limits; hence the ongoing arguments on what numbers each country should absorb. Spain doesn’t want more immigrants; Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are questioning the whole concept of “obligatory quotas”.

Of course, the big problem is money: who pays for these immigrants once they arrive? And yet, most countries want rescues at sea of capsized boats to continue. But when Italy asked for money to conduct such operations, they backed away! Britain, relatively the most pragmatic country in Europe, pointed out that such rescues would create “an unintended 'pull factor', encouraging more migrants to attempt the dangerous sea crossing and thereby leading to more tragic and unnecessary deaths”.

Apart from money, the other reason there are so many protests against immigrants is simple: Europe, unlike the US, is not a melting pot. The anger of many is based on political correctness ignoring the obvious:

“If a country is manifestly having trouble assimilating the immigrants it already has, it shouldn’t add to their numbers willy-nilly.”

Another rather basic point fuels the backlash:

“The quantity of immigration inevitably affects the quality of assimilation.”

Britain pretty much acknowledged that some time back when it said multiculturalism was a failure.

But as long as Germany carries its Nazi era guilt, and has the money to not only absorb some immigrants but also to pay other countries to take them, it looks like Europe will continue to be a lightning rod for illegal immigrants.