During the last five years, Europe has been experiencing one of the greatest invasions of immigrants and refugees in its history. The scale of this crisis has strained international relations, putting into jeopardy the structures of the European Union. Countries that have been outstanding in their hospitality to migrants are being accused of encouraging this massive influx into Europe, the new destination of ‘milk and honey’.
Three years ago, the Italian humanitarian mission in the form of Mare Nostrum, with the declared intention of rescuing migrants from sub-Saharan Africa from a watery grave, was harshly criticised by certain EU member states. Frontex replaced Mare Nostrum on a much lower budget, offering a much different objective – that of border patrol.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who, a few months ago, was confident that Germany can integrate successfully the 1.5 million refugees expected to this favourite destination by the end of this year, is facing internal and external condemnation for this exceptional hospitality. Now we know, as human traffickers have spilled the beans with the BBC, that since Merkel announced her ‘open doors’ policy, there has been a massive upsurge in people hoping for political asylum.
The English daily the Guardian, in an article by Jonathan Freedland entitled ‘Mama Merkel has consigned the “Ugly German” to history’ (September 11), said that Merkel’s efforts to rectify Germany’s image has not been an overnight transformation because Germans have spent decades reckoning with their past. This is an obvious reference to the murky Nazi period.
Migrants are taking away the best elements that would contribute to the rebuilding of their shattered and failed countries
On the other hand, in Britain, where certain areas have been taken over by migrants from the Commonwealth and from Muslim countries, the spectre of Cambridge don Enoch Powell, a Conservative MP, is emerging, recalling his famous or infamous exhortation, known as the ‘Rivers of blood speech’, in Wolverhampton in 1968. In his academic style, Powell, alluding to Virgil’s play the Aeneid, said: “As I look ahead I am filled with foreboding: I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood.” At the time, Powell became a political leper.
Revamping Powell’s “Rivers of blood” speech, The Telegraph states (October 30 “The supreme function of statesmanship is to provide against preventable evils. Inseeking to do so it encounters obstacles which are deeply rooted in human nature.”
Traumatised by civil war, political upheavals, terrorism, rampant corruption and human rights abuses, hundreds of thousands of refugees are fleeing from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia and Kosovo hoping for a better life in Europe, with Germany, Sweden, France and the United Kingdom as their preferred destinations.
Unfortunately, it is not realised that, through this interminable skill and brain drain, these migrants are taking away the best elements that would contribute to the rebuilding of their shattered and failed countries.
Unfortunately, the United Nations and the European Union have failed miserably in their feeble attempts to stop waves of refugees emanating from these failed states. International diplomacy has not yet managed to offer stiff resistance to Isis, which is making a mockery of all the religious, cultural and ethnic values we hold so dear.
It is an undeniable fact that these multitudes of refugees are causing a lot of disruption in the receiving countries, affecting social services, education and tourism with their totally different way of life. Many European countries are now feeling the strain, as they find it difficult to implement long-term asylum and immigration reforms in line with EU rules. As a result, in many countries, anti-immigration parties are in the ascendant, mainly in fear of Islamic terrorism.
It is well to remember that, over a century ago, hundreds of Maltese emigrated to North Africa, particularly to Tunisia and Algeria, to seek a better life. They fully integrated in their new environment propped up by the many Maltese religious communities that erected their churches and convents there.
I believe that if the number of refugees and asylum seekers settling in Malta is compatible with our population, they can eventually be integrated into Maltese society if treated with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, the hundreds of thousands languishing in refugee camps and reception centres in different countries, living in squalor and misery and deprived of basic human rights are a potential danger. This frustration could be the hotbed of radicalisation and terrorism.
The obvious solution is the elusive Holy Grail of the United Nations, namely the restoration of failed countries like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and the enforcement of law and order in many states in sub-Saharan Africa.
Until this ‘mission impossible’ is achieved, the only acceptable alternative for the EU is to establish realistic refugee quotas and stem the tide of the unbridled influx. Only by massively curbing this massive migration can Europe assist in their integration in European society.
It is now evident that unlimited immigration is not doing anybody any good, because hospitality has its limits.
It is a known fact that thousands of refugees in Europe are being exploited and deprived of their basic human rights, sometimes earning a precarious living, facing ostracism and reduced to a pitiful state, treated as third-class citizens.
The escalation of this unwelcome situation, augmented by homesickness and despair, is a minefield ready to explode, a grave situation which Europe can avoid by issuing definite, realistic quotas.
Lino Bugeja is a Commonwealth scholar (1960-1961).