This is not a crisis it is just the beginning
The Migrant Crisis in Europe and Its Long-Term Implications
Over the past week, thousands of young African men have arrived on the small Italian island of Lampedusa, just off the coast of Tunisia. The current figure is around 11,000 – outnumbering the resident population of 6,000 by almost two to one. The locals are on the verge of abandoning their island as their economy and tourism industry have collapsed under the strain.
This is an invasion, without a doubt. Ever since Angela Merkel controversially opened Germany’s borders in 2015 at the height of the Syrian refugee crisis, Europe has been overwhelmed by migrants arriving en masse with little desire or ability to integrate or assimilate into their host cultures. Germany in particular has now reached its limit – key workers and professionals are leaving disillusioned as millions of poorly educated migrants remain dependent on the state, representing more of an economic burden than boon for the nation.
France has begun to restrict freedom of movement, a core and formerly sacrosanct EU principle, by closing its border with Italy in an effort to block migrants from leaving Italy and entering France with the ultimate goal of reaching the shores of Great Britain. This leaves Italy and to a lesser extent nowadays Greece on the frontlines of this invasion from Africa, with minimal resources or support and very limited choices in how to respond. Each time a new boatload of migrants successfully reaches the shores of mainland Europe after a dangerous Mediterranean crossing, it simply opens the door and further encourages thousands if not millions more to follow in their footsteps and set off on the same perilous journey. The only real solution according to many experts and policymakers is to allow zero migrants into the EU and turn back anyone attempting illegal entry.
However, despite the protestations of virtue-signaling hypocrites wishing to open the gates to everyone in the name of diversity and humanitarianism, the reality is that Europe as an entire continent is gradually but unmistakably moving further and further to the ideological right in a manner that has not been witnessed since the dark days before the second World War. Ironically, the very immigrants and children of immigrants who came to Europe seeking better lives and opportunities away from poverty, war, and persecution should truly be the ones who fear this far-right resurgence and anti-immigrant backlash the most. An extreme far-right Europe with hardline stances on immigration and national identity could sadly once again embrace the kind of reckless racism, xenophobia, and hate that we had all hoped as a global society we would never allow to happen again after the horrors of fascism in the 20th century.
The truth is that the vast majority of ordinary Europeans across the political spectrum are simply tired and frustrated, sick and fed up to the back teeth of uncontrolled mass migration and what they see as the resulting erosion of national cultures and crises of assimilation. And they are getting increasingly angry, but it is a quiet and suppressed anger that therefore cannot be fully gauged until it may be too late to reverse. Nothing is more dangerous than quiet anger left to simmer under the surface because it means any solutions will come suddenly and violently rather than through reasoned discourse. Clearly something needs to be done urgently about this growing migrant crisis, and we desperately need strong, principled leaders acting solely for the good of their own countries and citizens rather than the current crop of pathetic virtue-signaling hypocrite politicians who keep pandering to the noisy minority of leftists, woke activists, large corporations hungry for cheap labor, and NIMBY (“not in my backyard”) elites. Those groups are very keen to encourage unlimited waves of migrants to come to Europe in the name of diversity, economic growth, or cheap nannies and housekeepers – just as long as they can be assured that the newcomers do not actually have to live anywhere near them. And I’m not talking just about out-of-touch celebrities like Gary Lineker – there are many regular upper middle class professionals and politicians throughout Europe promoting these views from hypocritical positions of privilege and isolation. They are the real traitors living in our midst, and it is about time we called them out directly for it rather than tiptoeing around the issue.
Furthermore, let us make no mistake – this current migrant influx is far from just a temporary crisis or blip that will go away on its own if we just ignore it. Make no mistake, we are not talking about just thousands or even hundreds of thousands of migrants already heading for Europe across North Africa and the Middle East. This is just the beginning of an unprecedented wave. If allowed to continue unchecked, it will rapidly swell into an unstoppable flood of millions more migrants that will completely overwhelm Europe’s capacity to handle them humanely. There will inevitably come a time, whether we like it or not as moral actors, where Europe will have no choice but to firmly close its borders and turn people away simply for lack of resources and ability to help them. So the key question we must ask ourselves is – are we going to display prudence and foresight by making that tough decision now, or are we going to recklessly wait until the entire European continent descends into widespread civil unrest, political extremism, and humanitarian disasters before we belatedly do what must be done? The choice is ours, and the window of opportunity is rapidly closing.
At its core, this is an issue of sustainability regarding finite resources and Europe’s limited capacity for absorbing huge influxes of migrants lacking language skills or professional qualifications. Europe is a relatively small continent in terms of land mass compared to Africa, parts of which are plagued by political instability, high birth rates, and endemic poverty. Europe already accepted around 2 million migrants during the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis alone. How many more can realistically be accommodated before the strain becomes too much? This is not an issue of race or religion – Muslim immigrants have already successfully integrated into European societies for decades. This is about masses of people arriving too rapidly to properly integrate at all.
The fact is that Europe already has generous social welfare programs, unemployment benefits, universal healthcare, public housing, and education that have been built up since WWII. While admirable, these social programs rely on high taxes and high levels of social trust and are not infinitely expandable. The economic and social costs of taking on too many migrants too fast is too much even for wealthy European nations. Infrastructures will crumble, public trust will evaporate, and far-right extremist parties will continue gaining political power across Europe as moderate conservatives shift further right. We have already seen examples of this in Hungary, Austria, Italy, and even Sweden of all places.
Many well-meaning activists argue Europe has a humanitarian obligation to open its doors based on its colonial past exploitation of Africa or the West’s failures during the Syrian War. But past historical wrongs do not oblige Europe to commit continental-scale civilizational suicide through reckless idealism. And realistically, Europe cannot unilaterally solve the world’s problems by itself. Africans must be empowered to develop their home countries, not simply flee them forever. Europe can invest in foreign aid, fair trade, and diplomacy to help, but not through continuous waves of migration.
Europe has a stable civilization worth defending and a moral duty to maintain its liberal democratic values and hard-won social unity. Its leaders need to strike the right balance between humanitarian ideals and pragmatic reality. Some controlled legal immigration is beneficial, but uncontrolled mass influxes of illegal migrants must be curtailed for social stability. This will require tough border security and foreign policy decisions. But the longer Europe waits, the more intractable and extreme the crisis will become. Europe must act soon for the good of all – migrants and citizens alike. The choice belongs to us all.
In summary:
– Thousands of African migrants are arriving in Italy weekly, overwhelming local communities
– This is an unprecedented wave that will swell if left unchecked
– Europe is shifting politically to the far-right in response to uncontrolled migration
– Immigration without integration and assimilation is not sustainable long-term
– Leaders are pandering to activists but most citizens are quietly angry
– The migrant influx is just beginning – millions more will likely come
– At some point, Europe will have no choice but to close its borders
– The only question is whether this happens before or after widespread unrest
– Europe has limited capacity to absorb huge migrant flows due to resource constraints
– Past colonial wrongs don’t oblige Europe to accept unsustainable migration
– While some legal immigration is beneficial, illegal influxes must be controlled
– Reckless idealism could lead to civilizational suicide through social instability
– Europe must act soon with pragmatism and humanitarian ideals in balance
– The choice and window of opportunity is ours, but closing fast
– Bold action and leadership is required to stave off impending disaster