Globalists retreating on European immigration. By Cameron Stewart in The Australian.
It has taken a decade but Europe is now reaping the rewards of a slow but historic transformation in its approach to illegal migration.
It’s a change that has been led by individual countries on the frontline of irregular arrivals from Africa — like Italy, Greece and Malta — but also by the European Union, whose 27 members will next month implement the toughest new measures in a generation to tackle illegal migration. …
Europe has finally learned that the peril of uncontrolled illegal migration is the political story of our times. It has destroyed presidents, prime ministers and governments across the Western world. Those who promise to tackle it are rewarded handsomely at the ballot box.
Voter backlashes on illegal immigration powered the rise of Donald Trump in the US and have turbocharged Britain’s Reform UK, which now enjoys a handsome lead over Labour. It has given birth to a new generation of far-right parties across Europe, and now in Australia we are seeing concerns about immigration drive voters to One Nation.
Those who fail to learn the lessons of these trends risk being turfed from office. In Britain, Starmer is likely to be the next victim as his party plots a leadership succession amid dire polls.
By contrast, Europe has emerged as one of the most remarkable — and unlikely — success stories in tackling illegal immigrants.
The result has been a free-fall in the number of illegal arrivals in Europe, which peaked at 1.32 million in 2015. Last year, the number of illegal arrivals into the EU fell by a remarkable 26 per cent to just 178,000, less than half the figure of two years earlier.
Copying Australia on illegals:
Ironically, many European nations — which once criticised as inhumane Australia’s tough Pacific Solution policies to stop illegal boatloads of asylum-seekers — are now adopting similar strongarm tactics to combat the problem.
Third-country processing of illegal arrivals, boat turnbacks, repatriation by air, the prevention of boat departures, longer detention and harsher penalties have all become part of the playbook for many European nations.
The EU’s migration commissioner, Magnus Brunner, has even echoed the language of former prime minister John Howard on the issue by saying “Europe decides who comes to the EU”.
“But our voters,” squeal the lefties:
And, as also occurred in Australia, these tougher policies are attracting fierce criticism from human right groups and non-government organisations, which say the rights of asylum-seekers are being trampled. …
But the concerns of human rights groups have been all but ignored as European leaders shield themselves from the politically toxic allegation that they are soft on illegal immigration.
Actions:
The EU has aggressively pursued deals across north and west Africa that provide large sums and aid and investment to transit countries in return for them intercepting or turning back would-be asylum seekers before they embark for Europe.
In 2024, a year after the EU signed a deal with Tunisia, transit across the central Mediterranean route fell by 58 per cent.
Plus the EU has invested far more in surveillance and policing of its own land and sea borders, while investing heavily in new technology for its border agency Frontex. …
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says bluntly that this suite of new measures across the continent will prevent a repeat of the 2015 asylum-seeker crisis. …
Goodbye Starmer, any day now:
Starmer was elected on a promise to crack down on illegal migration and his failure to deliver has seen Reform UK surge past Labor, with 27 per cent support compared with just 20 for the government.