dagblog - Comments for "Germany threatens to reintroduce border checks in row with Italy over North African refugees (following France's lead)"

And, keep in mind, that

Bruce Levine — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:48:40 +0000

In reply to In the United States, we have

And, keep in mind, that Europe's angst about the influx of foreigners comes at the same time when, as a general rule, the European population ages, and the natural population growth rate in many European nations, contrary to Malthusian predictions, is falling.

In the United States, we have

Bruce Levine — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:45:12 +0000

In reply to Fears About Immigrants Deepen

In the United States, we have debated unrestricted immigration since at least Millard Fillmore became the standard-bearer for the Know-Nothing Party in the early 1850s. For the most part, we welcomed people from around the world and now we truly are a nation of immigrants. It is something we should be proud of, notwithstanding some of the currrent rhetoric we're hearing in Washington or the infamous immigration restrictions enacted in the 1920s to limit the flow of "semites and slavs" in favor of the the more civillized "white folks" from Northern Europe.

Europe is not the United States of America.

Fears About Immigrants Deepen

artappraiser — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:22:00 +0000

In reply to Germany threatens to reintroduce border checks in row with Italy over North African refugees (following France's lead)

Fears About Immigrants Deepen Divisions in Europe
By Rachel Donadio, New York Times, April 12, 2011

ROME — Since the global financial crisis, the European Union has been deeply divided over economic policy. With the Libya intervention, it has split over foreign policy. But today few issues are proving more divisive within the bloc than immigration.

That much was clear this week, when the fractious 27-member European Union rejected Italy’s idea to make it easier for immigrants who first land in Italy to travel elsewhere in Europe. At a time when a wave of immigrants fleeing the unrest in North Africa shows no signs of abating, the rejection raised the possibility of tightened intra-European border controls for the first time since visa-free travel was introduced in the 1990s.
Frustrations have been building here for weeks, and over the weekend Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi finally said enough was enough. Visiting the Italian island of Lampedusa, the point of entry for thousands of North African immigrants to Europe, he said: “Either Europe is something that’s real and concrete or it isn’t. And in that case, it’s better to go back to each going our own way and letting everyone follow his own policies and egotism.”....

I was thinking more along the

artappraiser — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:44:45 +0000

In reply to Has the European community

I was thinking more along the lines of "states rights" given the lengthy discussion going on elsewhere on this website about a war to save a union.

they are all fighting over who takes in refugees from those "other" places.

I wish to pick a not inconsiderable nit here. I don't think any of them want to take in any refugees at all.

Hence the Libya intervention--aggressively by France, and agreed to by Italy even tho they had a lot of bucks & biz invested there, and mayhaps some animosity towards Germany way up nord having more luxury to not worry so much about Meditterenean Africa going to hell.

Don't get me wrong, one could easily argue it has caused more refugees than it is preventing, but I'm not attempting to get into that question. It was already seriously building up way before they decided on doing it, and a ruthless attack on Benghazi looked like it would really amp it up terribly.

Has the European community

Bruce Levine — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:06:43 +0000

In reply to Germany threatens to reintroduce border checks in row with Italy over North African refugees (following France's lead)

Has the European community ever come close to practicing what it preaches? France bans full-faced veils, Switzerland restricts the construction of minarets, and now they are all fighting over who takes in refugees from those "other" places.

Italy Lashes Out at European

artappraiser — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:48:08 +0000

In reply to Germany threatens to reintroduce border checks in row with Italy over North African refugees (following France's lead)

Italy Lashes Out at European Union Over Immigrant Influx
By Rachel Donadio, New York Times, April 11, 2011

ROME — Tensions rose between Italy and its European Union partners on Monday over how to handle an influx of immigrants from North Africa, prompting the Italian interior minister to question the utility of the European Union.

At a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, European Union interior ministers said....