2011-03-17

Europe and African refugees

‘Biblical Exodus’ of Refugees From Africa Unrest Spurs Backlash in Europe
One solution proposed by Chantal Brunel, a lawyer of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Movement, was to “put them back on their boats.” While she apologized for her March 8 remarks, her stance reflects the will of governments outside the Mediterranean rim to keep refugees at bay.

“We are ready to help in economic terms, but I don’t see the future in having us expand legal immigration,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Brussels on March 15.

For Italy, the financial toll comes after the Europe’s fourth-biggest economy promised 11.6 billion euros ($16 billion) in spending cuts to trim its deficit with EU limits. Italy’s EU partners have ignored a request for 100 million euros to help Silvio Berlusconi’s government with the crisis.

Since Jan. 15, more than 9,000 people -- twice the number in 2010 -- have crossed 110 kilometers (70 miles) in boats from Tunisia to Lampedusa, inhabited by less than 6,000 people, the Italian Interior Ministry said.

Italy and Malta face the prospect of an influx of Libyans after severing ties with the former colony.

‘Become Black’

Last December, Qaddafi warned EU leaders that their region may “become black because millions want to come to Europe.”

As part of a reparation deal with Italy worth $5 billion, Qaddafi agreed in 2008 to tighten border controls. That led to the number of Libyan migrants to Italy falling to fewer than 3,000 in 2010 from a record 37,000 two years earlier. In Malta, the influx dropped from a 2008 high of 84 boats bringing 2,775 people to 2 boats carrying 47 in 2010.
The acceptable level of immigration continues to decline in Europe, both among the population and increasingly, among the politicians.

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