You sow the wind, you reap the storm, and migration is no exception to this rule. The new measures taken by the United Kingdom to deal with illegal migration, which were publicly supported by both the Tories and Nigel Farage, once again make it clear that the political naivety of previous decades, with the unconditional support of massive and uncontrolled illegal migration on the carpet laid by certain NGOs, has led Great Britain to a political identity crisis.
The ruling Democrats are now competing with the Conservatives and REFORM UK to show tougher reflexes in order to calm the popular anger that has recently culminated in protest marches and the siege of migrant reception centers.
Decades of tolerance and its costs
For decades, England has been the expression of a policy of “tolerance,” almost encouragement, of the crossings of illegal migrants through the English Channel, a fact that had led to the creation of the well-known camp in Calais, France. A corresponding, that is, Greek Idomeni where mainly Iraqis, Syrians, Afghans, sub-Saharans, and recently Albanians were crammed in order to reach the coast of Dover, Kent, with improvised means and unseaworthy boats. Afterwards, they either disappeared into the British metropolises, strengthening the underground economy or “feeding” the various ethnic gangs. Those of them who submitted a request for international protection—in the best case—had it processed after 2–3 years, and rarely did this lead to the deportation of those rejected.
Consequently, the welfare state, with the arrival of just over 1,000,000 people in the last eight years, found itself suffocating. In particular, the national health system almost collapsed, social housing became a thorn in the side that was once attempted to be addressed using ships (Bibby Stockholm), abandoned military bases (RAF Scampton, MDP Wethersfield, etc.) or regional hotels, while crime skyrocketed and reached the point of causing diplomatic tensions between England and Albania, when the then British Home Secretary Suella Braverman publicly spoke out against the actions of the Albanian mafia that exploits the country’s generous migration policy, with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama taking up the “gauntlet” by claiming that Albanian citizens have been demonized and are being treated as scapegoats due to the British government’s failed migration policy.
At the same time, the education system and schools were confronted with the reality of a sharp increase in foreign-speaking migrants, and the infrastructure was burdened to the point that the once British means of transport—famous for the punctuality of their routes—became an additional reason for transforming the everyday life of the English into an unbearable nightmare. The suicide bombing at a concert in Manchester Arena on May 17th, during which 22 people were murdered by a cruel radical Islamist, was just the tip of the iceberg that highlighted how fragile the country’s national security is and how vulnerable ordinary citizens are, whose only evil was their intention to have fun.
Failed experiments in migration management
The faltering initiatives to create an off-site asylum system for the examination of international protection applications in Rwanda got stuck in the gears of the British bureaucracy and served more as a drive for the BBC to fill its news bulletins with critical reports and tearful comments by the former footballer Gary Lineker than as a serious prospect of reversing the climate of anarchy. The British–French agreement of 1:1 constituted another experiment that further confirmed the rule that when the ingredients are rotten, the recipe rarely succeeds, since in a period of about five months it allowed the transfer of only 20 people from the United Kingdom to France!
Following this, the current Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, came to announce a package of measures, which have already been criticized by a large part of her party’s MPs, highlighting a strong difference of opinion within its ranks. We remind you that the latter were elected with the dominant slogan on migration: the abolition of the Rwandan plan and the strengthening of legal immigration routes as a means of combating illegal migration. So, it was expected that MPs like Tony Vaughan would speak out against the new measures, characterizing them as dystopian measures that cultivate a culture of racism and injustice between communities.
Political reversal and deepening division
With only 22% of voting intention in the polls less than two years after the election of the Democrats—and Farage almost tripling his percentage—Starmer seems to have decided, even in terms of communication, to change the narrative and policy by going in the opposite direction. However, by vacillating to extremes, the boat never balances.
On the contrary, it takes on water and, in the end, it sinks headlong, sucking in and disappearing governments and would-be saviors. Especially when this particular captain has, as he has proven with his past statements, intolerance for the tightening of migration management and is simply being carried away by vote-hunting expediencies that will allow his political survival, as some argue.
Europe’s anxiety and the Greek example
And while the Titanic orchestra continues to play unsuspectingly, and the sight of the iceberg is now beyond visible, everyone is wondering which European country is the next that, in its panic to reverse the pathologies of the past in order to appease the crowds, will resort to communication tricks and half-measures.
Perhaps in moments like these, and looking towards this small corner of the Mediterranean and the European continent, we can finally be proud that we managed to build in our country a strategy of consistency in the management of migration. And after finally fighting—and continuing to fight—with the chimeras of all kinds of opportunists, we found our migratory Ithaca… an Ithaca that can finally stand as an example of stability within a Europe that is still struggling with its own waves.
Disclaimer
This article reflects the personal views of the writer and in no way expresses the official policy and administrative practices of the Hellenic State, Greek Authorities and EUAA.
* Marios Kaleas is General Director of the Greek Asylum Service and Deputy Chair of the Management Board of the European Agency for Asylum (EUAA).