‘…we’re back in the world of witches, witchcraft & the mob…. never forget the rights our ancestors learned and shed blood to defend…’
Month: September 2023
France’s plan to grant amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants could make Italy’s ongoing crisis far worse
The migrants who land on the beaches of the Italian island of Lampedusa in unprecedented numbers do not spend thousands of euros and risk their lives on small boats without good reason. They are convinced that once they make it to mainland Europe — and the Italian government takes care of their transport from an island too tiny for so many people — they are then sure they can stay forever, especially if they can reach France.
The EU-27 have a very bad record of executing their own deportation orders and, despite all the talk in Brussels about the need to coordinate efforts for more effective returns of migrants who have come illegally to Europe and are not entitled to asylum, things have been getting worse. In fact, only 21 percent of migrants slated for deportation were actually sent back to their country of origin in 2022.
It is also worth noting that the most effective returns are to European countries like Ukraine and Albania, not to Middle Eastern and African countries, which usually refuse to take back their nationals.
Many of the illegal immigrants landing in Lampedusa are not heading for Italy but for France, as France has one of the worst ratios of effective returns in the whole European Union. This ratio has fallen sharply under President Emmanuel Macron, who, since his first election in 2017, has presided over an unprecedented rise in both legal and illegal immigration.
On average, 96 percent of illegal immigrants who are issued a deportation order end up staying in France, according to a report by the French Court of Auditors, the Cour des Comptes. In 2022, 15,396 left France, but on average 30,000 have their stay legalized every year, so on a regular basis, a migrant that makes it through Italy to France stands a much better chance to have his or her stay legalized than to be deported back to his country.
For years, Frontex, the EU border agency, has openly admitted in its reports that the return/readmission risk for migrants is a major factor in their choice of migration route and destination.
Italy does not have a good record either, but it is still a better one than France’s. Between 2018 and 2021, of 107,368 deportation orders 21,366 were effectively executed, which is just under 20% of the total.
In the face of the events in Lampedusa, Giorgia Meloni has now said her government will step up deportations. To that end, her government has announced new detention centers for migrants are going to be built and the period of time during which they can be legally kept there waiting for their deportation is going to be extended to 18 months.
However, the dangerous policy of social engineering through mass immigration conducted by Emmanuel Macron and his government in France is going to ensure things stay difficult for Italy.
Indeed, adding to an already worsening record of illegal immigration, the French have been talking for almost a year now, since November 2022, about legalizing the stay of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants. At the same time, in an effort to mislead a French electorate overwhelmingly opposed to further immigration from outside Europe into believing the government is interested in resisting illegal immigration, the French authorities have sent reinforcements to the border with Italy. This will allow France to continue to lure more people to Europe with the hope that countries like France will legalize their stay, while at the same time, many of these same migrants may find it increasingly difficult to leave Meloni’s Italy.
France’s actions could all serve a clear purpose. Last May, France’s interior minister was explaining to French voters that people like Marine Le Pen in France and Giorgia Meloni in Italy have only words but no real solutions. He then said about Meloni, sparking a diplomatic crisis with Italy, that “she is incapable of solving the migratory problems for which she was elected,” adding: “Meloni is like Le Pen, she gets elected on “you’re going to see what you’re going to see” and then what we see is that it doesn’t stop, and it amplifies.”
It is one of the things Marine Le Pen’s National Rally has promised to get rid of if it is elected to government, not only to seek savings but also to eliminate the additional pull factor it represents.
In the meantime, the incumbent government’s planned bill will very much improve the odds for illegal immigrants, even if the French government tries to minimize the measure’s importance by saying that it will only lead to “a few thousand” additional legalizations each year. Whether it will be only “a few thousand” — or, more likely, a few hundred thousand — the legalization efforts have been in discussion since November last year. The planned amnesty has sent a clear signal to would-be immigrants that now is the time to reach France.
“Italy has been abandoned by the EU and the French government, but the immigrants we see here in #Lampedusa today, we will see them in France in a week’s time,” said Marion Maréchal, vice-chair of Éric Zemmour’s Reconquest party, who will lead its list in the European elections next year, while talking to Italian television during a visit on the island of Lampedusa.
Already in 2022, in France, the number of asylum applications had returned to its 2019 level, before the Covid-19 pandemic, with 137,046 first-time applications compared with 138,420 three years ago. This was 31.3 percent more than in 2021. In total, 156,103 applications were made, more than in 2019 (151,283). As in 2021, Afghanistan was the main country of origin for asylum seekers, with 22,570 applications in 2022. Bangladesh, Turkey, Georgia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo followed with a total of 56,179 people being granted asylum in 2022 — slightly more than in 2021 (54,379).
In comparison, in 2022, there were 77,195 first-time applications for asylum in Italy, half the number in France (and one-third of the number in Germany, which had 217,735 first-time applications last year).
The French government’s draft law on immigration is presented to the French as a law that will make it easier to deport illegal immigrants. In reality, however, it will only make their deportation easier if they are convicted by a court for crimes punishable with 10 or more years in jail, or five years in cases of repeated offenses (e.g., for murder or rape).
On the other hand, in response to labor shortages in certain sectors of the French economy (catering, construction, etc.), the bill introduces a one-year residence permit for “work in jobs in short supply.” Illegal workers will be able to apply for regularization under this new card, which will be issued automatically, subject to certain conditions (at least three years’ residence in France, eight months’ experience during the last 24 months in a trade or geographical area experiencing a labor shortage).
Since Macron does not have an absolute majority in parliament and in order to get the support of the center-right Les Républicains party for its draft immigration law, in the spring, the French government suggested it could retreat from this planned permanent regularization path for illegal immigrants. However, it is now facing a rebellion in its own ranks, with part of Macron’s MPs siding with the left to demand that the scheme be part of the law and threatening to vote against it if it is not.
In an open letter published in the very left-wing and radically pro-immigration French daily Libération on Sept. 11, 35 MPs, including a group of MPs from Macron’s Renaissance party, have demanded that the legalization of illegals be part of the law that is now set to be submitted to the French Senate in November, according to the plan presented by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.
This ongoing debate about the legalization of illegal immigrants is certainly followed very closely in Africa and the Middle East.
Similar moves in Italy in 2020 and in Spain in 2006 caused a massive and lasting surge in illegal immigration, and there is no reason why things should be different this time. The French authorities must be all too aware of this, and this can only confirm that the records being set in immigration numbers under President Macron and the acceleration of the Great Replacement in France are by design.
Britain’s Parliament has demanded that Rumble deplatform Russell Brand
By Andrea Widburg
Two hundred and fifty years ago, Great Britain bequeathed to us our notions of due process and free speech. That country, however, no longer exists. Instead, we have a country that is demanding that Russell Brand, who has been accused of alleged sexual wrongdoing that occurred decades ago (charges he denies), must be deplatformed from Rumble, a site built upon free speech. Fortunately, Rumble is standing strong.
Russell Brand has admitted that he was a sex and drug addict. Then, he cleaned up his act. I don’t doubt that he did regrettable things during his years of debauchery, although whether he did anything illegal or even outside the bell curve of a sex-saturated society has never been examined in a law court of law.
During those same years of debauchery, Brand was an out-and-proud leftist, as well as an edgy (very edgy) comedian. Now, though, during his years of clean living, Brand has become something of a libertarian, talking to people like Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro because he stood against COVID and vaccine madness.
Given that Brand has been red-pilled and is becoming redder by the day, many conservatives think it’s not a coincidence that he has suddenly been accused of sexual wrongdoing dating back a couple of decades. Regarding the specific accusations, I haven’t read the details and, frankly, I’m not interested.
The fact is that I’m very suspicious of charges floating up after decades. The “he said-she said” dynamic that bedevils many sex crimes is multiplied by the passage of time. That’s why we have statutes of limitations. Indeed, much as I think Joe Biden is capable of sex crimes, the only reason I believed Tara Reade’s allegations was because her mother called Larry King and discussed the issue when it happened.
So far as I know, there is no contemporaneous evidence supporting the new charges against Brand. He vigorously denies them. The women making the accusations have not testified under oath, there’s been no discovery, and there’s been no formal trial (the due process part of “due process”).
Nevertheless, with remarkable speed, Brand found himself de-platformed and de-personed. YouTube demonetized him. The BBC, an uber-left outlet, removed some of his material from its online archives and podcasts. His agent publisher fired him, and his shows have been “postponed.” Well, one expects that from the tech tyrants, the BBC, and the entertainment industry. All of them have been chomping at the bit to disavow someone who left the plantation.
It’s a whole different level of problem when the absence of any proof or process doesn’t bother the British Parliament. Instead, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in the House of Comments wrote to Chris Pavlovski, Rumble’s CEO, asking that the site demonetize and, by implication, censor Brand:
The letter acknowledges in its opening sentence that there is no proof that Brand misbehaved. There are only “allegations.” The same letter, from Dame Caroline Dinenage, the Committee’s chair and, believe it or not, a conservative MP, says that the Committee is “concerned that he may be able to profit from his content on the platform.” In other words, based on allegations of long-past crimes, the British Parliament would like to see someone deprived of his income. (And yes, I assume Brand is rich, but it’s the principle of the thing.) The Committee’s sole concern is that “creators are not able to use the platform to undermine the welfare of victims of inappropriate and potentially illegal behaviour.” As far as I know, there aren’t victims. There are only accusers who have managed to survive for decades without talking. After a fair trial (something increasingly unlikely in the third decade of the 21st century), we can revisit whether there are actual victims. To his great credit, Pavlovski wrote a polite “stick it up your derriere” letter in response:
I especially love this bit:
We regard it as deeply inappropriate and dangerous that the UK Parliament would attempt to control who is allowed to speak on our platform or to earn a living from doing so. Singling out an individual and demanding his ban is even more disturbing given the absence of any connection between the allegations and his content on Rumble. We don’t agree with the behavior of many Rumble creators, but we refuse to penalize them for actions that have nothing to do with our platform.
That’s exactly right. The final sentence—“We emphatically reject the UK Parliament’s demands”—is something that would have made America’s Founders proud.
It’s deeply disturbing that a government would try to destroy an individual based on ancient allegations. What’s sad about this action is that it was Britain that bequeathed to us our fundamental concerns with free speech (the First Amendment) and due process (the Fifth Amendment). George Orwell saw it coming, but that doesn’t mean we have to be happy that it’s here.
Switzerland’s parliament passes legislation to ban burqa, introduces fine for violators
On Wednesday, September 20, the Lower House of Parliament in Switzerland passed legislation to ban burqa (Islamic veil) in the country. Following the passage of the legislation, covering one’s face with a burqa has become illegal and wearing it would attract a fine of 1000 Swiss Francs which is around Rs 83,000.
The legislation was adopted by the National Council with a vote of 151-29. It had already been approved by the upper house. It was easily passed by the Swiss People’s Party, despite reservations expressed by centrists and the Greens.
The legislation comes after a nationwide referendum in 2021 in which Swiss voters approved prohibiting niqabs, that leave slits for the eyes, burqas, ski masks, and bandanas.
The proposal to ban face veils in public was passed in a referendum in 2021. The Swiss People’s Party (SVP) members who constitute the Egerkinger Komitee, which organised “resistance against the claims to power of political Islam in Switzerland”, were behind the initiative to outlaw the burqa.
Contending that “free people show their faces” and “the burqa and niqab are not normal clothes,” the group amassed the necessary 100,000 petition signatures in 2017 to push a referendum on the issue. 51.2% of Swiss voters approved the proposed ban.
The law bans concealing the nose, mouth, and eyes in both public and private buildings that are open to the public, with limited exceptions.
Notably, similar regulations already exist in two Swiss cantons: southern Ticino and northern St. Gallen. Switzerland’s national legislation will bring it in line with countries such as Belgium and France, who have implemented similar legislation.
https://www.opindia.com/2023/09/switzerlands-parliament-passes-legislation-to-ban-burqa/
‘Brainwashing’ — Stonehenge Built When Britain Was a ‘Black Country’, Claims Woke Children’s History Book
Historians have branded a recently released children’s history book as an attempt to “brainwash” youngsters over dubious claims that England’s famed Stonehenge monument was built when Britain was a “black country”.
Nigerian-born British author Atinuke’s new illustrated children’s book, titled Brilliant Black British History, has asserted that “Britain was a black country for more than 7,000 years before white people came, and during that time the most famous British monument was built, Stonehenge.”
The book goes on to claim that “Britain has been a mostly white country for a lot less time than it has been a mostly black country,” according to The Telegraph.
Atinuke’s book, which is aimed at children seven and above, presents a supposed chronological history of the existence of black people in the country, starting with the ‘Cheddar Man’ — the oldest discovered human remains found in the UK dating back around 10,000 years ago. The book claims the pre-historic human had skin “as dark as can be”.
While some analysis of Cheddar Man’s DNA indicated that he may have had dark skin and blue eyes, other scientists, including geneticist Susan Walsh at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, said that genetic modelling is not advanced to make a firm determination of his skin colour.
According to recent findings from the University of Porto in Portugal claimed that the people who inhabited Britain at the time of Stonehenge’s construction, approximately 5,000 years ago, likely had pale skin similar to modern-day Britons.
The children’s history book also contains a section on the Marxist Black Lives Matter movement, in which it asserts that while “race does not scientifically exist,” black people still are impacted by “institutional racism”.
The book has drawn criticism from historians, including Dr Zareer Masani, who said that it “seems typical of the kind of wokedom that’s been colonising our schools and universities”.
Dr Masani went on to say that it is further “evidence of brainwashing children with outright lies, confusion and misinformation”.
Emeritus Professor at Cambridge University, David Abulafia added: “The Nazis claimed that the cultural achievements of the north were the work of blond, fair-skinned folk.
“Making skin colour a criterion for judging great achievements like Stonehenge is therefore not a new idea. It is also rubbish. It only gets interesting if their skins were blue or green.”
Crazy Narcissist Jacinda Ardern Urges UN to Find Ways to Silence the Masses to Protect Free Speech… Or Something (VIDEO)
This is the new objective of the globalist elites. They want to control speech so they can lie more freely without being caught.
Sick, sick people.
A year after anti-Hijab protests, Iran’s parliament passes ‘hijab and chastity’ bill, women could face 10 years in jail for ‘inappropriate’ dress
A year after women in Iran came out to protest against the mandatory Hijab law after the murder of Mahsa Amini, the Iranian parliament passed a ‘hijab and chastity’ bill on Wednesday (20 September). The bill seeks to increase jail terms and fines for women and girls who ‘flout’ Tehran’s strict dress code. As per the bill, girls/women who dress “inappropriately” could face up to 10 years in jail.
The bill was introduced in the Iranian parliament in May following the death of 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini while in police custody last year on 16 September.
As per the judiciary’s Mizan news, the bill has been approved for a three-year trial period. According to media reports, the lawmakers were split regarding the trial period with some even proposing it to be five years. However, they agreed on a trial period of three years, after which it will become a permanent law.
The bill contains more than 70 articles and it was passed with 152 votes in favour, 34 against, and seven abstentions. However, to become a law, it would still need to be approved by the Guardian Council, a conservative body of clerics and jurists that is largely controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. If they consider the bill inconsistent with the constitution and Sharia, the Council has the power to veto it.
According to Iranian law, based on the country’s interpretation of Sharia, women and girls above the age of puberty have to cover their hair with a hijab and wear long, loose-fitting clothing to disguise their figures. Currently, women who do not comply with the dress code face a maximum prison term of two months or a fine of up to 500,000 rials ($10.14).
However, the bill passed by the Iranian parliament will drastically increase the punishment. As per the bill, women who would be caught dressed “inappropriately” in public places will be subject to a “fourth-degree” punishment. According to the penal code, it would mean a prison sentence ranging between five and 10 years along with a fine of up to 360m rials ($7,302).
According to the AFP news agency, the bill proposes fines for those “promoting nudity” or “making fun of the hijab” in the media and on social networks. Additionally, the fine will also be imposed on owners of vehicles in which a female driver or passenger would be found not wearing the hijab or dressed appropriately.
Further, as per the bill, any person who promotes violating the dress code “in an organised manner” or “in co-operation with foreign or hostile governments, media, groups or organisations” could also be imprisoned for between five and 10 years.
Broadcasters will have to show programmes “to introduce and promote the symbols and patterns of the family-oriented Islamic lifestyle” and “the culture of chastity and hijab,” according to the full version of the bill published by the IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency, reported National News.
Furthermore, business owners who would be found ‘guilty’ of serving women without the hijab will also face a travel ban. As per media reports, offices responsible for University admissions will also have to take chastity and the hijab into account while selecting students.
Despite the return of the morality police to the streets and the installation of surveillance cameras, many women continue to defy Iran’s dress code and appear in public without the mandatory hijab.
However, in recent months, Iran has announced several measures to clamp down on women’s freedoms. This includes barring women without the hijab from universities and their workplaces. Following the installation of surveillance cameras, Iranian authorities have confiscated vehicles from women driving without a hijab in their own cars.
Earlier this month, eight independent UN human rights experts described the bill as a form of “gender apartheid”. The experts said, “The bill also violates fundamental rights, including the right to take part in cultural life, the prohibition of gender discrimination, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to peaceful protest, and the right to access social, educational, and health services, and freedom of movement.”
Frontex: Only 8% of EU’s illegal migrants were women last year
Last year, the vast majority of migrants smuggled into the European Union were males, with the proportion of females only 8 percent, the European Border Agency Frontex said in its 2023-2024 risk analysis report.
In what Frontex terms “clandestine entries,” the leading group of nationals were Afghans (33 percent) followed by Syrians (15 percent) and Turks (10 percent).
The Frontex report also warned that illegal entries are likely to further increase next year:
“There is much to suggest that clandestine entry may increase in the next year in line with expected higher migratory pressure at the EU external borders in general,” it said. “At the same time, increased vehicle traffic at select border-crossing points (not to mention possibly altered circumstances while crossing land BCPs during the introduction of the Entry-Exit System) increases the chances of clandestine migrants going undetected, often under life-threatening and inhumane conditions.”
The report also pointed out that illegal entrants come from countries (mostly Afghanistan and Syria) “where some of the largest increases in movements to Europe may be expected.”
Frontex also said that in addition to illegal migration, there was also a proliferation of drug smuggling networks into the European Union, with reported drug seizures in 2022 amounting to 1,898 cases and 252 tons of illicit drugs.
For years, critics of mass immigration have noted that most of the illegal migrants coming to Europe are fighting-age males, in sharp contrast to the majority of women who came from Ukraine when the war broke out. In addition, the vast majority of these males are economic migrants who are not fleeing war or persecution.
https://rmx.news/crime/frontex-only-8-of-eus-illegal-migrants-were-women-last-year/
1,000 People Who Identify as Dogs Gather in Germany: ‘Call Animal Control’
Roughly 1,000 individuals gathered at Germany’s Berlin Potsdamer Platz railroad station, howling and barking in their interactions with each other.
Viral video of the bizarre meetup shows hundreds of people gathered, howling and barking. Many of them can be seen wearing dog-like masks and sitting upright on their knees, as seen in a video shared by the New York Post.
Commenters across social media did not mince words.
“How nice of mental institutions to allow patients outdoors every once in a while. A win for animal rights at the same time,” one individual wrote, as another made the plea to “call animal control.”
“This has to be a joke right? There’s no way people are doing this!” one exclaimed as another asked the deeper questions.
“If they do indeed identify as canines and only communicate in barking and howling how do they interact with non canines [sic] in a professional space or even any where [sic],” they asked.
“Can you say ‘mental illness’? Not the Germany I remember,” an X user remarked.
The video comes as concerns continue to rise as society accepts abnormal behaviors or mental illness as “normal,” whether that be males contending they are actually females or individuals identifying as “trans-species.”
In 2017, Breitbart News highlighted a cosplay merchandise seller from Argentina who spent tens of thousands of dollars to become a “trans-species elf.”
“I want to be an elf, an angel and a fantasy being, my aim is to look inhuman, ethereal, graceful and delicate,” Padron told The Daily Mail at the time.
“I have my own beauty ideal and want to achieve that no matter what… I want to have my ears cut to become pointy like an elve’s, my jaw to look more sharp like a diamond, a face-lift and an eye-lift to give my eyes a cat-like shape,” he added.
More recently, a Japanese man has gone viral for his realistic, $14,000 collie costume which he wears in public, posing as a dog. The man is only known as “Toco,” and he said the costume has helped fulfil his dream of “becoming an animal.”
One video posted to his YouTube channel roughly one month ago is titled, “I was interviewed as a person who became a dog!”
Earlier this year, Florida essentially barred children from the “furry convention” in Orlando, as the Protection of Children Act “imposes fines on establishments that allow children to attend sexually explicit adult shows, such as drag shows.”
“In many instances, furries have been associated with erotic behavior, likely leading to this decision by the organizers of the event,” as Breitbart News reported. It should be noted that “furries” are individuals who identify with anthropomorphic animals.
The lead image for this article was taken in New York City, not from the event in Berlin.
In Italy, the migrants are getting worse
By Monica Showalter
Supposedly, the European Union has gotten everything all patched up with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who vowed to dispatch the Italian navy to the Tunisian coast if nothing was being done about the huge crush of migrants flooding the Italian island of Lampedusa and now Sicily.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen came to Lampedusa (give her credit for not being Kamala Harris) to present the Italians with the EC’s supposedly tough “10 Point Plan” for resolution. The Italians were supposed to gratefully receive it … which is what you get when you entrust your sovereignty to the EU. It wasn’t terribly optimism-giving, but here we are.
On the good side, unlike what Joe Biden and his team have come up with on the border, it didn’t gaslight the problem or blame President Trump, so give them that.
But it sure as heck didn’t sound like the immediate action Meloni was demanding. Some of it was good, some of it was pure lumbering bureaucracy humbug, and some of it was bound to make the problem worse. The 10 points are here:
- Reinforce the support to Italy by the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA) and the European Border and Coast Guard (Frontex) to manage the high number of migrants to ensure registration of arrivals, fingerprinting, debriefing and referral to the appropriate authorities.
- Support the transfer of people out of Lampedusa, including to other Member States using the voluntary solidarity mechanism and with particular attention to unaccompanied minors and women.
- Step up returns by undertaking a renewed, concerted outreach to the main countries of origin of the new arrivals, namely Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Burkina Faso so as to improve cooperation and facilitate readmission; and increase the support by Frontex, including as regards training and capacity building, to ensure the swift implementation of returns.
- Support the prevention of departures by establishing operational partnerships on anti-smuggling with countries of origin and transit. This includes the possibility of a working arrangement between Tunisia and Frontex, and a coordination task force in Europol to focus on anti-smuggling along the route to Tunisia and onward to Lampedusa.
- Step up border surveillance at sea and aerial surveillance including through Frontex, and explore options to expand naval missions in the Mediterranean. Furthermore, we will speed up supply of equipment and increase training for the Tunisian coast guards and other law enforcement authorities.
- Take measures to limit the use of unseaworthy vessels and take action against the supply chains and logistics of smugglers; and ensure the disabling of recuperated boats and dinghies.
- Increase support by the EUAA to apply swift border and accelerated procedures, including the use of the safe country of origin concept, rejecting applications as manifestly unfounded, issuing entry bans and recording them in the Schengen Information System (SIS).
- Increase awareness and communication campaigns to disincentivise the Mediterranean crossings, while continue working to offer alternatives such as humanitarian admission and legal pathways.
- Step up cooperation with UNHCR and IOM to adopt a comprehensive route-based approach to ensure protection along the route and to increase assisted voluntary return from countries of transit.
- Implement the EU-TU Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and prioritise actions with immediate impact to address the current situation and accelerate the contracting of new projects under the MoU.
Reinforce Frontex, the seabound border guard? Train the Tunisian navy? O.K., we’ll see. Even Meloni said that much at the UN yesterday.
Have other member states take the migrants? Good luck with that. According to La Stampa, the French still have the Italian-French border blocked to migrants, it’s Italy’s problem. And why exactly is not sending them back the first priority? The ten point list mentions “special attention” for women and children migrants but since most of the 7,000 to 10,000 migrants inundating Lampedusa are military-aged young men, the women and children clause would probably involve just a few people. What about the military-aged young men?
Not a word about paying Tunisia its $150 million tribute to stop migrant boats, which the EU agreed to do earlier in a vaunted “Memo of Understanding” with the migrant-dispatching state. It still hasn’t written the check, and well, Tunisia wants its payoff.
Some of the items on the list, such as sinking migrant boats after they have disgorged their human cargo, and forcing migrants to wait 180 days in camps, sound somewhat constructive.
But some are the exact opposite of constructive.
Increase legal pathways? These are smuggling operations, not spontaneous human movements based on war and strife driving people out of their homes.
We are seeing reports like these:
AFRICANS FIRE ROCKETS AT ITALIAN POLICE: THEY DEMAND ENTRY INTO SICILY *** pic.twitter.com/tqGk149ivC— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) September 18, 2023
That misreads the nature of the problem. These are cartels who sell their “services” to migrants for vast profits of the kind that can fire rockets at Italian police.
Increasing legal pathways into Europe will increase their array of goodies to offer to would-be migrants. That will give the human smugglers more selling points, more options in order to sell their “services.” That will increase the migrant flow to greater levels than ever.
We have seen that exact dynamic in recent months with Joe Biden’s increased “legal pathways” into the U.S., such as special migrant permissions Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans and Nicaraguans if they have a sponsor, legal or not, in the states, plus migrant “service centers” for asylum applications up and down Central America on the migrant routes for their convenience, and the CPBOne cell phone app, which reportedly is taking all comers for catch-and-release as they arrive at a port of entry, complete with a distant asylum date and free entry into the states for the wait. All of those increased “legal pathways” have raised immigration numbers to near-record highs, with Eagle Pass, Texas, reporting nearly 9,000 illegal border crossings per day now.
Meloni didn’t seem terribly negative about the von der Leyen visit or issue any really tough demands, so best as I can tell, she’s going along with their diktats, which is a little puzzling, and locals are reportedly complaining. It may be that that’s her best option for now, owing to costs or pending trade deals or other issues. I don’t want to judge her yet, as information without a subscription to Italian and U.K. papers is hard to find, but I expected a more confrontational stance given her reputation and earlier calls to action. After their tour and von der Leyen’s 10-point plan, the two went to thank the Red Cross, a migrant-enabling NGO that de facto encourages illegal immigration. Color me unimpressed.
The Lampedusa locals, though, were another story. Angry protestors blocked von der Leyen and Meloni’s entourage as they toured the island to see the migrant crush. “We’re doing everything we can,” Meloni reportedly told them, according to Italian news agency ANSA, which sounds a little wretched. According to the U.K. Telegraph, criticism of Meloni is very high.
If so, it’s not surprising. The migrant smuggling groups are revving up their operations and there are loopholes in the von der Leyen plan that they are sure to exploit. It comes down to a fundamental misunderstanding of the problem between the distant EC bureaucrats in Brussels, and the on the ground reality in Italy, which needs a sovereign response and actual results, including holding its leaders accountable if they fail.
The migrants have no compunctions about creating chaos in someone else’s country as they enter illegally with a full entitlement mentality. But it seems the Italian locals are starting to stand up for themselves, too. Unless the EC can bring immediate results, that’s a double-sided formula for chaos and a big problem for Meloni. A sovereign violation in reality demands a sovereign response. The EC, which has no skin in the game with regard to Italy’s national interests, other than Italy remain a member of the EU bloc, is unlikely to be a suitable substitute.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/09/in_italy_the_migrants_are_getting_worse.html