See these guys, loitering in the entrance of a hotel in northern Italy? They're "refugees" from darkest Africa -- housed (in the hotel), fed and clothed on the Italian taxpayers' lira. [They use "euros" now. Ed.] They were pissed because they weren't getting free WiFi and maids to clean up their mess. So what did they do? Read on!
Why sure! Even if you come from a peaceful country [in Africa? Ed.] and have no right whatever to asylum in Europe, and you're not getting everything you think you're "entitled" to, you riot! Just before Christmas MilanoToday reported that scores of these bogus refugee claimants had taken to the streets demanding free WiFi and a maid to clean up the villa in which they were being accommodated. One wonder where they think a maid might come from. An Italian girl from Milan, perhaps?
La Repubblica reported that the "refugees" were upset over the lack of WiFi "because they cannot make Skype calls to their relatives back home." When free internet service and a maid were not immediately produced, the coloured gentlemen stormed into the streets and started shouting at and abusing passersby. When the Carabinieri were called, the Africans responded by throwing trashcans into the streets and emptying their contents in the road. Finally the cops were forced to draw batons and physically push the parasites back into their residence, arresting one 25-year-old in the process.
That was just before Christmas of 2015. Fast forward to last week, when 13,000 -- thirteen thousand -- more "refugees" were rescued from the sea and delivered to Italian shores. According to a press release from the International Organization for Migration, from January 1st to May 25th, an "estimated" 194,611 "migrants" -- "refugee" is a loaded word now, it seems -- entered Europe by sea in 2016, arriving in Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Spain. According to the IOM, at least 37,363 non-whites arrived in Italy. That's not including this weekend's boatloads.
What's going on? And what's to be done? Can anything be done? Here are the key points from "The African surge into Europe", by one of Walt's favourite columnists, Margaret Wente. The emphasis is mine.
Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi kept a lid on the people-smuggling trade. But after Hillary Clinton and her European allies knocked him out in a burst of do-gooder interventionism, no one could stop the smugglers. Now that the Balkan route is shut, Libya has become the main migration route to Europe. Just last week, 13,000 people were rescued and delivered to Italian shores. Last year, Italy saw more than 150,000 migrants arrive by sea, according to the UN refugee agency. Three hundred thousand or more could arrive this year, according to some estimates.
This is a different kind of migration than the one that shocked the conscience of the world last year. These people aren’t fleeing for their lives, as were refugees from the Syrian war or conflict in Afghanistan. Almost all are Africans, from Gambia, Eritrea, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria. The vast majority are young men.... European leaders have no idea how to cope with the latest surge. Their response has been the usual combination of blame shifting, buck passing, and refusal to face the facts.
The African migrants are allowed to apply for refugee status in Italy, but few will succeed. Most will be sent to overflowing "reception centres", where they will be fed and housed for at least a year while their claims are processed. Some will be summarily rejected and ordered to leave the country right away. But no one enforces the deportation orders, and no one keeps track of the failed claimants. Most head north in search of better opportunities. Until recently, many of them left the country to become someone else’s problem.
Meanwhile, the population of Africa is exploding. By 2050, it is expected to double to 2.4 billion people, roughly four times the size of Europe. Europe’s current migrant problem, in other words, is just a taste of things to come.
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