To think Europen governments need to respond to immigration?

[Finlesswonder]

So the Netherlands is going to have a far right government.
Sweden has moved to the right.
Finland has shut its borders.
Countries that have traditionally been liberal are hardening and irrespective of the many issues listed its to do with immigration.

Ireland has seen violent protests last night following a series of stabbings.
In the UK we obviously had Brexit.

I think governments need to start responding to voters feelings on immigration as if they don't we will continue to see a general slide to the right in Europe, when actually these countries aren't right wing: it feels like a single issue is distorting the entire political landscape?

There is going to be more and more pressure from migrants crossing to Europe from Africa as this continent is expected to have the highest birth rates over this century and with climate change they will be rightly be inclined to move north. It's hard to stop people migrating when they are desperate and have nothing to lose.

Ireland's 'protests' were a load of scumbags burning busses and looting Foot Locker. Out and out scumbags. The government needs to look at getting these lads into education. The fact that they (most likely) aren't is not the fault of immigrants. It's years of shit government. Immigrants bring you take away, look after you in hospital, serve you your coffee. They are 100% not responsible for the behaviour of disenfranchised youths/ young men who like violence.

But members of the EU are also seeing countries like Hungary benefit from being a member, whilst also being far right and anti-migrant without real consequences. Which makes some think that Fortress Europe sounds like a good idea.
Other countries like Italy and Greece have been left to deal with vast numbers of migrants, without the wholehearted and equal support they might have expected from fellow EU members.
So yes, as individuals and as specific countries, there’s a lot of unhappiness that’s showing itself in a range of legal and illegal ways.

@Chickenkeev
I'm guessing we will read more about what exactly happened there today. And maybe hear more about how the children are faring.

I just think if there is no government response to this issue, some kind of fair and humane approach but one that also takes voters feelings into account, then we are going to suffer from a general slip to the right when actually people don't want a right wing government

Much of Europe has low birth rates and needs more immigrants to do jobs. The problem is government austerity making things tough and people mistakenly blame immigrants.

it is not just immigration that is causing the rise of the far right. What a simplistc view
Add ignornce, racism and a myriad of other economic and social reasons, then come back.
What do you suggesr those fleeing death and destruction do while all your right-wing governments are closing their borders

@Cattiwampus
I agree but it kind of raises the question of why there has been talk recently of further EU expansion. How will that help matters?

I don't see why our government can't just roll out a 2 year working visa scheme to young people from abroad to prevent those same young people from paying traffickers.

Why would Europe be more ignorant and racist now than ever before in history? I think you're wrong on that one.

It could just be a man with MH issues at the end of day. Who knows. But the riots are very disturbing. Are we raising a generation of fascists? Or at the very least, people who are happy to loot? It's all really concerning, and i'm thanking my lucky stars i don't live in Dublin anymore. And i loved Dublin. I hate seeing it go to shit.

The problem with migrants coming to work isn't the worker.

We need people to come and work in care homes and on farms.

However, the finances are problematic short term when people want to bring their families. Longer term these are all people who'll work and contribute - great.

But short term? 3-5 years? We have no housing for them and increased housing demand pushes up housing costs. People may come from cultures where the wife is not working . People may have larger families - lots of children in the school system & higher eligibility for benefit support.

We need visa categories open to young people migrating without dependents to allow people to come legally.

@Chickenkeev I used to teach in one on the worst areas in Dublin. Some of these lads have been genuinely let down by the example of their parents etc... and could do better but there are a lot of out and out scumbags who use school as somewhere for their own amusement and terrorise students and teachers. One lad who later that year assaulted me, told me he was only there til it was time to go on the dole. I think sometimes the stick rather than the carrot is good. Why do these people get to live in Central Dublin in social housing - some of the most expensive real estate in Europe - yet behave like this? They're not grateful for anything, so maybe it should be given to people who actually deserve it.

Further EU expansion are to countries with small populations compared with many of the current members, so not the large issue.

What we have in the UK is talk by government about a small proportion of migration, and little action.

@JaneDSE9
What would our countries have to gain from such a visa scheme though?

One of the things I don't get is often immigration is championed as being needed "to support growth". But what if we just stopped growing? Wouldn't that also be better for the climate?

On another thread people are saying they only want migrants with families and no young men.

EU expansion won’t help.
Sweden and Ukraine want to join to counter Russia’s possible land grabs.
If Albania and Serbia join, that’s unlikely to halt a far-right, nationalist trend in the EU.

Yes to all this. It's a clusterfuck where we need workers but can't house them. And then 'natives' are all of a sudden against 'non natives' in competition for housing. It's just the results of terrible government.

@Pooooochi
I agree with your idea. Maybe we could remove people's ability to apply for their families to come over and join them as a starting point

Yes these rising pressures are not just here. Many EU countries dealing with similar

@CharlotteRumpling
What if we said we will give out shit loads of visas but only to single women with no dependents. That could also help with wider gender equality. Maybe there would be women in countries where girls "just" become wives who might see it as a real lifeline. That way we would be getting the immigration we need while also creating some kind of change

It’s a complex issue without an easy solution, but I agree broadly that governments ignoring this, or simply telling voters they’re bigots, without seeking to understand and address the real anxieties and hardships people face, is likely to see a rise in voters turning to far right parties who are willing to openly voice concerns and appear to offer a solution.

Before Brexit and Covid there did seem to be a balance in the UK with sufficient staff in care and hospital jobs and less pressure on housing. It's unclear what has gone wrong now.

Esp when western government intervention has created a lot of these migrants in the first place - I recommend noam chomskys how the world works for a good insight into this

Women don't migrate as much because they get raped and abused along the way, possibly end up dead or trafficked into prostitution then would be stigmatised in their home communities.

The real problem with far right governments is also that they'll cut funding for Ukraine. If Putin wins there, he might target another former USSR country.

It was a Brazillian man who lept in and stopped the attacker in Dublin with his bike helmet. As far as I am aware the attacker was an Irish citizen who although 'foreign' born has lived here for 20years. The rioters are nothing more than scum who took advantage of a situation to cause some havoc and loot.