The biblical scale of illegal migration from Africa to Europe poses a significant challenge to the stability of the European Union as well as to individual governments which make up the Union.
The evocative sight of a little Syrian boy's body lying on a Turkish beach had created a temporary lull in general public negativity. The sympathy and goodwill which echoed globally following the loss of little Aylan and his family galvanised public discussion and the start of more positive action to deal with what had become a catastrophe of human loss of life and suffering. The visibly distressed face of the Turkish policeman cradling the limp young body will no doubt become an iconic reminder of the tragic events of this century.
However, fast forward by a few weeks and those images contrast starkly with visions of young male illegal migrants making aggressive demands and throwing donated food parcels and water bottles into the faces of security officers making their best efforts to calm the situation at European train stations.
This was followed by well documented media reports of the influential Al Qaida fundamentalist Sheik Muhammad Ayad who from his base in Somalia implored his followers to super-saturate Europe with Islamic migrants and infiltrate the highest levels of government through integration and intermarriage.
The blatant objective of using the very tools of our democratic systems of government which cost two world wars and millions of lives, as catalyst to replace our institutional bastions of democratic rights with Sharia law and a bloody dysfunctional fundamentalist system of terror sends shivers up spines of reasonable citizens.
The recent gratuitous advice by Malta's President urging integration with illegal economic migrants, euphemistically referred to as refugees, was unwise and given her unelected status and the political nature of migration generally was frankly improper. The Maltese government has managed a difficult situation well without her unnecessary input.
The issue of illegal immigration into Europe via the shores of North Africa was allowed to wallow in the too hard basket for far too long by European power brokers blindly coupling illegal immigration with human rights, enabling people's smugglers to get richer and more daring thus turning the Mediterranean into Europe's cemetery.
Images of the seemingly unstoppable throngs of Africans making their way through Europe is changing public sentiment and giving rise to extreme nationalistic and ultra-right wing populist political parties such as the French National Front, and UKIP in Britain.
There are reports of millions of Africans with loud and clear ambitions of European domicile. By far the vast majority of migrants marching through Europe are not Syrian refugees but young males from other parts. This crisis has nothing to do with refugees resulting from The West's political bungling in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf but is purely opportunistic economic mass migration from the entire continent of Africa.
The genuine refugees are those fleeing the butchers of Assad in Syria and the murderous activities of the IS Caliphate in Northern Africa, monstrously persecuted for their faith, lifestyle orientation and beliefs. These are the genuine refugees and it shouldn't just be Europe but also Australia, Canada, the rest of the free world with an obligation to offer meaningful assistance.
Genuine refugees particularly those from Syria have needed urgent help and action for years but their desperate pleas, were tragically diluted by the opportunism of illegal economic migrants from other sources and been mostly ignored.
Herein lies the political dichotomy. European and other Governments arguably have a moral obligation to offer refuge to genuine refugees particularly Syrians, victims of an Arab Spring gone badly wrong but the dimension of illegal economic migrants has scaled up the broader issue so enormously and made it so daunting that governments are becoming inhibited and increasingly reluctant to act conscientiously.
Economic migrants fleeing African countries much richer in natural resources than Europe but with bankrupted economies labouring under the weight of corruption and incompetent pariah regimes put in place by the very people now fleeing from them, is the core of a serious and burgeoning problem. There are tens of millions of people in Africa who would find it impossible to make the case for refugee status but nonetheless willing to run grave risks for a chance of gaining residency in Europe. These people present a significant problem to governments and thus directly affecting the political landscape for those who urgently need our help. There is a very strong case for returning illegal economic migrants to their homelands. They have broken the immigration laws amongst many other laws of their host countries and just seeking better economic circumstances is not sufficient justification to grant them refugee status.
Clearly economic migrants have made it more difficult for genuine refugees. In addition uncontrolled migration creates issues of cultural bending by saturation, national security (several Jihadists have been identified amongst refugees amassing at European borders), the spread of disease (reports of Cholera outbreak in the Greek island of Kos) and a huge drain on resources of those destinations targeted by illegal migrants. Millions of young males mostly lacking skills or higher education may no doubt be a welcome source of cheap labour particularly for noxious employment shunned by citizens of richer European countries but the aspirations of these migrants will rise and they will eventually demand equal pay, better jobs and all other benefits. There is a much higher longer term price to pay by host countries. This type of illegal immigration will inevitably alter the demographic, cultural, political and religious face of Europe. It is impossible to transplant millions of predominantly young males with different cultural background and values without altering the face, the important gender balance, and social fabric of our society in Europe.
If any confirmation was needed that illegal immigration can make or break governments it was clearly demonstrated in 2001 by the Tampa affair when a ship with 433 illegal migrants picked from a sinking Indonesian boat off the coast of Western Australia was refused clearance to enter Australian waters. That action won the unwinnable election for the conservative government of former Prime Minister John Howard which clearly proved that illegal immigration based purely on economic grounds is not acceptable and exposes governments to political risks. The government of Malta has done well in containing the situation early enough to avoid a crisis but against a background of increasing pressure from the radical bully boys of Europe obsessed by visions of utopian human rights Malta should remain vigilant to ensure that Malta's social balance and interests are not prejudiced.
Anthony Trevisan