The conflicts and poverty in the Middle East and Africa have created a tidal wave of migrants and this had led to large numbers of deaths at sea as the migrants try to cross from North Africa to Italy.
The British media are covering this disaster as a botched Italian operation and are full of demands that the British should help. It is useful to consider what is happening before diving in.
The migrants seem to be composed of three groups, those fleeing conflicts in Tunisia and Syria, those fleeing communism in Eritrea and general economic migration from Nigeria, Pakistan etc.
Until October 2013 the control of migration was policed by the Italian Government. The Italians had a policy of enforced repatriation between 2008 and 2011 and then abandoned this policy at the start of the Presidency of Mario Monti, the technocrat imposed on Italy by the EU Commission during the worst days of its economic crisis. The death rate rose dramatically in 2011:
The situation in 2011 is confused by the Libyan Civil War of 2011, although most of the migrants were Tunisians, Gaddafi also expelled foreign workers by sea.
In October 2013, as a transition to the full implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the border operations became loosely financed by the EU as part of the EU Mare Nostrum Project and in October 2014 came under the coordination of Frontex, the EU Border Control Agency. The EU is creepy beyond measure, avoiding responsibility by saying that Frontex's "Operation Triton" is under Italian control - this is just the EU dodging the bullet as always. Consider the Lisbon Treaty, Article 67(2) in which the EU:
".. shall ensure the absence of internal border controls for persons and shall frame a common policy on asylum, immigration and external border control, based on solidarity between Member States, which is fair towards third-country nationals. For the purpose of this Title, stateless persons shall be treated as third-country nationals."
Control of migration to the EU in the Mediterranean is fully an EU responsibility. That the British press are trying to make out that the British Government is somehow at fault is either remarkable ignorance on the part of journalists or Machiavellian. As Article 78 of Lisbon puts it:
"3. In the event of one or more Member States being confronted with an emergency situation characterised by a sudden inflow of nationals of third countries, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, may adopt provisional measures for the benefit of the Member State(s) concerned. It shall act after consulting the European Parliament. "
The way the creepy EU works in these matters is to allow events to unfold whilst lurking in the background, prodding here and financing there. Currently they are waiting to see whether there is a zeitgeist forming around either repatriation or offering places in the EU for the migrants.
If the British media win the day the zeitgeist will allow full access to the EU for the migrants and, with the lack of border controls in the Shengen zone, this will result in a large queue at Calais. The Germans and others may have different ideas.
As UK Citizens we should be asking why our press is avoiding exposure of the incompetence of the EU. Since Italy handed over control to the EU (in 2011, on Monti's appointment), the situation has become far worse.
The European press is covering the crisis, where it covers it at all, as an EU Crisis:
EU to triple funding for migrants
Der Spiegel "EU Policies Are Causing Refugee Crisis"
EU Leaders gather for migration summit
Take a look at any English language daily abroad, most do not even cover the crisis, the rest see it as firmly an EU responsibility. What is wrong with the British media, why is it trying to hide the EU?
The net result of hiding the EU is rather tragic, the British are becoming like some insane old lady who still imagines she has wealth and influence when those around her just nod obligingly, knowing that she signed it all away five years ago on a trip to Lisbon. This suits our vacuous, vicious press who are able to use the migration crisis as a way of playing "pin the racist tail on the donkey", a child's game that they have enjoyed for decades: they hope to find someone who says "throw em back" so that the children can dance round the playground shouting "racist! racist! racist!"..
Use http://tinyurl.com/mmvn2vb to link to this article in Twitter.
Published 24/4/15
The British media are covering this disaster as a botched Italian operation and are full of demands that the British should help. It is useful to consider what is happening before diving in.
The migrants seem to be composed of three groups, those fleeing conflicts in Tunisia and Syria, those fleeing communism in Eritrea and general economic migration from Nigeria, Pakistan etc.
Until October 2013 the control of migration was policed by the Italian Government. The Italians had a policy of enforced repatriation between 2008 and 2011 and then abandoned this policy at the start of the Presidency of Mario Monti, the technocrat imposed on Italy by the EU Commission during the worst days of its economic crisis. The death rate rose dramatically in 2011:
In October 2013, as a transition to the full implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the border operations became loosely financed by the EU as part of the EU Mare Nostrum Project and in October 2014 came under the coordination of Frontex, the EU Border Control Agency. The EU is creepy beyond measure, avoiding responsibility by saying that Frontex's "Operation Triton" is under Italian control - this is just the EU dodging the bullet as always. Consider the Lisbon Treaty, Article 67(2) in which the EU:
".. shall ensure the absence of internal border controls for persons and shall frame a common policy on asylum, immigration and external border control, based on solidarity between Member States, which is fair towards third-country nationals. For the purpose of this Title, stateless persons shall be treated as third-country nationals."
Control of migration to the EU in the Mediterranean is fully an EU responsibility. That the British press are trying to make out that the British Government is somehow at fault is either remarkable ignorance on the part of journalists or Machiavellian. As Article 78 of Lisbon puts it:
"3. In the event of one or more Member States being confronted with an emergency situation characterised by a sudden inflow of nationals of third countries, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, may adopt provisional measures for the benefit of the Member State(s) concerned. It shall act after consulting the European Parliament. "
The way the creepy EU works in these matters is to allow events to unfold whilst lurking in the background, prodding here and financing there. Currently they are waiting to see whether there is a zeitgeist forming around either repatriation or offering places in the EU for the migrants.
If the British media win the day the zeitgeist will allow full access to the EU for the migrants and, with the lack of border controls in the Shengen zone, this will result in a large queue at Calais. The Germans and others may have different ideas.
As UK Citizens we should be asking why our press is avoiding exposure of the incompetence of the EU. Since Italy handed over control to the EU (in 2011, on Monti's appointment), the situation has become far worse.
The European press is covering the crisis, where it covers it at all, as an EU Crisis:
EU to triple funding for migrants
Der Spiegel "EU Policies Are Causing Refugee Crisis"
EU Leaders gather for migration summit
Take a look at any English language daily abroad, most do not even cover the crisis, the rest see it as firmly an EU responsibility. What is wrong with the British media, why is it trying to hide the EU?
The net result of hiding the EU is rather tragic, the British are becoming like some insane old lady who still imagines she has wealth and influence when those around her just nod obligingly, knowing that she signed it all away five years ago on a trip to Lisbon. This suits our vacuous, vicious press who are able to use the migration crisis as a way of playing "pin the racist tail on the donkey", a child's game that they have enjoyed for decades: they hope to find someone who says "throw em back" so that the children can dance round the playground shouting "racist! racist! racist!"..
Use http://tinyurl.com/mmvn2vb to link to this article in Twitter.
Published 24/4/15
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