EVEN the EU is beginning to question the legitimacy of its open borders’ policy as illegal migration spirals out of control.
Nowhere better exemplifies the issue than on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa.
According to the Italian Red Cross, more than 11,000 migrants arrived in small boats in just three days last month, completely overwhelming the 6,000 islanders.
Temporarily housed in a camp designed for 400, the new arrivals fought with local police before being dispersed to centres across Italy.
More are expected this week.
The Italian Government describes the arrivals as an ‘invasion’, putting Italy under ‘unsustainable pressure’.
While the EU President says this is a ‘European challenge and needs a European answer’, France is not taking these arrivals on Lampedusa, although, in fairness, many other EU members have rejected migrant quotas after circa 300,000 arrived last year.
Here in Britain, 1122 migrants were detected in 21 small boats in the last seven days, according to Migration Watch.
The Home Office predicts 2023 totals reaching 65,000 to 85,000, twice the number apprehended last year.
All this will do is increase the pressure on public services, housing and the environment.
In this week’s speech on reforming asylum laws, Home Secretary Suella Braverman suggested reviewing our membership of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Former Supreme Court Justice Lord Sumption agrees, writing that we already had many human rights’ laws before the convention was conceived.
After Ms Braverman described multiculturalism as “failed” and “misguided”, her speech was widely denounced.
However, Trevor Phillips, former head of the Commission for Racial Equality, told the Times on Monday that voters’ unease over migration was seeing the rise of the political right in Europe.
The message is clear: ignore voters’ concerns at your peril.