Thousands of migrants are swarming into Europe by the week– and no one has a real clue what to do about it.
This crisis came with a gruesome illustration Thursday when the world saw the image of a dead migrant child lying face down on a Mediterranean beach. (RELATED: One Heart-Breaking Image Sums Up Europe’s Refugee Crisis [GRAPHIC])
The gut-wrenching picture inevitably inspired some European leaders to call for the continent to open its doors to the people most media outlets call refugees.
While some of the immigrants coming into the European Union are fleeing the violence in Syria and Iraq, many are coming for the same economic reasons millions of migrants have moved to the continent in the past.
And there lies the danger in letting all so-called refugees in.
It is true that countries within the EU have far better economies than the lands from which these migrants hail from. However, nations like France and Spain also have massive unemployment rates.
How will these immigrants find work when thousands of Spaniards, Britons and Frenchmen aren’t able to attain employment? More importantly, how will these new arrivals be able to live in these countries?
Simple. They’ll live off the generous welfare state.
While the humanitarian reasons for giving asylum to the migrants receives much attention from politicians and sympathetic media outlets, the negative consequences of allowing hundreds of thousands of people into Europe go unnoticed.
Many EU countries have severe economic problems of their own. They have budget headaches that are a result of the massive welfare systems these countries have enacted. The millions of potential new residents — many of whom would drive up unemployment and further burden the welfare state — would only exacerbate these problems.
There’s also the little problem of completely undermining the rule of law in rewarding thousands of people who willfully break the law.
In addition, Europe’s simmering cultural tensions could reach a breaking point with the deluge of new arrivals. All throughout the EU, nationalist parties are on the rise. Millions of Europeans feel ill at ease with their leaders’ embrace of mass immigration. Many immigrants refuse to assimilate and rely on government assistance.
European immigrant communities are often worlds apart from their host societies and several have become breeding grounds for radical Islam. The influx of thousands — if not millions — of illegal immigrants predominately from Muslim countries with few economic prospects and no incentive to assimilate would only worsen the EU’s immigrant v. native divide.
Especially when there’s the strong possibility dozens of Islamic militants are hiding among the migrant masses.
It’s little wonder then why so many Europeans — to the consternation of pundits and EU officials — don’t want these migrants flocking to their lands.
The mental impulse to welcome thousands of migrants regardless of the consequences also, oddly enough, inspired the efforts that ultimately ruined these immigrants’ native countries in the first place.
When the Arab Spring swept over the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, prominent observers in North America and Europe naively praised the “revolution” as a harbinger of liberal democracy. Instead, the Spring unleashed Islamic extremism and anarchy upon the region.
But Western politicians overlooked the long-term consequences and supplied “democracy-loving” rebels in Libya and Syria with weapons and moral support. France, the U.S. and other nations enthusiastically participated in the toppling of the brutal, yet stable regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. The country has since become a failed state that’s defined by near-constant warfare. This massive disaster was all brought about because the bleeding hearts of western leaders witlessly bought the idea the Libyan rebels were fighting for democracy. (RELATED: Remembering Libya: Hillary’s Iraq)
Gaddafi warned Europe’s leaders in 2010 that their continent will be flooded with thousands of unimpeded African migrants if he is not given support. Soon after the world witnessed the despot’s videotaped execution, the boat people began arriving on European shores.
Similarly, western governments also began lending support in 2011 to “democratic” Syrian rebels fighting against Bashar al-Assad. The country where many of Europe’s migrants are fleeing from has seen a bloody civil war spiral out-of-control and many of the friendly rebels turn into brutal Islamic militants. Rather than finding a real solution to the conflict, the Obama administration and its allies still fruitlessly hunt for all those missing democracy-wanting, ISIS-hating insurgents. (RELATED: The Staggering Cost Of A Largely Failed Fight Against ISIS)
This wishful thinking that overlooks long-term consequences in favor of short-term emotional boosts is popping up again in the migrant crisis. Leaders see the tragic images and immediately open their doors to the supposed refugees, without thinking of the disastrous, long-term impact or the troubling message it sends to the world.
By granting asylum to these “refugees,” the nations of the EU declare to the world that that they have no borders and will take all comers over the interests of their own citizens. Letting all the migrants stay would just encourage more people to embark on the deadly journey and exacerbate the present disaster.
The solution to the crisis is not for Europe to cease having borders. Working toward a realistic conclusion for the Syrian civil war is only way to stop the human tide.
For now, the rest Europe should follow Hungary’s example and close their borders. (RELATED: Meet Europe’s Unlikely Champion Standing Up Against A Wave Of Migrants)