ImmigrationAnti-immigrants backlash in Europe intensifies

Anti-immigration groups and parties are enjoying a surge in many European countries, including Britain, France, and Austria, as many European economies face high unemployment and declining wages. The open-border policies of the European Union (EU), which allow citizens of EU member states to work and receive social welfare anywhere within the EU, have led many citizens to call for immigration limits and quotas.

Analysts say immigrants are a convenient scapegoat for the economic problems in some countries, but many right-wing political parties have used the anti-immigrant sentiment to gain legislative and political victories. Earlier this year, Swiss voters approved an initiative to tighten immigration quotas despite threats of penalties by the EU. Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s U.K. Independence Party, said that British voters would make the same decision, “but by a landslide,” if they were allowed to vote on a referendum like the Swiss.

Those who oppose the EU open-border policy say the inflow of immigrants puts a strain on public services, and may harm cultural identify. “We are full, this is the thing, it is simple — we are on course to reach 70 million people in our population and we cannot take any more people,” said John Mills, a golf course marshal from Sussex.

USA Today reports that the British government’s recent attempt to limit welfare benefits to immigrants is now facing legal action by the European Commission. Germany has organized a panel to find ways to reduce “benefit tourism” in cities which are overwhelmed by unemployed East Europeans migrating not for work, but to take advantage of Germany’s health care, schools, and welfare. “The number of immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania and the social problems linked to some of them can be managed nationally but in certain regions it is alarming, and the rise in numbers is alarming,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told Reuters. “So we must take measures to avoid this becoming a problem.”

Business leaders, on the other hand, say that the current levels of immigration are good for the European economy because they expose local companies to more workers and skills. “With the aging population, we are desperately in need of immigration,” said Ben Tonra, the head of the University College Dublin School of Politics and International Relations. “Also, the reality is, jobs need to be filled, particularly in service sectors, particularly in low-wage sectors, which immigrants are willing to take up, which local people are unwilling or unable to take up for whatever reason.”

While many Europeans call for anti-immigration policies, it is uncertain whether immigrants are the reason for the slow economy in many EU member states. Bulgarians and Romanians won the right to work across all EU countries in January, and while groups and countries, including the United Kingdom, try to discourage them from migrating, Karin Boettger, deputy director of the Berlin-based Institute for European Politics, said that based on the statistics, “Romanians and Bulgarians pay more into the social security system than they use. Most of the people who come here actually contribute to the economic wealth of the country, and are not, as some suggest, here to live off welfare.”