Observers have noted with alarm the growing assertiveness of Europe's far Right and the political legitimacy it has come to enjoy in many countries on the back of an increasingly anti-immigrant public mood.
Last month, as sparks flew over the French government's crackdown on immigrants, particularly the way President Nicolas Sarkozy personally intervened to order expulsion of Roman gypsies, the New Statesman carried a cover story headed: “France Turns Right.” While the French controversy rumbles on with the European Union threatening legal action against France for being allegedly in breach of one of its fundamental principles — the right of its citizens to move and work freely within the EU — it has been overtaken by reports of a broader Europe-wide lurch to the Right.
Observers have noted with alarm the growing assertiveness of Europe's far Right and the political legitimacy it has come to enjoy in many countries on the back of an increasingly anti-immigrant public mood. Post-war Europe has experienced Right-inspired social tensions before but this is thought to be the first time so many countries across the continent, including former communist societies, are affected.
According to Slavoj Zizek, Marxist intellectual and director of the London-based Birbeck Institute for the Humanities, the French move is “just the tip of a much larger iceberg of European politics.”
“Incidents like these have to be seen against the background of a long-term re-arrangement of the political space in western and eastern Europe,” he wrote in a newspaper article warning that the traditional liberal European consensus was under threat from “overtly racist neo-fascist groups.”
Another commentator likened the trend to an “infection” seeping through the continent's body politic. In the words of Abdelkader Benali, a leading Dutch writer of Moroccon origin, Europe is in the grip of a new “cold-blooded politics” of hate and fear. He says it is threatening the once-tolerant countries such as his own adopted homeland, the Netherlands, where the stridently anti-migrant and Islamophobic Freedom Party is within striking distance of sharing power after emerging the third largest party in the general elections earlier this year on a platform to ban further Muslim migration and outlaw construction of mosques.
Even as its leader Geert Wilders is being tried for inciting hatred, he is shamelessly wooed by the Liberals and the Christian Democrats to prop up a minority coalition government. In return, they are willing to pay the price he is demanding: a ban on burqa and stringent curbs on immigration.
No wonder, Mr. Wilders boasted that the development was a sign of a “new wind” blowing in the Netherlands and proof that voters supported his party's determination to stop “Islamisation” of the country.
Immigrants like Mr. Benali say they find their country's transformation from a haven of tolerance and multiculturalism into a hothouse of prejudice and social tensions shocking. “In the 1980s, this message [‘stop Islamisation'] would have made people laugh, but not now. Look around. In Sweden, the debate around Islam and migration is growing in urgency. And Islam is just a particularly toxic element in the anti-immigrant movement. Nicolas Sarkozy, who is part Jewish, is throwing out the Roma. In Germany, the country of the Holocaust, a former head of the Bundesbank, Thilo Sarazzin, is making a plea for reducing working class immigrants because of their low IQ. The idea that Europe is being kidnapped by an ever-growing non-western population is creating fear and populist parties are winning,” Mr. Benali warned, writing in The Observer. Tellingly, the article was headed: “I migrated to Europe with hope. Now I feel nothing but dread.”
In Sweden, hitherto seen as an “oasis of civility and openness,” the “neo-Nazi” Sweden Democrats party (SD) has, for the first time, won seats in Parliament in a development that has shocked liberals. The country's political map is being redrawn in a way few Swedes could have once imagined.
“We're in,” the SD's young leader, Jimmie Akesson, told his supporters. Liberal Swedish intellectuals have called for mainstream parties to reflect on why the SD was able to attract so many votes. “From no representation, it now has nearly 6 per cent of the vote, which means that it will get 20 MPs; it also destroys the previous centre-Right majority and creates an uncertain situation in Parliament,” Swedish writer Henning Mankell pointed out but said that instead of denouncing those who had voted for it as racists and xenophobic, it was important to ask why 3,00,000 people, among whom were many working class voters, chose to support it.
Blaming the SD's success on the refusal of mainstream parties to listen to voters' concerns about immigration, he said: “If we had the debate, the SD might have got into Parliament, but with far fewer seats. In fact, they could have been kept out of Parliament altogether.” In a chilling warning, he said: “But respect for the 3,00,000 people who voted for them [SD] demands that we accept the necessity of dialogue, before these 3,00,000 become two or three times as many.”
According to media reports, many of those who voted for the SD had been life-long supporters of the liberal Social Democratic Party. They insist that they are not racist and have nothing against foreigners but believe that there are too many immigrants and their alleged refusal to “integrate” threatens Swedish values. “It's become crazy around here. You can't go out in the evening. I've got nothing against foreigners. I've been married to a Bulgarian for 40 years. But these people don't share values,” one woman told a British newspaper.
A backlash against immigration, targeted mostly at Muslims, is also said to be behind the rise of extreme right-wing groups in Austria, Denmark, and Italy. In former communist countries such as Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania there is, in addition, a whiff of homophobia, anti-Semitism and a host of other social and cultural prejudices against minority groups. Far-Right groups have also made electoral gains in Latvia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The economic crisis, with millions of people losing their jobs and facing an uncertain future, has heightened public hostility towards immigrants who are seen as “spongers” — foreigners who are “stealing” local jobs and being a “drag” on public services and other resources. The current climate offers a fertile ground for the Right, which is making the most of it.
Matthew Goodwin, who teaches at the University of Nottingham, says far-Right parties are cynically exploiting people's anxieties. “When we ask voters in a range of different surveys about their views about immigrants and about Muslims we can see quite significant pockets of anxiety in populations across Europe. These parties are the tip of a much deeper trend,” he told al-Jazeera television.
“Their strategy is to mobilise opinion by arousing fear of the “other” — of anyone who is different: the fear of immigrants, the fear of crime, the fear of godless sexual depravity, the fear of the excessive state,” as Professor Zizek puts it, echoing the findings of the Minority Rights Group (MRG), a London-based international campaign group.
In a report, it points to a significant increase in “right-wing radicalism” in the past two years — a period of deep economic crisis. In 2009, there were unprecedented gains for Right-wing parties in parliamentary elections across Europe.
“Successes in the 2009 European Parliamentary elections, and at the national parliamentary level, have allowed these populist right-wing parties to shift formerly far-right ideas, on immigration for example, into the mainstream,” said Carl Soderbergh, MRG's Director of Policy and Communications.
There is concern that the anti-immigrant backlash could undermine European unity. The strong reaction in Brussels to President Sarkozy's attacks on Roma settlers is a sign, analysts say, of how seriously the EU is taking the issue. “The battle between France and the European Union over Paris's treatment of Roma migrants … goes to the heart of the growing threat to one of the foundation stones of the EU — the right of the bloc's 500 m citizens to live, work and study in any of the bloc's 27 countries,” said the Financial Times.
Critics warn that President Sarkozy's move — seen as an attempt to outflank Jean-Marie Le Pen's anti-immigrant National Front to which his party lost much ground in regional elections earlier this year — is a sign of the shape of things to come. They say it illustrates the “timidity” of mainstream centre-right parties in Britain, France and Germany to take on the far-Right politically. They have gone for the defeatist and lazy option based on the old playground adage that if you can't beat them, join them. In Britain, the Labour and the Tories have for long been engaged in a competitive rhetoric on immigration to steal the British National Party's thunder, and now we have President Sarkozy trying to give the NF a run for its money giving a new momentum to “a race to the bottom as to who can be more nasty to immigrants,” according to Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Britain's leading rights group, Liberty.
The prognosis doesn't look good.
Keywords: Right-wing politics, anti-immigration policy, Roma crackdown, Sweden Democrats party, Nikolas Sarkozy
The problem is essentially the inability or unwillingness to integrate. Why does one emigrate to another country & culture if one cannot, or will not, largely integrate culturally. Integration does not mean you worship their Gods, or eat their food, or marry into their society. All that will count as well. But mostly, if you merge into their society; be able to laugh at their jokes, and dress as they do. Follow your own ethnic requirements at home and in gatherings of your kind; but spare a thought to those you chose to live amongst. Keep their fears and worries about your presence amongst them by showing them that you like some or most of their practices, even if you dont adopt most of such practices yourselves.
The Native Americans failed to take the Europeans seriously as invaders for years. I wonder what the spirits of the dead Native Americans would say about Europe ignoring the invading migrants.
One of the main reasons why the United States of America became the foremost nation on earth was/is because it tolerated a wide variety of immigrants and lifestyles, as much as the immigrants absorbed an American way of life. There were many variations: the Italians, the Irish, the Jews from many countries....( alas, not the original native Americans). The newer variations are S Asian (Indian, Pakistan, Bangladeshi..who can tell the difference).
It is easy to go into a shell, but will it make Europe a better place in the long run? I don't think so.
Both sides - immigrant locals and original locals - need to merge to find a new multicultural European identity; the original Christian identity shall die in the West. As in all countries, the intermingling will happen.
Actually the Roma came from India originally were they fled from violence. The world is a complex place.
Please, Sarkozy is not Jewish and the SD is not a Neo-Nazi party...
For the rest, of course far right are exploiting the fear of immigration, Islam, unemployment and safety. But the roots of this progress lie in the mainsteam party's refusal to tackle the issue of immigration and integration (cf one of the only country unaffected is Britain, thanks in part the Labour and Tories party that put forward the debate among the citizens). If you have fears and your governement is not answering to those fears for more than 30 years, what is your solution ? Vote far right till they understand ! Sad but true, the mood in Europe is right now really gloomy and I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel...
Americans and Australians are migrants and force occupiers are they going back to their home land. Is UK going to compensate for the misdeeds autrocities done by its East India Company, not at all. We are all migrants. Then why single out Romas alone. First of all all whites from America and Australia must be thrown out then talk about Romas.
I am working in a European country right now and sadly, I see many things around me that can be identified with much of the analysis Mr Suroor has come up with. Many countries in Europe have very good social security systems in place. The govt provides, though in a limited manner, for the unemployed and there are places in europe where you get allowances if you have pet dog. This measure, initially adopted to reduce the menace of stray dogs, are being put to use by migrants and people on streets in a curios way. They adopt as many canine companions as possible and claim the allowances. Now, when people are being forced to retire late, taxes are generally towards the higher end of the scale, if not many people like to behold such acts in increasing frequency, I dont think they can be blamed for that. It translates into phobias of different shades very fast.
"People who look from outside see Europe as the bug picture. But for us, there are much bigger issues at home to settle before we think of what is good for Europe as whole. For us, the big picture is our life." I heard this over a coffee table.
One of the main reasons why the United States of America became the foremost nation on earth was/is because all immigrants supress their own cultures and join the American way of life. That is what you call "the melting pot".
Why every time the onus of being liberal and multicultural put on shoulder of Europe and America ? why not middle east , Africa ???
Europe has cherished these values for cultured , urbane migrants.Threat from Muslim immigration is legitimate as it does not try to assimilate with local culture .Emergence of right wing parties is obvious to tackle such invasive people.Also these people multiply more faster than rabbits.
If local people try to tackle such people with tough immigration rule then what is the problem ?
Instead of saying Europe is becoming rightist I will say it is becoming more conscious of some foreign cultural invasive which want to destroy very principles like liberty and freedom on which their civilization stands .
For example why on earth any country would allow million of African people in their country to give job when there are no jobs for local ? Main purpose of government of the country to improve lives of their own people not to improve all world .
I will second Sarkozy's steps against Romas as most of people from that tribe are involved in criminal activities.Why on earth any country will allowed to settle and increase social unrest ? Living conditions of those people were deplorable .Their dilapidated accommodation in tents if nothing but means to spread disease .Why France's people bear cleaning those people and feed them and taking in return crimes ?
It seems to be a turning point for the West. Primarily the freedom enjoyed by the immigrants is absolutely misused by them through their course of life for the 70 years. There are core reasons: (i) The West has given unmonitored freedom to the immigrants hailing from the countries where they were slaves (means, they never ever enjoyed freedom through generations; even now, mostly from the countries of Islamic faith). [ABSOLUTELY INDIAN IMMIGRANTS, LET THEM BE ANYWHERE ON THIS PLANET, THEY ARE THE MOST LAW ABIDING LIVING SOULS: 'The Hindu' can make a statistical analysis and get it proved] (ii) Local population growth is almost 1/10 the the population of the immigrants from the countries where there is no freedom. (iii) Islamic Immigrants fail to learn and understand and follow the local rules and regulations, and thus the sense of accountability is not developed. (iv) Due to the current ongoing financial crisis, the social support benefits are totally grabbed by the Islamic immigrants. (v) Loyalty to the immigrated country by these people is found to be not genuine. However, the West, I hope, will not return to dark ages, it will continue to go by reason.
Gnanaprahasam DN
NRI Academic from Nagercoil TN
The people are not racist as outsiders claim (and Benali doesn't know what it was like up until the 80's), but have had enough of this all by now. They simply want a better controlled and less massive immigration, safety, preserve their (Western) culture in their own country, a smaller government and their good-old freedom of speech, and refuse keep on tolerating the intolerant.
A correction on your article: the Party Freedom in the Netherlands (PVV, in the polls the about the biggest party) is a democratic party, rather centre-right. Same goes for many other new political parties in Europe.
The above article makes it compelling to compare the politics in our own country. It is brought out that the extreme right wing parties in Europe are shining during the difficult economic times of Europe. But in our own country the growth of the so-called extreme right party Bharatiya Janata Party has been notable only since the arousal of fear over the "Other" during the Ram temple movement. It is pertinent to note that the mainstream parties do not lend their ears to "real concerns" of people unless it gets reflected in the numbers to parliament.Real issues cannot be hidden away from people for a longer period.This article also clearly shows that the concept of EU or European Union is being blown away into smithereens by the actions of various governments.
This analysis is too alarming. Although "the right" has gained, it is part of the democratic process, and as long as they stay within certain percentages nothing needs to be feared. This is, in my opinion, the result of many Muslim immigrants failing to integrate and their children falling through the education system. Along with some within parts of the EU Muslim community moving to their right (Islamisation). The often highly liberal EU societies feel alienated by Middle Eastern/Arab immigrants who chose to not make the effort of adjusting to their new societies but rather regress into their nationalism. This can be seen in many European courts where a complete lack of respect and lack of understanding is shown by the Muslim defendants who think their way of life trumps a liberal democracy and the rule of secular law. The EU electorate is beginning to push back, also in the wake of the near constant terror threat by extremists. I imagine any society will have its limits and one way of drawing a line is by electing people who express a politic that shows clear boundaries. The Roma were flown back to their home countries because thousands are squatting on public land, they do not fulfill the basic needs to settle on another EU country, and make no effort to educate or integrate their children. It is remarkable that the Roma still hold no jobs, often refuse to learn local languages and continue to live a nomadic lifestyle. "Europe" is a modern society and I think may expect a minimum of effort by its citizens to adhere to basic standards. No racism, just common sense. "When in Rome, do as ......."
Well-articulated piece with a very accurate analysis of the current scenario and foreboding of things to come. Over the past few years, after 9/11, the London and Madrid bombings, and the economic crisis in 2008 the anti-immigration sentiment is plain to see in the EU. There has been a rise in overtly racist behaviour in various countries, including Australia and New Zealand, and quite possibly in the USA and Canada. Of course these countries don't realise that without the immigrants, most of whom contribute strongly to the local economies, their current plight will exacerbated. Nevertheless, when people are in trouble, financial or otherwise, they tend not to think rationally. It is far easier to blame the "other" than take a look at themselves, and see greed and indolence as the main causes of economic decline. Let us see how things pan out. I am not too hopeful of a liberal response over the next few years.
Hasan Suroor’s article makes us wonder what has happened to the ideals of modern European nations. Normally if those crusaded for equality, freedom and parliamentary democracy turn either left or right in their programmes and policies it should not be a concern for the outside world. But the situation is far from that. Country after country is witnessing rise of rabble rousers to high positions in the state. For quite sometime, it was a question of Europe being turned into Eurabia. Then it was an increasing concern of curbing immigrants to their nations. Even this witnessed a racist colour, with Britain and European countries prescribing one rule for the white Europeans and coloured Asians. We are now witnessing a rabid turn with France leading the European nations prioritizing the extermination of Roma population from its boundaries. 10 millions Romas live in Europe. Even the EU has been forced to take a strong stand against the French highhandedness against Romas. Until the mid-19th century Romania treated the Romas as slave labour! It brings before us horrible memories of Nazis’ and Communists’ extermination of Romas/Jews. Even the Pope has referred to need for the world to recognize not only ‘individual diversity’ but also the ‘diversity of communities’. If the true import of his sermon were to be followed by his followers throughout Europe, much of their misgivings, concerns and worries of their fellow- citizens practicing beliefs other than theirs and having a different skin colour would vanish.
This trend has been continuing for some time now. It is easy to conclude that the 9/11 and its fall-out hastened Europe's anti-immigrant feelings. I feel this was bound to happen and hardly surprising. While it is against Europe's history of liberalism, one has to be realistic too. It hardly makes sense when immigrants define a nation's economic, social and political process. The eruption is natural. What worries me more is a situation where immigrants demand exemption from a nation's accepted legal and social codes and refuse to accept the ground rules, which only enrages the local population and further distances them from the others.
I think the people of Europe oppose migration not only because of fear of terrorism but also a major concern about job opportunities. It is like Telangana issue here.
Many smaller EU nations have legitimate concerns based on events in the past few years. Their tolerance and civility have often been abused.
Read Ayan Hersi Ali's book "Infidel"
So, is merely expressing concerns about immigration amount to racism ? Native Europeans have a right to preserve their values against onslaught from those who don't share them. They have a right to defend the basic character of their nations from those who seek to dilute/change it.
The dramatic change in Europe over the past three decades makes me wonder why second generation immigrants cannot empathize with the locals. Europeans have distinct cultures and way of life that are centuries old and understandably, do not want it transformed to look like some Arab or Asian Country. The most obvious fear comes from people who dress and act differently because they are not mainstream. Many countries tried various forms of 'separate' development and thought that immigrants can be left to live separate lives. However, fear from home grown terror coming from radicals living in the West ,has now put fear in the minds of people. Can we blame Europe for this? Why must immigrants not be more sensitive to legitimate fears of locals. Assimilation means an overt attempt to belong and it does not stop people from being different in their private space. In a complex world that is changing so fast, immigrants must do more to be accepted!
Immigrants need to try to assimilate in to the larger society. If they don't want to do that, they should not immigrate in the first place. As long as assimilation does not happen, these kind of problems are bound to occur.
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