I found the Netherlands' plan to ban Burkas amusing in its functional similarity to Iran's clothing requirements, which all the right-wing British newspapers were briefly up-in-arms about during the recent hostage situation. France and Germany's plan to ban the wearing of religious symbols in schools seemed a little iffy, even if well-meaning in its egalitarian nature, as long as you pretend there's parity between European and Middle-Eastern religiosity. Jack Straw's requests provoked quite a splash as well; although I didn't find his actions particularly vexing. Even as far back as the nineties anti-immigration parties managed to win over a sizeable proportion of the Danish electorate. And now France is
bribing immigrants into leaving. I can't decide what's out of control, immigration (legal and illegal) or desperate policy-making.
I read an article a while ago arguing that governments won't do a lot in regard to illegal immigration because the cost of deportation would be enormous. I'd probably agree but that's not my vexation. I tend to wonder how this will affect the European polity and polities. The phrase "fortress europe" is pretty old-hat now but that doesn't really examine the social implications.
I tend to ignore the right-wing newspapers when they jabber on about this issue. But recently I've noticed more articles on BBC news online about strains on the NHS coming from eastern-european immigration, for example. When a trusted arguably left-wing broadcaster starts on the issue I tend to think it's more likely to spill over into the broader electorate and non-voting community. Indeed, I don't really think it's just the right-wing media's prevarications as I've noticed quite a lot of Polish immigration in middle-sized British cities.
Personally I'm not that bothered - I want freedom of movement in Europe and I'd be a hypocrite if I denied that to others - but I do not count myself as statistically normal so to speak. The one issue I do have is the plurality of languages, not because I dislike hearing other languages, but because it seems to indicate a lack of integration.
Obviously we're not complete neophytes to the integration game. The Hindu and Sikh communities from my experience have integrated well, in comparision to the Muslim community (mainly because those religions seems to have fewer requirements than Islam and, you know, we're not bombing and pillaging India anymore in comparison to the middle-east). But its increase make me wonder how things will change.
I see two possibilities. The first is an acceptance of social plurality. The
yes there is immigration from Europe and farther afield, but that's okay because it's not like I'm threatened by immigration kind of attitude. Or the
ger off me land ye foreigner kind of attitude. So the second is a fear of plurality and therefore the increased likelihood of action, governmental and social, towards a protection of the majority against the minorities to ward off extraneous cultural influences and the consequences on the labour market for example. These are obviously generalisations but they serve as good delineations.
So, what do you think this increased immigration, and focus on it, will lead to, using the above delineation if it serves your explanation. Personally, I'd want the former - tolerance of social plurality - with initiatives towards integration, but I'm unsure if the rest of the United Kingdom is behind me. Therefore, this thread.