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The migrant crisis has, like an uncontrolled blaze tumbling through a dense forest, left few parts of Europe untouched. Stories of refugees abounded even in the part of Austria known as Burgenland, where I resided for a week during my travels on the Continent back in January.

I was staying with the great-granddaughter of my great-great-grandmothers sister, who happened to live in the small town of Breitenbrunn. This was the same town from which my great-great-grandparents emigrated in the later half of the nineteenth century to the United States in search of a better life. Burgenland, as with much of Austria and Bavaria, is quaint and idyllic. Neuseidl Lake, a popular tourist attraction in the summer, lies not far from Brietenbrunn. The region is known for its wine, and the birthplaces and residences of many a famous composer and their patrons Haydn, Liszt, Hummel, and the Esterhazy family foremost among them dot the countryside. Burgenland is well-connected to the hubs of central Europe: Vienna and Bratislava are only forty minutes away, Budapest two-and-a-half hours.

Of all the memories I amassed during my travels in Central Europe, the most poignant relate to the effects of the migrant crisis on my ancestral homeland. My uncle (the wife of my cousin with whom I was staying) apprised me of a story regarding an abandoned lorry found on the highway to Vienna: 60 migrants were found dead, having needlessly suffocated during illegal transport through the country. What is more, there was to my mind a singular irony in discovering the housing of a recently-arrived family of five Syrians directly across from Breitenbrunns towered church, which was destroyed by the Turks in the eighteenth century not long after its construction. (It was swiftly rebuilt. I made a point of standing inside, in the same spot my great-great grandparents were married well over a century ago.)

These two incidents the latter in particular colored the whole of my experience in Central Europe. I cannot think of my time among my Austrian relatives without tasting the bitterness that goes along with the most delicious sort of historical irony, where Europeans, instead of fighting their conquerors as before, have now welcomed them with open arms.

Consider the Ottoman invaders in more detail.

As I passed numerous towns and villages of sizes comparable to that of Breitenbrunn, my uncle informed me of their respective histories: most were bloody. Because Burgenland lay at the border of Austria and Hungary, it was subject to the tender mercies of the Turks as they made their way to Vienna not once but twice. Villages such as Breitenbrunn and Purbach saw nearly their entire populations murdered en masse survivors had to seek refuge in nearby forests.

This is not to say the Ottomans exercised a solely destructive influence on Austria. For one, their historical exploits explain Austrians mania for coffee (my relatives and I drank cups of the stuff with nearly every meal). In Purbach a yearly festival is held, where the populace dresses la turque for days on end, while the rest of Burgenland sojourns forth to view their revelries with much amusement. Even to the south, pasta is said to have been brought to Italy by the invaders.

Now turn your attention to the modern-day migrants.

Although the family was Syrian in origin and not Turkish, one cannot help but make this connection between the Muslim conquerors of the past, and the Muslim migrants of the present. Europe does not face the threat of extirpation as it did centuries ago at the hands of the Ottomans, but the mass movement of Middle Eastern and African peoples to European nations does indeed constitute a form of religious, cultural, and demographic conquest.

The injurious results of unrestrained Islamic immigration require mention. Crime in Vienna has skyrocketed, as have Austrian gun sales (presumably for self-defense). The current governing coalition, including the center-right party, has deemed it necessary to pass legislation banning the burqa and initiating integration and community service programs for refugees. These measures only highlight the difficulties of integrating persons and families lacking the necessary language and job skills no less from Islamist countries into a post-Enlightenment European society such as Austria.

What could possibly induce a people so proud of their culture to concede so much ground and offer such hospitality to recent arrivals, arrivals who strike a concordant note with the faith of the violent conquerors of earlier centuries?

One answer might lie in the multicultural nature of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the nineteenth century: Kaiser Franz Joseph and the beloved Empress Sisi presided over an ethnically diverse realm whose power was concentrated in the overwhelmingly liberal and cosmopolitan Vienna the Vienna of the Strausses, Freud, Klimt, Trotsky, Stalin, Hitler, Wittgenstein. Maybe the Austria of the twentieth century, anti-Semitic and nationalist, was but an aberration from an inherent Austrian predilection for getting along with Hungarians, Serbs, Croats and yes, now Middle Eastern peoples.

Having spoken with my uncle, I got the vague sense that some Austrians compare the plight of the refugees to those Eastern Europeans who fled communist oppression in favor of the freedom offered by capitalist Europe. My uncle recalled a bridge not far from Breitenbrunn on the Austro-Hungarian border where Hungarians were shot in the back as they attempted to enter Austria, a country once united to theirs under one crown. Later, he makes a point of driving me, in the dead of night, past the location of a picnic jointly held by Austrians and East Germans in an expression of solidarity. But this begs the question: are Muslim migrants from the Third World analogous to the Europeans who suffered behind the Iron Curtain?

I must reject this as a pretty poor analogy, or even a disanology. This Syrian family, that group of 60 migrants who suffocated in the lorry they did not necessarily flee a totalitarian regime bent on impoverishing them and controlling their lives. They were far more likely to have been motivated for economic reasons to make the trek far into the heart of Europe than the atrocities of the Assad rgime. And even if Assads murderous actions or those of the brutal Islamist rebels prompted their escape from Syria, the danger nipping at their heels stopped at the border of their own country. Refugee camps choke nations of goodwill such as Lebanon, and although they are crowded and less-than-ideal, they provide immediate shelter from the woes of war. These young men and the occasional family passed through these camps and Turkey as well as Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, and yes, even Austria to get to Germany or some Scandinavian country such as Sweden, where they would receive the most generous support in the form of welfare benefits. And I have yet to speak of those many hundreds of thousands of North Africans, who are purely motivated by economic opportunity to board ships at the risk of drowning to travel to Italy and other nations. What is more, the vast majority of the migrants I have just described are not European, neither culturally nor ethnically, unlike the refugees of Eastern Europe. Both in point of fact and morally, refugees from communism and migrants from the Third World are not equivalent.

On the way to Budapest an accident forces my uncle and I to sit in the morning sun, which has yet to melt the patches of alabaster snow off the swarthy countryside. We exit our car and converse with fellow travelers. A native of Budapest, without prompting, launches into something of a tirade concerning the migrant crisis. It sounds rehearsed but only because it has been the subject of common conversation. He laments the fact that the majority of migrants are young men who readily commit crime. He also decries what he calls lies: he emphatically states he and his fellow Hungarians were told the people fleeing terror and bloodshed in the Middle East were families and children, not these young men. He feels cheated. My uncle keeps mum on the subject.

As an American I must admit not without irony the situation of many of these migrants is closer to that of the Eastern Europeans who sailed to the New World beginning in the 1870s. My great-great-grandfather and his family left Breitenbrunn, along with many thousands of other Europeans, looking for superior economic conditions rather than rgime change.

As I left the very church where my great-great-grandparents were wed, I could not help but ponder one of either two possibilities: that Burgenlanders are either blind to the historical irony of housing Muslim migrants across from a church Turks once burned to the ground, or that historical guilt weighs so heavily on their psyches that they swallow this irony as just another bitter pill. I hope it is the former.

Originally posted here:
The European Migrant Crisis And Historical Amnesia: A Personal Testament From Austria - The Liberty Conservative

By Jeffrey T. Fowler, Ph.D.Faculty Member, School of Security and Global Studies at American Military University

The nations of the European Union and the United States are justifiably concerned about Islamic extremism. At the heart of this dilemma is what has been called a clash of civilizations. While there are certainly many millions of peaceful Muslims in the world, there is also a radical element that seeks to destabilize the EU and ultimately to replace it with a caliphate.

The stated intent of this radical and increasingly powerful minority is the destruction of Western culture in Europe. The causes of the current crisis are rooted in colonial and post-colonial immigration from former colonies into Europe due to war and the continuing instability in the Middle East since 9/11.

One could easily write a large book on European colonialism and its effects. This has been done numerous times. Suffice it to say that in 1914, the European Great Powers ruled a very large part of the world. The colonization of Africa in the 19th and early part of the 20th century was indicative of that trend.

Under that system, the European powers took raw materials from the underdeveloped parts of the world and sold them finished goods. This clearly rapacious system harmed many emerging nations and discouraged immigration from these colonies to Europe.

This system continued until the end of World War II when it crumbled as more and more colonial entities began to choose independence from their European masters. Once countries in Asia, Africa and other parts of the world were free, immigration to Europe increased as emigrants left poverty and corrupt governments in hopes of finding a better life abroad.

Unfortunately, many immigrants to Europe seeking advancement and a better life lacked the skills necessary to ensure their success in a highly industrialized society. The socialist states of Europe provided the immigrants with the basic life necessities, which only encouraged more immigration. The civil war in Syria and the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) spurred the most recent wave of immigrants to the EU.

The main topic of debate on refugee immigration to Europe today is the question of assimilation or deliberate separation? Historically, in both the U.S. and Europe, immigrants sought to assimilate into the host culture while maintaining their cultural and language heritage. Maintaining ones heritage and assimilation into a host culture are not opposing goals.

The threat to Western societies comes from those who immigrate to the EU with no intention of assimilating, those who wish to enforce a deliberate separation from the host culture. This immigrant population (small in number, but ruthless and increasingly powerful) seeks to overthrow the existing host culture and replace it with its own views on ethics, religion and justice that are far removed from Western norms. This is a problem with militant migrants today particularly in the UK, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

With the exception of Switzerland and Hungary, few European countries have taken truly decisive action to quell migrant extremism.

What to do about mass migration and radicalization of some immigrants living in the EU has been debated for years. The Pew Foundation broke down European views on the refugee crisis into a series of five charts.

The Left claims that globalism and cultural relativism teach us that societies must embrace all people. This perspective, as well as the opposing mainly isolationist view, have been extensively debated in Europe. Some Europeans who wish to keep immigration at a high level, even though there are many problems, have been labeled as apologists. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been accused of this position.

Others have been labelled right-wing extremists for taking the opposing view. Some might consider the Polish EU Member of Parliament Janusz Korwin-Mikke, a rightwing extremist. Then there are those who changed their minds on the issue due to events such as British Prime Minister Theresa May. At first she was quite supportive of the Muslim population in Britain. However, the Manchester bombing and the London Bridge attack seem to have changed her mind somewhat. Having been roundly defeated in last weeks snap election, we dont know what her next steps will be, if she manages to retain power.

Recent research by the Pew Research Center suggests that much of the European body politic is not pleased with how the EU has managed the refugee crisis. But there are no easy solutions. There are three primary perspectives on how to solve the problem. As noted above, there is the view of the liberal left, the view of the conservative right, and those who hold to a more moderate stance.

One of the disturbing issues is that the terms nationalism and populism are seen as negatives in the immigration debate. While Europe has a very long history of nation-state conflicts, there is certainly nothing wrong in love of ones country and culture, and wishing to preserve them. Populism is also necessary at times.

In the U.S., the recent presidential election highlighted that perhaps a sizable portion of American voters were simply tired of what they saw as cultural elitist stances by both the Republican and Democratic parties. Populism can disturb the status quo, as weve seen in Senator Bernie Sanders 2016 populist campaign in the U.S. presidential election and the recent victorious campaign by President Emmanuel Macron in France.

Indeed, populism can lead to positive changes either by replacing traditional parties or causing those parties to modify their positions for the public good. Only time will tell how the immigration crisis in the EU will be decided. But if history is any indicator, there will be an end to it one day.

About the Author

Jeffrey T. Fowler, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the School of Security and Global Studies at American Military University. He holds a B.A. in law enforcement from Marshall University, an M.A. in military history from Vermont College of Norwich University and a Ph.D. in business administration with a concentration in criminal justice from Northcentral University. Jeffrey is also a published author, a former New York deputy sheriff and a retired Army Captain, having served over 20 years in the U.S. Army. He teaches both graduate and undergraduate classes on global terrorism.

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There's No Solution in Sight to the Migrant Crisis in the European Union - In Homeland Security

By Anna Momigliano By Anna Momigliano June 15 at 9:16 AM

Two months ago Giusi Nicolini, the mayor of a small Italian island with a population of 6,000, received the prestigious UNESCO Peace Prize. Lampedusa, the island 70 miles from the Tunisian coast that she has been governing since 2012, has experienced an influx of refugees over the past few years, and Nicolini got the award because of the boundless humanity and unwavering commitment with which she managed the refugee crisis.

In the past few years, Nicolini had become a national symbol of Lampedusa's willingness to help those fleeing war and poverty: When President Obama hosted a state dinner in honor of then-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in 2016, Renzi brought her along as one of the people who represented the best of Italy.

Yet Nicolini failed to get reelected when local elections were held last Sunday. Not only that, she did not even come second, losing disastrously to an opponent who, during the campaign, famously said that he cannot stand seeing migrants swarming everywhere.

So, does Nicolini's defeat mean that being nice to migrants could cost a politician their seat?

People on the right were quick to celebrate the election results as proof that Italians are tired of helping out immigrants and asylum-seekers.

Matteo Salvini, the leader of the anti-immigration Northern League, mocked Nicolini for what he described as feel-good propaganda that cost her the election. Conservative activists joyfully posted altered images representing the former mayor as an illegal immigrant expelled from the country and memes claiming she is an agent of George Soros, the liberal tycoon whom conspiracy theorists accuse of being behind the wave of African immigration to Europe.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Nicolini said she has been insulted for the national and international attention she got because of the migrant crisis: They called me 'ladra di medaglie,' medals thief, and accused me of talking too much to the media. But I was just trying to promote the image of the island.

Lampedusa's economy revolves around fishing and tourism and Nicolini said that, during her tenure, she tried to balance the moral duty to welcome migrants and the need to keep the island appealing for tourists and with good results: the tourism business grew 36 percent.

It's true that the new mayor, Salvatore Tot Martello, had used harsher language about migrants. Martello, who, like Nicolini, belongs to the center-left Democratic Party, won the election focusing his campaign on the promise of obtaining financial compensation for fishermen whose business is allegedly hurt by the shipwrecks of migrants boats. He contends that the presence of sunken ships in that area of the Mediterranean is damaging the fishermen's nets.

However, after the elections, he immediately toned down his approach, expressing his respect for migrants who risk their lives at sea.

Alessandro Puglia, a freelance journalist who did extensive work on Lampedusa and authored a documentary about the island, is skeptical that the election results had anything to do with the migrant crisis. He noted in an interview that Lampedusa's residents have demonstrated their solidarity throughout the decades: Migrants have been coming to the island since the 1990s and locals have always offered them food and blankets. Moreover, it was often the fishermen of Lampedusa who rescued migrants at sea.

If anything, said Puglia, some of the locals resented the fact that the mayor was getting all the attention, while their work remained largely unknown to the wider world.

Nicolini acknowledges the migrant crisis was just one of the factors, claiming that her policy of sustainable growth made her enemies among investors and developers less concerned with the environment.

But whether the migrant crisis was a determining factor in the local elections of this small island remains debatable, it is pretty clear that it is becoming a hot-button issue nationally. With elections scheduled next year, two of the country's major parties, the Five Star Movement and the Northern League, are heavily campaigning against immigration the latter openly using Nicolini as a target. According to a recent poll, 62 percent of Italians would favor a stricter immigration policy.

Original post:
An Italian mayor won an international award for helping migrants. Then she lost her job. - Washington Post

European Migrant Crisis: EU open cases against Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland over migration quotas

The European Union stepped up its efforts in taking a hard line stance against several countries, namely Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic which have refused to entertain the migrant quotas adopted by the European Union. In an effort to reduce the pressure on individual countries, the European Union led by Germany adopted a migrant quota system, under which all member states will have to share the burden of the refugee crisis that saw millions of people arriving in Europe mainly via Greece and Italy from war-torn regions in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. Poland and Hungary have refused to accept a single refugee, while the Czech Republic backed out earlier this month, citing security concerns, after taking in just 12 from their quota of almost 2,700.

Over the past years, the European Union has threatened to end its financial support to the above-mentioned countries if it fails to accept the migrant quota. Dismayed over the failure of these states to accept asylum-seekers, the European Commission has decided to step up and send letters of formal notice to Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. These letters are the first step toward opening cases against the countries for not living up to their legal obligations. Despite these efforts, Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec told that any decision to punish the country over the quotas would lead to a loss of trust in the EU. In a government-backed referendum last October, a huge majority of Hungarians rejected the EUs mandatory migrant resettlement scheme. But low turnout rendered the referendum invalid.

Forcing asylum seekers to countries like Poland and Hungary could have a ripple effect and could lead to EU membership referendums in those countries.

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European Migrant Crisis: EU open cases against Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland over migration quotas - EconoTimes

ROME Pope Francis sent a letter last week to the Latin American Parliament as they discuss migration in the region, encouraging governments to protect all who reside in their territory regardless of their origin.

As members of a large family, we must work to place the person at the centre; this is not a mere number or an abstract entity but a brother or sister who needs our help and a friendly hand, the Pope wrote in his June 7 letter to the Latin American Parliament, which is holding its 33rd General Assembly.

The assembly of representatives from 23 Latin American and Caribbean countries is meeting to discuss migration in the region and international responses.

Francis offered his congratulations to the parliament on this initiative that aims to help and make life more dignified for those who, having a homeland, regrettably do not find in their countries adequate conditions of security and subsistence and are forced to flee.

The popes message highlighted three themes: reality, dialogue, and commitment. He explained how each of these can be oriented toward developing effective humanitarian aid for migrant peoples.

Speaking about his first chosen word, reality, Francis emphasized knowing the causes of migration.

This requires not only analysis of this situation from the study desk, he said, but also in contact with people, that is to say with real faces. He warned against an aseptic analysis which produces sterile measurements, instead encouraging the parliament to pursue a relationship with a person in the flesh (which) helps us to perceive the deep scars that he carries with him, caused by the reason, or unreason, of migration.

Francis expressed hope that the assembly would produce valid responses for migrants and host countries, as well as security which is based in reality.

Dialogue is indispensable in this work, Francis explained. One cannot work in isolation; we all need each other.

He condemned the throwaway culture, calling instead for member nations to work for approaches which welcome migrants fairly and efficiently. He emphasized the need for unity in dialogue, saying that attaining a consensus between the parties is a craft; a meticulous, almost imperceptible task but essential for shaping agreements and regulations.

Dialogue is essential to foster solidarity with those who have been deprived of their fundamental rights, Francis said.

Speaking on commitment, the pope cautioned against spending too much energy on the detailed analysis and the debate of ideas, saying instead that a solution must be sought.

Latin America and the Caribbean have an important international role and the opportunity to become key players in this complex situation, he said.

He emphasized the need for mid-term as well as long-term planning so that aid can extend beyond emergency responses. This, he said, will allow for migrants integration into their new nations and, assistance in the lands they fled.

Francis called special attention to the needs of children in this struggle, recalling their right to be children, and once more spoke out against human trafficking, which he described as a scourge.

He acknowledged the enormity of the work, saying that we need men and women of good will who, with their concrete commitment, can respond to this cry.

I urge national governments to assume their responsibilities to all those residing in their territory, the pope said, and I reiterate the commitment of the Catholic Church, through the presence of the local and regional Churches, to responding to this wound.

In closing, Pope Francis encouraged the assembly in their work on this crisis, and prayed for the intercession of the Holy Virgin, recalling the Holy Familys flight to Egypt. He asked for the prayers of the assembly, and asked God to bless them.

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Francis: Migrant crisis require focus on reality, dialogue, commitment - Crux: Covering all things Catholic