France Awakens from Migration Delirium

A recent poll shows the French have had enough.

Bari, 2023. december 30. Illegális bevándorlók regisztrálnak, miután az õket szállító Ocean Viking hajó kikötött a dél-olaszországi Bariban 2023. december 30-án. A civilhajó összesen 244 migránst vett fedélzetére a líbiai partok közelében. MTI/EPA/ANSA/Donato Fasano Fotó: Donato Fasano

France awakens to migratory pressure

Since the end of the Second World War, the birth rate in France has never dipped as low as it is today. According to the latest figures, only 678,000 children were born in 2023, a drop of 6.6% compared to the previous year. Faced with this demographic challenge, some governments have proposed accepting more immigrants to offset the population decline. This is how entire neighborhoods in romantic Paris have been transformed in just a few decades. 

It doesn't look like Europe but it's Paris. pic.twitter.com/U2hjfsDdPi

— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) January 19, 2024

A recent poll shows that an overwhelming majority of the population does not support policy makers' use of immigration to bump the birth rate.

In a survey prepared for CNews, Europe 1 and Le Journal du Dimanche, 69% of respondents rejected the idea of using immigrants to solve social problems and boost the French economy.

Looking at the gender breakdown of those questioned, the survey reveals that 71 percent of women reject such government efforts, compared to 67 percent of men. All age groups have a negative view of today's migration policies, with the elderly being the most dismissive. 

The results also showed that supporters of the National Rally party led by Jordan Bardella were the most averse with 94 percent, closely followed by voters of Eric Zemmour's conservative party with 92 percent.

 

Germany sinks further with migrant masses 

While the French are waking up, in Germany the Social Democrat-Green-Liberal government has pushed the much-debated citizenship law through the federal parliament. In future, foreigners will generally be able to obtain citizenship after just five years in Germany, instead of the previous eight. In special cases, expedited naturalization will also be possible after 36 months of residence in Germany. Children of foreigners who have lived in Germany for more than five years will automatically receive a German passport.

Under the plans, older migrants who have lived in Germany for a longer period will not have to prove their command of the German language and will not have to pass a naturalization test. In 2022 - the last year with up-to-date data available - 170,000 Muslim migrants were naturalized. The main countries of origin included Syria (around 50,000), Turkey (around 14,000), Iraq and Romania (around 7,000 each).

Experts estimate that a total of around 2.5 million foreigners will be eligible to apply for a German passport and obtain the right to vote. This number includes hundreds of thousands of migrants who entered Germany illegally in 2015 and 2016.

The draft has been sharply criticized by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), as well as by the Alternative for Germany (AfD). Alexander Dobrindt, CSU parliamentary group leader, slammed the proposal, saying 

the government is selling out the German passport.

Mariana Harder-Kuhnel from AfD stressed that 

the rules for obtaining German citizenship should be tightened, not relaxed further. A German passport should be earned through serious evidence of economic and cultural integration.

What the federal government is about to do will only help organized crime, enabling people smuggling networks to recruit more clients, the AfD argues.

Initially, the Liberals, the smallest party in government, raised serious concerns and firmly stated that they would vote against the citizenship law in the Bundestag, but on Friday, they obediently agreed to take this big step.

Cover photo: Illegal migrants register after arrival in Europe (Photo: MTI/EPA/ANSA/Donato Fasano)