As European governments slam the gates shut on illegal Middle Eastern immigrants, where can Syrians and others go, not far from their homelands, for safety and employment? The answer is obvious but surprisingly neglected: Saudi Arabia and the other rich Arab sheikhdoms.
The more than 1 million migrants who boated, trained, bussed and walked to Europe in the past year overwhelmed the continent's capabilities and goodwill. Those large numbers were then exacerbated by crime and disease, an unwillingness to assimilate, a drive to impose Islamic laws, and such outrages as the Cologne taharrush (mass sexual assault) and the attacks in Paris and Brussels.
In reaction, populist and fascist parties (such as, respectively, the National Front in France and Jobbik in Hungary) gained strength. The European mood has so deeply shifted — as shown by the March elections in Germany — that much reduced numbers of illegal immigrants are likely to get in, no matter what new routes they try, such as via Italy.
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