Rise of the Far Right !

It looks like Europe is facing a repeat of the years 2015 and 2016 when a flood of middle east migrants seeking shelter from civil war in both Syria and Iraq poured across national borders and provoked serious unrest wherever they were allowed to settle.

The plug in the neck of the bottle has been Turkey.  It is clear that the Assad regime has won the civil war in Syria and with the help of Russian war planes it is mopping up the last pockets of resistance with total disregard for human life.  Hospitals and refugee camps have come under attack and fleeing hordes have augmented the already crowded numbers already in Turkey awaiting settlement wherever they will be accepted.

Initially, Angela Merkel  opened Germany's door and this provoked an angry backlash from the German population.  Merkel is now a fading figure on the German political scene and migrants already in Germany have revived interest in far right politics.  A thinly disguised replica of Hitler's old National Socialism won enough votes to establish a presence in the German parliament.

Now Turkey is threatening to unleash the hordes in its country onto a totally unprepared Europe.  The Turkish government has announced that " it will not stop them leaving " and this has resulted in thousands flooding out of Turkish refugee camps and trying to cross the border into Greece.  Greek border guards are trying to stop them with tear gas but the most likely outcome is that the pressure will become unstoppable and as happened in those earlier years the Greeks will give them free passage to stream into other European countries.

Europe has clearly signalled that it is unwilling to provide a new home for people of a different religion and social outlook.  Few want to settle in any country other than Germany and the prospect of new hordes pouring over borders has given extreme right wing politicians offering solutions a fast growing popularity in many European countries.  In many instances, this rekindles the animosity that for centuries has afflicted Jews wherever they have settled.

The timing of this new wave battering at Europe's door is unfortunate.  Britain's exit from the EU remains to be finally negotiated and the remaining countries were looking forward to living the European dream of travel across national borders without the need for either passports or visas - and with a common currency.  That would only be possible in a Europe with a stable population.  A new migrant influx would make that dream an unreality.

The obvious answer would be the restoration of peace in the middle east that allowed those refugee hordes to return to their old homes, but that has no hope of ever becoming an eventuality.  The middle east is the location of much of the world's oil supply and is too tightly wound in the machinations of the great powers.  This imbroglio started centuries earlier when those great powers carved up the middle east to suit their own interests and totally disregarded both the religion and the tribal loyalties of the people that lived there.

Europe caused this problem, and now it seems that the chickens are coming home to roost !