Islamic world + democratization = Camp of the Saints to the nth power

How many millions of refugees have fled Iraq since we “democratized” the place eight years ago? And Iraq has a population of 25 million. So how many refugees will flee Muslim North Africa and the Muslim Near East, with a population of 185 million, if the whole region “democratizes” itself? The below story from AFP (via Vdare) about Tunisians invading Italy gives a glimpse of what the future might hold in store.

And notice how the Italian government seems to be treating the refugees as humanitarian victims to be received and taken care of, not as invaders to be sent home. That’s the Camp of the Saints syndrome.

(UPDATE: In a story very different from AFP’s, the New York Times today reports that Italy wants its armed forces to go to Tunisia to stop the refugee influx.)

Italy declares emergency as asylum-seekers overwhelm remote island

Italy’s government called a humanitarian emergency on Saturday after thousands of asylum-seekers sailed across the Mediterranean from Tunisia, overwhelming authorities on a remote island.

“The cabinet today … has proclaimed a state of humanitarian emergency following the influx of the large number of citizens from North Africa,” the government said in a statement.

The statement said that the decision to call an official emergency would enable civil protection officers “to take immediate action needed to control this phenomenon and assist citizens who have fled from North Africa.”

In particular, the move will enable the central government to release funds for local authorities in areas which have been inundated by the wave of refugees, most of whom have fled to the tiny island of Lampedusa.

The majority of the asylum-seekers have come from nearby Tunisia, in the wake of the North African country’s revolution four weeks ago.

Nearly 3,000 illegal immigrants have landed in Italy since Wednesday, according to a number of sources, including 250 overnight.

Most were packed into small fishing boats that were intercepted by coast guards and then taken to Lampedusa where they were given blankets and received medical care after stepping off the boats.

Hundreds have had to sleep out in the open at the port because of a lack of facilities on the island, while others were taken to local hotels.

The Italian authorities have organised an airlift and put a ferry into service to take some of the immigrants off Lampedusa, transporting them to identification centres in southern Sicily.

However around a thousand immigrants were still stuck on Lampedusa on Saturday despite the efforts to clear the island.

Italy made a formal request on Friday for aid from the European Union to combat what it warned was a looming humanitarian crisis, saying the EU’s justice and home affairs council should meet immediately.

In a joint statement, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni and Foreign Minister Franco Frattini also requested “the immediate deployment of a Frontex mission for patrolling and interception off the Tunisian coast,” referring to the EU’s border security agency based in Warsaw.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 14, 2011 10:33 AM | Send