Reactionary Behavior Toward European Refugees

One thing about that invasion of Western Europe by Syrian and other Mid East refugees the past year or so we see is the old "buyer's remorse" syndrome. What was initially a trendy, emotional, feel good action is now seen by many of those Western European nations and citizens as a bad idea. Now they say, why should Europe take in huge numbers of people who will never have the desire or who will actually assimilate into the culture and laws of their new home? Maybe refugees impacted by a civil war should be temporarily resettled safely and quickly in nations located adjacent to the civil war, countries more in line with the profiles of the immigrants.

Too late! And now many places in Western Europe have started to deport large numbers of them (they make Donald Trump's claim that he can deport every illegal immigrant into the U.S. almost seen possible). The Europeans also have become less than welcoming toward those Syrian refugees. Discrimination against, rather than welcoming is the more common mode in Germany, France, Scandinavia and other resettlement places. It reinforces some axioms of immigration; 1) never allow too many immigrants at once, for that hinders assimilation and 2) never allow immigrants in who are not capable of assimilating, not willing to assimilate, and not able to offer something for their new country besides accepting the fruits it offers to the immigrant him or her self.

And now we see mean spirited behaviors against the immigrants by Western European nations and populations, Germany, for example, may soon ban full face veils worn by Muslim women in certain circumstances, the latest instance of a European nation restricting Muslim fashion. The German Interior Minister said in a televised speech that a full veil “does not belong in our cosmopolitan country.  We agree that we reject the burqa (a full-body covering), we agree that we want to introduce a legal requirement to show one's face in places where it is necessary for our society's co-existence at the wheel, at public offices, at the registry office, in schools and universities, in the civil service, in court,”
Really? I thought Germany was democratic. Would those Germans be so accepting of such a ban if the German government n banned, say the dirndl and all other traditional German outfits? And in France, a nation not known for welcoming outsiders of any kind, a number of seaside towns, including Cannes, banned the Burkina  (a full body swimsuit). At least four women have been fined for wearing Burkina in Cannes since the ban was introduced  this month. Hmmm I wonder what the reaction in cannes would be if nude bathing were banned there?

When the mayor of Leucate, Franc  announced a ban on the Burkina this week. he said that “It is about respecting the principle of secularism, This is the public domain, and (the Burkina) is an ostentatious religious sign.” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said  Wednesday that the Burkina were “not compatible with the values of the French Republic,” but he refused to introduce a nationwide ban. France already has a nationwide ban against full face veils, as does Belgium. Some cities in Spain and Italy also have such bans. Many of those were implemented after the Islamic fanatic attack in Nice in July.

But there are also many Europeans opposed to this kind of  legislation. Their view is that to legislate against Muslim cultural habits that have no harmful affect on anyone in those nations is a counterproductive and can actual engender more reasons for Islamic hate attacks as a result.  Stigmatizing a whole group of people who you said were welcome to live and become citizens of your nations, and are also under threat from terrorism, is well...a kind of mini terrorism itself