Ukraine is forgotten as Europe's anti-immigrant politicians battle for power

Memories of the millions displaced by war are fading - and migrant-sceptic politicians are on the march again

Migrants arriving in Europe via the Mediterranean are a sensitive election issue in Italy. AP

After the crisis in Ukraine moved many European countries to adopt an unusually generous stance on arriving refugees, migrant-sceptic politicians are finding their voices again in a flurry of electoral manoeuvring at home.

Italy is tipped to elect a right-wing government at a snap election next month which would not only toughen the country’s stance on Mediterranean boat crossings but push for a harder line from the European Union as a whole.

The two rivals to be Britain’s next prime minister are each trying to look tougher on migration than the other, with one hoping to expand the controversial Rwanda deal and the other suggesting leaving asylum seekers on cruise ships.

In France, a hardline minister seen as a possible successor to Emmanuel Macron as president has championed a bill to throw out foreigners if they do not conform to French values.

And in Sweden, which is facing a gang-crime epidemic that some politicians are blaming on unsuccessful integration policies, immigration is an issue at the forefront of a general election campaign entering its final weeks.

Italy

An election on September 25 could bring a hard-right coalition to power composed of the migrant-sceptic Brothers of Italy and League parties and the party of former premier Silvio Berlusconi.

The two far-right parties seized on a summer rush of migrants to Lampedusa, a Mediterranean island at Italy’s southern tip, to push their anti-migrant policies after the snap election was called.

Giorgia Meloni, the Brothers of Italy leader who sought this week to distance her party from its neo-fascist heritage, called for a “naval blockade” to stop migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa.

The League, led by former interior minister Matteo Salvini, who made a name for himself as an immigration hardliner during his time in office, is promising that “border control will be back” if it comes to power.

Mr Salvini said on a recent campaign stop in Lampedusa that he would not accept Italy being the “refugee camp for Europe” ― setting up a potential battle with Italy’s EU neighbours if he returns to office.

“A right-wing Italian government would loudly demand that other countries take in a large share of the migrants who arrive in Italy,” Luigi Scazzieri, an expert on Italy and the EU at the Centre for European Reform, told The National.

“In general, a right-wing government in Italy would reinforce the current focus of EU migration policy on preventing migrants from reaching Europe in the first place, through operational co-operation with countries like Libya, Morocco and Turkey, and trying to return those migrants that make it to Europe but have their asylum applications rejected.”

From left, Matteo Salvini, Giorgia Meloni and Silvio Berlusconi could form a right-wing coalition after Italy's election. Reuters

Britain

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, the two rivals bidding to lead Britain, have both said that the policy of deporting illegal migrants to Rwanda will stay in place despite criticism from the UN, the Church of England and the Civil Service.

Far from shunning the idea, a source on Ms Truss’s campaign sought to give her partial credit for it by saying she worked closely with Home Secretary Priti Patel to “formulate the generation-defining Rwanda policy”.

But both have promised to go farther. Ms Truss said she would pursue similar arrangements with other countries besides Rwanda ― although Turkey dismissed the idea that it could be one of them.

Border Force staff would grow by 20 per cent under a Truss government and the number of maritime officers would double, her campaign said, while reforms are envisaged to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Mr Sunak’s camp floated the idea that asylum seekers could be housed on cruise ships off Britain’s coast, instead of being put up in hotels at public expense.

It was part of a 10-point plan that also calls for a tighter definition of asylum, pressuring other countries to take back deportees, and a favourite crowd-pleasing tactic: tell the French to get their act together.

But the Truss campaign hit back at the cruise-ship idea by suggesting it would breach international law and was not “grounded in reality”.

British lifeguards help migrants off a boat after they were picked up while trying to cross the English Channel. AFP

France

Emmanuel Macron’s centrist government lost its majority at parliamentary elections in June and either has to work with a hostile left or co-operate with the right and far-right to form majorities in parliament.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin is widely believed to have another political calculation on his mind ― the prospect of running for president in 2027 when Mr Macron will be ineligible for a third term.

Mr Darmanin is on the warpath against illegal immigration, with proposals to stop deportations being bogged down in the courts and double prison sentences for smugglers from 10 to 20 years.

One eye-catching idea was to make a residence permit conditional on accepting French values, such as secularism and equality between men and women, as well as adequate French language skills.

“Today, foreigners represent 7 per cent of the French population and commit 19 per cent of acts of delinquency. Refusing to see it is simply denying reality,” he told Le Figaro.

But he said in the same interview that a new immigration bill would be parked for the time being while consultation takes place, after reports that some members of Mr Macron’s party were wary of the idea.

The far-right National Rally was unsatisfied with Mr Darmanin’s efforts. “The immigration bill which he boasted about so much is already falling apart,” said party spokesman Laurent Jacobelli.

Gerald Darmanin, behind French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he is tipped to succeed in 2027, at a campaign stop in April. AFP

Sweden

Sweden votes for a new parliament on September 11, with Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson bidding for a full term after taking the helm of a fragile Social Democrat-led coalition last year.

She survived a messy confidence vote partly because other MPs were willing to allow a right-wing coalition to come to power with the participation of the far-right, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.

One of Ms Andersson’s main campaign pitches is “breaking segregation” to tackle the gangland underworld that has plagued Sweden with violent crime in recent years ― a problem she has linked to failed integration policies.

The Sweden Democrats, who explicitly blame immigration for rising crime, want to stop all asylum claims from outside Sweden’s “immediate area” and tighten migration rules “to the strictest possible level according to EU law”.

“Sweden's immigration policy must always be more restrictive than that of our neighbouring countries or any other country in the EU,” a party platform says.

The centre-right Moderates, second in the polls behind Ms Andersson’s party, have called for new language requirements for residence permits and compulsory pre-school teaching for children who do not speak Swedish.#

Gangland crime blamed on failed integration policies by some politicians is a focus of Sweden's election campaign. AP