A new Ipsos survey conducted for Italian daily Corriere della Sera shows that an overwhelming 71 percent of Italians think the country is “going in the wrong direction” with immigration.
The number is up from 59 percent in 2016, according to the Daily Express. Overall concern for stricter border controls and vetting has exploded from 3 percent to 35 percent in just three years
Mariano Falcone, member of the Eurosceptic Northern League, has vowed to chain himself to the gates of the port in the southern Italian city of Salerno, in protest against migrants flooding into his city.
“We cannot take on the burden of all these desperate people, Italy has its own problems,” he told the Financial Times. According to Falcone, the influx will lead to “ethnic substitution”, and is an “attempt at the Islamisation” of Italy.
He said the likelihood of “ferocious social clashes” between poor Italians and the growing immigrant population was real. The Northern League led by Matteo Salvini, has already risen to third place in national polls.
“People are finally understanding that this is a battle for legality, social justice, and freedom for our people,” Falcone noted.
Pro-immigration activists who say migrants bring “economic opportunity” to Italy given the country’s demographic decline, have seen little or no evidence for their claim and voters are no longer buying such misplaced optimism.
“Nando Pagnoncelli, a pollster at Ipsos, told the FT: “The attitude is of closure [vis-à-vis the migrants] and the main reasons are worries about security, access to work, and access to public services.”
Current legislation that would enable migrant children to secure easy citizenship, is also very unpopular.
“A majority of respondents (51 per cent) said they consider the bill to be part of an ongoing attempt to ‘ethnically replace’ the Italian people,” according to Breitbart. “The survey found strong opposition to mass migration, with more than 70 per cent of people polled disagreeing with the statement: ‘[Italy] must welcome the Africans who are arriving in boats.’”
None of the countries from which most of the migrants come, are at war, but the mainstream media outlets persist in using the term “refugees” for the tidal wave of African and Indian fortune seekers.
With a general election expected in early 2018, the fierce public backlash in Italy could signal a win for anti-immigration parties in the eurozone’s third-largest economy.
Meanwhile the Austrian government has moved 750 troops and four Pandur armored vehicles into the Tyrol region, able to deploy to the Brenner Pass – the primary route between Austria and Italy.
“The UN refugee agency says people smuggling and migrant flows in Libya are on the rise, so Europe may face increased flows of migrants and refugees in the future,” the Daily Mail reported. According to the UN seven in 10 people crossing the Mediterranean from Libya are economic migrants, but because most migrants are men, the number is probably much higher.
