August 04, 2018

The far-right and its immigration myths

located:	Italy, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Hungary
editor:	Maria João Morais

As far-right parties continue to grow throughout Europe, various myths associated with the phenomenon of immigration are also on the rise, largely as a result of the misleading rhetoric pursued by extremist political forces who try to take political advantage by instilling fear. 

In Italy, the new Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini claims to be defending the EU's borders against migrants, and in Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has described migrants as “Muslim invaders”, whilst Geert Wilders in Holland and Marine le Pen in France have made similar claims. To date, Spain has been a country that has largely avoided such public discourse. But now the new leader of the right-wing Popular Party, Pablo Casado, has also begun to spread myths about the arrival of immigrants. This week, the conservative leader accused the government of socialist Pedro Sánchez of making Spain an attractive destination for immigrants due to the country’s decision to receive refugees onboard the "Aquarius" vessel after being turned away by Italy, warning that the country "cannot legalise all migrants".

These kinds of messages, spread by nationalist political actors in Europe (mirroring Donald Trump’s anti-migrant rhetoric across the Atlantic), continue to flood public space with misconceptions. Since the so-called "refugee crisis" of 2015, anti immigration agents have tried to convey the sense that immigration is uncontrollable and that it threatens our societies.

However, while most of the ideas which are being disseminated are based on fear and xenophobia, they often clash with reality. The first myth concerns statistics: the most recent "migratory crisis" happened in a moment when numbers of arrivals had actually been drastically reduced. Several opinion polls also show that across Europe and the United States, citizens have the perception that the percentage of immigration is much higher than reality, a reaction also related to the rhetoric that extremist parties and the media communicate.

Equally, many nationalist European leaders have accused immigration of being a threat to the prosperity of countries, arguing that the Welfare State cannot withstand the burden generated by migrants. However, this is a false belief, since several studies have demonstrated that the opposite is true. Even in times of economic crises, immigrants contribute more to the public coffers than they receive from their destination countries. Because their average age is lower than the local population, immigrants typically incur lower costs in pension and health services.

On the other hand, favourable data generated by immigration tends to be forgotten or simply ignored: in ageing societies, as in many European countries, immigration has contributed to demographic rejuvenation, and has also bolstered economic growth in countries with large labour demands such as Germany, Britain and France.

Photo: UN