Revolts Raise Fear of Migration in Europe

Rachel Donadio and Suzanne Daley CNBC 03/10/2011 19:54

Until a few weeks ago, the immigrant transfer center on the tiny Mediterranean island of Lampedusa — a kind of Italian Ellis Island — was empty. An extensive European campaign against migration from Africa was considered so effective that the authorities basically shut it down.

But since the Tunisian government collapsed in January, spurring unrest across North Africa, Lampedusa has been bustling. The Italian police tow in boats full of desperate immigrants — about 6,000 refugees in the past two months. Young men in hooded jackets smoke cigarettes and await transfer to the mainland — a prospect that is striking fear in many European hearts.

The turmoil in Libya and elsewhere in the region has toppled or undermined North African dictators who negotiated a web of benefits from Europe, including aid and diplomatic standing, in return for stopping immigrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean.

Without the assistance of those leaders, many in Europe worry that they will face new waves of illegal immigration not only from the liberated areas in the north, but from much of sub-Saharan Africa as well.

The immigrants would arrive at a time when much of Europe — struggling with high unemployment and lethargic economies — is already awash with anti-immigrant sentiment, and many countries say they are simply incapable of absorbing poor migrants.

“In Italy, there is really a panic,” said Anna Triandafyllidou, a migration expert with the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy. “Everything is up in the air and no one knows what to do.”