| Tuesday, February 8, 2005 |
21:32 - The way is shut
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Some warn of Eurabia. Some suggest that depopulation threatens Europe's native cultures, and that the only factors swelling the census numbers in Amsterdam and Hamburg are immigration from places like Turkey and Morocco, while a multiculturalism-besotted public is too fearful of how it'll look if they change their mind, and fall back on picking on the Jews instead.
But maybe there's some fight left in the Europe of the castles and the cathedrals after all. The Netherlands:
People applying to live in the Netherlands will have to take an examination to prove that they understand the language and culture, the government has proposed.
The test will require 350 hours of study and cost £250.
And now England:
U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair plans to allow only people who speak English and have skills that are in demand to settle in Britain, after polls showed the public considers immigration rules to be too weak.
. . .
[The plan] sets out a four- tier system of points for those applying to work in Britain from outside the European Union. People who speak English and have skills in demand will be able to settle in the U.K., while unskilled workers and students won't be allowed to stay permanently.
It's taken some high-profile murders and arrests to really bring the seriousness of the modern world's stakes home to some people, but they seem to be stirring at last.
Now let's just hope they (and we) get out of this mess more cleanly than we did sixty years ago.
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Brian Tiemann
