Throughout Europe, the popular consensus seems to be that immigration is out of control, and that whole nations are in danger of being ‘swamped’ by the tide of immigrants.  Politicians are playing on these fears by promising tighter laws aiming to make it harder, if not impossible, for economic migrants to make a new life in Europe.  And yet Western Europe, with its low birth rate and aging population, needs foreign workers, not only for low-paid manual work, but also for highly skilled work in fields such as information technology.

Immigration is not new, and over the last two centuries many countries have actively encouraged it in times of labour shortage.  There is plenty of evidence to show that countries with high immigration rates also experience vigorous economic growth.  Once incorporated into the workforce, immigrants pay taxes and spend money like everyone else, and contribute to the economy in a positive way.

One of the fears most commonly voiced is that immigrants are ‘stealing our jobs’, and yet if you analyse what is actually happening this is clearly not true.  In Spain, for example, large numbers of immigrants from North Africa and Central America work in the agricultural sector, picking fruit and vegetables.  This is low-paid work, and the native population isn’t interested in these jobs.  In the UK there is a chronic shortage of nurses, and a policy of recruiting from abroad to fill these vacancies.  Go to any building site in Western Europe, and chances are you will find a large number of immigrant workers, again doing jobs that the locals don’t want to do.

Another perceived problem is that the presence of immigrants will somehow dilute the native culture of a country or area.  There are often protests against the building of places of worship, such as mosques, by the immigrant population.  A common attitude is that ‘if they want to come and live here they should adapt to our way of life’.  However, whilst a certain amount of integration is, of course, desirable, it is unrealistic to expect people to change their way of life entirely, and totally unreasonable to ask them to change their religion.  This attitude also ignores the benefits that an influx of immigrants can bring, to the arts for example, or by increasing the variety of shops and restaurants in a community.  It should be pointed out that not all parts of Europe share this attitude.  A recent survey found that 66% of Norwegians agreed that ‘most immigrants enrich the cultural life in Norway’.

European leaders need to acknowledge the fact that immigration is not only inevitable, but desirable, and create a more flexible labour market that will facilitate the movement of workers to where they are needed.  Our politicians need to stand up and admit that immigration is a good thing.  Only then will we be able to move forward towards a more tolerant and prosperous society.

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