Reply to Romesh Chander

Submitted by Octavio Johanson (Italy), Nov 16, 2006 at 02:50

Dear Mr. Chander,

illegal and legal immigration are a very tough issue for us Europeans. Our nations- Italy and Spain in particular- are dealing with large waves of illegal immigrants from the Arab nations, Pakistan and similar countries. Unfortunately, the European Court of Human Rights and European Conventions on Refugees prevent us from doing what you suggested.

It is very difficult to deport convicted criminals from Europe, let alone people who only infringed the laws of immigration. Italy and Spain are on the front-line of this struggle.

Then, we are also bound by the Geneva Conventions on Refugees. The only thing we can do is make life less easy for Muslims who do come here. For example, we can ban the Muslim veil accross the board. Or we can ban Islamic schools from being opened. Finally, we can reject Turkey's application for the European Union. Maybe, some European nations can also abandon all international treaties on refugees. The only thing we can do is make Europe a nasty place, so that fewer people will want to come here. Sir, the answer to your question is that it would be impossible to evict Muslims from Europe now.

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