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Title: Le Pen visits Italian migrant island
Source:
The West Australian
URL Source: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/ ... visits-italian-migrant-island/
Published: Mar 15, 2011
Author: AAP
Post Date: 2011-03-18 15:08:02 by X-15
Keywords: None
Views: 156
Comments: 3
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has told undocumented immigrants on the Italian island of Lampedusa they were not welcome in Europe during a visit met by protesters. "I have a lot of compassion for you but Europe can't welcome you. We don't have the financial means," Le Pen told two of the thousands of immigrants who have landed on the rocky island off the coast of Tunisia in recent weeks. Campaigners from a local human rights group turned out for a small demonstration against her controversial visit on Monday, holding banners reading: "Lampedusa Is Not Racist!" and "Solidarity with the Asylum Seekers!" "Racists go away!" chanted the dozens of protesters. Le Pen, leader of the National Front and a favourite in the polls for France's presidential election next year, met Lampedusa mayor Bernardino De Rubeis and visited a heavily overcrowded centre for immigrants. About 8000 mainly Tunisian migrants have arrived on dozens of boats in Lampedusa since Tunisia's revolt in January - more than the total for 2010. "Tomorrow there could be hundreds of thousands," Le Pen warned, saying the Libyan regime could collapse and Algeria could also be destabilised. As Le Pen visited the island, coast guards rescued more than 100 migrants from two boats that were sinking near the shore and dozens of migrants landed. "I have come to express my real concern on the ground. The European Union does not have any solution. We are going to see a real catastrophe and the EU is impotent," she told reporters. "This is the beginning of a wave of immigration that we can't measure." She said the solution was to turn the migrant boats back, arrest the owners of the boat and suspend the free movement within Europe. "France should be worried... There are no borders," she said. Her visit to Lampedusa has proved controversial, with local opposition politicians condemning her presence and accusing her of being a racist and Interior Minister Roberto Maroni warning her not to "throw oil on the fire". But speaking to AFP ahead of the trip she said: "I... want to offer my support to the inhabitants of Lampedusa who have had the feeling of being completely abandoned." The European Union "has not provided any solution". "If I listened only to my heart, I would throw myself in the water to save them. But we would all drown because my boat is too fragile," said the 42-year-old Le Pen, who is also a member of the European Parliament. She was accompanied by Mario Borghezio, a fellow MEP from Italy's anti-immigration Northern League party, part of the governing coalition. Lampedusa, which is Italy's southernmost point, has a population of just 6000 people and is about 140km from Tunisian shores. The 20-square-km island has traditionally been a major gateway for illegal immigration into the European Union.
Poster Comment: It is a guarantee that this just won her a lot more support. A sizeable portion of the population is fed up with mass immigration and the politicians from the other parties can be expected to do what they usually do, nothing.
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#1. To: X-15 (#0)
"I have a lot of compassion for you but Europe can't welcome you. We don't have the financial means," Le Pen told two of the thousands of immigrants who have landed on the rocky island off the coast of Tunisia in recent weeks. So, who has the means? Not us, that's for sure!
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
What the old fogy really means is the politicians of Europe and their bureaucrats are too lazy, unimaginative and/or plain stupid to organize, train and employ "surplus" populations in wealth creation to make for a better Europe/world.
((snickering)) That sharp wit of yours will get you in lots of trouble ;-)
__________________________________________________________French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has told undocumented immigrants on the Italian island of Lampedusa they were not welcome in Europe during a visit met by protesters.
#2. To: X-15 (#0)
"I have a lot of compassion for you but Europe can't welcome you. We don't have the financial means," Le Pen told two of the thousands of immigrants who have landed on the rocky island off the coast of Tunisia in recent weeks.
#3. To: Tatarewicz (#2)
"This man is Jesus,” shouted one man, spilling his Guinness as Barack Obama began his inaugural address. “When will he come to Kenya to save us?"
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
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