[lbo-talk] UN boss blasts Europe's migration policy

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Thu Jan 29 10:44:56 PST 2004


29.01.2004 - 15:09 CET UN boss blasts Europe's migration policy EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has used his acceptance of an EU human rights prize to launch a scathing attack on Europe's attitudes toward migration and asylum.

WS: Each time someobody criticizes Europe over its immigration policy, he should first look at the population density of European countries.

Thus: Netherlands - 387 people per square kilometer Belgium - 337/sq km UK - 244/sq km Germany - 233/sq km Italy - 192 sq/km France 109 sq/km.

To put things is a perceptive the US population density is 29(that is twenty-nine!) people per square kilometer. The most populous countries of Asia: - Japan - 336/sq km - India - 318 /sq km - People's R. of China - 134/ sq km

Stated differently, most European countries have on average ten times the population density of the United States (and a fraction of the US territory!). Their population density is on a par with the most populous Asian countries, China, India or Japan. There is hardly any physical space for ANY population growth, let alone that due to immigration. With that in mind, the fact that the Europeans accept any immigrants at all is a sign of their open door immigration policy (relatively speaking, of course).

Wojtek



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