It certainly looks as if Geert Wilders, the extreme right populist, anti-immigrant politician in the Netherlands has led his party to victory. This is very disappointing, as it seems to show that the our fears about one another based on race, religion, sexual orientation and what-have-you are playing a larger and larger part in our politics.
In my view, this cannot bode well for the future.
Comments welcome, of course.
Migration is an issue all over Europe now and the emergence of communities with alien habits and appearance is unsettling large numbers of people, especially in those locations that have no history of being cultural melting pots. Towns in Britain like Leicester (~50% S Asian, mainly Indian
Census 2011: Leicester 'most ethnically diverse' in region), or Bradford (25% Pakistani), which in my youth were monoculturally English, have seen very rapid change. It is hardly surprising that there is pushback from the indigenous inhabitants. In places like London, people worry less, as it has always had numerous communities of people with overseas ancestry.
Current drivers of migration are wars of course, plus growing awareness, via the internet, of how bad conditions are at home compared to elsewhere. (I was reading only today in the FT about the brain drain from Iran, due to the poor political and economic situation there.) Climate change may also be starting to be part of it and this will only increase.
To some degree, one can see much of it as payback for past colonialism. People come to the countries that previously colonised them, as they often have some understanding of it and may speak the language. But this argument is unlikely to impress a rural Dutchman who feels his village is rapidly turning into a muslim enclave. And of course, when economic times are hard, people look at what has changed when seeking a scapegoat.
