Gray, Stephen: Europe Plays the Race Card

Europe Plays the Race Card by Stephen Gray

The Western European bloc continues inexorably to erect further barriers to the free movement of “undesirable” people. In practice this means that Europe actively frustrates visitors from countries whose population is predominantly black. Asians fare only nominally better. Non-Christians are also apparently unwelcome.

Unlike the United States, which since the end of World War II has had very restrictive immigration policies, Western Europe has generally been more inviting. That has all changed with the greater importance of the Schengen Convention, and the situation will only worsen.

In Europe’s defence, one could argue that the pressure on its extensive borders, involving so many disparate countries and cultures, justifies the new controls. (These are pressures not faced by the United States.) Certainly, many European countries, notably Ireland and the United Kingdom, have experienced a great influx of refugees from the war-torn Balkan countries and economically-depressed Romania. But, an analysis of the new restrictions on travel to the Schengen states reflects a more sinister practice — institutional racism. The pattern is undeniable, and appears divorced from any legitimate concerns with asylum seekers.

The Schengen countries — those which have fully subscribed to the Schengen Convention — now total 15. They include all the EU member states, except Ireland and the U.K., and two non-EU members, Iceland and Norway. Thus, the Schengen list is: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Within the zone of these 15 states, there are no immigration controls. A visa valid to one state permits travel to all. A lawful resident of one state, regardless of nationality, may visit all the other states without any visa. A person entitled to visit a state visa-free is thus in the entire zone. Consequently, the Schengen states have developed a more-or-less uniform list of “good” countries whose nationals may travel to the Schengen zone visa-free.

The list of “good” countries includes, of course, all the 15 Schengen members, plus Ireland and the U.K., Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and the tiny European states of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City. Canada and the United States are naturally included. So, what other countries qualify for the great privilege of visa-free travel to the Schengen zone? The answer is most disturbing.