(WATCH) The Changing Face of Europe

Welcome to Season 10 of Full Measure. I’m Sharyl Attkisson. We start today with illegal immigration and the border crisis — major issues in yet another presidential election. And you may not have heard much about it, but there’s a parallel cataclysm driving politics in Europe, where they’re also grappling with a wave of illegal immigration. As they try to push it back, it’s already changed the face of Europe.

Below is a transcript of a report from “Full Measure with Sharyl AttkissonWatch the video by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page.

We are at Britain’s largest mosque, where Muslims come to pray. Imam Sabah Ahmedi plays a public role in defusing tensions around the immigration crisis in Europe.

Sabah Ahmedi: I think the fear of immigration is not the immigration itself. I think it is the fear of Islam and the misunderstanding of Islam.

Sharyl: What do you think is an example of a big misunderstanding that people have? And what is your counterargument?
Ahmedi: Definitely. I think people misunderstand Islam when it comes to terrorism. When people say you have a Muslim terrorist, it is actually a contradiction in terms. A Muslim is someone who strives for peace. As a Muslim, I cannot advocate killing innocent people. My religion does not allow that. No sane person would encourage killing innocent people.

Across Europe, illegal immigration is creating emotional tensions and pitting religions and cultures against each other.

The tension was clearly visible during our recent visit to England. Three children were murdered in a mass stabbing attack in which 13 people were stabbed. When it was rumoured that the attacker was a foreigner, anti-immigrant riots broke out and Muslim mobs attacked white people. According to the police, the stabbing suspect was in fact born in Britain, the son of Rwandan immigrants.

Today, a majority in Europe overwhelmingly supports stricter restrictions on foreigners entering the country.

European Citizen: We must get it under control and prevent illegal immigration into Europe, because it brings many dangers and risks to the population.

Since the welcome mat was laid out in 2015, public sentiment has changed dramatically.

That year alone, Europe welcomed more than 1.8 million illegal or “irregular” immigrants, mainly from the Muslim countries of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sharyl (on camera): In many ways, the European response to the growing crisis around illegal immigration has been focused here in Greece, where we first reported on the story in 2019.

(Clip from the September 2019 story)

NATS: This is the Hellenic Coast Guard, this is the Hellenic Coast Guard. For your own safety, stop your engine!

The Greek Coast Guard showed us how they were forced to give up their border patrols to serve as night-time welcome vehicles for the masses of illegal immigrants being smuggled through Turkey on overloaded rafts.

Europe tried to put the brakes on after a series of terrorist attacks by Islamic extremist immigrants in 2016. But foreigners kept coming. In 2022 alone, almost 7 million people immigrated to Europe.

The influx has brought economic costs, immigrant crime and religious conflict, including attacks on Christian churches by Islamic extremists and the burning of the Koran by anti-Islamic groups.

In 2019, we reported on the unrest in Malmö, Sweden, where violence against Jews increased as the Muslim population grew.

We also saw that the conflict in neighboring Denmark led to the rise of the anti-Islamic politician Rasmus Paludan.

Video by Rasmus Paludan: In Denmark, there is a fight for the survival of ethnic Danes.

Rasmus Paludan (November 2019): The goal is for all Muslims to leave Denmark.

Sharyl (on camera): In Europe, there has been a sharp decline in the number of Christians. Islam is the second largest religion in the UK. There are about 4 million Muslims, with the largest concentration here in London, where they make up 15% of the population.

For most, Western Europe is the destination of choice. But Eastern Europe has started to feel the pressure in recent years.

Analysts say Russia began smuggling large groups of people from the Middle East and North Africa into Poland via Russian ally Belarus in 2021, luring them with the promise of free services in Europe.

In a rare interview, Polish President Andrzej Duda told us that the Russians plan to create instability and chaos.

President Andrzej Duda: If someone comes to Poland with the false impression that he will stay here and get everything for free, and ‘we will have a better life without working’, well, we will not agree to such arrivals. No. If you want to live among us? Work. You want to live among us? Then go to work and do some work, earn some money. It’s that simple.

Sharyl: Do many people coming to Europe expect free transportation?

Duda: Yes. I think that in many cases we have such a situation. That is why there is such a reaction in Western Europe.

Poland responded to the attack from Belarus by building a 4.5-meter-high border fence.

Sharyl: Donald Trump clearly wanted to build a fence and a wall, you built a fence or some kind of barrier. There are parallels here that I just find interesting that we don’t hear a lot about in the United States.

Duda: The reason I am describing the situation in Europe is because I want to show that you are not the only ones affected. Our continent, our societies, are also facing such a problem.

In May, a group of illegal immigrants threw knives and spears through Poland’s border fence, killing a 21-year-old Polish soldier and wounding several others.

The Polish parliament quickly passed a law allowing the use of live ammunition by border guards.

As in the US, illegal immigration is the driving force behind politics, with all parties promising to take action.

Former President Donald Trump (Aug. 17): We are going to carry out the largest deportation in the history of our country. We have no choice.

Vice President Kamala Harris (Aug. 10): We know our immigration system is broken, and we know what it will take to fix it.

Neil Coyle is a Member of Parliament for the left-wing Labour Party in Great Britain. This party has recently won a political majority and will have to find ways to stop illegal immigration, which the Conservative Party has no control over.

Neil Coyle: Where the public have a problem is with illegal and unlawful entry into the UK. That’s where the public have a bigger problem. There are a number of ways to solve that, including going back to Afghanistan, which is the largest group of people crossing the English Channel illegally in boats. They shouldn’t be doing that. Nobody thinks they should be doing that. The way to solve that is to respect the fact that some of them fought for us and allow them to join their families here or come through our asylum process and arrive safely by plane rather than turning up in a boat.

As both the US and Europe continue to grapple with the illegal immigration crisis, analyst David Cowling says it is a mistake to write off all opponents of illegal immigration as anti-Islamic or Islamophobic.

David Cowling: Yeah, there’s a lot of discontent. I mean, billions of pounds are being spent in Britain to house asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. And that’s causing resentment. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to end. So there doesn’t seem to be a clear path to how it’s going to end.

Sharyl: Has the face of Europe changed much in the last 20 years?

Ahmedi: I think most Britons will stand up for the fact that we are a multicultural society. And I think it’s really important that we are reminded that just because someone looks different or has a different outlook on life, that doesn’t mean they are the ‘other’. Because if we categorise someone as the ‘other’, that can lead to them being discriminated against and targeted for no reason.

Sharyl (on camera): The European Union’s law enforcement agency says it is targeting the complex, ruthless smuggling networks that smuggle illegal immigrants into Europe and generate billions for the criminal gangs involved.

Watch the video here.

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