The End of Europe: 1.3 Million Refugees and Counting

Over 1.3 million migrants applied for asylum in the European Union in 2015. That number is double the previous record high of 700,000 in 1992, the year the Soviet Union collapsed, according to the new report from the Pew Research Center.

Most of the EU’s left-leaning political leaders have thrown their borders open to the colossal surge of migrants from war-torn and terrorism-stricken nations. Roughly half of these refugees hail from three countries: Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The result of this unfettered and ill timed surge of migrants into the economically struggling EU, has been met with increasing frustration from citizens.

Most alarming for EU-member nations, currently experiencing waves of sexual assaults and other violent crime from the influx of unassimilated migrants, the Pew study finds the vast majority of the newcomers are military-age men.

53 percent of asylum seekers to the EU, Norway and Switzerland were young adults, aged 18-34 and a whopping 73 percent were male. The three biggest countries of origin were: Syria (71%), Iraq (75%), and Afghanistan (80%).

The result of this unfettered and ill timed surge of migrants into the economically struggling EU, has been met with increasing frustration from citizens. Greece and Sweden are the most unhappy. Citizens in Greece disapprove of the handling of the crisis as the staggering rate of 94 percent while 88 percent of Swedish citizens disapprove.

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As the crisis intensifies right-leaning political parties are gaining in popularity, and incumbent leaders are on the hot seat. French President Francois Hollande is not expected to win reelection. Across many countries, including Austria, Poland, France, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic, right wing parties have made electoral gains.

The frustration over immigration has been most evident in the UK’s decision to leave the EU two months ago, as many Britons were very concerned about the un-vetted and unassimilated foreign migrants coming to their shores.

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Some current European leaders, such as Milos Zeman of the Czech Republic, and Viktor Orban of Hungary, have called for a ban on Muslim immigration and Orban has publicly praised Donald Trump’s call for a similar, yet more restrained, policy in the United States. Orban also said Trump’s election in the U.S. would be the best outcome for Europe and his country.

Europe’s most committed pro-migrant holdout, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, announced recently there would be no alteration of the current immigration policy in Germany.

Given the rise of right wing populism in Europe, the dissatisfaction of European citizens, the increase in Islamist attacks, increasing sexual assaults, and other legitimate concerns over the behavior of these mostly young male asylum seekers, the leaders of the West would do well to adhere to these alarming trends and start taking action to protect their people.