How Europe's Far Right Fell In Love With Australia's Immigration Policy

This informative but rather depressing long read deals with Europe's swing right — and in particular, why so many European (far) right parties want to adopt Australia's immigration policy. (Spoiler alert: It has to do with keeping out Muslims).

Unlike Europe, where refugees, asylum-seekers and economic migrants cross land borders, then stay in asylum-centers in European cities and towns (and are free to come and go) until their applications are processed, Australia has parked refugees on islands totally separate from the general population. There people seeking asylum remain, unable to go to the mainland or seek asylum elsewhere, indefinitely or until the situation they are fleeing changes — at which point, in theory at least, they are returned to their countries of origin.

This "offshoring" of refugees is unsurprisingly rather appealing to European parties that view refugees as at worst a terrorist threat, and at best a threat to the cultural purity of the countries where they are received.  

Supporters view this as a good solution to an otherwise bad problem: Refugees are "safe", in that they are no longer subject to persecution. However, while they are clothed and fed, their movement is severely restricted — human rights activists have criticized conditions as "prison-like" and depression is high. Rather than stay, many refugees choose to return home. In theory, it's a voluntary choice — but in reality it is anything but.

“It’s like standing on the edge of a cliff and holding a gun to someone’s head and saying: ‘Jump, or I’ll shoot you,’” a source interviewed by the author says. “And then when they jump, saying: ‘Well, I’m not responsible for your death because you chose to jump.’”