"AN OUTCOME OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS…"

On 6 April approximately 200 immigrants from Africa were in a boat which capsized off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. Over half of them went missing in the darkness and, in poor weather conditions, only 48 people were rescued.

This is not the first such case. Lampedusa is frequently in the news as this is the part of Europe closest to Africa - it is approximately halfway between Tunisia and Italy. For many years, this tiny islet has been known as the main point of arrival for uninvited guests to the Old World from the African continent.

They are already accustomed to these visits… However, following the latest events in the Arab world, especially in Tunisia and Libya, but also in C?te d'Ivoire, the flow of refugees to Lampedusa has increased considerably, which has caused Europeans to sound the alarm.

Apart from Lampedusa, refugees also flee to the Canary Islands and other near-Europe lands. Most important for them is to reach a European Union country at any cost. But before making their final journey across the water, the refugees survive many deprivations in Africa - they run from frontier-guards, sleep in the desert, evade robbers, fight hunger and thirst.

But then these people get on fragile little ships, and even rafts, heading into the open sea. This is an enormous risk; moreover, they often do this in entire families, quite often spending all their money in doing so. Thus there is no way back for them. They are determined not to return. Immigrants from Africa are prepared to fight for the chance of a better life or to die. Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, believes that over 20,000 illegal immigrants have already arrived in Lampedusa from Tunisia. Other estimates put the number at 22,000 people or more. In all, Italian experts say that 200,000-300,000 refugees may arrive in Europe from Libya; this is already being described as "an outcome of Biblical proportions".

At the same time, the BBC quotes figures even more terrifying for the Europeans. According to some figures, in all, on the Libyan-Tunisian border, in Tunisia and Libya and in other countries of Maghreb, about one million people are gathered, and they all want to get to the Old World. People from Sudan, Nigeria and other African countries are in a hurry to take advantage of the situation - Tunisia is for them only a trans-shipment point. This fact, judging by comments from the locals, is already beginning to scare the Tunisians themselves.

In the meantime, as RIA Novosti reports with reference to the EUractiv internet website, the bombardment of Muammar Gaddafi's forces by NATO planes may cause a humanitarian and ecological catastrophe if, in the course of airstrikes, the infrastructure of the Great Man-Made River (GMMR) is damaged.

The GMMR is the largest water-transport system in the world (4,000 km), providing for the needs of agricultural production in the central Sahara Desert and supplying coastal areas in north Libya with drinking water - over 70 per cent of the country's population. Fresh water is extracted from underground reservoirs near the Sahara at depths of 600-800 metres. In the event of a catastrophe, 4.5m Libyans may be deprived of drinking water.

By the way, one of Muammar Gaddafi's sons - Saif al-Islam Gaddafi - told Western countries that they will see "millions of secret emigrants" and "pirates in the Mediterranean Sea, in Sicily, in Crete, on Lampedusa". And Gaddafi himself, in an interview with French magazine Journal du Dimanche, warned that if the Europeans continue the military campaign against his regime, "thousands of people from Libya will invade Europe, and no one will be able to stop them".

However, as western media report, some of the potential immigrants are political refugees and, in that case, Europe - in accordance with human rights agreements, is obliged to identify them and solve the issue of granting them political asylum.

For their part, the Italian authorities have allegedly stated that they will give permission to stay to only about 20,000 African refugees (all others will be sent back). Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi promised that "only Lampedusans will remain on Lampedusa".

Italians are indignant that they are forced to manage alone the influx of refugees from Tunisia and Libya. At Italy's request, the European border agency Frontex launched a mission called Hermes (with the participation of 30 experts from 12 countries of the European Union, as well as several aircraft, helicopters and ships) in order to strengthen supervision of illegal migration to the Italian coast. Brussels emphasized that it was not going to settle migrants in other European countries.

However, Rome is insisting that permission to stay in Italy allows immigrants who landed on Lampedusa to enter other European countries. But Paris and Berlin for example, disagree, saying that the Italians want "to make tourists of Tunisian refugees".

On the other hand, Italy's dissatisfaction can be entirely understood - why should it take the bulk of the impact upon itself for the whole of Europe, simply because its borders are the nearest to the countries of North Africa with problems?

Will Europeans, who negotiated for long and so thoroughly about common borders, now quarrel over the immigrants? Is it the case that each stands only for itself? Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi expressed his dissatisfaction with the situation in his rough way.

Earlier, representatives of Italy, Spain, France, Cyprus, Malta and Greece proposed the establishment by 2012 of a united fund and the introduction of a single European system for the reception of refugees. However, many countries in the European Union are clearly not ready for similar bounty. The Old World, already frightened by the consequences of the global financial crisis, fears uninvited guests like death.

Many European Union countries periodically stage demonstrations against either pension reductions or increases in education fees. In this situation, intruders are received more sharply and painfully. Moreover, many refugees do not hide the fact that they run to Europe not from political repression or lack of freedom, but in search of jobs. And they are not going to stay in Italy.

In this atmosphere in France, for example, a victory by leftists or even nationalists is entirely possible at the next election. Actually, the latter is considerably closer to success now than in the memorable 2002.

By the way, MEP Marine Le Pen, the daughter of National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, who does not hide her presidential ambitions and whose popularity in France continues to grow steadily - she is already ahead of Nicolas Sarkozy in opinion polls - also visited Lampedusa.

Local observers speak out very respectfully about Le Pen's ambitions and plans, and some of them are convinced that she is capable of giving a new face to French nationalism. Le Pen is good at psychology and is clearly capable of 'catching the wave'. Her example could be followed by associates in Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark…

Visiting the famous Italian island, Le Pen again emphasized that Europe cannot allow itself to accept African refugees. By the way, Ms Le Pen somehow compared Muslims who prayed on the streets of French cities to 'occupiers'. What is more terrible is that the problem of the influx of refugees into Europe is increasingly and swiftly acquiring religious nuances.

More and more European politicians recognize, albeit in a milder form, that immigrants, many of whom are Muslims, do not intend to become part of the European community. Moreover, opinions are expressed that Islam is the cause of non-integration, and that this religion generally contradicts human rights, the basis of democracy and European civilization.

In France, which is thought to be the European country with the largest Muslim population, on the eve of the enforcement of a ban on the wearing of Islamic body-covering burqas and face-covering niqabs in all public spaces, there were debates on the "Role of Islam in secular France". According to Sarkozy's political opponents, the incumbent president of France is now attempting to win back part of the radical vote from Le Pen.

"We were too concerned about the identity of those who arrive in the country, and paid insufficient attention to the identity of the country that accepts the visitor", stated the president of France.

Let us recall that earlier this year, during his address to the annual Munich security conference, British Prime Minister David Cameron stated that in his country, the policy of multiculturalism, based on the famous western European tolerance, had proved to be unfounded.

In British society different ethnic communities now live their separate lives - they have nothing traditionally British. But official London believes that, nevertheless, there should be values shared by all citizens of the country. However, nationalists also heard anti-Islamic notes in the prime minister's statements…

Earlier, addressing a meeting of the Christian-Democratic Union youth organization in Potsdam, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke in similar vein, demanding that immigrants also learn the German language and try honestly to integrate into German society.

Different western media outlets report that polls show that a majority of people in Germany, France, Denmark and other European countries are negative about Islam, associating the religion with discrimination against women, fanaticism and terrorism. Unfortunately, the inflow into Europe of refugees from Muslim African countries will most likely only deepen these prejudices in European heads.

So, will the European Union react competently to the migrants storming its borders? The principles of tolerance and respect for human rights shift when talk turns to national security and political careers.

Finally, who would refuse understanding to Europeans? The history of any Tunisian refugee is by itself a deeply tragic one, worthy of aid and sympathy. But all together, immigrants are a badly controlled force, in which any Italian worker or French farmer is right to see a threat.