Rabat – As nationalism and fascism are gaining ground across Europe, several European Union countries ordered 7,235 Moroccans to leave the bloc in the second quarter of 2022.
According to a recent Eurostat report, more than 90,000 non-EU citizens were ordered to leave an EU member state with 23,110 of them returning to another country — including EU states. This marks a 16% increase in overall figures compared to the first quarter and a slightly lower increase of 15% compared to the same period in 2021.
Given France’s known anti-immigration stance against people from North Africa, the largest immigrant community in the former colonizer, Eurostat says that Paris ordered the departure of 33,450 people from the EU territories in the second quarter of 2022.
The number represents one-third of the total deported community inside the bloc. Greece followed in the second position with 8,750 cases, ahead of Germany (8,275), Italy (6,020), and Austria (5,385).
Italy notably saw the largest quarter-on-quarter increase, with the number of cases jumping from 260 in the first quarter of this year to 6,020 in the past quarter.
This can be explained by the recent surge in anti-immigrant sentiment and far-right ideology in Italy, which led to the election of the leader and co-founder of Brothers of Italy Giorgia Meloni.
Meloni’s election made the first comeback of the far-right in Italy since Benito Mussolini’s rule in the 1920s-40s. Given her strong stance in opposition to irregular immigration, the number of deported migrants from Italy is expected to rise in upcoming quarters as the newly elected government seeks to meet its election promises.
Besides the rise of conservatism in Italy, Greece’s ruling New Democracy party eyes collaboration with the far-right party Greek Solution.
The nationalism appeal appears to extend over Europe with Paris, for instance, tightening visa procedures for legal migrants, leading to a diplomatic crisis with Rabat.
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As nationalism and even fascism have gained ground across Europe, irregular and regular migration is seen to be the focal point of national elections.
Eurostat’s report notably indicated that the European deportation orders targeted primarily Algerians who topped the list with 8,170 cases, followed by Moroccans (7,235), Albanians (6,640), and Pakistanis (6,260). Tunisians ranked in the fifth position with 5,630 entries ahead of Bangladeshis (3,990), Georgians (3,690), Turks (3,425), Indians (3,135), and Iraqis (2,940).
In addition to orders to leave EU territories, 790 Moroccans were ordered to leave to another country in the second quarter of 2022. Their destination might have included European states.
Still, Eurostat says that Albanians registered the largest number of returns estimated at 2,650 in the past quarter. Georgians came second with 2,030 cases, ahead of Russians (1,165), Turks (1,055), Ukrainians (840), Serbians (800), Algerians (745), Moldovans (700), and Iraqis (660).
The non-EU citizen return cases were highly reported in France, with the country contributing alone to 16% of the EU cases (3,590). Germany, for its part, ordered the return of 2,765 people. Sweden, Greece, and Austria followed with a total share of 10%, 8%, and 7%.
Read Also: Moroccan Migration to Europe Persists Despite Tight Border Security
