Nearly a year ago the EU unveiled what it called its ‘New Pact on Migration and Asylum’ with much fanfare. The Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, boasted that the pact ‘means that Europeans will decide who comes to the EU and who can stay, not the smugglers’.
As is the way with the bureaucratic behemoth that is Brussels, the Pact won’t start to be implemented until the summer of 2026. So there is plenty of time for the people smugglers to ferry thousands more migrants into Europe from Africa and the Middle East.
The power in Europe these days lies with the courts, and they overwhelmingly lean to the left
The preferred route for the smugglers this year has been across the Atlantic Ocean into Spanish territory, exploiting the indulgence of Spain’s Socialist government towards free movement. Whereas Italy has reduced the number of illegal entries on its territory by 62 per cent in 2024, in Spain over 40,000 people have arrived, an increase of 155 per cent on the previous year.
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