It matters little that the French have a new government, nor does it matter the outcome of our own general election, or indeed that of the Germans in September of this year. A problem has been created within Europe that will not be resolved anytime soon, and all our governments with US connivance are to blame. Let's face it we have bungled it, not just in Syria or Afghanistan, nor Iraq or Lybia, but by a consistent failing of collective foreign policy over 100's of years?
Is it already too late?
Probably is the quick answer! We failed to make any real contingency after Sadam Hussein's regime fell.
You can read Rajiv Chandrasekaran's book, "Imperial Life In The Emerald City" to see how wrong we got it, and certainly any structure of normalcy after Gaddafi was toppled. We compounded matters further by allowing al-Assad a virtually free hand in Syria. As for Afghanistan, no government whether it be British, Russian or American, has ever figured out the tribal divisions and aged blood-feuds that have festered in the hills over the centuries and probably never will. Mass upheaval and migration have been a by-product of armed conflict since time immemorial.
For proof, one only has to look at the conclusion of WWII, but this, this, is on an unprecedented scale. Huge swathes of those pouring across land and sea have little or no understanding of the West or its culture, few will have language skills and many will be illiterate.
And to put a finer point on it, many will have few skills the West needs. A sobering thought on the fate of those millions of migrants who are in Europe or on their way is that the Saudi Royal-Family has offered to build 100's of Mosques throughout the mainland, rather than have their 'brothers,' encroach on their own territory.
So no, no-one is going home anytime soon.
What can be done?
Not a lot. We are of course coming into the open season, the weather milder, the seas calmer and so by boat and by foot they will come, never mind the perils they will face entering the perceived Nirvana that is Europe. Whilst we continue to take people ashore more will attempt the journey, no matter the deaths en-route.
The only solution, in my opinion, is a harsh one: (a) intercept and infiltrate the ranks of the traffickers and destroy them from the inside by means of a strong specialist task force, or (b), Make the borders of Europe stronger and turn every boat back that attempts the crossing thereby promoting only a 100% legal entry policy whilst cutting off the profits of the traffickers.
I dont believe that Europe can't sustain 50k per week extra mouths to feed, the strain on emergency services and governments alone cannot be sustained without breaking an already failing system. As well intentioned as the welcome has been. now is the time to stop it, for we are laying down unbelievable cultural, religious, economic and social changes they might wipe away the Europe we all grew up in.