FLASH
Shkruar nga Gavin Mortimer 
Eight years later, little has changed, except in the case of Britain, where since 2018 more than 135,000 migrants have crossed the Channel illegally in small boats.
In the same week that more than 1,000 migrants landed in England, the head of Britain's secret service, MI5, admitted that his agency had "a very important job" on its hands. Ken McCallum said that while there is a threat from Russia, China and Iran, what worries him more is Islamic terrorism.
In particular, groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State and their Afghan branch, the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), whose members massacred 137 Russians at a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow earlier this year. McCallum's analysis is almost identical to that of Céline Berthon, director general of DGSI, the French equivalent of MI5.
She also mentioned the names of two Islamic terrorist groups in an interview given to the media last month, warning that this year she has noticed a "very strong revival of this threat". The MI5 chief made his comments just three days after 973 migrants had arrived in Kent in 17 small boats.
This was the highest daily number of landings since the beginning of this year, bringing the total arrivals to 26,612 since the beginning of the year. A further 140 migrants arrived in England last Saturday, while a further 128 were rescued by the French coastguard on the same day after getting into trouble while traveling across the Channel.
According to government data in just the first 6 months of 2024, over 5,300 migrants who have crossed the Channel are Afghans, the largest number of any country, followed by Iranians (3,844) and Vietnamese (3,031).
On the same day that McCallum made his statement from the counter-terrorism operations center in London, the French police, assisted by the DGSI, arrested a 22-year-old Afghan in the city of Toulouse. On Saturday, he was formally charged with planning a terrorist attack on a football stadium or a shopping mall.
The Afghan has been living in France for 3 years and is described as a follower of the Islamic State. French media reports on a 'connection' between the Afghan arrested in France, and a 27-year-old of the same nationality, who was charged last week by the US Department of Justice with planning an attack in America on election day presidential, that is on November 5. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi arrived in the United States in September 2021, along with his wife and child, and was awaiting processing of his asylum claim. CNN reports that Tawhedi had donated money to charity for an organization linked to the Islamic State, while ISIS propaganda materials were found on his phone.
In addition, the police also discovered a video in which Tawhedi was telling his child "about the rewards that a shahid (martyr) receives in the afterlife." It is a great paradox that while the secret services of Britain, France and America work non-stop to prevent Islamic terrorist attacks, their governments continue to have a chaotic policy on migration.
There is a clear connection between the two phenomena. In a report published in April 2016, the European border control agency, Frontex, stated: "The terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015, in which an ISIS terrorist cell killed 130 people, clearly showed that irregular migration flows , can be used by terrorists to enter the EU. Two of the terrorists involved in the attacks had previously entered irregularly through Leros, and had been registered by the Greek authorities.
The report highlighted the main flaw of the EU's border policy: "The bloc does not have a system that can track people's movements after crossing the border illegally. Therefore, it is not possible to determine the exact number of people who have crossed illegally".
Eight years later, little has changed, except in the case of Britain, where since 2018 more than 135,000 migrants have crossed the Channel illegally in small boats. Many of them come to England without a passport or other reliable documentation.
Many others are staying on the French coast, waiting their turn to cross to England. The numbers are so high that last week the mayors of 15 municipalities in the French region of Calais asked the central government to take emergency measures.
The mayor of Grand-Fort-Philippe, between Dunkirk and Calais, told reporters: "The situation is on the verge of explosion. We can't take it anymore, and as mayors we need more than just good words... Our citizens have their eyes on us, they are looking for a sustainable and appropriate response to this situation".
The same is true of many local communities in Britain, who for years have been fooled by governments' good words about strengthening borders. But in fact nothing has been done and 100 days after the formation of Keir Starmer's government, Labour's attitude towards the migrant crisis seems more in denial about reality.
Meanwhile, no one knows who is entering Europe's porous borders. In June 2023, the head of the Center for Reflection on National Security in France, Thibault de Montbrial, warned that the Islamic State "has already begun the reintroduction of active commando units in Europe".
French police said they managed to prevent three terrorist attacks during the summer Olympics. Meanwhile in Germany, three citizens were stabbed to death in August in a small town by a man said to be acting on behalf of the Islamic State. The secret services are doing their best to thwart the radical Islamists, but this seems like an impossible mission./ Adapted "Pamphlet", from "The Spectator".
Lini një Përgjigje