British politician and leader of the UK independent party Nigel Farage has claimed that half a million Islamic extremists could cross the Mediterranean and gain access to the UK as a result of the new EU policies to address the migrant boat crisis.
The leader had been vocal about his anti-immigration stance and the recent statement from him has taken it to the extreme, with claims that the EU policy “poses a direct threat to our civilization”.
According to the leader, UK would have to take a fixed quota of immigrants from North Africa if the new policies are implemented. “The clear demand for the rapid implementation of a common EU migration and asylum policy, to be confirmed in a vote in the European parliament, would be wholly unacceptable to a United Kingdom that already has levels of immigration that are too high, and as Isis have previously threatened, could lead to half a million Islamic extremists coming to our countries and posing a direct threat to our civilization,” he is reported to have said by The Guardian.
The comments first emerged in the leaders’ debate when Farage brought up his opposition to treating foreigners with HIV on the NHS without prompting, drawing condemnation from the other party leaders. Farage had also lately acknowledged in a recent interview with BBC2’s Newsnight that some of his rhetoric about immigration has been designed to “get noticed”.
The Ukip leader is also hoping to confront European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker about the collective response to the migrant boat disasters.
Around 900 illegal migrants died in the Mediterranean Sea as the boat they were sailing in capsized as they attempted to relocate from various parts of Africa to the European Union. The incident happened outside of Libyan territorial waters near the Italian island of Lampedusa. Naval ships and commercial vessels involved in the rescue operation had managed to rescue 28 people and retrieve 24 bodies from the waters.
The leader had been vocal about his anti-immigration stance and the recent statement from him has taken it to the extreme, with claims that the EU policy “poses a direct threat to our civilization”.
According to the leader, UK would have to take a fixed quota of immigrants from North Africa if the new policies are implemented. “The clear demand for the rapid implementation of a common EU migration and asylum policy, to be confirmed in a vote in the European parliament, would be wholly unacceptable to a United Kingdom that already has levels of immigration that are too high, and as Isis have previously threatened, could lead to half a million Islamic extremists coming to our countries and posing a direct threat to our civilization,” he is reported to have said by The Guardian.
The comments first emerged in the leaders’ debate when Farage brought up his opposition to treating foreigners with HIV on the NHS without prompting, drawing condemnation from the other party leaders. Farage had also lately acknowledged in a recent interview with BBC2’s Newsnight that some of his rhetoric about immigration has been designed to “get noticed”.
The Ukip leader is also hoping to confront European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker about the collective response to the migrant boat disasters.
Around 900 illegal migrants died in the Mediterranean Sea as the boat they were sailing in capsized as they attempted to relocate from various parts of Africa to the European Union. The incident happened outside of Libyan territorial waters near the Italian island of Lampedusa. Naval ships and commercial vessels involved in the rescue operation had managed to rescue 28 people and retrieve 24 bodies from the waters.
