Some say that pigs can fly. The Flying Squad were police. Police are pigs. Therefore, pigs can fly.

This dysfunctional form of argument is at the root of the riots and protests against immigration, legal or not, made by proletariat, populists and politicians over recent weeks.

About 40,000 years ago the first modern humans migrated from north Africa to western Europe via Gibraltar. Some wisely chose to relocate to a cave complex (now known as the Lapa do Picareiro near Tomar, Central Portugal ) in a land plentiful in the flora and fauna sought by hunter/gatherers. There, they encountered Neanderthals with whom they first conflicted but later settled into an uneasy relationship which lasted 3,000 years and extended to co-habitation and interbreeding.

After the extinction of the Neanderthals, the humans increased rapidly in number and built tribal settlements on the Atlantic coast and along the tributaries of major rivers such as the Coa where an outdoor ensemble of five thousand palaeolithic rock art drawings has merited a UNESCO award as a world heritage site.

These first settlers who came from the south were succeeded by waves of other peoples from the north and east. Celts were followed by Romans, Visigoths, Moors and an array of merchants, seamen, mercenaries, crusaders and the Jewish diaspora. The Voyages of Discovery brought a diversity of nationals from as far away as Japan and Korea many of whom were indentured servants or slaves.

This Portuguese experience of immigration is reflected in the histories of other European countries which include in their records the exploitation, persecution and occasional murder of incomers due either to their inability to conform with what was required of them or the observance of religions other than that favoured by the State.

In the 21st century we are witnessing the turmoil of the opposition to immigration by Europeans almost all of whom are the descendants of immigrants! Their violent objection is based on religious, ethnic and societal practice and rejects the argument that the services of immigrants are necessary to meet the needs of an ageing population which increasingly shirks manual labour. “Stop the Boats” they demand although the majority of incomers arrive by plane, train, road and passenger liners with credentials which include visas for employment.

Such is the growing political support for restrictions to be imposed, that many observers are forecasting the establishment within ten years of a fortified Europe whose borders will be controlled by a robotic gendarmerie headed by Artificial Intelligence. This will reject all applicants who do not meet stringent regulations. Asylum seekers and refugees from regions becoming uninhabitable due to the effects of “climate change” will be refused entry despite all the exigencies of the United Nations.

This dream (or is it a nightmare) of a non-egalitarian Europe, where an elitist Commission will seek to preserve diminishing traditional assets and what is perceived to be the new wealth of a digitally centred industrial era, is becoming a probability.

Pigs will be able to fly; but maybe only in their private jets.

Roberto Cavaleiro Tomar 01 September 2024