Whilst it is true that Turkey has a short-ish land border with Greece and Bulgaria, this would entail migrants from Syria to Europe passing through Istanbul and across the Bosphorus. I don’t recall seeing footage of Istanbul with thousands upon thousands of migrants passing through. Some have made it to the small border town of Edirne but they are being turned back by the Turks and some removed to camps in southern Turkey. The vast, vast majority of migrants leaving Turkey for Europe travel by boat. The same can obviously be said for those travelling from North Africa.
As a result the Australian PM’s remarks are entirely appropriate. As far as this issue goes the same problem faces Europe as faces Australia: migrants arriving by boat. The difference is, as has been explained, Australia keeps them out, Europe lets them in and wonders what to do with them after they have arrived. None of the problems of migrants roaming across mainland Europe would be evident if they were not allowed to land. When they arrive in Lesbos it is quite clear where they left from – Mainland Turkey. They should be returned there forthwith. If the EU wants to solve this problem the answer does not lie in deciding what to do with tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people landing illegally. The answer lies in preventing them in the first place and there is not the slightest indication that ways to achieve this are being considered.
The EU’s philosophy in handling this crisis has, predictably, spectacularly misfired. It was quite obvious when Frau Merkel effectively welcomed allcomers that the floodgates, already under stress, would be stormed. So it has proved. The Euromaniacs have once again shown that they have no idea to to run a whelk stall, let alone a continent and the sooner the UK extracts itself from the mess the sooner we will have less obligation to take in migrants who, even if denied access here initially, in the fullness of time will be granted EU citizenship and free rein to settle here..