Back in 2004 countries in Western Europe wasted a big chance to benefit from the immense talent available from the new EU states in Eastern Europe. A stream of Polish, Czech and Hungarian workers did migrate west, but so many of the most highly qualified were met with hostility and prejudice. Relatively few of them found jobs to match their qualifications or linguistic abilities.
Now all that Western European governments can do is quake under the deluge of bigotry from their populace as asylum seekers escaping war torn countries in the middle-east seek to enter the EU. Highly qualified and resourceful people have been stepping out of inflatable dinghies in the last week onto the Greek island of Kos and have been met with both hostility and indifference.
Where are the delegations of officials from nations such as Germany, the UK and Spain sent to select the best talents for fast track admission to their labour markets? What, for instance, Spain cries out for is enterprise – so why not welcome in immigrants who have been entrepreneurs back in Damascus? They will not deprive one Spanish person of a job, but they would generate much needed jobs to stimulate the economy.
So this is just one more wasted opportunity. As the writer Maya Angelou once reminded us “We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders.”