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Welcome, Jihadists?

Photographs of a dead child have unleashed a wave of generous feelings towards refugees. . Something is bound to go wrong before long and then the mood will turn sour.

Good intentions need to be moderated with sound reason. Not all the people flooding into Europe are refugees. They will inevitably include amongst their numbers fortune-seekers, people who want to live off welfare, terrorists, jihadis, criminals, psychopaths, and people with infectious diseases. Just as immigrants to the US had to pass through Ellis Island, every single one should be interned pending investigation. Genuine refugees from war zones should be admitted. Economic migrants should be admitted selectively. Criminals, jihadis and terrorists and psychopaths should be returned to where they have just come from.

There is also a need to set firm limits on the number who will be admitted. The capacity to absorb newcomers is limited. It is not doing them or the wider society any favours to raise hopes and encourage people to come, when the end result of the failure will be bitterness and disillusion.

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