Look to Italy to see how the dangerous idea of remigration' is taking root in Europe | David Broder

"Politics needs to defeat demographics. Given rising numbers of Muslims, he said, there was perhaps 10 to 20 years left to save Europe from disappearing. Both men placed their hopes in one policy to reverse the invasion: remigration. At root, remigration means using mass deportations in order to curtail minority—especially Muslim—populations."

"In practice, supporters of the idea often blur distinctions between criminals and non-criminals, longer-standing citizens and recent migrants, the undocumented and those with settled status. The rising remigration discourse needs to be understood in the context of the far right's electoral march across Europe."

"The more extreme right then ups the ante, popularising drastic and inhumane ideas—like remigration. While this might suggest a profound split running through Europe's rightwing forces, the truth is that even talking about remigration is a sign that the far right—in its more extreme and mainstream variants—is winning."

Far-right politicians including Eric Zemmour and Tommy Robinson advocate remigration, a policy using mass deportations to reduce minority populations, particularly Muslims. Zemmour proposed creating a French ministry of remigration to remove 1 million people, targeting undocumented and dual-national criminals, though supporters often blur distinctions between criminals and non-criminals. This discourse emerges as far-right parties gain electoral power across Europe. Mainstream far-right leaders face pressure from more extreme factions to adopt drastic policies. Germany's AfD embraced remigration before elections, though courts ruled it unconstitutionally discriminatory. The spread of remigration rhetoric from extremist circles into mainstream political platforms indicates the far-right's growing influence across European politics.

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