Tens of thousands of anti-immigrant protestors chanted "send them home!" as they marched through London last year. A British politician expressed dissatisfaction over the excessive number of non-white faces on television. Senior lawmakers also supported deporting long-term residents of the United Kingdom who were born overseas.
As migration rises to the top of the political agenda and right-wing parties gain traction, the overt demonization of immigrants and people with immigrant ancestry is becoming more prevalent in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe.
Political groups that support mass deportations and portray immigration as a threat to national identity are at or near the top of opinion polls in a number of European nations, including Reform U.K., the Alliance for Germany, and France's National Rally.
President Donald Trump, who recently referred to Somali immigrants in the United States as "garbage" and whose national security plan portrays immigration as a threat to European nations, seems to be supporting and bolstering the harsh anti-immigrant views throughout Europe.
Europe's major parties are taking a tougher stance on immigration and occasionally employing racially divisive language amid the escalating tensions.
"What were once dismissed as being at the far extreme end of far-right politics has now become a central part of the political debate," stated Kieran Connell, a British history lecturer at Queen's University Belfast.
Europe is becoming increasingly divided. Millions of asylum seekers who have fled wars in Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine have contributed to a sharp increase in immigration in several European nations during the past ten years.
However, asylum-seekers make up a very small portion of all immigrants, and researchers claim that a variety of factors contribute to hostility toward migration and diversity.
According to experts, the growth of charismatic nationalist politicians, the polarizing impact of social media, and economic stagnation in the years after the 2008 global financial crisis all play a part.
According to Bobby Duffy, head of the Policy Unit at King's College London, there is "a frightening increase in the sense of national division and decline" in Britain, which tends to drive individuals toward political extremes.
According to Duffy, it began to take hold following the financial crisis, was strengthened by the Brexit discussion in Britain, and intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Social media has made things worse, especially on X, whose owner, Elon Musk, retweets far-right postings with approval and whose algorithm encourages contentious content.
Right-wing parties like Alliance for Germany, France's National Rally, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party have all supported ethnonationalism throughout Europe.
The Trump administration, whose new national security policy portrays Europe as a group of nations experiencing "economic decline" and "civilizational erasure" due to immigration and loss of national identities, now seems to have given it their blessing.
Many European lawmakers were shocked by the aggressive language, which also mirrored what they hear from far-right parties in their own nations.
Jordan Bardella, the chairman of the National Rally, told the BBC that he generally agreed with the Trump administration's worry that mass immigration was "shaking the balance of European countries."
Hate crimes and racist speech are on the rise. Once-extreme policies are now firmly on the political agenda. Even if immigrants have resided in the United Kingdom for decades, they will lose their permanent residency status if Reform UK, the hard-right party that routinely tops opinion polls, achieves power. Dual-national British citizens who commit crimes will be deported, according to the center-right opposition Conservatives.
In October, a politician from Reform UK expressed dissatisfaction with ads that were "full of Black people, full of Asian people."
Robert Jenrick, a spokesman for conservative justice, expressed alarm when he "didn't see another white face" in a section of Birmingham, the second-biggest city in the United Kingdom. There was no need for either lawmaker to step down.
Many supporters of lower immigration claim that assimilation and community cohesiveness are more important to them than race. However, those who are subjected to racial abuse don't feel that way.
Black British politician Dawn Butler stated, "There is no doubt it has worsened," adding that the hate speech she encounters on social media "is increasing drastically, and has escalated into death threats."
According to U.K. government figures, police in England and Wales reported over 115,000 hate crimes in the year ending in March 2025, a 2% rise over the preceding year.
After three girls were fatally murdered at a dancing lesson with a Taylor Swift theme in July 2024, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rioting broke out on British streets.
Authorities claimed that false material on the internet misidentified the adolescent attacker, who was born in the United Kingdom, as a Muslim immigrant.
In places where a new asylum center is proposed, protesters frequently stage demonstrations outside of municipal meetings in Ireland and the Netherlands. Opponents of asylum seekers have thrown pyrotechnics at riot police during some violent protests.
Hotels and other housing for asylum seekers have been the primary target of protests around Europe because, according to some, they serve as havens for criminal activity. However, protest organizers frequently have much broader goals in mind.
Tommy Robinson, a far-right leader and convicted fraudster, staged a protest in September that saw over 100,000 people march through London while screaming, "We want our country back."
French far-right politician Eric Zemmour was one of the speakers; he warned the audience that both France and the United Kingdom were facing "the great replacement of our European people by peoples coming from the south and of Muslim culture."
Outflanking the right The "great replacement" conspiracy notion is denounced by mainstream European politicians. Migration is a significant aspect of Britain's national narrative, according to the country's center-left Labour Party government, which has condemned racism.
Simultaneously, it is adopting a more stringent stance on immigration, unveiling measures to make it more difficult for immigrants to settle down permanently.
Denmark, which has witnessed a sharp decline in asylum applications since it began granting migrants only temporary residency, is cited by the government as an inspiration.
A number of European nations, including Denmark and Britain, are working to reduce legal rights for immigrants and facilitate deportations. Human rights supporters contend that attempts to placate the right simply result in measures that are more harsh.
Michael O'Flaherty, the human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe, told The Guardian that "there's going to be another inch demanded for every inch yielded."
"Where does it end? For instance, a significant portion of the current attention is on migrants. However, who will it be about the next time?
demands more subdued language Center-leaning politicians have also come under fire for using far-right rhetoric. In May, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that the country was in danger of turning into a "island of strangers," a statement that was reminiscent of politician Enoch Powell's infamous anti-immigration speech from 1968. Starmer later expressed apologies for using the remark and said he was not aware of the echo.
As the Alternative for Germany has gained in strength, Friedrich Merz, the center-right Chancellor of Germany, has become more vocal about immigration.
In October, Merz created a stir when he claimed that Germany has an issue with its "Stadtbild," which means "city image" or "cityscape." Merz was criticized for suggesting that non-German individuals don't really belong.
Later, Merz emphasized that "we need immigration," without which some economic sectors, including health care, would not be able to continue operating.
Duffy stated that politicians had to be accountable and take into account how their rhetoric affects public opinion, but he added that this is "quite a forlorn hope."
