Migrant masses a threat

Mia Swart comes across more like a left-wing politician than an academic (“What immigration says about our capacity to be cruel, ” March 6). Instead of simply condemning right-wing parties in Europe for their “cruelty”, should she not try to understand the fears caused by uncontrolled immigration and perhaps propose solutions rather than condemning people for wanting to ensure the survival of their own culture and traditions by protecting their borders?

Mass immigration, however peaceful, represents an invasion and the subjugation of the indigenous culture to foreign cultures. I would suggest Dr Swart visit the railway station in Milan, Italy, where there is a huge concentration of immigrants with no access to housing or jobs, and witness the resultant squalor and security effect.

Yet when the Italian interior minister stated the obvious, remarking that the combination of Italy’s low birth rate and uncontrolled immigration would lead to “ethnic substitution”, he was condemned by left-wing politicians as racist.

In the UK, former home secretary Suella Braverman warned that current immigration levels “cannot go on” or Britain would become “unrecognisable”. Is this what Dr Swart and leftwing politicians want? If so, should they not be honest enough to say so?

As long as people feel their culture and way of life is under threat they will put their own interests first and inevitably resort to cruel measures. It is surely the responsibility of academics to propose strategies to address this complex problem by showing as much respect for the rights of the indigenous population as those of immigrants.

Ian Robinson

Parkhurst