New York Times: Tony Abbott, the former prime minister of Australia, used his first major speech since his ouster last month to denounce Europe’s migration policies, warning in London that the continent risked “fundamentally weakening itself” through “misguided altruism” as large numbers of asylum seekers arrive.
“All countries that say ‘anyone who gets here can stay here’ are now in peril, given the scale of the population movements that are starting to be seen,” Mr. Abbott, a conservative, said on Tuesday during a lecture honoring the British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Mr. Abbott backed an aggressive policy on migration during his two years in office. The Australian authorities turned away boats and refused to accept asylum seekers intercepted at sea, instead sending them to offshore camps. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who replaced Mr. Abbott in September in a party coup, has announced no change to those policies.
Mr. Abbott recommended the same approach for Europe. “This means turning boats around, for people coming by sea,” he said. “It means denying entry at the border, for people with no legal right to come. And it means establishing camps for people who currently have nowhere to go.”
