Over a million migrants fled to Europe by sea in 2015. European leaders were unable to agree on a united approach as the crisis unfolded on their doorstep—and many took the Trumpian approach.
In 2015 alone, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Bulgaria all started construction or announced plans to build fences. In the last two months, Norway has begun construction of a steel fence at a remote Arctic border post with Russia to deter migration. France, with British funding, is the latest to build its own wall—near the so-called makeshift refugee camp known as the Jungle. It has been dubbed the “Great Wall of Calais.”
Building fences in Europe isn’t anything new.