how how could this migrant crisis be
stopped this is a German far-right
pseudo journalist on the Greek island of
Lesbos he and other identitarian 'he's
from countries like france austria and
the netherlands have been flocking to
the island in recent months so what
brings these people from all over Europe
to a small island in the Aegean Sea
refugees and migrants the island has
become a magnet for Europe's
identitarian movement far-right
nationalist group that's anti migration
and anti Islam by following these people
we can trace their connections back to
the rest of Europe and from there the
wide network of Europe's identitarian
movement this investigation in
collaboration with lighthouse reports
will show you what that network looks
like and how its fuelling nationalist
sentiment in Europe
[Music]
les voz has been on the frontline of
Europe's migrant and refugee crisis
since it began in 2015 a deal between
the European Union and Turkey to stem
the flow of asylum seekers in 2016
turn to Greece's Islands into a sort of
buffer zone leaving those still on the
islands trapped in limbo the presence of
a refugee camp with nearly 20,000 people
in it has created increasingly strained
relations with those living on their
Island that tension escalated into
violence with locals against the
migrants and refugees as well as local
NGOs this year in February after the
Greek government attempted to expand the
camp
these violent confrontations coupled
with Turkey's sudden decision to allow
asylum seekers to freely enter Europe
began to attract the attention of
far-right groups throughout Europe in
early March with turkeys encouragement a
new influx of asylum seekers started
travelling to Greece another by its land
border with Turkey or by sea two islands
like lesbos the March first locals
attempted to prevent a dinghy with
migrants on it from docking at a
Portland migrants journalist Cindy when
representatives were attacked in the
incident not long after German far-right
group made a reference to the attack at
a rally eastern Germany this is when we
start to see an influx of identitarian
and other far-right nationalist actors
from various European countries start to
appear on lesbos and elsewhere in Greece
as also when the US State Department
releases a travel advisory warning US
citizens about traveling to the area the
kinds of white nationalists neo-nazis
and far-right types showing up in Greece
range from pseudo journalists to actual
politicians but the goal is the same for
all of them take advantage of the
situation on the island to strengthen
their message back home problem here is
twofold first as some of these fringe
messages get distributed throughout
these groups networks they get distilled
into the mainstream and translate to
empowered nationalist parties throughout
Europe second these messages have the
potential to resonate with lone wolf
type actors may turn to violence to stop
what they perceive is some sort of
invasion a 43 year old German national
killed nine people on a shooting rampage
most of them of Turkish and Kurdish
descent by drawing white nationalists
from all over Europe Greece and lesbos
in particular can demonstrate just how
far the network reaches throughout
Europe when the island became a
flashpoint for Europe's migration crisis
people from at least six different
countries representing various
nationalist groups or political parties
traveled either directly to the island
or other parts of Greece these trips all
feed its the broader network of Europe's
far right while some affiliated with
Frances far-right generation identity
movement or in Greece a group also
staged anti-immigration protests in
Paris
another Belgian movement launched an
initiative aimed at helping
quote-unquote Greek patriots push back
against migrants coming to Greece
revealing this Network shows just how
interconnected Europe's various
far-right and nationalist movements are
when a new flashpoint like les Bo's
flares up far-right actors from all over
Europe travel there to strengthen their
movements back home even the global
coronavirus pandemic is an opportunity
the groups are using it to demonize
migrants as vectors for the virus and if
one thing is clear it's that the
far-right understands the power of
migration as a political issue and how
to harness that power to strengthen
their message