Meeting Tommy Robinson earlier this month, French anti-immigration politician Éric Zemmour bluntly summed up his goal: “Politics must defeat demographics.” With the Muslim population rising, he suggested there may only be “10 to 20 years” left to save Europe from “disappearing.” Both men pinned their hopes on one policy to reverse what they called an “invasion”: remigration.
At its core, remigration involves mass deportations to reduce minority—especially Muslim—populations. During France’s 2022 presidential election, Zemmour promised to create a “ministry of remigration” to remove “1 million” people, focusing on undocumented migrants and dual-national criminals. In practice, supporters often blur the lines between criminals and non-criminals, long-standing citizens and recent arrivals, and those without papers and those with legal status.
This growing talk of remigration must be seen against the backdrop of the far right’s electoral gains across Europe. Once in power or nearing it, parties like Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) have been accused by more extreme right-wing factions of going soft. (After all, even liberal media sometimes suggest their leaders have moderated, becoming more like traditional conservatives.) In response, the far right escalates its rhetoric, promoting drastic and inhumane ideas like remigration.
While this might seem to reveal deep divisions within Europe’s right, the reality is that even discussing remigration shows the far right—in both its extreme and “mainstream” forms—is gaining ground.
The call for remigration has spread well beyond small extremist circles. In Germany, it was adopted by Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) ahead of last year’s election; the party now leads national polls. In July, the official party platform removed the word “remigration” after courts ruled the concept unconstitutional and discriminatory, even against German citizens. Yet AfD state branches and politicians have kept close ties with Austrian ethno-nationalist Martin Sellner, a pro-remigration figure who met with AfD lawmakers last month to discuss the policy in a state parliament. In Italy, deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini’s League became the first governing party in the EU to embrace “remigration.”
Italy—the birthplace of fascism—especially illustrates how once-marginal ideas can gain momentum. Eight months after heated protests over a “remigration summit” near Milan, the issue reached parliament this January. With help from League MPs, representatives of neo-fascist groups CasaPound and Veneto Fronte Skinheads scheduled a press conference to launch a public petition forcing parliament to debate remigration. Ultimately, leftwing MPs blocked the event by occupying the room and singing the anti-fascist anthem Bella Ciao.
There are certainly tensions within the right over this idea. The petition organizers, who have now gathered 114,000 signatures, hope to force a referendum—and if the governing parties refuse, to expose their inaction. Meloni’s party has long warned against migrant “invasions” and “ethnic substitution” but is unlikely to back a referendum, as it does not want the political agenda set by small extra-parliamentary groups. For Salvini’s League, which trails far behind Meloni’s party in the polls, championing remigration rallies its activist base and positions it to the right of the prime minister.
If this may not salvage Salvini’s poor poll numbers, one reason is that remigration has alreadyFormer general Roberto Vannacci has emerged as a more forceful spokesperson for these views. The career soldier caused a stir with his self-published 2023 book, The World Upside Down, which condemned mass immigration and the “normalisation” of gay people. His polemic sold around 100,000 copies, and he soon became a League member of the European Parliament. Earlier this month, Vannacci announced he was breaking away to found his own party, with “remigration” as its central focus. He has also announced a second book, The World Upside Down II: Remigration.
Vannacci’s new party, Futuro Nazionale, which has already drawn two MPs away from the League, is not yet a serious political force. It is entangled in disputes with other groups over its logo and name. Its first MP, Emanuele Pozzolo, was expelled from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s parliamentary group after a gun incident at a New Year’s party. Nevertheless, Vannacci enjoys broad recognition, and his adoption of the “remigration” slogan could bring the idea far wider attention.
The result could be a harder-right rival to Meloni on issues ranging from migration to foreign policy. Before becoming prime minister in October 2022, Meloni herself had warned of the “ethnic substitution” of Italians. In office, she has used more coded language. Some centrists even credit Meloni with shedding her ideological baggage, particularly in pursuing a Europe-wide approach to border control. They note that during her term, Italy has increased the number of guest worker visas.
Yet these right-wing approaches are not necessarily contradictory. Even in the 1990s, the National Alliance—a forerunner of Meloni’s party—accepted temporary labour migration as a necessary evil while resisting an “ethnic and cultural dilution of Italy.” Migrants could be tolerated temporarily, but not as equals with rights they could pass to their children. To this day, as the share of Italian-born children with immigrant parents has risen sharply, Italy denies them birthright citizenship (known as ius soli).
Last month, the head of Meloni’s group of MPs claimed that calls for ius soli undermine democracy itself. Such a policy, he said, would mean handing the vote to maranza—”teenage delinquents.” Meanwhile, even while allowing more temporary work visas, this government has stepped up removals of undocumented people and pressed the EU to outsource migrant processing to non-member states with weaker legal protections. A new government bill revives an earlier proposal for 30-day “naval blockades” against sea arrivals and broadens the criteria for expulsions.
Right-wing parties across Europe have in recent years made migrants’ settled status more conditional. Ideas like stripping criminals of citizenship have become law, as have measures limiting benefits for migrants’ children. In Britain, Reform UK’s call to scrap indefinite leave to remain threatens to make migrants’ status more precarious, as does the “Danish model,” which grants refugees temporary status without even promising integration.
It is undeniable: European politics is moving away from the language of integration. Advocates of an extreme idea like remigration can look around the continent and feel, with good reason, that they are increasingly free to challenge the notion that minorities are here to stay.
David Broder is the author of Mussolini’s Grandchildren: Fascism In Contemporary Italy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about the concept of remigration and its rise in Europe using Italy as a key example
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 What exactly does remigration mean
Its a political term used by farright and nationalist groups to describe the forced or coerced return of immigrants and their descendants to their perceived countries of origin even if they are legal residents or citizens
2 Is remigration just another word for deportation
Not exactly Deportation is a legal process for removing individuals who have violated immigration laws Remigration is a broader ideological goal that often targets entire ethnic or religious groups regardless of their legal status based on the idea that they dont belong in the national culture
3 Why is Italy being used as an example
Italys current government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Brothers of Italy party has made strict immigration control a central pillar While not officially endorsing the full remigration agenda its rhetoric and policies have emboldened more extreme voices who do promote it
4 Whats the main argument supporters use
Supporters argue its necessary to protect national identity culture and security They claim that largescale immigration especially from nonEuropean countries threatens social cohesion and strains public services
Intermediate Advanced Questions
5 How is this idea gaining ground in Europe
The idea is moving from the fringes into mainstream political discourse Parties in France Germany and the Netherlands have started using the term or similar concepts It gains traction by linking immigration to other voter concerns like housing shortages economic anxiety and crime
6 What are the legal and human rights problems with remigration
It directly violates fundamental human rights and international law including the right to nationality the prohibition of collective expulsion and the protection against discrimination Forcing out citizens or legal residents based on ethnicity is a hallmark of ethnic cleansing
7 Isnt this similar to historical policies we condemn
Yes Historians and human rights organizations draw clear parallels to 20thcentury policies of forced population transfer and ethnic purification The language and proposed scale are deeply alarming in this context
