Thus Der Spiegel today. “Since Italy began rescuing Africans from the Mediterranean after the last major tragedy in October, the number of refugees coming to Europe has risen dramatically,” elaborates the newspaper. “Fears of economic immigrants could become a top issue in Europe’s spring election.” The United Nations Refugee Agency estimates that some eighteen-thousand Africans have completed the journey to Italy this year. By contrast, only about a thousand of them made it across the Mediterranean in the same period last year. Italy has been calling for help from the European Union, but little has come its way. The number of asylum-seekers has risen across the subcontinent, and it is only a matter of time before immigration becomes a top issue in European politics. Thus the article’s title. At the same time, the Union is doing ever less to buttress Africa’s economic development, thus keeping its people at home. In short, the evidence of Fortress Europe is mounting (“Fortress Switzerland,” February 10, 2014). And the far right is on the rise.