{"id":13949,"date":"2025-03-10T02:01:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T01:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/?p=13949"},"modified":"2025-03-11T21:00:59","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T20:00:59","slug":"large-scale-remigration-is-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/2025\/03\/large-scale-remigration-is-possible\/","title":{"rendered":"Large scale remigration is possible"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Western countries there is a broad sentiment that one cannot really just expel a bunch of foreigners. Sometimes, this is just a legal claim that this would not currently be possible under existing national laws. This is not much of an objection because of course such laws change all the time. Sometimes the claim is that it is not possible under currently signed treaties or other international law. Well, one can just violate treaties, which countries do all the time and usually nothing happens. For instance, lots of countries are parties to and have ratified the 1961 UN treaty Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs<\/a>. This treaty stipulates various drugs that must be banned. It contains among others this clause:<\/p>\n

“cultivation, production, manufacture, extraction, preparation, possession, offering, offering for sale, distribution, purchase, sale, delivery on any terms whatsoever, brokerage, dispatch, dispatch in transit, transport, importation and exportation of drugs contrary to the provisions of this Convention,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So clearly, one cannot just refrain from legalizing such drugs, right? Well, the Netherlands is a party to this treaty and has ratified it as well. However, this is what cannabis enforcement looks like in this otherwise rule-abiding country:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Naturally, the governing body of this treaty has criticized Netherlands for blatantly violating the letter and spirit of the law. The consequences of this has been… nothing. One can easily find writings of UN representatives complaining that this or that country do not follow this or that treaty<\/a>.<\/p>\n

OK, so maybe violating random treaties do not always result in something bad, and in any case, there’s no world police to enforce this. But a simpler idea is just to quit whatever treaty that is legally inconsistent with whatever law one wants to implement, so it is clearly not impossible in any sense.<\/p>\n

What about practically impossible? Sure, the Netherlands is about 75% Dutch at this point (maybe less)<\/a>, so is it really feasible to expel 4.5 million people? Some say this is not possible, but that ignores historical precedents. Since many of these are never mentioned, I thought it would be useful to have a curated history of such examples. I’ve included only examples from relatively recent history, 1900-present.<\/p>\n

Jews out of Muslim lands 1900-present<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Jewish exodus from the Muslim world<\/b>\u00a0occurred during the 20th century, when approximately 900,000\u00a0Jews<\/a>\u00a0migrated, fled, or were expelled from\u00a0Muslim-majority countries<\/a>\u00a0throughout\u00a0Africa<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Asia<\/a>, primarily as a consequence of the\u00a0establishment of the State of Israel<\/a>. Large-scale migrations were also organized, sponsored, and facilitated by\u00a0Zionist<\/a>\u00a0organizations such as\u00a0Mossad LeAliyah Bet<\/a>, the\u00a0Jewish Agency<\/a>, and the\u00a0Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society<\/a>. The mass movement mainly transpired from 1948 to the early 1970s, with\u00a0one final exodus of Iranian Jews<\/a>\u00a0occurring shortly after the\u00a0Islamic Revolution<\/a>\u00a0in 1979\u20131980. An estimated 650,000 (72%) of these Jews resettled in\u00a0Israel<\/a>.[<\/span>1]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

A number of small-scale Jewish migrations began across the\u00a0Middle East<\/a>\u00a0in the early 20th century, with the only substantial\u00a0aliyot<\/a><\/i>\u00a0(Jewish immigrations to the\u00a0Land of Israel<\/a>) coming from\u00a0Yemen<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Syria<\/a>.[<\/span>2]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Few Jews from Muslim countries immigrated during the\u00a0British Mandate for Palestine<\/a>.[<\/span>3]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Prior to Israel’s independence in 1948, approximately 800,000 Jews were living on lands that now make up the\u00a0Arab world<\/a>. Of these, just under two-thirds lived in the French- and Italian-controlled regions of\u00a0North Africa<\/a>, 15\u201320% lived in the\u00a0Kingdom of Iraq<\/a>, approximately 10% lived in the\u00a0Kingdom of Egypt<\/a>, and approximately 7% lived in the\u00a0Aden Protectorate<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Kingdom of Yemen<\/a>. A further 200,000 Jews lived in the\u00a0Imperial State of Iran<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Republic of Turkey<\/a>. The first large-scale exoduses took place in the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from Iraq, Yemen, and Libya. In these cases, over 90% of the Jewish population left, leaving their assets and properties behind.[<\/span>4]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Between 1948 and 1951, 250,000 Jews immigrated to Israel from Arab countries.[<\/span>5]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In response, the Israeli government implemented policies to accommodate 600,000 immigrants over four years, doubling the country’s Jewish population.[<\/span>6]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Reactions in the\u00a0Knesset<\/a>\u00a0were mixed; in addition to some Israeli officials, there were those within the\u00a0Jewish Agency<\/a>\u00a0who opposed promoting a large-scale emigration movement among Jews whose lives were not in immediate danger.[<\/span>6]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Turkey-Greece 1923<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The\u00a01923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey<\/b>[<\/span>a]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0stemmed from the “Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations<\/a>” signed at\u00a0Lausanne<\/a>,\u00a0Switzerland<\/a>, on 30 January 1923, by the governments of\u00a0Greece<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Turkey<\/a>. It involved at least 1.6 million people (1,221,489\u00a0Greek Orthodox<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Asia Minor<\/a>,\u00a0Eastern Thrace<\/a>, the\u00a0Pontic Alps<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Caucasus<\/a>, and 355,000\u2013400,000\u00a0Muslims<\/a>\u00a0from Greece),[<\/span>2]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0most of whom were forcibly made refugees and\u00a0de jure<\/a><\/i>\u00a0denaturalized<\/a>\u00a0from their homelands.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mexicans out of USA 1929-1939<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Mexican Repatriation\u00a0<\/b>was the repatriation, deportation, and expulsion of\u00a0Mexicans<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mexican Americans<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0United States<\/a>\u00a0during the\u00a0Great Depression<\/a>\u00a0between 1929 and 1939.[<\/span>1]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>2]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>3]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Estimates of how many were repatriated, deported, or expelled range from 300,000 to 2 million (of which 40\u201360% were\u00a0citizens of the United States<\/a>, overwhelmingly children).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Poles out of Nazi Germany 1939-1944<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany<\/b>\u00a0during\u00a0World War II<\/a>\u00a0was a massive operation consisting of the\u00a0forced resettlement<\/a>\u00a0of over 1.7 million\u00a0Poles<\/a>\u00a0from the territories of\u00a0German-occupied Poland<\/a>, with the aim of their\u00a0Germanization<\/a>\u00a0(see\u00a0Lebensraum<\/a><\/i>) between 1939 and 1944.<\/p>\n

The German Government had plans for the extensive\u00a0colonisation<\/a>\u00a0of territories of occupied Poland, which were annexed directly into Nazi Germany in 1939. Eventually these plans grew bigger to include parts of the\u00a0General Government<\/a>. The region was to become a “purely German area” within 15\u201320 years, as explained by\u00a0Adolf Hitler<\/a>\u00a0in March 1941. By that time the General Government was to be cleared of 15 million Polish nationals, and resettled by 4\u20135 million ethnic\u00a0Germans<\/a>.[<\/span>1]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Soviet Union 1930-53<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/p>\n

From 1930 to 1952, the\u00a0government of the Soviet Union<\/a>, on the orders of Soviet leader\u00a0Joseph Stalin<\/a>\u00a0and under the direction of the\u00a0NKVD<\/a>\u00a0official\u00a0Lavrentiy Beria<\/a>, forcibly\u00a0transferred populations<\/a>\u00a0of various groups. These actions may be classified into the following broad categories:\u00a0deportations<\/a>\u00a0of “anti-Soviet<\/a>” categories of population (often classified as “enemies of the people<\/a>“), deportations of entire nationalities, labor force transfer, and organized migrations in opposite directions to fill\u00a0ethnically cleansed<\/a>\u00a0territories.\u00a0Dekulakization<\/a>\u00a0marked the first time that an entire class was deported, whereas the\u00a0deportation of Soviet Koreans<\/a>\u00a0in 1937 marked the precedent of a specific ethnic deportation of an entire nationality.[<\/span>9]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

In most cases, their destinations were underpopulated remote areas (see\u00a0Forced settlements in the Soviet Union<\/a>). This includes deportations to the\u00a0Soviet Union<\/a>\u00a0of non-Soviet citizens from countries outside the USSR. It has been estimated that, in their entirety, internal\u00a0forced migrations<\/a>\u00a0affected at least 6\u00a0million people.[<\/span>6]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>10]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>11]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>12]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Of this total, 1.8\u00a0million\u00a0kulaks<\/a>\u00a0were deported in 1930\u201331, 1.0\u00a0million peasants and ethnic minorities in 1932\u201339, whereas about 3.5\u00a0million ethnic minorities were further resettled during 1940\u201352.[<\/span>12]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Stalin was a big fan of moving people around for political reasons. For instance, thousands of Lithuanians ended up in far east Russia:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Stalin’s moves are many<\/a>:<\/p>\n