Update Dec. 23rd: Baron Bodissey at Gates of Vienna has an indepth analysis and lots of interesting comments on this story here.
It is happening throughout Europe and even in Russia. Not only is the economy sliding with immigrants and natives of many countries squabbling over fewer jobs, but fear of radical Islamic activity is driving anti-Muslim immigration sentiment.
From the Georgian Daily:
Vienna, December 20 – A call by a Duma member to restrict immigration in order to “fight radical Islam” and a suggestion by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov that Russian citizens should get the jobs many guest workers now fill appear certain to spark a new wave of inter-ethnic violence in the Russian Federation.
Until recently anti-immigrant statements generally emanated from xenophobic groups like the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) or famously outspoken politicians like Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, but in recent weeks, these statements have entered the mainstream as a result of worsening economic conditions.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that he favored cutting immigration quotas in half in 2009, a statement that many in and around DPNI welcomed as a victory for their views and one that appears to have triggered new violence by Russian extremists against people from Central Asia and the Caucasus.
[….]
In his interview, Bagdasarov (Member of the Duma) said that Moscow must adopt new laws to limit the influx of radical Islamist terrorists from Central Asia and the Caucasus who threaten to bring “the global jihad” into the Russian Federation and result in terrorist acts against the Russian people and the Russian state.
I guess Russia is one step ahead of us here, they are at least talking about restricting Muslim immigration.