Arabs in Europe are people of Arab descent living in Europe.
History
The Historical conquest
Arabs in Europe have a long history beginning with the Arab Empire when the Arabs conquered the Iberian peninsula, including what is now Spain and Portugal, and the island of Sicily in Italy. However, most of the Arabs of that time were expelled after the Reconquista. Nevertheless, many of the people in the Iberian peninsula, Malta, and Sicily today retain some genetic ties to the Arabs that controlled these territories in the past. There were also brief periods of independent Arab-Islamic colonization and occupation, in modern-day France, Switzerland, and Italy, using Fraxinet in the Gulf of St. Tropez as a base for raids and colonization.[1]
Modern migration
The post-World War II migration of Arabs to Europe began as many Arabs from former French colonies like Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and Syria migrated permanently to France. Also another source of migration began with guest workers, particularly from Morocco, who arrived under the terms of a Labour Export Agreements between several European countries including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and France. Also other events in the Arab world sent new immigration waives to Europe like the Palestinian exodus, the Lebanese Civil War, and the first and second Iraq war. Many other Arabs immigrated to Europe because of political issues in their native countries. Another source of migration are Arabs who studied in European universities and decided to stay.
After the recent events of the Arab uprising in Tunisia, around 20,000 Tunisian immigrants have left their country for France, migrating through Italy. Nicolas Sarkozy together with Angela Merkel have recommended suspending the Schengen Agreement and imposing border control in order to keep the Arabs from migrating to their countries, but no actions have yet been taken on the issue.
Demographics
The current estimate of the Arab population in Europe is approximately 5 million, mostly concentrated in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, Greece and Denmark. The majority of migrants come from Morocco (1.4 million), Algeria (1.3 million), Tunisia (950,000), Lebanon (700,000), Palestine (700,000), Syria (350,000), Iraq (250,000), Egypt (220,000), Jordan (150,000), Yemen (150,000), Libya (100,000) and Sudan (100,000).[2]
Religion
Most Arabs in Europe are followers of Islam but there is also a sizable Arab Christian community living in Europe. For example, almost half of Lebanese immigrants are Christian. Moreover, Arab Christians are more likely to seek refugee status than Arab Muslims.
See also
References
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