Multiculturalism has been declared and certified dead.

Bouts of economic downturn and social and political unrest across the world have pushed culture to the background and replaced it with sheer survival.

Poorly-educated, low-income immigrants have been clawing their way out of their underdeveloped homelands to cling to a foreign country which promises to provide a better future.

And I say poorly educated and low-income because their case is more pressing than that of highly-educated and hugely ambitious immigrants, because the latter silently join brain-drain flows and turn into statistics.

A recent survey of 23 countries cited  by EurActiv has detected rising opposition to immigration in numerous countries across the world, with such sentiment being particularly strong in Europe.

Majorities in most EU countries agreed that immigration had made it more difficult for citizens to find employment and "placed too much pressure on public services," such as health care and education.

As the above data suggests, public discontent is rising, whipped up by nationalist and inflammatory rhetoric, which feeds on the fears of natural-born citizens about their own existence in times of crisis.

Even countries with strong left-wing traditions have demonstrated their exhaustion with safety nets overstretched to the point of breaking.

Far-right sentiment has proved so ripe as to produce multitudinous rallies chanting hate, assaults on minority groups and even terror attacks.

Supporters of such policies insist that the uninvited immigrants have developed parasitic lifestyles, seeking nothing further than to exploit the local social security systems.

Nationalists argue that the fleeing have-nots must stop bemoaning failed international policies, given that they often carry into their host countries a poor educational background, meager work experience and limited work capacity.

Regular taxpayers see no reason why they get forced into supporting "lazy" immigrants.

Meanwhile, the "lazy immigrants" have dug their heels in, forming territorially and culturally delineated ghettos.

Unskilled workers remain unskilled workers, refusing to do as little as learn the local language, provided that they can tap sufficient social payments.

What does it say for multiculturalism if immigrant groups prefer to stay illiterate, at times even in their native language?

Can host countries force newcomers into a new culture? Do they need to do it?

Instead of channeling substantial sums of money into social cohesion and social integration schemes, why not root out the problem by discouraging people from switching countries of residence?

Why not simply help countries spawning immigration get back on their feet?

Instead of breeding hate?

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