Month: October 2013

Palestinians blame their own leadership and UNRWA for the suffering of Syrian Palestinians, not Israel this time

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Palestinian refugees from Syria protest AGAINST UNRWA in Gaza!

We learned recently that many Palestinians fleeing Syria died attempting to reach Europe via the Mediterranean.  So this first article from last week was interesting as Palestinians blamed their own factional leadership for their seeming lack of concern for the average Palestinian.   One has to read through 16 paragraphs before the word ‘Israel’ (the usual scapegoat) even appears.

Palestinians face misery in Arab countries as refugees!

From Al-Monitor (emphasis mine):

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The sinking of a boat carrying Palestinian refugees from Syria off the Malta coast on Oct. 11 resulted in the death of dozens. It also sparked angry reactions from Palestinians who considered the incident yet another chapter in the continuing suffering that Palestinians endure in and outside the occupied territories.

They directed their ire toward the Palestinian leadership for its failure to take action and assist those fleeing from Syria, or assuage the misery they face in Arab countries as refugees — a situation that has these refugees attempt maritime crossings toward Europe and risk their lives to flee the harsh conditions that they endure in host countries.

Interviews conducted by Al-Monitor with a number of Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and abroad have revealed the extent of frustration with the Palestinian leaders’ inability — regardless of political affiliation — to protect, defend and provide them with a dignified life.

Ramallah resident Mohamed al-Arkoub affirmed his conviction that Palestinian factions were unable to provide their people with a minimum level of services, both locally and abroad.

“I don’t think that anyone is interested in protecting us; neither the Palestinian Authority (PA) nor any organization or faction. Their primary concern revolves around their own partisan interests, and they pay no attention to the concerns of Palestinians,” he said in a phone interview with Al-Monitor.

Read it all!

But, consider the possibility that the ‘leadership’ wants to see them continue to suffer for media consumption in the West!

Syrian Palestinians protest UNRWA!

UNRWA stands for United Nations Relief and Works Agency and is the UN body specifically designated to take care of one “refugee” group—Palestinians.  The controversial agency, created in 1949, now receives millions of dollars annually from you—US taxpayers—to take care of Palestinians.   All other refugees in the world come under the purview of the UN High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR).  If you go to our ‘Israel and refugees’ category, Judy has written a lot about UNRWA and its critics and the fact that all other refugees from the period have long been resettled, but not the Palestinians.

Now this:  Palestinian refugees from Syria protest UNRWA in Gaza!

From Ma’an News Agency:

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Palestinian refugees from Syria demonstrated Monday in front of UNRWA headquarters in the Gaza Strip, protesting against the agency’s “delay” in fulfilling its responsibilities towards Palestinian refugees from the conflict.

Protesters called upon UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees displaced by the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, to provide a “good and dignified life” through the provision of housing and employment for Palestinians fleeing the 31-month-old conflict in Syria.

Head of the Committee of Refugees affairs in Gaza, Mahmoud al-Shawish, said that around 1000 Palestinians who fled the conflict in Syria now endure a “difficult situation” in Gaza, where they sought refuge.

Every time I see a story like this one, I get annoyed all over again about the UNHCR telling us that Islamic tradition (of kindness to strangers) has had the greatest positive impact on international refugee law.  See my 2009 post here.  Then tell us why (again!) Saudi Arabia takes no refugees!

Handy guide to US asylum (from somebody)

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Some time ago a reader sent this web page (American Immigration Center) describing eligibility and how one might apply for asylum in the US.  Since we write about asylum almost every day, I’ll post this in our ‘where to find information’ category for future reference.  However, be aware this is not an official government website (even if it looks like one at first glance).  Here is the home page for the American Immigration Center.

I can’t figure out who this group is, but it appears to be set up to get more would-be immigrants information they need to get into the US (and it probably isn’t free to the hopeful immigrant wannabe!).  It does, however, give us some useful information.

Here is how they open their asylum page:

Millions of people every year find themselves displaced due to one form of persecution or another. Groups of people have been subjected to terrible conditions for the entirety of history based upon their ethnicity, religion, beliefs or some other or much more arbitrary reason, but the fortunate thing is that there are countries that can provide much needed relief to these peoples. The United States is one of the foremost.

Definitions and how-to follow (click here).

UK Mirror: Turkish gangs smuggling Syrians into UK and other European countries

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Mirror graphic showing one smuggling route.

The invasion of Europe continues!

The UK Mirror has an incredibly detailed story today about how human trafficking gangs are moving Syrians into Europe and making millions doing it.   No surprise! Turkey is one of their transit points and the leader of the gang profiled here is a Palestinian.

The amount of money these “refugees” have in their personal bank accounts again raises questions for me about who these people really are and I’ve become a cynic about the beatings, rapes, and imprisonment stories the “asylum seekers” tell.

Here is how the Mirror story begins, but you must read the whole report, they have done a lot of work on this.  Emphasis is mine:

A people-trafficking gang raking in millions of pounds by bringing hundreds of Syrian refugees into the UK is today exposed by the Sunday Mirror.

The gang in Istanbul, Turkey, told our undercover investigators that for £34,000 they would smuggle three men here from Syria using false ­passports and minders. [One British pound is equal to $1.62 US dollars at the moment.—ed]

We had earlier met a Syrian woman who used her life savings to pay the gang to help her flee after being tortured in her home country.

The teacher, who we are calling Ishtar to protect her identity, is now living in southern England.

She told how traffickers got her from Turkey to Britain after handing her a false ­passport.

She was flown to Austrian capital Vienna, driven to Sweden, then caught a BA flight to the UK.

The gang’s activities raise serious concerns that terrorist organisations such as al-Qaeda could use similar tactics to sneak jihadists into Europe.

We were alerted to the criminal ­organisation by an anonymous phone call to our London offices.

Our investigator was warned: “This trade is making millions for Turkish gangs.

“They have fixers around Europe and in the UK flying people across Europe. They have people working in airports who look the other way.

“They are taking Syrians to Italy, Holland and the Scandinavian countries, but Britain is the most expensive. On landing, the Syrian asks for asylum.

Read it all!  The graphic is further explained.  Imagine having a ticket in Istanbul for Lebanon, but airport personnel allow the Syrian to get on a plane to Austria instead!

Our ever-expanding archive on Syrian refugees is here.

Portland, ME: Do African immigrant-entrepreneurs benefit Maine economy?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I don’t know how many times lately I’ve seen stories like this one (especially as the push is on for Congress to get the amnesty bill done), but frankly the premise that immigrants are growing businesses faster and with more success than Americans makes no sense to me.

26-year old Somali woman owns a grocery store in Portland. How many 26-year old Americans have the money to open such an enterprise? Photo Bangor Daily News

How does a Somali with a small grocery or African trinket shop in Portland stay afloat?  Is it done with extensive government supported help like micro-loans, or other special loans?  Is there a little money-transfer operation going on in the back room? I can definitely see how immigrant-owned and managed convenience stores survive by tapping into the lucrative fraud of the Food Stamp program.

But, has someone done a study to back-up this oft-repeated claim that immigrants run stores/restaurants better and with more economic success than Americans?

Here is the story that got me wondering about this again, from the Bangor Daily News (emphasis mine):

PORTLAND, Maine — As the rest of Maine’s business community struggled through the Great Recession and its recovery, one sector of the local economy remained relatively unscathed and could, with the proper support, provide the state with a much-needed economic boost, according to experts.

Maine’s immigrant-owned businesses — situated mostly in the retail and food-service sectors — were for the most part insulated from the effects of the recession because their communities serve as a dedicated customer base, one that continued to grow throughout the recession, according to Charles Colgan, a professor at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service. Maine’s foreign-born population has grown by 16.5 percent in the last 11 years, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

“They may have played a larger role in the business sector over the last few years than you would think, given the size of the stores and businesses,” Colgan said.

Though hard data isn’t available, Colgan suspects that immigrant-owned businesses in southern Maine’s retail sector are faring better than the state’s retail sector as a whole. He estimates that perhaps half of the newly established small retail businesses in Portland over the last few years may be immigrant-owned.

Immigrant-owned businesses also hold untapped potential that, given the right tools and a concerted effort, could help the state bounce back from the recent economic slump, according to Claude Rwaganje, founder of Community Financial Literacy in Portland.

There is lots more, read it all.

Rwaganje’s Community Financial Literacy is a modest operation taking in about $110,000 annually (Form 990 here).  Rwaganje takes home about half of that in salary and benefits.  Funds come from these donors.

Apparently the Portland Chamber of Commerce is interested in doing a study, but I sure would like to know if anyone (without a political bias!) has done a study of this sort.  Please let me know if you know of such a study!

For new readers:  We have dozens and dozens of posts about Maine.  Just type ‘Maine’ into our search function. But, a 2009 post continues to be one of our most-read posts over the years—-Maine the welfare magnet.

Kenyan officials say Westgate slaughter planned from refugee camp

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp. It would be pretty easy to hide out here and plan more attacks on Kenya. Some of the refugees arriving in America come from Dadaab.

Kenya is home to the largest number of Somali ‘refugees’ anywhere in the world.  Security officials are pointing a finger at refugee camps within their border as the planning area for the Somali slaughter of innocents at Nairobi’s upscale Westgate mall last month.

Readers may remember that we reported last December that Kenya told the UNHCR to get out and take their Somalis with them.  This article mentions that and reports that a Kenyan high court stopped the plan which initially only said that illegal Somalis in Kenya needed to get back to the camps (some are living freely throughout Kenya).

From AP at Kentucky.com (hat tip: Robin)

NAIROBI, Kenya — Some refugees fleeing insecurity from neighboring countries have abused Kenyan hospitality by planning terror attacks against the country, Kenya’s internal security minister said Friday, in an apparent reference to last month’s terrorist attack on an upscale mall which killed more than 67 people.

Joseph Ole Lenku said Kenya’s government started repatriating Somali refugees as part of remedial steps to prevent repeat attacks. Refugees from war-ravaged Somalia make up the most of the 600,000 refugees in Kenya, he said.

“We have welcomed with open arms refugees fleeing from insecurity from neighboring countries but as it turned out some of these refugees have abused our hospitality and kindness to plan and launch terror attacks from the safety of refugee camps. This cannot and shall not be allowed to continue anymore,” he said.

Westgate attack planned from refugee camp:

Last week, Asman Kamama, the chairman of parliament’s Administration and National Security committee, said that it was confirmed that the Westgate Mall attack was planned from a refugee camp in Kenya. He spoke after a meeting with Kenyan security chiefs.

This is edict from December after Somali crime and violence throughout Kenya was escalating (it was subsequently over-turned by a Kenyan court):

A government statement said that due to that “unbearable and uncontrollable threat to national security,” the government decided that all refugees and asylum seekers from Somalia must return to the large refugee camp complex known as Dadaab, a seemingly endless expanse of refugee housing on the sands of Kenya close to the Somali border. More than 400,000 refugees live in Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in the world.

We wrote about Dadaab earlier this month, here.

Just a reminder, the US resettled 7,608 Somalis to the US in FY2013.