Bulgaria refugee story reads like scare tactics; pro-Palestinian blogger the source

We have reported on the rise of the rightwing in Bulgaria, the poorest of the 28 European Union countries, as it struggles to deal with thousands of Muslim “refugees” (not only Syrians) coming across their border from Turkey.  Why isn’t Turkey stopping them when they get to Turkey’s border? That is what we want to know?

Blogger Ruslan Trad

But, this story in the Standart (and reprinted from the International Business Times) looks to me like it’s designed to whip-up a frenzy of anti-right sentiment linking the Bulgarian right to Greece’s controversial Golden Dawn.  And, they rely on a blogger they describe as a Syrian/Bulgarian, founder of the Forum for Arab Culture (in Bulgarian language we presume), who produced these pro-Palestinian youtube clips (here and here).  He would hardly be an unbiased source.  Emphasis below is mine:

Bulgaria nationalist groups have launched civil patrols to round-up migrants in the country in a hate attack strategy that is reminiscent of Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn group, The International Business Times reports.

The Balkan country has seen a surge in xenophobic attacks since a wave of refugees escaping from the horrors of the civil war in Syria, 2,000 km south of the capital Sofia, has entered via the Turkish border.

From June 2013, more than 10,000 refugees reached Bulgaria and human rights organisations expect tens of thousands to make the journey in the coming months.

The surge of nationalist sentiment, which led to the creation of the new Nationalist Party of Bulgaria, is fuelled by the government’s lack of preparation, information and adequate response to the refugee crisis, according to Ruslan Trad, Syrian-Bulgarian blogger and founder of Forum for Arab Culture.

“Lack of information leads to aggression and fears. And these fears are used by nationalist factions,” he told IBTimes UK.

“We have no clear information for the refugees: who are they, what’s their ethnic and religious composition.

Wouldn’t that last bit concern you no matter what your home country is that is being overrun?

Read it all.  Trad appears to be the source for the whole piece.

Our growing archive on Bulgaria can be found by clicking here.  Time to read about Al-Hijra, the Islamic doctrine of immigration!

Utah murder might not have happened if US State Department had not placed Burmese Muslim in Christian apartment

Why are we resettling so many Muslims?  Why any Muslims at all?

It ultimately falls on the US State Department to have some understanding of Muslim/Christian tensions among the refugees they resettle in America even if it was Catholic Community Services or the International Rescue Committee (federal contractors in Utah) who ultimately placed Muslim Esar Met in the middle of a Burmese Christian Karen group of refugees.  We learned from the extensive reporting of former Salt Lake Tribune reporter Julia Lyon that the two (the alleged murderer and his young victim) were in separate parts of the camp in Thailand—but “America made them neighbors.”

The girl who loved pink, Hser Ner Moo.

I could hardly sleep last night after reviewing some articles on the on-going murder trial of 7-year-old Hser Ner Moo.  It is a terrible shame this “epic tragedy” is not being covered by the national news media.

I know it’s not covered because Met is a Muslim and because the average TV news outlet, even conservative ones, cannot bring itself to show the dark side of refugee resettlement where most viewers want only to feel warm and fuzzy feelings about the bright future we supposedly offer tens of thousands of third-worlders every year.

Here is a pretty good editorial at the Salt Lake Tribune, with this section (below) catching my attention.  Who are these people?

I’ve found that until a crisis occurs, most residents of “welcoming” cities have no clue they have “welcomed” so many refugees into their community.  And, that is because the State Department and its contractors operate secretively. By law they are supposed to “consult” with political leaders, but you know how that goes, some fearful ‘leaders’ are informed but keep their mouths shut for fear of being labeled racists/xenophobes should they question the feds’ wisdom.

Editor Terry Orme:

The murder of the friendly girl who loved to dress in pink appeared, at first, to be a straightforward crime story. But it soon became much more, a window into a community in the Salt Lake Valley that most of us didn’t know existed. Who are these people who live in the South Parc apartments? Where did they come from? What is their story?

To find out, former Tribune reporter Julia Lyon, with a grant from the International Reporting Project, traveled to Southeast Asia, and the refugee camps in Thailand, where Hser Ner Moo was born, and where her family and Esar Met’s family lived before coming to Utah. Lyon’s prize-winning report is available at sltrib.com.

[….]

Their lives would intersect in South Salt Lake amid a small refugee community.

Then here is the news account from the trial on Wednesday. 

You can read about details of the case and the weeping parents as they took the witness stand, but here is the section I found most telling and why I say the US State Department should never have allowed Met to be placed in this living situation.   In court, Met’s attorneys are trying to pin the murder on Met’s Karen roommates (with whom he “had been assigned to live” a month earlier) or we would not likely even hear about the religious/ethnic tension going on.

Reporter Marissa Lang:

The child’s oldest brother Ker Ker Po told jurors that he knew the men in Apartment 472. He went over there to drink beer and watch movies. They were his friends.

But Ker Ker Po never met the man who lived downstairs. He saw him once, briefly, but he didn’t care to speak to him, he said, because he knew him to be a Muslim man of Indian origin.

Met’s people are different, Ker Ker Po said. They speak different languages and practice different religions. They don’t share customs. They don’t mingle.

Met, who had also been living in a Burmese refugee camp in Thailand before moving to the U.S., arrived in the apartment about a month before the slaying. The other men had been there much longer.

Defense attorneys painted a picture of Met’s relationship with his four roommates as cold — stemming from their negative perception of his ethnic background.

Hser Ner Moo’s parents said they didn’t know their daughter ever went to the apartment to play with Met. The father typically did not allow her to enter the homes of others — particularly those who were not ethnic Karen.

I’m not beating around the bush!  The way one makes sure there are no more “epic tragedies” like this one—don’t resettle any more Muslim ‘refugees’ from anywhere.  Why bring the problems from most areas of the world—Africa, the Middle East, Asia—to be replayed in America?  And, if you argue that Met was just a mentally impaired man, then why are we bringing those now too?

For new readers, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops testified to the US State Department in May that they wanted to see more Burmese Muslim Rohingya resettlement in America.  Why?  Aren’t there enough destitute and persecuted Christians for the Catholics to care for?

An afterthought:  Somalis protesting in Maine, that was the Catholic church too.

Maine: Somalis/others protest welfare rule change proposal

Update January 13th:  More here by Daniel Greenfield at Frontpage mag.

Leftist community organizers bused them in to the state capital from Portland and Lewiston, the twin hubs of the Somali/immigrant centers in Maine.

Somali community organizer Fatuma Hussein: “We are the future of Maine. We are the face of Maine.”
Photo Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The Portland Press Herald story begins with an immigrant success story, a man who made it in Maine having come from a non-Muslim country.  Of course to persuade you how much refugees contribute they aren’t going to tell you about the asylum-seeking/welfare mooching Tsarnaev family nor Esar Met in Utah (the horror I will get back to shortly).

Here is the Portland Press Herald where the words ‘asylum seekers’ feature prominently in the title to gain your sympathy (hat tip: pungentpeppers).  Emphasis is mine:

On Friday, he [the star of their story] was among more than 100 people who turned out to oppose a proposed rule change that would prohibit hundreds of asylum seekers and some other immigrants from receiving General Assistance while waiting for their work permits.

“This is what the program was designed for – to help people with similar situations become self-sufficient,” he said.

Immigrants, attorneys, faith leaders and advocates for the poor urged the Department of Health and Human Services to withdraw the proposal, saying it is illegal, mean-spirited and morally wrong. They argued that it would cut off a life line for many people who arrive in Maine and apply for asylum – a process that can take years.

The rule change is being proposed by Gov. Paul LePage’s administration. The governor has made welfare reform a priority in his three years in office, and a major theme of his re-election campaign.  [Gee, maybe Gov. Christie could try something bold like this!—ed]

Asylum-seekers do not get on federal welfare until they have been granted asylum.  Remember that!  It was mentioned in our gay Russian post recently.  Refugees resettled by the US State Department and their federal contractors get taxpayer goodies immediately (see our fact sheet).

The change would align Maine’s program with federal aid programs, which don’t provide benefits to immigrants until they have been in the country for five years, said DHHS spokesman John Martins. General Assistance is funded entirely by the state and local governments, and is based now only on financial need, not citizenship status. Cities or towns that want to provide the aid could continue to do so, without state money, Martins said.

Advocates estimate that as many as 1,000 immigrants who are seeking asylum in Maine would lose access to General Assistance.  [Maine has that many in the court system seeking asylum?  I don’t believe it.—ed]

Opponents of the rule change were bused from Portland and Lewiston, cities with significant immigrant populations, for a hearing Friday before DHHS officials in Augusta.

[…..]

The change would affect primarily new immigrants who are not yet citizens and are not refugees resettled here by the federal government.  [Catholic Charities is the primary federal resettlement contractor in Maine—ed]

The taxpayers of Maine are paying a lot of money to support all these immigrants on welfare:

In fiscal year 2012, Maine communities provided a total of $17.5 million in General Assistance, $13.2 million of which came from the state budget, according to the DHHS. Portland provided $9.6 million in General Assistance to 4,376 individuals and families in the last fiscal year, with 90 percent of that money spent on food and shelter, according to the city.

Of the total spent, $2.4 million came from property taxpayers and $7.2 million came from the state [taxpayers!–ed].

Now get this! Somali community leader says they are the future of Maine [and you better take care of us!—ed].

“This proposed rule will result in increased homelessness and hunger for immigrant women and their children,” said Fatuma Hussein, the director of Somali Women of Maine. “We are the future of Maine. We are the face of Maine. The face of Maine is changing.”

Here is our previous post on Governor LePage’s initiative. Go here for all of our extensive coverage on Lewiston, and here on our coverage of Maine (lots of crimes and welfare fraud stories).  One of our top posts of all time at RRW is this one:  Somali migration to Maine: it’s the welfare magnet, stupid!