Day: June 19, 2014

Number of refugees worldwide has fallen since early 1990s peak

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This week, as World Refugee Day approaches on Friday (and as Iraq unravels), your news will be filled with much wailing and gnashing of teeth by the humanitarian industrial complex over the plight of millions of refugees on the move around the world (and the only way to save them is for Western nations to fling open their borders).

The Pew Research Center tells us in a useful analysis of the data that the number of refugees on the move is actually down since the peak at the beginning of the decade of the ’90s.  Who would have thought it!

Unrest in Ukraine, Syria and Iraq has prompted renewed attention about refugees across the world in recent weeks. But in the face of such news stories, long-term refugee trends are often overlooked.

According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugees flee their home country because of political, ethnic or religious tensions. Although millions of people may move within a country to avoid conflict and violence (they are often described as internally displaced people), people must cross international borders to be counted as refugees. (And although generations of Palestinian refugees are counted as part of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, Palestinian refugees are not included in estimates by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.)

Using trend data from the UNHCR for 2002 to 2012, here are five facts – in marking of World Refugee Day on June 20 – that shed light on the changing shape of refugee populations around the world.

The number of refugees has fallen:

The number of refugees living in a foreign country who are either waiting to return or be resettled peaked in the early 1990s at about 18 million. During the 1990s peak, most of the world’s refugees were leaving Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2012, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq and Syria were top countries of origin for refugees [mostly Muslims—ed]. But despite the ongoing conflicts in these countries, the number of refugees around the world is considerably less than it was two decades ago, numbering between 10 million and 12 million in recent years.

Read the article for more and to follow the many links.

And, remember, this week the push is on on Capitol Hill to persuade your elected officials that we need to take more refugees and throw more money to the contractors***.   See, for example, Lutherans bring 50 refugee lobbyists to Washington.  This is also the week for you to let your Member of Congress and US Senators know how you feel. Let Rep. Trey Gowdy know too!

***The refugee resettlement contractors/lobbyists:

Australia is raising fresh Jihadists in its immigrant/refugee population too!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday we reported that Jihadists are continuing to recruit in the Somali refugee neighborhoods of Minneapolis.

In response, reader FatherJon from Australia brought a similar story to us from Down Under.  It is from late last year but well worth having a look at again now, especially as the American media may be on the cusp of ‘getting it’ about the Islamic imperative as the nightmare in Iraq continues to unfold.

One young “Australian” who joined the rebels in Syria.

The story is about Australian citizens (previously granted refuge there) going to join the rebels in Syria.

From the Sydney Morning Herald (I’ve taken snips not necessarily in order):

”They don’t consider themselves restricted to a particular country; they see themselves as part of the global ummah [Islamic nation],” he ( University of Western Sydney’s Dr Jan Alisaid). ‘‘Islam brings them together, not Syria.”

[….]

Since the conflict began, about 100 Australians, mostly Lebanese-Australian dual citizens, have travelled to fight, and many more have become embroiled in sectarian violence at home.

Lebanon and Syria have a history of hostility but social media and the emergence of extremist groups in Sydney have led many young Australians to view it as a cause to die for.

[….]

The emergence of controversial and conservative Muslim groups in Sydney, such as Bankstown’s Al Risalah community centre, the pan-Islamic political organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah Association, which runs several mosques and the Bukhari House bookstore and prayer hall in Auburn, has created fear that young people are being indoctrinated.

Will they bring their new skills “home” to Australia?

Police have described Australians travelling to Syria as a ”game-changer” for national security because of the risk of bringing skills, knowledge and radicalised views back home.

The 100 believed to have fought in Syria far exceeds the highest estimates of Australian jihadists involved in previous overseas conflicts, Monash University terrorism researcher, Andrew Zammit, said.

Naive western governments and their NGO enablers offer them the “American Dream”  (or Australian Dream!) and what do they do, raise up young healthy warriors for Allah.

Since this article is nearly 6 months old, we can only hope that most of the 100 “Australian”  Jihadists are dead already.

LOL! At the moment I’m thinking of all the people, dissatisfied with America’s direction, who have said to me over the last few years—I’m going to escape to Australia!  Good luck with that!

Although I must say, Australia, Israel and Bulgaria are the three non-Muslim countries we have identified which are actively attempting to close their borders and save themselves from mostly Muslim invaders.  We have written 137 previous posts on Australia. Ambitious readers! click here, to view those reports.