Month: June 2014

Syrian refugees demand “rights” in Cyprus

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Invasion of Europe….

Syrian demonstrators gather to demand Cyprus close detention facilities for Syrians.

 

They sure aren’t going to endear themselves to the citizens of Cyprus or anywhere else in the European Union if they arrive by the thousands and demand “rights.”

From the Cyprus Mail:

MORE than 200 Syrian refugees marched to the Interior Ministry on Friday, protesting the treatment they receive from the state when it comes to human rights. [They look healthy and well-fed to me!—ed]

The refugees handed over a protest letter to a representative of the Interior Ministry, asking for the release of all Syrian refugees from the Menoyia detention centre and the termination of detention practice when it comes to refugees from Syria.

They also demanded a solution to the problems they are facing in Cyprus, in terms of employment, living conditions, the procedure for evaluating asylum applications and granting international protection status.

Go here for all of our posts on the ‘invasion of Europe.’

ORR Year in Review for FY2013 has some handy stats

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Near the top of the list of our most-read posts almost every day is our Fact Sheet on Refugee Resettlement.  In addition to that fact sheet here is a handy report from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) that was published in December that I just came across while searching for something else.

ORR Director Negash: we served 143,000 “refugees” last year.

It is a year-end review for FY2013 and the cover letter is written by ORR Director Eskinder Negash, formerly a Vice President at the contractor US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).  His former boss at USCRI, President Lavinia Limon, was a former director of the ORR (did you get that! the ultimate revolving door between grantor and grantee!).

Here are some numbers one should get firmly planted in one’s mind (that applies to me as well!) when people ask you how many refugees are there.   Here is what Negash says the ORR “serves:”

….with the United States welcoming refugees from 65 countries across the globe this past year. The highest number of overseas arrivals represented a slight switch from those of the past few years, with nearly 19,500 Iraqi refugee admissions and 16,300 Burmese refugees accounting for more than half of all refugee arrivals. They were followed by Bhutanese (9,100), Somali (7,600) and Cuban refugees (4,200), with Iran, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia rounding out rest of the top ten admissions groups in FY2013.

The overall population served by ORR and its partners, however, grew to a projected 143,000 new arrivals in Fiscal Year 2013, including almost 72,000 refugees and Special Immigrant Visa holders, an estimated 46,000 asylees and Cuban/Haitian Entrants and Parolees; more than 500 Victims of Trafficking, and nearly 25,000 Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC).

And yippee, in the very next paragraph he says they are almost all on a path to citizenship and VOTING!  Those unaccompanied kids as well!

The numbers only tell part of the story: most of the 143,000 people ORR served last year are on a path to U.S. citizenship that began the day they arrived. Former refugees, asylees, and UAC are making positive changes in communities across the country—and will continue to do so throughout their lives—opening businesses, buying homes and raising families, and voting (and running!) in local elections.

I often say that we take 70,000 refugees a year on average, but I think we need to follow Negash’s lead and start using a number twice that—143,000 a year arriving in the US and in need of “services” you, the taxpayers, are providing.

Posted in our ‘where to find information’ category.

Oregon: Somali refugee Christmas tree bomber wants new trial

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

But even more interesting news is linked here about the fact that Somalis and other African refugees are not doing well in Oregon (are they doing well anywhere?).

From AP:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Defense attorneys will argue Wednesday morning that a Portland, Oregon, man convicted of terrorism charges should be acquitted or granted a new trial.

Oral arguments will focus on the government’s use of evidence and its reliance on surveillance obtained through extrajudicial means.

The attorneys for Mohamed Mohamud (pictured in a mugshot at left) say prosecutors failed to notify them of information derived under the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act until Mohamud had already been convicted.

That failure, they say, withheld important information from the defense team and violated Mohamud’s constitutional rights.

Prosecutors responded in pre-hearing briefs that they didn’t disclose any new information when they informed Mohamud’s defense team of the surveillance in November.

Somali Community of Oregon

That story links us to an older article about the formation of the Somali American Council of Oregon which was started to “bring the Somali community together.”   In refugee industry lingo the Somali Community of Oregon is an ECBO (Ethnic Community Based Organization) which is eligible to receive your tax dollars to act as a “community organizing” and advocacy group (you know like what Obama did before he started running for elective office, that kind of organizing).

ECBOs stand up for their ethnic people and make sure their people get signed up for whatever they are entitled to.  Usually they register their people to vote as well. And, if their  people get in trouble with the law they go to bat for them (like the Christmas tree bomber).

See our category on ECBOs here.

Now check out this story from 2013 about the rough time the 10,000 plus Somalis of Oregon are having.  Weren’t we told that refugees are self-sufficient at high rates and that we weren’t importing poverty?

Recently we reported that 63% of Somalis in Minnesota live in poverty, and in Oregon it appears to be about the same rate!

The surveillance, arrest and conviction of Mohamed Osman Mohamud for domestic terrorism has created a watershed moment for Oregon’s Somalis. Before the case, the community was scattered, made up of many small groups, each with different regional, tribal and religious traditions.

Now the community, estimated at 10,000 people, is coming together through the Somali American Council of Oregon.

“We want to bring everyone together to build trust and faith in one another,” says Mussé Olol, (pictured) chair of the council.

[…..]

Right now, many Somali-born parents fear their children cannot thrive in America. Their challenges include the unique problems that come with being refugees from a war zone targeted by Islamic extremists. But they also face more familiar barriers of unemployment, poverty, racism, school failure and the school to prison pipeline.

[…..]

In 2010, the Coalition of Communities of Color and Portland State University released a report noting that more than half, 56 percent, of Multnomah County’s African immigrant and refugee children live in poverty.

According to Ann Curry Stevens, the Portland State researcher who authored the report, “That number has deteriorated and today two-thirds, 67 percent, of African children live in poverty.”

Read the whole story at The Skanner, it is very informative.

EU offers European countries 6,000 Euros for each refugee they take

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Invasion of Europe……

 

Malmstroem to EU countries: We will pay you 6,000 Euros/person to take these “asylum seekers” home to your country!

Somehow European Union immigration ‘leaders’ think that paying countries to take refugees from camps will slow the tide of illegal migrants attempting the Mediterranean crossing that has brought tens of thousands to front line countries like Italy, Greece and Malta in the last couple of years (since Obama destabilized Libya).

Meanwhile the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is telling Europe it must take 100,000 Syrians in 2015 and 2016!

Here is the payment plan at World Bulletin:

European Union’s Home Affairs Commissioner urged member states to take more refugees by offering 6000 euro support for each refugee taken from camps outside the EU and resettled in one of the member states.

“I am speaking on behalf of the European Commission in support of the reception and integration of refugees. EU states will receive 6000 euro support for each refugee taken from the refugee camps and resettled in their respective countries,” Cecilia Malmstroem, EU Homes Affairs Commissioner said in an interview with German daily Die Welt.

Malmstroem stressed that due to the ongoing violence and poverty in most of the countries surrounding the EU, more refugees will try to come to Europe in the coming decades with the hope of being granted asylum. EU commissioner criticized European countries for their reluctance so far on taking more refugees which forces more and more refugees to seek insecure and illegal means to reach Europe.  [She must think those who object are really dumb, the same number will attempt to cross no matter how many Europe is plucking from camps.—ed]

“Each year around 80 thousand refugees are resettled, most of them find a new home in the U.S., Canada or Australia,” Malmstroem said. [The US takes 70,000 of that 80,000!—ed] “In 2013, EU countries were ready to receive around five thousand refugees for resettlement, and that is a shame,” she stressed, adding that half of the 28 EU member states did not participate even once in the refugee resettlement programs.

It is pretty obvious from recent European Union elections that this is not going to happen.  And, 6,000 Euros (around $8,000 US dollars) is peanuts to care for a refugee for an indefinite period of time.

But, look at the bright side, if Lefties like Malmstroem and those leaders at the UN keep it up, it will drive Europe to the right much faster.

See all of our previous posts under the subheading ‘invasion of Europe’ by clicking here.

United Nations plays role in future of Cincinnati, OH, KY, IN

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It is indirect of course, but the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)*** is choosing the refugees for America and then the US State Department and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (HHS) along with the contractors decide in which cities they will be placed.

Greater Cincinnati extends beyond Ohio into Kentucky and Indiana. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_metropolitan_area

It sure looks like Cincinnati is one city they have deemed “welcoming.”

This is your usual longish article starring a struggling but grateful refugee, nothing new there.  However, it has a few nuggets of information that you might find useful.  It seems that Kentucky Refugee Ministries, the same contractor that was ripped-off the other day by a Muslim client, plays a role in resettling refugees in the greater Cincinnati area.

The article also confirms the role of the UN and that refugees get welfare goodies as a special class of immigrant (which we know), but it is interesting to me that the subject is being discussed more openly now than 7 years ago when we first started reporting on the program.

From Soapbox Cincinnati:

Greater Cincinnati is home to as many as 25,000 refugees. They come from such countries as Bhutan, Burundi, Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Burma, Vietnam, Russia and Iraq, but all [not all!–ed] experienced severe persecution in their homelands that forced them to flee. They also share the struggle to create fresh lives, overcome the language barrier, learn a new culture and integrate into American society.

Lots of column inches are devoted to telling readers about the ‘star’ of the story, then this:

Once a refugee is selected for resettlement by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), their case is piped down through several organizational tiers before finally reaching a settlement destination. In the U.S., they arrive with an I-94 form, a unique status among all classes of immigrants. Refugees receive a social security card upon entry to the U.S. and are eligible for social services, food assistance, Medicaid coverage and most services that citizens qualify for. They can apply for a green card within a year, and are eligible for citizenship after five years of residence.

UNHCR Antonio Gutteres

Kentucky Refugee Ministries resettled the ‘star’ of this story.  Unfortunately, the average American reader will assume from this next paragraph that the Kentucky group is helping out of the goodness of its Christian heart—not that they are being paid out of the federal treasury to do their ‘charitable’ work:

For Thang, ties to his wife and her family were enough to move him through the pipeline directly to Louisville. Kentucky Refugee Ministries (KRM) handles resettlement cases for that region, and is responsible for acclimating refugees once they arrive, providing airport pickup, housing, medical examinations, job assistance, cultural integration and language courses.

People ask me all the time if it is true that the UN picks our refugees, yes it is true (for most of the refugees)!

One caveat, however, is what I mentioned in my “Moratorium” testimony (#7).  And, that is, when the US State Department uses the program for some extracurricular activity, like airlifting trouble-making Uzbeks here, or giving Russia a little helping hand by taking the Meskhetian Turks off their hands, or when Clinton/Gore airlifted those Kosovars here.  And, surely there are others we have never heard of!

***The present UNHCR is Portuguese socialist Antonio Gutteres.