We knew about this facility in Timisoara, Romania, and probably wrote about it before, but this is just one more piece in understanding the UN pipeline of Muslims to America and the West. Where are they picking up these “refugees”—some from Yemeni jails!
2009 ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the Timisoara Emergency Transit Center. Eritreans from Libya are among those flowing through the UN facility to the US and other Western countries.
Mohamed is going into the welcoming bosom of Catholic Charities, now (since 2010) the only resettlement agency in Iowa. Will he be resettled in Des Moines where he will add to “Iowa’s cultural tapestry.”
TIMISOARA, Romania, 15 August (UNHCR) – After almost two years in a harsh desert camp on the Egyptian-Libyan border, Mohamed arrived in Timisoara’s Emergency Transit Centre. Although the ETC is only a temporary stop while Mohamed, a 28-year-old Sudanese, and other refugees await moves to new homes in other countries, it is a welcome santuary.
“I was so happy to get here,” said Mohamed, a former veterinary student forced to leave his family behind in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan. “I felt safe! There is water, food and a peaceful place to sleep.” [Sure, he was probably coached to say a profession that would soften up Americans—a vet—my foot!—-And, besides as a Muslim aggressor, this Mohamed was part of the reason there is war in Darfur—ed]
Timisoara gives refugees more than life’s necessities. Mohamed now attends UNHCR-funded English classes in preparation for his imminent resettlement to the U.S. state of Iowa.
The ETC is a safe-haven where refugees are assured six-months protection while they complete the procedures necessary for resettlement, including interviews with officials from countries accepting them; providing photographs and fingerprints; undergoing medical checks and psychological counselling; and learning the languages of their new homes.
A former prisoner in Yemen, Ali Osman, is going to Finland:
Ali Osman, a 20-year-old Eritrean, spent two terrifying years in a Yemeni jail with other Eritreans for illegal entry before UNHCR was able to gain their release. “I was in prison with murderers,” Ali said as he headed to a Finnish class to prepare for a new life in the Nordic country.
We, in the US, are supposed to be doing this too—DNA testing Somalis and others from certain countries to see if they are really related to the “family” member they are seeking to join.
I doubt we are doing it much.
In 2008 the US State Department closed family reunification for years due to the widespread fraud discovered in the program. It has only recently been reopened supposedly with the protection of some DNA testing.
In a follow-up to the widely read story we posted regarding new get-tough policies in Switzerland, here is news that some cantons in the country are requiring DNA testing to see if “refugees” are lying and claiming kinship where none exists.
Certain Swiss Cantons are demanding systematic DNA tests on asylum-seekers who seek to be reunited with family members living in Switzerland.
Iris Rivas, head of migration services in the canton of Bern, said that the reason for DNA tests are that official papers from several countries are easily forged, Swiss newspaper Schweiz Am Sonntag reported Sunday.
“Identity papers or birth certificates must be considered as suspect” when presented by people seeking residence under the family reunification program, Rivas said.
The demand is also supported by the canton of Lucerne’s migration chief Alexander Lieb, who said, “Identity control in the case of family reunification is too lax.”
Under current Swiss law, DNA tests are allowed on a case-by-case basis when there is serious doubt that a claimant belongs to the same family.
Meanwhile, Switzerland has recently come under fire for its treatment of asylum seekers, including segregation and poor living conditions.
Police dismantled a protest camp this week at the Solothurn train station in the northwestern part of the country, where a group of ten asylum seekers protested against their living conditions in a subterranean bunker, describing it as “unworthy of a human being.”
The decision to end the rally was taken after police feared the demonstrators would be attacked by local residents who were outraged by the protest.
We have heard all of this before, but it’s important to continue to build our archive of problems from coast to coast because after a short time some of these local stories disappear and we don’t want that to happen.
Here is one good thingthat all readers should keep in mind about this story—getting publicity outside of the blogospere is an important goal. Normally the mainstream media treats the whole refugee issue with kid-gloves, and silly stories about refugees seeing their first snow abound! So, please help keep this controversy going! For example, if your local paper publishes a story about refugees in your town, send in a comment with a link to the Springfield story. It will help give backbone to your politicians.
The bad thingabout this Springfield case is that the media (with the volags input of course) is directing this story to a conclusion that the contractors need more taxpayer cash, when instead the conclusion should be—if we can’t afford the refugees, stop bringing them!
From The Republican which begins in the time-worn way of showing us a struggling refugee (who loves America anyway). Do reporters learn that in J-school (in Shaping the News 101)?
So, where is hubby? There has to be a man in her life! Or, is she completely dependent on you for her financial well-being? Photo by Stephanie Barry
So where is her husband??? (Two little ones and it sure looks like she is pregnant, although she does say she is eating well.) And why are we taking Muslim refugees from Muslim Turkey??? If she got to Turkey she was safe!***
(What the heck! Go here and see that we have brought over 3,000 “refugees” from a modern ‘European’ country—Turkey—this year alone! )
The latest from Springfield:
SPRINGFIELD — From a refugee camp in a war-torn area of Africa, to a stopover in Turkey to an apartment building near downtown Springfield, 21-year-old Hiboxasan Iyai found the challenges of her birthright were not yet over.
Among hundreds of Somali Bantu refugees resettled here since 2003, Iyai – a mother of a 3- and 1-year-old, has been struggling to feed and clothe her children since she arrived two months ago – she said during an interview hobbled by communication barriers.
With her limited English, Iyai attempted to sum up her plight through what amounted to an elaborate game of charades and about a dozen words of English. [Of course this means she isn’t going to be working for a living anytime soon!—-ed]
She has only been here two months, the building had code violations previously, so why did the Lutherans put her here?
America good,” she said with a broad smile, standing in the hallway of her apartment at 400 Franklin St, a triple-decker home that houses three families of Somali refugees run by a landlord based out of Meriden, Conn.
The property was one of several cited by the city for deplorable, “uninhabitable” living conditions earlier this year – primarily because mice and rats had infested the building so pervasively they were nibbling on a disabled child’s feeding tube on the third floor, according to city records linked to the house.
However, the owner, a member of MEG Realty LLC out of Connecticut (who would only give his first name, Eric) said he bought the vacant apartment building two years ago, gutted it, and rebuilt it with new windows, doors and appliances.
“It’s not my fault. It’s the tenants’ fault,” he said during a telephone interview on Thursday. “If they don’t keep the place clean and leave food out, it’s going to bring mice and rats.
Cash support for 90 days which gives them time to get signed up for a whole array of social services. Remember Senator Rand Paul got sneered at when he said they ‘bring ’em in and sign ’em up’ for welfare.
According to the state Office of Refugees and Immigrants, refugees receive cash assistance, “basic needs support reception” and placement services, funded through the U.S. State Department. For the first 30 days after arrival, host agencies provide assistance with housing, furnishings, food, clothing and transportation to job interviews. During the first 90 days, host agencies also provide help with applying for Social Security cards, registering children for school and tutelage on using public transportation and other public services. They also receive temporary medical coverage.
Sarno and Cotter suggested certain refugees, including many Somalis, appear to need far more support than the resettlement agencies provide and for far longer than 90 days.[That is where the Lutherans should bring in their private Christian charity, right!—ed]
Lutherans: We want them to be free! That’s why we bring them to America (give me a break!).
Jozefina Lantz, director for services for New Americans for Lutheran Social Services, said the local agencies prepare “very responsibly” in resettling refugees and providing support services.
There is a federal timeline for providing support, “but that is too short and we certainly serve refugees past that timeline.”
“If the refugee family runs into issues [a] year down the road they certainly know where to come and we will always help and always have,” Lantz said. “But let’s say three years down the road — that is not something we would follow.
Refugees are resettled to be free. To move freely to live freely. They are not our charge per se. We don’t do that level of control and monitoring.”
Food is good, Lutheran Social Services “not good.”
Iyai seemed to suggest that she was happy in her apartment, but struggled to show a reporter her budgeting challenges. She pulled a slips of paper from her wallet showing a $630 monthly cash allowance against a $540 rent payment and a $150 utility bill.
“Food, good,” she said, referring to her monthly food allowance.
She added that she had been resettled by Lutheran Social Services.
“Not good,” she said, unable to provide more detail in English.
Now the poor Somali girl is in trouble!
***This Turkey reference may be the most interesting thing in the whole story. For 6 years—from sea to shining sea—we have heard all of the sorry facts reported here (Springfield is just one more in a long list of problem cities).
But, I want to know what is this about bringing thousands of “refugees” from, or through, Turkey? If they have reached Turkey they should be safe, at least the Muslims like Iyai should be!
Turkey had resumed regular flights in and out of Mogadishu sometime in the last year, I remember reading that. They aren’t flying in there and picking up refugees to send to the US are they? 3,000 plus Somalis? Or, are they sending their Kurds to us in such large numbers? We know it isn’t the Syrians passing through Turkey (yet!).
Whatever the answer is, it looks like the US State Department is once again doing favors for other countries (we know Obama loves Erdogan). Are the refugees ‘chips’ to be used in a larger political game?
The economic and social price is paid by Springfield (and all the other preferred resettlement cities) which get to pay for the care of the refugees probably for decades. The Obama Administration (Bush too) gets brownie points with the humanitarian crowd. And, the Lutherans get job security, a warm fuzzy feeling, and move on to the next batch of paying clients.
I expected this article at Strategy Page (‘The growing war in Syrian refugee camps‘) to be more of the same about the crime rampant in UN refugee camps like Zaatari in Jordan. It started out that way, but evolved into a not-so-attractive picture of “do-gooder” non-governmental agencies (NGOs) who are ripe for the picking in the Muslim world.
Black Hawk Down: In 1993, NGOs called in the military to help with “humanitarian aid” to disastrous effect in Somalia.
From Strategy Page (Emphasis is mine, and in some cases I’ve divided paragraphs for easier reading):
Aid groups are also beginning to confront the harmful side effects of their good works.The worst side effect is how rebels and gangsters sustain themselves by stealing food and other aid supplies, as well as robbing the NGO workers themselves.At first the main UN complaint is the increasing attacks on aid workers. In the worst cases aid workers are assaulted or robbed and that eventually escalates to some getting killed. This is a trend that has been on the march upward for several decades. Islamic radicals have been particularly active in terrorizing and killing the foreigners who are there to help them. UN aid workers are usually caught between different factions within the refugee camps. All factions see the UN and other aid workers as a source of income and supplies.
In the case of Syria there are also problems with Sunni Islamic radicals keen on chasing out all non-Moslem foreigners. The refugee camps for Syrians are particularly vexed by criminal gangs that prey on everyone, especially the women.
The “humanitarian industrial complex” has grown exponentially!
NGOs are, for the most part, charitable organizations that take money from individuals, organizations, and governments and use it for charitable work in foreign countries. The Red Cross is one of the oldest and best known NGOs (dating back to the 19th century), although the Catholic Church (and many other religious organizations) had been doing similar work for centuries. In the mid-20th century the UN (and its many aid agencies) became the largest NGO. In the late 20th century the number of NGOs grew explosively. Now there are thousands of them, providing work for hundreds of thousands of people. [And, largely funded by taxpayer dollars as we have learned on these pages—ed]
“Efficiency” is the reason given for governments contracting NGOs, but I think it goes deeper than that.
NGOs are not accountable to taxpayers in the way government employees would be and I think that is one of the top reasons this monstrosity has grown. But, I also think that the power-hungry leadership, that wants to tell everyone else how to live, has managed to increasingly raid the treasury of Western governments.
The NGO elite are well educated people from Western countries that solicit donations, or go off to disaster areas and apply money, equipment, and supplies to alleviate some natural or man-made disaster. Governments have been so impressed by the efficiency of NGOs (compared to government employees) that they have contracted them to perform foreign aid and disaster relief work that was once done by government employees. [Nah! Again it’s my opinion that its about not having to be accountable to the taxpayers—ed]
NGOs bring in a bunch of do-gooder outsiders with unwelcome ideas on how the locals should live.
Problems, however, have developed. The employees of NGOs, while not highly paid, are infused with a certain degree of idealism. These foreign NGOs bring to disaster areas a bunch of outsiders who have a higher standard of living and different ideas. Several decades ago the main thing these outsiders brought with them was food and medical care. The people on the receiving end were pretty desperate and grateful for the help.
But NGOs have branched out into development and social programs. This has caused unexpected problems with the local leadership. Development programs disrupt the existing economic, and political, relations. The local leaders are often not happy with this, as the NGOs are not always willing to work closely with the existing power structure. While the local worthies may be exploitative, and even corrupt, they are local and they do know more about popular attitudes and ideals than the foreigners.
NGOs with social programs (education, especially educating women, new lifestyle choices, and more power for people who don’t usually have much) often run into conflict with local leaders. Naturally, the local politicians and traditional leaders have resisted or even fought back. Thus the Afghan government officials calling for all NGOs in the country to be shut down. That included Afghan NGOs, who were doing some of the same work as the foreign ones. The government officials were responding to complaints from numerous old school Afghan tribal and religious leaders who were unhappy with all these foreigners, or urban Afghans with funny ideas, upsetting the ancient ways in the countryside. Moreover, the Afghan government wanted to get the aid money direct, so they could steal more of it.
NGOs help create more warfare by calling in the military. New UN Ambassador and “humanitarian hawk” Samantha Power has a fancy name for this called “the responsibility to protect” which basically means one can go to war if one’s intentions are pure and it is to protect the downtrodden (whoever they are, I suppose determined in each case by the PC do-gooders).
NGOs are not military organizations but they can fight back. They do this mainly through the media, because they also use favorable media coverage to propel their fund raising efforts. NGOs will also ask, or demand, that the UN or other foreign governments send in peacekeeping troops in to protect the NGOs from hostile locals.
This had disastrous effects in Somalia during the early 1990s. Some NGOs remained, or came back, to Somalia after the peacekeepers left. These NGOs learned how to cope on their own. They hired local muscle for protection, as well as cutting deals with the local warlords. But eventually the local Islamic radicals became upset at the alien ideas these Western do-gooders brought with them and began to chase all NGOs out.
NGOs in the middle of civil wars!
This move from delivering aid to delivering (often unwelcome) ideas has put all NGOs at risk. The NGOs have become players in a worldwide civil warbetween local traditional ideas and the more transnational concepts that trigger violent reactions in many parts of the world. Now, concerned about doing more harm (or a lot of harm) than good, NGOs are at least talking about how to deal with some of the dangerous conditions their presence creates.
Readers these are largely Muslim civil wars. How about if we follow the Palin Doctrine—let Allah fix it! We would save ourselves a lot of lives, money and headaches!
But, the tables are turned. This time the invaders are not the Germanic tribes, the Vandals and Goths and others of the barbarian hordes which helped bring down the mighty Roman Empire, they are Africans and Middle Easterners, mostly Muslims (Chechens too), who have a different sort of invasion in mind.
Ole Schröder: We are such good people, we will take 100,000 invaders (oops! refugees) this year!
This is just one more ‘EU-struggling’ story in a long list of stories in recent days and weeks about the European Union being overwhelmed by ‘refugees’, member countries squabbling, and about the UN criticizing the EU for not being “welcoming” enough to the invading armies.
Germany, however, is taking offense to charges they are not generous enough and officials there report that, get this:
Germany is set to take 100,000 refugees this year! Can anyone say death wish!
Schröder (Ole Schröder, a state secretary in Germany’s Interior Ministry),said Germany’s program is pointing the way forwards for European refugee protection. “We have asked the European Commission to introduce a similar protection program. Unfortunately, the Commission hasn’t done so. But Germany is taking the lead,”said Ole Schröder.
All in all, Germany plans to take in 100,000 refugees from all across the world until the end of this year.
“We can’t take in millions of people,” Schröder said. “That would overstrain Germany’s capacities.” [duh! 100,000 won’t overstrain Germany?–ed]
The capacities of the EU’s Mediterranean countries are already overstrained. Malta, Cyprus, Italy, Greece, as well as Hungary and Bulgaria have problems in dealing with refugees who want to enter the EU from both the Middle East and Africa, according to UNHCR.Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized the European Union for fencing itself in and disrespecting its international obligations when it comes to protecting refugees.
See our Europe category where we have posted 427 previous posts on the terrible predicament in Europe. I know I don’t have to tell you, but I post about Canada, Europe and Australia so that readers in America know the global extent of the problem, especially from countries that are ‘ahead of us’ in taking the spear of the asylum invasion. We aren’t far behind as this Mexico border stunt news illustrated.
We, in the US, are supposed to be doing this too—DNA testing Somalis and others from certain countries to see if they are really related to the “family” member they are seeking to join. 
