Category: Europe

Europe getting ready to control immigration if Euro collapses

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

They get it!  Immigration must be controlled in floundering economies, but will it be too little too late for Europe?

Here is an article from The Telegraph in which a Member of the British Parliament says they are getting ready to halt one of the most important parts of the EU government where people from member states can freely cross borders to work.   They fear most that the collapse of Greece will send thousands upon thousands to the few countries still holding their economic heads above water, especially Britain.

In an interview in The Daily Telegraph, Theresa May says “work is ongoing” to restrict European immigration in the event of a financial collapse.

People from throughout the EU, with the exception of new member countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, are able to work anywhere in the single market.

However, there are growing concerns that if Greece was forced to leave the euro, it would effectively go bankrupt and millions could lose their jobs and consider looking for work abroad.

The crisis could spread quickly to other vulnerable countries such as Spain, Ireland and Portugal, although Britain is regarded as a safe haven because it is outside the single currency.

[….]

The introduction of immigration controls within the EU would undermine a key part of the single market. However, it is allowed in “exceptional” circumstances under European law.

Controls are most likely to include restrictions on people seeking to work in Britain, who could be made to apply for visas.

[….]

David Cameron has already said that Britain has made contingency plans to deal with the break-up of the single currency.

Too late?

But, according to this article (be sure to open the link to see the photo) also from The Telegraph (last month), it may be too late for Britain to control any immigration.  Who is to blame?

Many of us can identify with these concerns. And being sensible, like Joe Public, we do not blame immigrants for failing to integrate: the blame lies at the feet of our rulers for failing to set clear boundaries by requiring them to learn English, respect British culture and obey the house rules. Instead, the British have been exhorted to change the rules to accommodate the newcomers. It may come as no surprise to read that the Office for National Statistics has discovered that one in eight people in the UK is now foreign born.

Arab Spring leaves refugees on the Libyan/Egyptian border—US picks up the pieces

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Told you so!   We would join the coalition of European nations which took on Gaddafi (Qadhafi) in Libya and our reward would be—you guessed it!—we get the refugees!

Here is an article that gives you a window into a process on-going as a result of that joyous Arab spring.  Immigrants who want to escape Libya and are not allowed into Egypt are stuck at a border crossing called Sallum where the UN and our Dept. of Homeland Security are sorting through them to see which ones we get to bring to America!

From AllAfrica:

Sallum, Egypt — Andrew Mok, computer open in front of him, faced the Sudanese man across the table in a converted freight container and began the interview.

“Please do not make any false statements because that could have a negative impact on your application,” the 23-year-old from Hong Kong informed the man, who was bidding to be recognized as a refugee. “Everything you tell UNHCR will be strictly confidential,” he added, reassuringly.

Refugee status determination (RSD) is a vital part of UNHCR’s daily protection work and the above scene is replicated every day in UNHCR operations around the world.

But there is a difference at Sallum because those being interviewed are stuck at a busy border crossing, unable or unwilling to go home or back to Libya, and not allowed to go further inside Egypt. There are around 2,000 people left from the 40,000 third country nationals who fled to Sallum to escape last year’s conflict in Libya, most of whom were allowed to transit Egypt.

UN Heavily dependent on the US for resettlement!

While the RSD process is almost over, it will take many more months before all of those referred for resettlement finally get to leave for their new homes. That’s partly because “only six resettlement countries have taken cases from Sallum,” said Heidi Boener. “We are heavily dependent on the United States,” added the resettlement officer.

The article doesn’t make it clear who exactly Miss Heidi works for, but in 2008, here, she worked for International Catholic Migration Commission*.  We learn from this report that she preps the prospective “refugees” on the kinds of questions they will get from Homeland Security…hmmmm!    You know it is very important that they keep their stories straight!

As Mok continued with his questions, Boener stood in a nearby building and addressed about 30 registered refugees from Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia who were due to be interviewed over a two-week period by officials from the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). She took them through the kinds of questions they would face, including queries about their family history and why they cannot return to their country of origin.

Boener said more than 1,400 people had been referred to the US for resettlement and the visiting DHS staff planned to meet a first group of about 250 for a so-called first circuit interview, with plans to return about every three months to talk to a similar number each time. After interviews, and if they are conditionally approved, they will undergo security background checks and medical screening before final approval and authorization to fly to America.

To hear Obama tell it, we were dragged into the Libyan war so that we might help a coalition of nations—France, Britain, Canada and Italy.  So, after paying for the lions share of the war’s cost, the US takes the lions share of “refugees” while Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden take a few.   According to this account, guess who isn’t helping—-the greatest beneficiaries of that Libyan oil—France, Britain, and Italy.

More Africans on the way to your town!

* Just when you think you have seen them all, along comes another NGO living on the US taxpayer’s dime.  Here the International Catholic Migration Commission gets half of its funding from you.  And, it is so funny, you never see the ACLU go after these non-profits on the separation of church and state issue.

African “asylum shoppers” attempt to lie their way into Ireland

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I like that—instead of asylum seekers, let’s use the phrase asylum shoppers!

A new UK system to track rejected asylum seekers as they “shop” around with different names and even different nationalities attempting to get into Ireland  has revealed some surprising (to some!) statistics.   But, of course those Somalis coming across our US borders and asking for asylum are all legit, right?

From the Irish Independent (Oh, boy, watch for it! The Irish Immigrant Council will be on the paper’s case again! See what happened in 2008, here.):

TWO-THIRDS of failed asylum seekers investigated so far this year under a new agreement with the UK were found to be involved in identity swapping, the Irish Independent has learnt.

Cross-checks carried out by gardai using British fingerprint records revealed that about 1,300 out of 2,000 failed asylum seekers investigated were known to Britain’s Border Agency under a different name.

Of those looked at, about a third had given a different nationality to the UK authorities.

The scale of the identity swapping scam was uncovered under a data sharing plan, which is a key feature of a common travel area agreement signed by Ireland and Britain last Christmas.

The aim of the data sharing is to unearth previously undisclosed UK immigration histories that could help the Irish authorities in processing the cases of failed asylum seekers, a senior official told the Irish Independent last night.

He said this information was vital in helping to determine whether a deportation order should be issued against an applicant.

Of the 2,000 asylum seekers investigated, cross-checks found 600 had already been identified by UK agencies either as asylum shoppers with previous applications to the UK or as previous British visa seekers.

In the majority of fingerprint matches, those claiming asylum in Ireland had already been granted UK visas.

The official added that more than 80 people who had claimed asylum here as Somalis had previously been granted a UK visa using a Tanzanian identity.

Tip of the iceberg! 

“This is only the tip of the iceberg”, the official predicted last night….

Yup!

Update:  Identity problem keeps supposed Somali woman from marrying in Ireland, here.  LOL! Looks like some of these people need the services of the reality show along with Barack Obama—Who do you think you are?

More Africans on the way from Malta to the US; new Ambassador says ain’t it great!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“It is remarkable that the US takes responsibility for these people in an act of charity and solidarity.” (Maltese official with a sigh of relief that they aren’t left holding the bag!  The Maltese people are fed up with the boatloads arriving on their shores. )

I know, I know, it is the same old story I’ve been writing about for nearly 5 years!   The Bush Administration managed to pervert the refugee resettlement process by taking some of the illegal aliens who arrive in the tiny Mediterranean Island of Malta to the US as “refugees.”   Now, everyone thinks this is so great and no one remembers the process was perverted in creating the Malta-model for resettlement—illegal aliens arrive in a safe European nation where they are supposed to request asylum (if they can justify it!).  Instead we transform many (mostly single young Muslim men) into refugees for US resettlement.

Here is just the latest installment from the Malta Independent (I see we have a new ambassador):

A total of 27 Somali and Eritrean migrants, including three families, yesterday left Malta for the US under the US Refugee Resettlement Programme (USRRP). This brings the total of refugees relocated in the United States since 2007 to 985.

US Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley* and Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici bid them farewell on the start of this new journey in their life.

The ambassador having arrived in Malta only last week, this was the first time she was present for such a departure.

In comments to The Malta Independent, she said the experience was “exciting” and “gratifying”. She had heard before what Malta does for the migrants and the dangerous trips they take to get here.

“The US admires Malta for the hospitality and we are partners in this,” she said. “Malta has for these people been a safe haven and we are proud to be partners.

“The US Refugee Admissions Programme is very close to my heart and I intend to make every effort to ensure it remains active. It represents a continuation of America’s commitment to welcome refugees and to provide a safe haven for those most in need,” Ms Abercrombie-Winstanley continued.

“This programme is a success thanks to the collaboration of the Maltese government and several local and international organisations which offer support to the refugees throughout their time in Malta,” she noted.

The US is the largest beneficiary of the African illegal alien migration to Malta!

On their arrival in the US, the migrants – a family of four, two couples and 19 single men will be assisted by NGOs to proceed to their final destinations in various states.

This departure brings the total number of beneficiaries of international protection who resettled in the US from Malta since 2007, to 985, making the US the country receiving the majority of migrants making it to Malta. As part of the USRRP programme that was launched in 2008, 957 beneficiaries were settled.

This year alone, a total of 174 migrants have left Malta for the US and more are expected to depart in the coming weeks.

*Now I understand—we want something from Malta!  So, once again we are using the “refugee program” for some other foreign policy objective!  You get to have a bunch of new Somali young men in your towns in need of “services” and the US gets what?—read about it!   In my testimony to the State Department on May 1, this was one of my ten reasons for a moratorium—Congress needs to reform this program and disallow its use for other foreign policy goals, here.

For more on Malta—just type the word ‘Malta’ into our search function where you will find dozens of posts archived.

Israel: Climate refugees are coming! Close the borders!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I can think of a lot more pressing reasons for Israel to close its borders, but climate change works.

I hadn’t seen any ‘climate refugee’ stories lately (but I kind of thought the “crisis” had gone away!).   This is a very worthwhile read from the Jerusalem Post in which the “deterioration” of Africa is discussed.   In the US, mainstream environmental advocates (so entwined with the hard Left) would never use saving the environment of the homeland (or saving the country!) as a reason to close the borders.

JPost:

In order to combat increased waves of illegal migration that will likely accompany climate change, Israel must secure its borders through impassable barriers, including “sea fences” along the Mediterranean and Red Sea, experts have concluded.

“The lack of water, warming and sea level rise, even if it will occur on a different schedule, will bring migration movements from all impoverished regions to every place where it is possible to escape this,” wrote a team of academics, led by Prof. Arnon Soffer and Dr. Anton Berkovsky of the University of Haifa’s Geography Department.

The team’s conclusions appeared in just one “geo-strategy” chapter in a nearly 200-page report of recommendations toward adapting to climate change, submitted collectively by about 100 experts at the Israel Climate Change Knowledge Center to Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan on Monday.

Be sure to let the snakes through!

Among its suggestions for how to handle the geo-strategic implications of climate change, the team led by Soffer called for a complete enclosure of Israel from all directions, including establishing sea fences along the Mediterranean and Red seas. In addition, the experts said that additional law enforcement will be required to deal with the ramifications of securing the Egyptian and Jordanian borders, as economic crisis might ensue for Negev Beduins who trade across these turfs. While securing Israel from all sides, however, the authorities must ensure for the safe passage of animals and plants.  [Snakes needing free passage are mentioned later in the article—ed].

“The migration wave is not a problem for the future. It is today, it is going on now,” Soffer told The Jerusalem Post on Monday evening. “It will just increase from day to day.”

Read the article.  There is some discussion about how European countries are ruthlessly turning back immigrants, but frankly I don’t see that.  Heck, just as one example, Africans are landing on Malta it seems every day—some are then being moved on to other European countries (here is one story about France giving the red carpet treatment to new French voters from Malta).