Category: Europe

East Africans breaking into Europe, some dying on the way

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I came across this story just as I finished my previous post last night about East Africans entering the US illegally.  What struck me right away in this latest article is that those trying to enter Europe (Spain in this case) illegally are so-called “refugees” from Somalia and Eritrea (two of the 4 countries sending illegals to the US).

A series of tragedies involving migrants off the coast of Spain have raised fears that the summer could see a record-breaking death toll in the region, as refugees embark on increasingly perilous routes in smaller boats to avoid detection.

According to human rights agencies, there has been a sharp increase in the numbers of people attempting to make the sea crossing from North Africa to southern Europe, many of them from sub-Saharan conflict zones such as Eritrea and Somalia.

After a week of disasters and rescues at sea that has shocked Spaniards, authorities have identified the coastal port of Almería as the new favoured destination for human traffickers attempting to avoid increased police patrols and surveillance. A total of 51 migrant deaths at sea has been reported this year, but the actual mortality rate is certain to be far higher, since the bodies of many refugees are never recovered. The Red Cross estimates between 2,000 and 3,000 people die trying to reach Spain every year.

I’m making a new category called ‘Africa’, because we have posted so many times on issues relating to the continent and it looks like there will be no let-up.

Russia: Christian education in public schools will help immigrants assimilate

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Wow!  I would never have guessed this:  The Russian government is allowing Christian education in public schools as a way to assimilate immigrants, especially Muslims, to Russian society.

Here is how the Los Angeles Times report begins:

KOSTROVO, RUSSIA — Today they would learn about drawing, Russian Orthodox saints and God. The 7-year-olds sat straight at their desks, sun pouring through lace curtains and cherry trees blooming in the fields beyond. The teacher set a birch branch before the children and told them it was fragile and unique, just like their souls.

“If you think you can’t draw properly, who will help you?” she asked.

“God will help us,” a boy called out.

“Yes, God will guide your hand, so be confident, have faith.”

This is Tuesday, one of the two days a week dedicated to Orthodox education at this sleepy public school in the lush forests outside Moscow. All the girls and women have forgone pants in favor of skirts, and every student is learning Christian catechism along with reading, writing and arithmetic.

It’s an unlikely scene, not least because this is a public school in a country that, just a few decades back, prided itself on institutional atheism. It’s also a strange sight because as many as half of the pupils are Muslim, with a few Jews, Buddhists and nonbelievers mixed in. Many of their families arrived recently from Central Asia and the Caucasus in search of better schools and jobs.

At school, the students paint massive murals of Jesus, memorize myriad details about Orthodox saints and discuss New Testament stories with the local priest, who barrels into class in flowing black robes to oversee the students’ spiritual formation. At home, some of the children are learning to read the Koran in Arabic.

Unbelievable!  Did you ever think you would see something like this in your lifetime!  Most European nations are running from their Christian roots and Russia is embracing them. 

The government has so far avoided entanglement in a growing debate over whether the classes are appropriate for public education. The decision over whether to add them — and the nebulous question of where culture ends and theology begins — has been left in the hands of local school officials.

 The Russians are basically saying that multiculturalism stinks!

….. supporters believe that the courses in Orthodox history and culture will unify Russia by filling an ideological void left by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Orthodox Christianity is the defining core of Russian history and identity, they say, and should be a compulsory subject for every student. Muslim immigrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus are in particular need of Orthodox understanding, they contend, so they can grasp the culture of their new home.

Unbelievable!  I’m so stunned I don’t know what else to say! 

Canadian blogger says its not too late to reform immigration and save Canada

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

You should all visit this blog from Canada entitled:  “Canadian Immigration Reform Blog.”   Paxcanadiana today quotes from a column published in the Vancouver Courier about the Macleans trial/Mark Steyn and then makes further comments of his own. 

A realistic solution to Canada’s woes is to limit Canada’s immigration intake while initiating policies that encourages the growth of the nation’s birth rate. The natural birth rate is the most effective means of population growth, not mass immigration. To have to solely rely on immigration is an embarrassment and a symptom of a dying society that sees no worth in it’s self preservation. This is cultural suicide. Do we Canadians and our government see no worth in ourselves that population replacement via mass immigration is more preferable to self preservation? If so then maybe Canada is not worth saving after all. 

Many of you may have followed Steyn’s inquisition before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.  He got in trouble for simply saying that Muslim immigration to Europe and the high birthrates of those immigrants would one day turn Europe into a Muslim continent.