Category: Who is going where

UN to Italy and Malta: Let the Mediterranean Migrant Flow Continue!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Invasion of Europe news….

The Chinese Virus crisis has caused legitimate concern to European frontline countries which have been the target of migrant boats launching from Libya.

In recent weeks, Malta and Italy have been forcing ‘rescue’ boats back toward the Libyan coast infuriating ‘aid’ agencies and the UN which claim that, “departures from Libya during the first quarter of the year rose four-fold over the same period in 2019.”

It’s been awhile since I reported on the Mediterranean route to Europe from the north African coast, primarily from Libya.

Hillary and her gal pals are directly responsible for the hell hole that is Libya today.

Just a reminder that the chaos that is Libya today is a direct result of the Obama Administration’s policy then crafted by Hillary Clinton (with Rice and Power) that brought down the government of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, not exactly a decent guy, but his absence opened up the sea route, a fast lane, for the invasion of Europe.

See my Hillary and Libya archive here.

From Middle East Monitor:

UN urges EU member states to disembark rescued migrants

Two UN agencies on Thursday called on Malta and other European countries to speed up efforts to bring to dry land some 160 rescued refugees and migrants from Libya, who remain at sea aboard two private vessels after two weeks, Anadolu Agency reports.

 

Earlier this month, Italy impounded the German rescue ship, Alan Kurdi, after its latest batch of migrants was quarantined offshore for two weeks due to the virus crisis in Italy.  https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063592

 

Middle East Monitor continues:

The UN Refugee Agency and International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned that direct or indirect state involvement through the commercial Captain Morgan vessels in the return of the rescued migrants and refugees to Libya might violate international law.

“UNHCR and IOM unequivocally reiterate that no one rescued at sea should be returned to Libya,” said the statement.

“The misery and risk to life posed by intensifying conflict, arbitrary detention, and widespread human rights violations, amongst other factors, meaning it cannot be considered a place of safety.”

Necessary health measures undermine reception capacities in some Mediterranean States due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, prompting the UN agencies to offer support for the effective and speedy processing of new arrivals.

[….]

The UNHCR and IOM noted that the Mediterranean countries had been at the forefront of receiving sea arrivals in recent years and that their efforts, along with non-governmental organizations’ search and rescue vessels, had prevented many tragic deaths.

“However, the UNHCR and IOM are also deeply concerned about reports that States have been ignoring or delaying responses to distress calls, especially amid a sharp decrease in state-led and NGO search and rescue capacity,” said the statement.

More here.

See my ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive for more than a decade of news on the subject.

Dozens of Australia’s Rejected Asylum Seekers Arriving in the US Right NOW!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“It’s an absolutely brutal time to be arriving in America.”

(Ben Winsor, co-founder of Ads-Up a group that is helping them get settled)

 

A couple of those who arrived previously are infected with the Chinese virus and others have no jobs.  So it makes sense that more are coming?

Sure why not!  You can’t travel safely!  You may be jobless.  And, the virus is costing trillions of taxpayer dollars so what the heck, a few more mouths to feed shouldn’t matter, right!

From SBS:

Dozens of refugees flown from Australia and PNG to US despite coronavirus travel bans

Dozens of refugees who have spent years in Australia’s offshore processing regime have been flown to the United States for resettlement, despite COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Transfers from Papua New Guinea and Australian immigration detention centres under the US resettlement program are continuing as the US struggles to contain the pandemic that has killed more than 93,000 people there.

Thirty-five refugees departed Port Moresby on Thursday morning bound for the US via Singapore,and one refugee is due to fly to Finland, according to sources and documents obtained by SBS News.

A handful also departed Australia for the US this week, including several from the Kangaroo Point hotel being used as an “alternative place of detention” (APOD) in Brisbane and from community detention in Melbourne.

[….]

The men are due to arrive in Los Angeles and then be resettled in 18 cities across the US.

[….]

“It’s an absolutely brutal time to be arriving in America,” Ben Winsor, co-founder of Ads-Up, told SBS News.

Ben Winsor who is working to bring them to America. ttps://twitter.com/benbwinsor

“These guys are landing with barely more than the clothes on their backs and they’ll be looking for work alongside millions of recently unemployed Americans.

“Since COVID-19 hit, more than 100 refugees reached out to us for help, they’ve lost jobs and are struggling to pay rent and for basic supplies.

“Refugee resettlement agencies were already overstretched and providing only very basic support, now they’re at breaking point.”

Many of the refugees have underlying health conditions after years of detention and medical neglect on Manus Island and Nauru.

“Their condition puts them at higher risk from COVID-19,” Mr Winsor said.

“We are in daily contact with two refugees in Texas who have contracted COVID-19.”

[….]

In Senate estimates in March, the Home Affairs Department said 702 refugees had been resettled in the US under the agreement reached by then Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and US president Barack Obama in 2016. [Trump called it a “dumb deal” but went along with it!—ed]

Under the deal, up to 1,250 refugees who were in offshore processing on Manus Island and Nauru could be resettled in the US at its discretion after clearing “extreme vetting” procedures.

The department said a further 260 were approved but had not yet departed, and some were transferred to Australia under the now-repealed medevac laws for medical treatment.

Our government is interviewing more of Australia’s illegal aliens who will soon be on the way!

More here. See that there is no Muslim ban!

A “deal” implies both sides offer something!

Yet, I haven’t heard one word recently about Australia’s part of that deal. They are supposed to take in refugees from Costa Rica and that begs the question, why are those refugees our problem?

In exchange for the US considering to resettle 1,250 refugees from Australia’s offshore camps, Australia has agreed to take refugees from US-run refugee camps in Costa Rica.

See my ever-expanding archive on the Australia dumb deal  by clicking here.

The whole thing is maddening!

I wonder how many Australians were planning dream vacations to America or conversely how many Americans had been planning to travel to Australia for work or pleasure and have been forced to cancel their plans, yet, these unhealthy young men who tried to break into Australia are flown to the US and resettled on your dime!

And, as we learned in the SBS story, no quarantine is required for them!

Germany No Longer the Go-to Country in Europe for Migrants Seeking Asylum

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Invasion of Europe news….

More poverty for St. Louis!

As I said the other day, there isn’t much news about refugees in the US in the wake of the Chinese virus shutdown except for the fluffy-puffy stories like this one from St. Louis where we learn about the challenging times (no jobs!) a new refugee family from the DR Congo is having as they arrived in the US (in March!) in the midst of stay at home orders.

Still no word when the US would fully open the refugee pipeline, however I see that according to data at the Refugee Processing Center  we have admitted 35 refugees since May 1.

None came from the DR Congo.  They came from various countries with the largest number (14) coming from Syria.  Those 14 Syrians were resettled in Idaho, NY and NC.

Meanwhile the Chinese Virus has caused some shifting in target countries (we are told) with fewer migrants seeking asylum in Germany and more going to Spain. Of course that makes no sense to me as Spain has a huge death toll from the virus.

However, this was enlightening and surely explains the attraction to Spain: Spain is welcoming large numbers of asylum seekers from Colombia, Venezuela and Honduras.  They must be flying into Spain and simply asking for asylum when they land.

From I am Expat.  Story also at Deutsche Welle, here.

Germany no longer top destination for asylum seekers in Europe

The number of asylum seekers arriving in the European Union decreased significantly in the first quarter of 2020. Spain has overtaken Germany as the country receiving the most asylum applications – suggesting that the coronavirus epidemic is shifting long-standing migration patterns.

Asylum applications in Europe down 25 percent

The number of asylum applications submitted to EU member states, Switzerland and Norway went down by 25 percent in the first four months of 2020, Die Welt reported last week, citing as-yet unpublished numbers from the EU’s asylum agency EASO.

The movement of Venezuelans to Spain has been going on for nearly 4 years. Could not find more up-to-date image. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45640307

From the beginning of January to the end of April, a total of 164.718 asylum applications were submitted. During the same period in 2019, more than 220.000 applications were received. This year, Spain received the most applications (37.471) – mostly from migrants from Colombia, Venezuela and Honduras.

The uptick in migration from Latin America means that Germany – traditionally the top destination in Europe for asylum seekers – fell in the first quarter of the year to second place, with 33.714 applications, of which 23 percent came from Syria, 9,3 percent from Iraq and 7,7 percent from Afghanistan.

The next top destinations included France with 28.710 applications, Greece (21.153) and Italy (8.025).

Another reason Germany may have lost its luster is that Germany requires asylum seekers to live in reception centers and there are an increasing number of reports of asylum seekers held in German refugee ‘camps’  infected with COVID-19.

Open Borders activists are raising a ruckus, but note that most of those who tested positive are asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms.

From Deutsche Welle:

Coronavirus outbreak hits refugee home in Germany

At least 70 people at a refugee home near Bonn have tested positive for COVID-19. News of the outbreak prompted calls for better protection for asylum-seekers and more testing at the often crowded facilities.

[….]

Most of the people who have tested positive for the virus either had mild or no symptoms, the district government said.

The residents who tested positive have been isolated, authorities said, adding that 60 people whose tests came back negative have been transferred to another home.

Testing ‘happening far too late’

News of the outbreak prompted swift criticism, with politicians urging for better protections for asylum-seekers.

[….]

Asylum-seekers in Germany are required to live in “reception centers,” or shared accommodations, during their asylum applications. Many live with several hundred other inhabitants, with some sharing rooms with strangers.

The conditions and lack of privacy in Germany’s facilities for asylum-seekers have long been criticized by refugee and immigrant rights groups, with the coronavirus pandemic raising fears among asylum-seekers and activists alike.

More here.

My ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive is here.

“Carnage” at Cox’s Bazar update:

In case you are wondering how the Rohingya in Bangladesh are faring with the arrival of the virus, there is no additional news and apparently no spreading like wildfire yet.  We are watching!

 

Will Refugee Resettlement Resume Tomorrow as Was Expected? News from Idaho

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 2 Comments

Tomorrow is the previously stated date for refugees to begin arriving again in large numbers.  They have been trickling in, probably a couple of hundred in the last two months since refugee travel was halted by the United Nations, but the US Refugee Program is largely shut down.

Special Immigrant Visas do continue to arrive from Afghanistan by the hundreds, but I’ll leave that discussion for another day.

Meanwhile the only news coming out of the mainstream media about refugees in America are sob stories about how they are struggling, out of work, fearful of being evicted, and trying to cope with COVID (like all of America!).

Some are working in essential services like meatpacking (Yogurt making?), others like those in the hospitality industry are out of work in large numbers.

Here is one such story from Twin Falls, Idaho where controversy over refugee resettlement has been muted after years of public protests about how the program was changing Idaho.

(I have a huge archive on Idaho, see it here.)

The third world moving to Twin Falls, Idaho. Map from the heyday of the Obama years. https://www.eastidahonews.com/2016/12/starting-over-a-young-african-father-of-six-seeks-a-new-life-refuge-in-idaho/

 

From MagicValley.com:

‘It’s like we’re living a half life’ — For refugees, COVID-19 impacts depend on where they live

The star of this story, a refugee from the DR Congo, says he is more worried about his brother in a refugee camp in Africa.

However, so far, the Chinese Virus has made no significant impact on refugee camps (although as I have reported it isn’t for the media’s lack of interest, they expect catastrophe momentarily).

The article mostly discusses how challenging it is for refugees to live here in America these days (especially as many can’t speak English) and how the refugee agencies are short of funding and also cannot help refugees in person. (Why not? Where are their masks?)

They really aren’t short of funding as I pointed out here.  The nine major contractors that send money down to subcontractors are getting nearly as much as they did during the Obama years (some are getting more!) when thousands upon thousands arrived every month!

The motherships must be holding on to the cash in order to pay salaries of their top execs.  Besides, letting the low level staffers go makes for a better media story anyway!

Here is one little snip from this publication (these Idaho papers are prickly, they once sent me a letter telling me I couldn’t snip their stories).

Director Zeze Rwasama College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center in Twin Falls, Idaho. CSI is a subcontractor of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.

The federal government pushed the date resettlements would restart from May 1 to May 15, but resettlement centers anticipate it will be pushed again.

“For that to happen involves the coordination of many government agencies to allow a refugee to travel,” Rwasama said.

“Many of those agencies are working with limited staff. I don’t see how we can receive refugees during this time.”

Coping with reduced budgets:

Now that refugee resettlement is halted in the wake of COVID-19, federal funding coming to resettlement programs will be drastically reduced…

You can read it all here.

Then there is an AP story  circulating mostly about Arizona Afghans you can read yourself entitled:

New refugees struggle to find footing in US during pandemic

Coping with reduced budgets! Not!

The College of Southern Idaho Refugee Program is a subcontractor of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants which is almost 100% funded by taxpayers.  Its chief executive officer makes at least a quarter of a million a year in salary (last we checked) that YOU are paying.

Here is how they are doing financially from USA Spending….

The $90 million in the left hand corner is the amount of federal funding they have received in the last 12 months!

 

 

The International Rescue Committee, also mentioned in the Twin Falls sob story, has seen little change in its financial position from the Obama years.  Its CEO, David Miliband, is pulling down a salary approaching a million dollars annually.

How about if they pony-up some of their federal funding to directly feed and house refugees they have distributed around America for years.

Why should taxpayers first pay for the resettlement and now pay for refugee care during the virus crisis?

$215 Million in the last twelve months!

 

This is no time to resume admitting more poverty to America!

Sweden: Muslim Immigrants Say Chinese Virus Infecting them at High Rates

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 3 Comments

“We need to look at the more fundamental issue, which is class, which is racism, which is social status, which is income.”

(Rashid Musa chairman of the Swedish Young Muslims)

Never let a good crisis go to waste!

Invasion of Europe News….

I’ve written extensively (for years) about socialist Sweden’s welcome to migrants from the third world, but even with its arms wide open, Swedes can’t win.  (See my Sweden archive.)

Now their welcoming society is responsible for killing off mostly Somali and Iraqi migrants as the government sought to keep its country and economy relatively free of draconian measures as those most countries have employed to (supposedly) stop the virus.

Here is the AP at ABC News helping to spread the social justice über alles message.  Expect more stories like this one to help fuel division between the rich and poor (even in ‘socialist’ Sweden).

Coronavirus takes a toll in Sweden’s immigrant community

Rich skiers infect poor cabbie….

 

STOCKHOLM — The flight from Italy was one of the last arrivals that day at the Stockholm airport. A Swedish couple in their 50s walked up and loaded their skis into Razzak Khalaf’s taxi.

It was early March and concerns over the coronavirus were already present, but the couple, both coughing for the entire 45-minute journey, assured Khalaf they were healthy and just suffering from a change in the weather. Four days later, the Iraqi immigrant got seriously ill with COVID-19.

Still not able to return to work, Khalaf is part of the growing evidence that those in immigrant communities in the Nordic nations are being hit harder by the pandemic than the general population.

Rashid Musa heads the Swedish Young Muslims. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sveriges_Unga_Muslimer

Sweden took a relatively soft approach to fighting the coronavirus, one that attracted international attention. Large gatherings were banned but restaurants and schools for younger children have stayed open. The government has urged social distancing, and Swedes have largely complied.

The country has paid a heavy price, with 3,175 fatalities from COVID-19. That’s more than 31 deaths per 100,000 population, compared with about 8 per 100,000 in neighboring Denmark, which imposed a strict lockdown early on that is only now being slowly lifted.

Inside Sweden’s immigrant communities, anecdotal evidence emerged early in the outbreak that suggested that some — particularly those from Somalia and Iraq — were hit harder than others.

Last month, data from Sweden’s Public Health Agency confirmed that Somali Swedes made up almost 5 percent of the country’s COVID-19 cases, yet represented less than 1 percent of its 10 million people.

Many in these communities are more likely to live in crowded, multigeneration households and are unable to work remotely. [I seriously doubt that large numbers are out working!—ed]

[….]

Sweden, Norway and Finland recognized early failings in community outreach in minority languages and are seeking to fix this. The town of Jarfalla, outside Stockholm, has had high school students hand out leaflets in Somali, Persian, French and other languages, urging people to wash their hands and stay home if sick.

[….]

But teacher and community activist Rashid Musa says the problem runs much deeper.

“I wish it were that easy — that you needed to just translate a few papers,” he said. “We need to look at the more fundamental issue, which is class, which is racism, which is social status, which is income.”

“The rich have the opportunity to put themselves into quarantine, they can go to their summer houses,” Musa said.

More here.

Get ready for more stories like that one!

See my complete ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive, here.