Category: Who is going where

UNHCR: 80,000 Somalis have returned to Somalia in 2013

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Half a million expected to return home in three years!  Is it time now to stop the flow of Somali “refugees” into the West?  Sure sounds like it!

Another boat full of Somalis washes up in Italy over the weekend. UNHCR should pack them up and take them to their safe zones in Somalia! Get them to work fighting for and rebuilding Somalia!


The Kenyan government has threatened to close one of the largest refugee camps in the world, but so far the UN has persuaded the government (fearful of more terrorists in the camp) to let the migration back to Somalia happen voluntarily.

Here is the news from last week at Xinhua News (hat tip:  Joanne):

DADAAB, Kenya, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) — The UN refugee agency UNHCR on Monday said some Somali refugees living in the northern Kenyan camps are willing to return home once they get support.

UNHCR official Mans Nyberg said the Kenyan government did not order the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp as reported by media.

Some refugees had turned up to the UNHCR offices in Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee settlement, to seek more information on their return, the official said.

[….]

The UNHCR and the Kenyan and Somali governments on Nov. 10 signed an agreement on the repatriation of Somali refugees. Up to 80,000 Somali refugees have spontaneously returned to south- central Somalia since January.

Also, last week the UN has identified three priority safe areas for returnees where they will be supplied with the basics to rebuild their lives.

From Reuters:

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has identified three priority areas to which it will help Somali refugees return home from Kenya, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The UNHCR signed an agreement with the governments of both countries on Nov. 10, and half a million Somali refugees living in Kenya are expected to return home voluntarily over the next three years. The number of refugees from Somalia – 1.1 million – is the third highest in the world after Afghanistan and Syria.

[…..]

Mbilinyi [UNHCR rep in Kenya—ed] said the UNHCR can monitor the safety of returnees in these areas through partner non-governmental organisations working on the ground. Reception centres will be set up in the three cities, where returnees will receive food, household basics and other materials to help them rebuild their lives.

“Stability is coming back to Somalia. Most of the country is safe even though of course Shabaab are controlling some cities throughout Somalia,” Somalia’s ambassador to Kenya, Mohammed Ali Nur, told a news conference. “We believe that soon we will liberate the whole country.”

If all of the Somalis trying to find the cushy good life in the West went back to Somalia and worked hard they could easily expel al-Shabaab.

I’ll get in real trouble asking this question, but what makes some people willing to fight to improve their lot and others to become parasitic, is it inherited or learned behavior?

Photo is from this story.

In Bulgaria refugees complain to UNHCR: we want the real Europe

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) Antonio Guterres got an earful from refugees when he visited a Bulgarian refugee shelter Friday.  He called on other European countries to help the beleaguered Bulgarians who were swamped with 10,000 refugees coming across their Turkish border this past year alone!

Antonio Guterres (left), former President of the Socialist International, talks with refugees in Sofia.

But get this! 4,000 were other-than-Syrians, so who were they?

From AFP via Ma’an News Agency:

SOFIA (AFP) — UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres on Friday called for the European Union to step up support for countries like Bulgaria coping with an influx of Syrian refugees living in overcrowded camps.

The EU needs to mobilize and show “solidarity … especially when some countries like Bulgaria have more limited resources and are at the external border of the union,” Guterres told journalists after visiting a refugee camp in Sofia with EU humanitarian aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva.

Bulgaria, the bloc’s poorest member, has been completely overwhelmed by the arrival this year of almost 10,000 refugees — 60 percent of them Syrian — crossing over illegally from Turkey.

Bulgaria taking some action to stem the tide:

Bulgaria started turning non-Syrian refugees back at the border this month and plans to build a 20-mile fence in one area.

Refugees:  we want out of here, we want to go farther west into Europe!

“We thought that this is Europe but we were mistaken. We want to head west as soon as possible,” said a 34-year-old Syrian refugee, Yusuf Kuka, at the Vrazhdebna camp on the outskirts of Sofia on Friday.

“We have waited for two months already, in vain, and the conditions here are dangerous for the children,” added another refugee, Ralfa Gennan, from the city of Homs.

[….]

They complained about the lack of enough living space, the shortage of blankets, and the poor hygiene in the few toilets and bathrooms in the building.   [Perhaps Guterres arranged for the delivery of cleaning supplies.—ed]

We want passports out of here!

About 100 women and children blocked Guterres’ way out of the courtyard, shouting “Passports! Passports.”

See all of our previous posts on poor Bulgaria by clicking here.  Don’t miss Israel’s Mossad to the rescue, here.

House Judiciary Committee says hearings to be held this year on asylum abuse

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We told you a few months ago that there has been a dramatic jump in the number of asylum claims on our southern border with aliens claiming they were fleeing Mexican crime.  Our asylum system (established in the Refugee Act of 1980 and patterned after the 1951 UN Convention) was never designed to offer protection to people fleeing drug-related and other criminal activities from a country that has a functioning system of government such as Mexico.

Here is the announcement from the House Judiciary Committee, hat tip: Cathy.

And, go here for the Washington Times story yesterday (emphasis mine):

The House Judiciary Committee has begun looking at reports that Mexican drug cartel members are abusing the U.S. asylum system to bypass regular immigration checks and get into the country, where some are setting up smuggling operations and others engage in the same violent feuds that caused them to flee Mexico in the first place.

In one instance, a woman made a claim of asylum and three months later was apprehended at a Border Patrol checkpoint with more than $1 million in cocaine, according to a memo obtained by the committee that says criminal gangs are exploiting holes in the asylum system.

The memo, viewed by The Washington Times, also details cartel hit-squad members who won access to the U.S. after claiming they feared violence after they “fell out of grace” with their employers.

Claims more than doubled in the last year!

Homeland Security officials say they screen everyone who makes a credible fear claim and try to weed out those who don’t meet the standards, and try to detain those who do but also could be dangers to the community.

The asylum system has come under increasing scrutiny after reports that the number of people making “credible fear” asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border has more than doubled in the past year.

While case is pending, Obama administration favors release into society rather than detention!

Once an officer determines a “credible fear” of persecution or torture, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reviews the case to determine whether to detail [detain—ed] the individual pending a court hearing or whether to parole the person into the country on the admonition of returning for hearings.

“If an individual claiming asylum at the border is deemed to be a threat to public safety or national security, ICE has the authority to keep the individual in detention until their case is heard by an immigration judge,” Mr. Boogaard said. “Only a judge can determine asylum eligibility.

9% are actually granted asylum from Mexico (astounding, it should be near zero!).  91% “subject” to removal, but are they removed?

“On average, 91 percent of Mexican applicants seeking asylum following a determination that they have credible fear are denied. Individuals who are denied an asylum application are subject to removal from the United States,” he said.

Mr. Goodlatte, though, said the law requires most people who raise claims of “credible fear” to be put in mandatory detention. Parole is reserved for special medical emergency cases or humanitarian reasons, or when there is a specific public benefit to being released.

The Obama administration has taken an expansive view of the public benefit section, arguing that unless there is a demonstrable flight risk or apparent danger to the community, those seeking asylum should be released rather than held.

I want to know how many of those released ever show up for their court date!

There is more in the WT story, read it all here.

Searching RRW for ‘Mexico asylum’ here are all of our previous posts on the topic.

If S.744 (the Gang of Eight bill) should be signed into law, the definition of asylum will be expanded.

Iraqis want to live among their kind of people; Americans called racists for wishing the same

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
This may, or may not, still be the largest mosque in America, but since there are so many grandiose mosque-building projects on-going, I doubt it.

Update:  Could there be terrorists among them, ABC says so!

Every time I see a glowing story like this one about the growing Iraqi “community” in Dearborn, Michigan, I’m reminded that there would never be a story about Americans with Western European origins living in a community that shares its cultural values without it being a story about racism, hatred, xenophobia and “unwelcoming” rednecks.

Conversely, it is absolutely fine and understandable, even celebrated, that Iraqis want to live with their kind.

BTW, there is a mention in here about an Iraqi resettled by the US State Department in Montana who bailed-out of that backwater as fast as he could and beat a path to Dearborn!

From Al Arabiya (emphasis mine):

Driving through the streets of Dearborn, Michigan, one may easily confuse their surroundings with that of the Middle East. The city of Dearborn, which is surrounded on three sides by the economically embattled Detroit, Michigan, is often referred to as “little Iraq,” for its large Iraqi contingency. The Iraqi community in Dearborn has grown significantly since the onset of the Iraq war in 2003. While the new Iraqi diaspora in the United States is undoubtedly in a safer environment than their native country, it seems these communities have left a war-ravaged country, only to begin fighting a different battle: One of acclimation to a foreign country.

The Iraqi diaspora is now dispersed throughout the world – with the United States accepting well over 90,000 Iraqi refugees since 2003. Many refugees sent to the United States are moving to Dearborn, largely due to the fact that there is a large Lebanese community establishment there, as well as a “newer” Iraqi immigrant base that came to the United States in the early 1990s after the first Gulf War.

“It is no accident that many are finding their way to Michigan and carving a niche for themselves. I think there is a comfort in being in the vicinity of a large concentration of mostly Lebanese coreligionists,” said Dr. Hani Bawardi, a professor of History and Arab American Studies at the University of Michigan. However, “there is no evidence that, save entry level jobs in Lebanese-owned grocery stores and restaurants, that the two communities are coordinating some form of safety nets for newcomers,” Bawardi said. But, “being part of an Arab American population may have softened the blow, at least psychologically,” he added.

[….]

Flooding in

Since 2003, an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 Iraqi refugees a year come to the Dearborn, Michigan area in search of social, economic and professional stability. Refugees are not given the choice of where to live, but, the U.S. State Department gives strong consideration to placing refugees into communities where some sort of support system is in place.

On this last point, a few years back the US State Department actually stopped overloading the Dearborn area with Iraqis (there are no jobs! as this article mentions), but it would seem that even the State Department social planners can’t engineer the human desire to want to live among people one is culturally compatible with.

Iraqis “community cushion” is a good thing they say, what about a “community cushion” for struggling white Americans?  The hypocrisy is maddening.

Over 30 percent of the Detroit area’s residents are of Arab descent, which brings with it a strong sense of social, cultural and religious understanding. The streets of the Detroit area are lined with mosques, Arab restaurants, and businesses run by Arab-Americans. The community “cushion” eases the anxiety that most refugees feel, as they are expected to start working within 12 months of arriving to the U.S.. Particularly in areas like Detroit, which were hit hard by the collapse of the auto industry, the challenges of being a foreigner seeking employment are only amplified within the context of an embattled economy.

Iraqis have “not lost their unity in identity!” 

Despite these years of tumult, Faily said that the Iraqi people have not lost their unity in identity. “The Iraqi identity is very clear,” he said, “they share the same culture, food, and history,” among other things. When you speak to an Iraqi, Faily said, “you ask them are you Iraqi?

They share the same culture, food, and history and wish to live among their kind, but if you are an American with a Western European background, no such wish is permitted to you!

For new and ambitious readers, we have 594 previous posts on Iraqi Refugees!

Appleton, Wisconsin: more refugees on the way to your town

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is a short AP story at The Republic of Columbus, Indiana. Apparently Appleton is a target city, among 6 others in Wisconsin, to receive the blessings of diversity—all kinds are on the way!

Appleton Mayor and Diversity Coordinator Flores celebrate on election night 2012. Photo from FairWisconsin.

The resettlement program is only three years old in Appleton—that is very new.

However, the chance of extricating itself from the situation is limited because with a DIVERSITY COORDINATOR on the city payroll, she will be working 9-5 to bring in the diversity and thus, in my opinion, dooming Appleton’s economic and social ‘future.’

From The Republic (emphasis mine):

APPLETON, Wisconsin — Plans are underway in eastern Wisconsin to resettle about 75 refugees from conflict zones around the world.

The nonprofit organization World Relief Fox Valley* is coordinating health screenings, housing and integration services for the refugees coming from Congo, Iraq and Myanmar in 2014. World Relief will work to help the refugees search for jobs that match their skills.

It is the third year for the operation, which has already resettled 174 people, mainly from Myanmar. Others have arrived from Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Darfur, said Myriam Mwizerwa, the Oshkosh office director.

“We’re expecting 135 in the next year, with about 75 of them in the Appleton area,” Mwizerwa told Post-Crescent Media (http://post.cr/1ioesLt). “We don’t get notification about who is coming and when until about two weeks before they arrive.”

With the first refugees expected to arrive in January, nonprofits, schools and city officials are coordinating efforts.

“Our goal is self-sufficiency,” Mwizerwa said. “We have to get everyone in an employment position within a year and work to find industries that match skills.”

Appleton’s diversity coordinator Kathy Flores said she will be working with churches, synagogues and mosques to prepare accommodations.

“These individuals have faced some trauma in their home countries and are coming here for some very serious reasons, and we’re excited to be helpful and welcoming,” Flores said.

Diversity coordinator!  Do you have one in your town?

I see in 2011 there was quite a controversy involving Flores, a gay rights activist, and whether the city should fund such a position.  Apparently she survived the fight, because here she is with the Mayor on Election night 2012.

What are the six target cities for refugee resettlement in Wisconsin, according to this story from earlier in the year they are:

Appleton, Barron, Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee and Oshkosh

For readers arriving at RRW for the first time, you might find our “fact sheet” very helpful.  Click here.

*World Relief Fox Valley is an affiliate of World Relief Corp.National Association of Evangelicals which is one of nine major federal refugee contractors.  In the most recently available Form 990 World Relief had an income of $52 million and $34 million came from you, the US taxpayer.  None of this could be happening in Wisconsin or anywhere else in the US if the taxpayers weren’t paying the bills.