Tag: Europe

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.

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!

 

Surprise! ISIS Terrorist, a Brit, Turns up Alive in Spain!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Invasion of Europe update….

Believe it or not, there is other news in the world these days that doesn’t involve the Chinese virus!

Just one of the tens of thousands of ‘refugees’ who have made their way to Europe! So much for the highly touted biometric data!

“This is a major problem,” a counter-terrorism official in Belgium told Insider. “Abdel-Bary isn’t some Syrian guy nobody has ever heard of. He’s a well-known jihadist from a well-known jihadist family … Now it turns out he’s not dead but rather living in a rented apartment on the Spanish coast.”

From Business Insider:

The arrest in Spain of an infamous member of Islamic State from London who authorities thought had been killed in Syria has sparked fears among security officials that more foreign fighters survived the fall of ISIS-controlled territory than previously imagined.

Worse, sources tell Insider, he found a way to smuggle himself back into Europe by avoiding customs checks and biometric tracking at borders.

Abdel-Majed Abdel-Bary and two unnamed associates were arrested Monday by Spanish police in the Mediterranean port city of Almeria after coordination with the UK domestic intelligence service MI5, which had been attempting to track him since he left the UK to join ISIS in Syria in 2015.

Abdel-Bary is the son of Adel Abdel Bari, who has been accused of killing 224 people in various bomb attacks across Africa. Some believe he is linked to the terror cell that committed the Bataclan massacre in Paris in 2015.

Read about his infamous Egyptian jihadist daddy.

Intelligence sources said they were shaken that such a major figure could make his way back into Europe undetected.

Know your history, they do! Almeria holds symbolic value for Muslims. See why he likely picked this location for his return to Europe. https://www.andalucia.com/cities/almeria/alcazaba.htm

“This is a major problem,” a counter-terrorism official in Belgium told Insider.

“Abdel-Bary isn’t some Syrian guy nobody has ever heard of. He’s a well-known jihadist from a well-known jihadist family who was active on social media from Syria and was closely linked to both the cyber-caliphate activities of Junaid Hussain and the cell of UK fighters who controlled the Western hostages in Raqqa.

Now it turns out he’s not dead but rather living in a rented apartment on the Spanish coast.”

Just another of those poor suffering refugees.

The official said the immediate suspicion was that Abdel-Bary was able to make his way back to Europe at some point in the last few years amid the ongoing flood of civilian refugees.

[….]

“Who else is living here inside Schengen […the area of 26 countries in mainland Europe through which citizens are allowed to move without passports] and able to move around freely without showing ID?” asked the Belgian official, who had tracked both the Molenbeek Cell and then assisted French and Belgian special forces in targeting Francophone fighters during the fighting in Mosul and Raqqa from 2016 to 2019.

[….]

Abdel-Bary, 28, was involved in drug dealing and had a small star turn as a jihadi inspired rapper. He was influenced by his Egyptian-born father’s yearslong detention in the UK while awaiting extradition to the US on charges he was a member of al Qaida who helped plan the 1998 East African embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

More here.

There is an interesting discussion about how the French and British military attempted to kill as many of their nationals who had joined ISIS presumably so they wouldn’t have to bother with them if they turned up back home in France or the UK.

See my complete ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive that extends back for a decade. LOL! You might have a little extra reading time on your hands these days!

Endnote:  You might have noticed that both of my blogs were down for awhile yesterday.  Apparently my hosting company was doing some fixes, nothing nefarious!

COVID-19 News: NGOs in Europe Call on Governments to Take Better Care of Migrants

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is a bit of maddening news!

Non-profit groups that have encouraged the migration of Africans and Middle Easterners to Europe for a decade or more are now demanding the governments of Greece and France do more to protect migrants as the virus crisis deepens.

Why?

Because as one official at Catholic Charities Caritas said: “[W]e need to protect our volunteers and staff.”

What! So governments need to send in government workers instead of their ‘volunteers!’

Here is the invasion of Europe news from The Guardian:

NGOs raise alarm as coronavirus strips support from EU refugees

Governments across Europe are facing calls to urgently put into place measures to protect refugees and migrants – in particular lone children – as the coronavirus epidemic sees volunteer numbers plunge and many vital support services close.

On Tuesday, groups working with refugees and unaccompanied children in France and Greece implored the authorities in both countries to provide urgent help to refugees and unaccompanied minors, whom they say have been effectively abandoned by the authorities. [Abandoned by authorities? Sounds like abandoned by the NGOs!—ed]

NYC based International Rescue Committee (led by moneybags Miliband) is one group that is demanding Greece and France do more. They said in a statement this week: “The physical health and safety of our staff, our clients, and our communities is the International Rescue Committee’s top priority globally.” “Clients” are refugees. Community does not mean your town, it means their community of migrants and volunteers.

In France, a group of 24 organisations sent a letter to the French government and the mayors of Calais and Grande-Synthe imploring them to provide urgent interventions to refugees and migrants in northern France.

In the letter, the organisations, which include Médecins du Monde and Refugee Rights Europe, say:

“The situation of exiled people is unspeakable: lack of accommodation, cold, humidity, stress, fatigue, crowding together in light tents, daily expulsion from places of life, deplorable sanitary conditions.”

The groups say that, in the absence of any other protection measures, the state should provide accommodation and basic food distribution as well as access to hot water and soap to try to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus among the migrant community.

[….]

The groups, including the IRC [International Rescue Committee], Human Rights Watch, and the Danish Refugee Council among others, also called for a raft of protective measures including an end to deportations and pressing forward with relocation and family reunion programmes for unaccompanied minors across Europe.

[….]

One charity in northern France told the Guardian they are losing desperately needed volunteers as the epidemic takes hold across the continent.

No kidding!  When the s*** hits the fan, the fair-weather do-gooders beg for government help!

More here.

If you are a new reader, and want to know more about the ‘Invasion of Europe’ my archives are here. To learn all about moneybags Miliband, click here. 

This is the IRC’s statement on the refugee shutdown that begins (supposedly) today in the US.

COVID-19 News: Medical Charity Calls for All Refugees to be Dispersed from Greek Camps

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 1 Comment

Invasion of Europe news….

Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) wants Greece and the European Union to find places elsewhere for 40,000 asylum seekers as they fear Coronavirus will run wild in the camps.

But, it is everywhere in Europe so where the heck are they supposed to go?  Europe is naturally trying to save its own people first.

From Reuters:

MSF urges Greece to evacuate migrant camps due to coronavirus risk

ATHENS (Reuters) – Medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has urged Greece to immediately evacuate migrants from overcrowded camps on its islands due to a high risk of the coronavirus spreading swiftly among people living in squalid conditions.

Moria camp on Lesbos has 15,000 residents.

Greece reported its first fatality from the virus on Thursday, in the town of Patra on the mainland. It has confirmed 117 cases of coronavirus so far, including one on the island of Lesbos, where the notorious Moria camp is located.

“The evacuation of the camps on the Greek islands is now more urgent than ever,” the charity said.

“We need to be realistic: It would be impossible to contain an outbreak in such camp settings,” it said, adding that it had not yet seen a credible emergency plan in case of an outbreak.

More than 40,000 asylum-seekers are living in camps, which are operating far beyond their capacity on five Greek islands.

Now get this….

MSF did not specify where it thought the Greek authorities should transfer the migrants but said both Greece and the European Union should act swiftly to avert a disaster.

Of course there is no place to move them especially as each European country is now closing its borders to one and all.  Coronavirus sure is setting back the borderless world goals of the globalists.

More here.

See my ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive that includes posts going back at least ten years.

 

Editor’s note:  As RRW approaches its 13th birthday, there are over 10,000 posts archived here at Refugee Resettlement Watch. Unfortunately, it is just me here with no staff and so it has become virtually impossible to answer all of the basic questions that come into my e-mail inbox or to RRW’s facebook page every day. I don’t want to appear rude—I simply haven’t enough hours in the day.

Please take time to visit RRW (don’t just read posts in your e-mail) and use the search window in the right hand sidebar and see if you can find the information you need.  Also see my series that I wrote in recent months entitled Knowledge is Power which explains some basic principles of how Refugee Resettlement is carried out in the US.

And, lastly, I don’t write that much every day, so if you made a habit of reading my posts here on a daily basis, you would eventually catch on to what is happening because I do link back to previous posts as much as possible. LOL!  Thank you for helping me not go crazy!