Tag: Syrian refugees

Austria takes first Syrian refugees—Christians!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I have a story to post today from AP at the Washington Post before I get to the Syrian article.  The title is:  ‘Austria governing coalition barely keeps its absolute majority as anti-immigrant party gains.’  The tone of it is one of shock that Austria’s ‘Freedom Party’ should be gaining (elections were this past Sunday) although not quite enough to wrest control of the government from the Socialists.

Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache

Nevertheless, just as Australia demonstrated recently, the voting public is increasingly concerned about high numbers of Muslim migrants seeking asylum in their countries.

Here is the WAPO:

VIENNA — Hundreds of thousands of voters disenchanted with Austria’s cozy ruling coalition voted Sunday for a right-wing opposition party championing anti-immigrant and EU-skeptic views, leaving the government barely holding on to the absolute majority its needs to stay in power for the next five years.

[…..]

Although the results gave the two parties nearly 51 percent of all votes cast Sunday, the real winner in terms of gains was the right-wing Freedom Party. With 21.4 percent, its showing was nearly 4 percentage points better than at the last general elections five years ago.

[…..]

…..in a country traditionally fearful of outside influences bursting its bubble of prosperity, Freedom Party calls of “Austria first” appeared to have been effective, along with slogans exploiting distrust of Muslim immigrants.

So why might voters distrust Muslim migrants?  Remember this story from February when “asylum seekers” holed-up in a church, went on a hunger strike and demanded they be allowed to stay in Austria.  It is one of many we have written about Austria (click here for more).

Austria criticized for taking Syrian Christians!

Now this is the story (at the Lebanon Daily Star) about the first Syrians arriving in Austria.  17 countries have agreed to take Syrians according to the UNHCR.

This is the first specific mention I’ve seen of Syrian Christians being helped by the West.

VIENNA: A family of four Syrian refugees has arrived in Austria, the first of 500 that the country has offered to take.

Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck says the family arrived Tuesday evening. He says plans are to bring the rest of the contingent to Austria “as quickly as possible,” but cannot give a precise date for when the last refugee will enter the country.

The four are Christians. Charity organizations have criticized the government’s selection method, saying Christians were given preference. Grundboeck says that members of groups most at threat were chosen – children and minorities, including religious minorities.

“Charity organizations” complained about the choice of Christians, gee, what a surprise!

Human Rights First: US should commit next week to taking more Syrian refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Duncan Breen, Senior Associate, Refugee Protection Program at Human Rights First says at next week’s meeting of foreign ministers in Geneva that the US should make a commitment to resettle more Syrians and to make it easier for them to get around “bars to protection under U.S. immigration law” (code for reduce security screening).

Breen, center, at release of HIAS report on LGBTI refugees in May

Here is a portion of the press release at Human Rights First:

Next week in Geneva, foreign ministers will convene to discuss ways to support Syria’s neighbors as they host hundreds of thousands of refugees. The United States has contributed significant resources to help address the humanitarian crisis, far more than any other nation. This gives the U.S. delegation, led by Deputy Secretary Bill Burns, even greater standing to use this high-level meeting to:  1) advocate strongly for access to protection for Syrian refugees; 2) encourage other donors to increase their contributions to assist Syrian refugees; and 3) make a firm commitment to increase its own resettlement of Syrian refugees to the United States.

[….]

The United States has the world’s largest refugee resettlement program. But it is resettling very few refugees from Syria at present.  The United States should use the opportunity of next week’s meeting to announce a commitment to significantly increase the numbers of Syrian refugees it will accept through its resettlement program. At the U.N. General Assembly this week, Lebanese President Sleiman asked for help beyond financial assistance and stressed the need “to search for ways to share the burdens and numbers among States.” As the UNHCR steps up its efforts to identify the most vulnerable Syrian refugees for resettlement, the United States should make clear its commitment to resettling increasing numbers of Syrian refugees and take steps to proactively address potential bars to protection under U.S. immigration law.

How about we fill up that UN camp at Al-Azraq first!

Photo is from this panel discussion.

Boondoggle? UN building state-of-the-art refugee camp near Jordan/Saudi border as Syrian refugee flow slows

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I thought I did my duty for today in reporting Syrian refugee “crisis” news, here, but can’t resist posting another story after seeing this report of a ‘ghost’ refugee camp being built by the UN (surely with millions of your tax dollars).

“…bizarre sight of thousands of restrooms that appeared to march across the desolate landscape,” reporter Richard Read. Photo: Jamie Francis

Every day I receive alerts on many refugee topics.  Today my ‘Syria’ alert was filled to over-flowing with stories on the Syrian refugee “crisis,” “catastrophe:” not enough foreign aid, not enough schools for the children, too much criminal activity in camps, no money, no money, send money, etc. etc…. and then this:  ‘United Nations builds giant refugee camp in the desert, but will it be used?’

From The Oregonian:

AL AZRAQ, Jordan –- There’s a big mystery in the desert near Jordan’s border with Saudi Arabia, and on Tuesday photographer Jamie Francis and I went to investigate it.   [I wonder how the Saudis feel about its nearness to their border—ed]

Here on barren volcanic soil, the United Nations is building a gigantic refugee camp designed for a new influx of Syrians fleeing the war next door.

Preparations are impressive – this may be the most carefully planned refugee camp anywhere in the world, designed to house as many as 130,000 eventually. But despite tens of millions of dollars invested, it’s impossible to say when or whether Al Azraq camp will ever be used.

[…..]

I interviewed a top international migration official who confirmed that for now, the Syrian refugee flow into Jordan has slowed to a trickle. At times, as many as 4,000 Syrians a day arrived in Jordan. But the daily number has dropped to between 120 and 150, said Davide Terzi, chief of mission to Jordan for the International Organization for Migration.

So, let’s see, Camp Al Azraq will hold 130,000, it’s nearly finished, that means 130,000 Syrians (if they aren’t coming to Jordan bring them over from Lebanon) could be housed there instead of being resettled in the West until the Syrian civil war is over.  And, think of this enormous benefit—-they would still be in their own “culture zone!”

Germany: 75 newly arrived Syrian “refugees” disappear

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We’ve been following the news from “welcoming” Germany that has agreed to take up to 10,000 Syrian refugees.  The first ones arrived just two weeks ago amid much fanfare, here.

Photo is from The Local

Now we see that 75 have gone missing and are believed to have been “trafficked” to Denmark further demonstrating the mess the European Union is in with “asylum shoppers” looking for a better deal in another country.

Why didn’t they like Germany? Surely they were being fed well!  I can only guess it is because Germany isn’t giving permanent residency; they can only stay until the Syrian civil war is over.

So where did these poor struggling refugees with children get the cash for this escape?  And, who are they, Syrian rebels with children for cover?

From The Local:

A group of 75 Syrian refugees have disappeared from their emergency accommodation, days after German authorities caught them trying to cross into Denmark.

On Sunday authorities in the north German state of Schleswig-Holstein pulled over a coach and found 85 Syrian refugees, among them 30 children, thought to have paid Italian smugglers to take them to Denmark.

All bar [but?–ed] a few of the Syrians were then housed in a temporary asylum seeker accommodation in Neumünster, from where most of them suddenly disappeared, reported NDR broadcaster on Tuesday.

Police arrested three Italian bus drivers also on board who now face charges of people smuggling after refugees on the coach said they had paid up to €6,500 for their passage across Europe.

Officers also discovered €14,000 in cash in the vehicle, but could not confirm whether this was cash passengers had paid the drivers, Zeit newspaper said.

According to the police, refugee smugglers supply customers with an “emergency telephone number” that clients can ring if their journey is interrupted and they are separated from their escorts.

It was likely that the Syrians put in the Neumünster asylum home had been supplied with such a number, NDR said.

This tactic works because the shelters are not secure, closed facilities – legally, refugees must be allowed freedom of movement. “We are not a closed establishment, residents may move freely,” centre chief Ulf Döring told the station.

He added that he was not surprised that they had vanished. Three refugees have stayed behind at the Neumünster home. Seven others are thought to still be at a different centre.

In other Syrian refugee news, the UN is pressuring France to take in Syrians.

And, in the US, a House Committee heard from Catholic contractors who said that they were scouring America already looking for cities (with existing Syrian residents) in which to place the refugees they hope they will be paid to resettle in FY2014 (which, by the way, begins in 5 days).

Speaking of 2014, any day now the Presidential Determination will be released that lays out the President’s wishes for how many (and from where ) refugees will be coming to the US.  Watch for it!

See our archive on Germany with news about the growing resentment by citizens toward the mostly Muslim migrants.

Syrians march and demand asylum in Switzerland

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It’s about the children.

Looks to me like the Syrian refugees who have taken to the streets in Bern demanding asylum are getting professional community organizing help in crafting their message.

Syrians: We have the right to live in Switzerland! Of course the photo is from Occupy.com!

We’ve reported before about the growing tension in Switzerland where the Swiss are world famous for holding on to their ‘Swiss-ness’ (Not a word I know!).  Here are two recent post (click here and here).

So it’s no surprise that, as this article (Truth out) reports, their marching went largely unnoticed by the Swiss public:

BERN, Switzerland — Due to Syria’s civil war and the refugee crisis it has produced, the political standoff between asylum-seekers in Switzerland and the government body tasked with deciding their status — the Bundesamt für Migration (BFM), or Federal Migration Office — has in the last week become a standoff in a very real sense.

Since September 9, Syrian refugees impatient with what in many cases has been the BFM’s years-long lack of response to their needs have been braving the autumnal chill in an improvised camp in front of the office’s main building in Bern. Eleven of the upwards of 100 demonstrators began a hunger strike on Saturday.

The asylum-seekers — many of whom have been in Switzerland since the onset of the Syrian revolution in 2011, or longer, and around 40 of whom are children — have resolved not to leave until their status is officially decided.

[….]

The march was headed by children from the camp, one of whom sat on his father’s shoulders and gleefully led chants, in German using a megaphone, like, “We love Switzerland but Switzerland doesn’t love us. ”The moving spectacle went almost unnoticed by locals as the march wound its way through quiet neighborhoods and empty parklands along the police-approved route, from the far-flung BFM towards the Bern city center.

Sounds like Helin went to the Barack Obama International School of Communist Community Organizing!

“These children want to go to school. If they could, they would go tomorrow,” intoned Helin, a young Syrian woman who has been in Switzerland for five years [before the Syrian civil war?—ed] and has what is known as a B-permit (non-permanent residence). She has been working as a translator and liaison for the activists. “Look at them, they have a life, they have rights,” she said of the children. “Give them a future.”

See Occupy.com (what else!) for the photo and more!