Truck drivers who make the journey from Calais to the UK through the Channel Tunnel are reporting that the migrants who attempt to enter their vehicles are all carrying knives and other weapons, and that it is growing increasingly dangerous to make the trip. Some drivers have decided to quit their jobs rather than continue driving the route.
In other migration news, Sweden is considering closing the bridge over the Öresund from Denmark, and may establish border control checkpoints there.
In other news, a wave of zoophilia has struck Switzerland, with an unprecedented number of men being prosecuted for having sex with horses.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, DV, LP, LS, Nick, Steen, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Attackers in California Shooting Had Thousands of Bullets
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — San Bernardino gunman Syed Rizwan Farook had been in contact with known Islamic extremists on social media, a U.S. intelligence official said Thursday, and police said he and his wife had enough bullets and bombs to slaughter hundreds when they launched their deadly attack on a holiday party.
The details emerged as investigators tried to determine whether the rampage that left 14 people dead was terrorism, a workplace grudge or some combination.
The husband-and-wife killers were not under FBI scrutiny before the massacre, said a second U.S. official, who likewise spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation.
[…]
Federal authorities said that Farook legally bought two handguns used in the massacre and that their two assault rifles were legally bought by someone else. They did not say how the rifles got into the attackers’ hands.
As for any workplace conflicts, co-worker Patrick Baccari said that up until the rampage, Farook showed no signs of unusual behavior and was a reserved young man.
Two weeks ago, Farook and one of the co-workers he killed, 52-year-old Nicholas Thalasinos, had a heated conversation about Islam, according to Kuuleme Stephens, a friend of the victim’s.
Stephens said she happened to call Thalasinos while he was at work and having a discussion with Farook. She said Thalasino told her that Farook “doesn’t agree that Islam is not a peaceful religion.”…
| — Hat tip: LS | [Return to headlines] |
A law enforcement officer stands guard at the police line near a home being investigated by police. Fourteen people were killed when suspects opened fired at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.
As the holiday gathering got underway Wednesday morning, Syed Rizwan Farook joined dozens of his colleagues from San Bernardino County’s public health department. Farook, an inspector, seemed quiet during the early hours of the event, then vanished just as a group photo was about to be taken.
Shortly afterward, gunfire erupted at the Inland Regional Center where the employees filled a conference room. By the end of the day, police had identified Farook, 28, as a suspect in the massacre and said he was one of two people shot to death in a gun battle with officers. The other was 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik, who a family member said was Farook’s wife.
Police officials said Farook had worked for the county for five years. San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said that there were reports of a dispute before Farook left the party.
See the most-read stories this hour >>
Co-workers told The Times they were shocked to hear Farook’s name linked to the shooting. Two who were in the restroom when the bullets began to fly said he was quiet and polite, with no obvious grudges.
They said Farook recently traveled to Saudi Arabia and returned with a new wife he had met online. The couple had a baby and appeared to be “living the American dream,” said Patrick Baccari, a fellow health inspector who shared a cubicle with Farook.
Baccari and Christian Nwadike said Farook, who worked with them for several years, rarely started a conversation. But the tall, thin young man with a full beard was well liked and spent much of his time out in the field.
They and other colleagues said Farook was a devout Muslim, but rarely discussed religion at work.
“He never struck me as a fanatic, he never struck me as suspicious,” said Griselda Reisinger, who worked with Farook before leaving the agency in May…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
San Bernardino Shooting Suspect Was Radicalized
San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook was in touch over the phone and via social media with more than one international terrorism subject who the FBI were already investigating, law enforcement officials said.
It appears that Farook was radicalized, which contributed to his motive, though other things — like workplace grievances — may have also played a role, other law enforcement sources said.
It started as a holiday party — where something prompted Syed Rizwan Farook to storm off angrily.
It ended as a bloodbath with 14 people dead and 17 more wounded — the United States’ deadliest mass shooting since Sandy Hook.
At its center were a married couple, Farook and Tashfeen Malik.
Dressed in black, carrying semi-automatic rifles, authorities say that they unleashed a massacre Wednesday at the party hosted by the San Bernardino County, California, health department.
That was their first brazen act. They then led police on a chase, with Farook firing while Malik drove, that ended with their deaths in a hail of bullets.
But why?
The city’s police chief said there was a dispute at the holiday party “under circumstances that were described as angry.” Could it have been a workplace dispute? Or was it something more than that, perhaps linked to global terror? At the least, what this couple did, and the firepower they had, suggests that this was planned out.
“We do not know yet why this terrible event occurred,” said President Barack Obama, who noted terrorism and “mixed motives” are possibilities. “… We don’t know, at this point, the extent of their plans. We do not know … their motivations.”
Nor do authorities know of any interaction Farook and Malik had in the past with police. Neither were known to the FBI or on a list of potentially radicalized people, law enforcement officials told CNN…
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
San Bernardino Proves Once and for All: Political Correctness Kills
Political correctness kills.
We in the West have a strong and decent desire to avoid labeling individuals in negative ways based on heightened statistical risks among particular population groups. That desire sometimes comes into direct conflict with the need to say something if we see something suspicious. As rational people, we take into account enhanced risk profiles when determining level of suspicion. […] political correctness quashes such rationality. Political correctness says that not only must we be wary of our own prejudices, we must ignore rational risk profiling so as not to offend people.
Sadly, facts are offensive. And it is a fact that a group of heretofore unknown Middle Eastern men congregating at odd times in San Bernardino should raise questions more than a group of men of other ethnicities. Apparently, for one man, it did — and he stifled that impulse to avoid being seen as racist. CBSLA.com reports:
A man who has been working in the area said he noticed a half-dozen Middle Eastern men in the area in recent weeks, but decided not to report anything since he did not wish to racially profile those people. “We sat around lunch thinking, ‘What war they doing around the neighborhood?’“ he said. “We’d see them leave where they’re raiding the apartment.”
Fourteen people are dead because a normal American didn’t want to offend anybody by reporting his suspicions about a person of minority ethnicity and religion.
This isn’t the first time. When Muslim terrorists planned to attack Fort Dix in 2006, they first stopped at a Circuit City to copy a tape of them “firing guns and praising jihad,” according to The New York Post. One of the clerks found this suspicious, but hesitated about calling the police. “Dude, I just saw some really weird s***,” he said. “I don’t know what to do. Should I call someone or is that being racist?”
Thankfully, a co-worker told him to call the police. He first asked his manager, then called the police. That led to a 16-month FBI investigation and the arrest of six would-be terrorists.
Imagine if PC had won.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Daesh Propaganda Urges French Muslims to Kill Those Teaching Secular Values
A francophone propaganda magazine for Islamic State (IS or Daesh in Arabic) has called on Muslim parents to pull their children out of French schools and to kill teachers who teach the principle of secularism, media reported Thursday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The latest issue of Dar al Islam, a IS propaganda magazine aimed at recruiting French jihadists, was entitled “France on its knees.”
The issue reportedly praised the November 13 deadly terrorist attacks in Paris.
“France has charged its schools with teaching Republican values,” the magazine says, as cited by The Local news portal, “but these values are nothing but a web of lies and blasphemy.”
The magazine claims that parents are obligated “to fight and to kill” the teachers of secularism, The Local reported.
According to Dar al Islam, the French value of strict secularism in public spaces is “unable to coexist with Islam as the one true religion.”
Teaching secular values was emphasized in schools after the attacks on Paris’s Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in January and a Hyper Cacher supermarket as a strategy to better promote tolerance and respect for freedom of speech.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
France Closes ‘Radical’ Mosque After Big Police Raid
Police shut down a suspected radical mosque east of Paris in a huge security operation Wednesday, the third to be closed since France declared a state of emergency after last month’s Paris attacks.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said “three pseudo-cultural associations” linked to the mosque at Lagny-sur-Marne were also being dissolved, the first time the government has used its special powers to wind up such groups.
Two other mosques were closed last week at Gennevilliers in the northern suburbs of Paris and in the small town of L’Arbresle near the central city of Lyon…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Only 29 of Germany’s Tornado Combat Aircraft Operational
Out of 93 Tornado combat aircraft acquired for the German Bundeswehr, only 29 are operational, a new report of the German Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
BERLIN (Sputnik) — Majority of the jets are 23-34 years old, they are considered obsolete. However, Bundeswehr’s Eurofighter jets that were acquired to replace them are in similar conditions — 37 of them are operational out of 68 aircraft.
The experts characterized the overall situation in the German Air Force as unsatisfactory.
The report was presented on Wednesday at a closed meeting of the Bundestag Defense Committee ahead of the German parliament’s final vote on the approval of the government’s plan to engage in a military operation against Islamic State (ISIL, or Daesh in the Arab world) in Syria slated for Friday.
On Tuesday, the German government approved operations by its troops against Daesh in Syria.
The mission against Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many other countries, will involve up to 1,200 German troops. The German Armed Forces plan to engage several Tornado reconnaissance combat aircraft and a frigate to support the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Mediterranean Sea. An aerial refuelling aircraft, satellite reconnaissance and headquarters staff will support the mission.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Some 8,000 Islamists Live in Germany, 1,200 Potentially Dangerous
The group of Islamists in Germany is actively growing, it now totals 8,000 people relative to the 4 million Muslims in the country, according to the interior minister for the state of North-Rhine Westphalia, Ralf Jaeger.
BERLIN (Sputnik) — About 8,000 Islamists are living in Germany, 1,200 of whom are potentially dangerous, the interior minister for the state of North-Rhine Westphalia, Ralf Jaeger, said Thursday.
“This group [of Islamists in Germany] is actively growing, it now totals 8,000 people relative to the 4 million Muslims in the country. We believe, 1,200 of them are violent individuals,” Jaeger told reporters.
According to the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), 25 nationwide Islamist organizations were active in Germany at the end of 2014, and the potential number of Islamists in the country was estimated to be almost 44,000.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland’s Horse Sex Crisis: Animal Campaigners Warn Depraved Attacks Out of Control
Animal experts have warned that there are at least 10,000 people in the country with twisted sexual desires for horses.
It has been revealed at least one Swiss horse is sexually abused every three days as the country struggles in the grip of an animal sex crisis.
Last year alone, there were 105 people prosecuted for horse zoophilia — the highest level ever on record.
The shocking revelation comes as Swiss animal rights workers believe there are more than 10,000 people roaming the nation with an unnatural sexual interest in the beasts.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Islamic Society Students Disrupt University Lecture on Blasphemy and Make ‘Death Threat’
Muslim students repeatedly disrupted a lecture on blasphemy given by a human rights activist with one making a death threat, it has been claimed.
Maryam Namazie was giving a lecture on blasphemy at the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society (ASH), of Goldsmiths in London.
Her talk was repeatedly disrupted by members of the university’s Islamic Society (ISOC) with hecklers shouting and turning off her Powerpoint presentation when she showed a cartoon of Jesus and the prophet Muhammad.
One member of the audience also claimed he received a death threat during Ms Namazie’s talk.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Watch: Chilling Moment ‘Jihadi’ Shooters Open Fire Outside Gay Sex Club
This is the terrifying moment a pair of suspected Islamist jihadis opened fire outside a gay sex club as their wounded victims ran for their lives.
The disturbing footage reveals two masked men shooting at victims outside a 24-hour gay club.
The victims scream in terror as they desperately run for their lives from the gunmen.
Milad bin Ahmad-Shah al-Ahmadzai, who has a history of extremist rhetoric, has denied five charges, including shooting with intent to murder.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Air Daesh: Hopeful Hijackers Undergo Terrorist Pilot Training in Libya
Militants from Daesh (also known as ISIL/ISIS) are currently undergoing civil aviation training in the Libyan city of Sirte, the group’s apparent stronghold in North Africa, according to the Saudi-run, London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.
The outlet says that the terrorists “practice take-off and landing, [using] a radar screen, and a communications device to contact the control tower.”
The “prevailing belief amongst investigators” is that the flight simulator was seized from the training departments of Gaddafi’s looted airports.
However other sources note that it is a brand new device and “may have arrived from abroad”.
A group of Daesh leaders, including retired officers from Libya and a number of neighboring countries, acquired the first civilian plane simulator in October, the newspaper quotes a senior Libyan military officer as saying in an interview during his recent visit to Cairo.
However, new information gathered by security services from Sirte during the last two weeks suggests that another fighter jet simulator had arrived. However, its type remains unknown.
The Libyan Air Force allegedly attempted to hit at least one base where the training is believed to be taking place, but to no avail, the newspaper quotes one security official working in a team which monitors Daesh activity in North Africa as saying.
Recent reports suggest that the jihadist group has increased its presence in the Mediterranean city of Sirte from 200 fighters at the start of the year to a force of 5,000 men, including administrators and financiers; the base is the first to have been directly established by Daesh outside Syria and Iraq, and brings the terrorists closer to Europe.
It remains unclear if the Daesh affiliate in Libya has access to commercial airliners or fighter jets.
However, according to the US-based news website Bretibart, “Islamist militias in the country who share ideals with the jihadi group do have fighter jets in service. The ‘Libya Dawn’ Islamist coalition possesses Mig-25 interceptors and Mig-23s, fighter planes that originated in the Soviet Union. The Islamist rebels also have access to full-size commercial jets.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The Islamic State group, which has already seized swathes of Iraq and Syria, has moved into Libya, a fertile ground for jihadists since dictator Moamer Kadhafi was ousted in 2011.
IS has become yet another player in the lawless North African country, where rival governments and militias are already battling for control of territory and major oil reserves.
– November 19: The US State Department says it is “concerned” by reports that radical extremists with avowed ties to IS are destabilising eastern Libya…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Colombo Reacts to Saudi Decision to Stone to Death Sri Lankan Woman
The mother of two moved Saudi Arabia in 2013 to work as a housemaid. She was convicted on fornication charges, i.e. having an affair with a man who was not her husband. She got death; he gets 100 lashes. The kingdom is among the top three countries in the world in carrying out the death penalty. Sri Lankan officials calls on the Saudis to show some some sympathetic consideration.
Colombo (AsiaNews) — Sri Lankan authorities, activists and religious leaders have called on Saudi Arabia to suspend the recently imposed death sentence by stoning imposed on a Sri Lankan woman, who emigrated to the Kingdom in 2013 to be employed as a domestic worker. The yet unnamed Sri Lanka mother of two could be executed as early as tomorrow.
The National Sangha Council today handed over a letter to the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Sri Lanka urging that country to review the death sentence.
“We appeal,” the letter said, “to the respective authorities to take all possible measures to revoke the death sentence and ensure the migrant worker’s safe return to Sri Lanka. We earnestly call on you to expeditiously bring to bear all possible means to ensure that the migrant worker is granted justice. We further call on you to ensure that Sri Lankan migrant workers are granted all possible support and protection to ensure their human rights.”
According to newspaper reports, a court in Riyadh sentenced the woman, reportedly a mother of two, based on her confession. The Sri Lankan male worker involved in the case was also found guilty of fornication (since he is not her husband) and sentenced to 100 lashes.
Little is known of the circumstances of the case. Usually, such cases are difficult to prove, as it must be corroborated by four male witnesses or eight female witnesses. However since she pleaded guilty, the case has been exempted from this standard of proof.
This is not the first time Saudi authorities execute a Sri Lankan woman solely on her confession. Rizana Nazeek was executed in 2013 after five years of legal battles and appeals for clemency from the international community. She had retracted her “confession” saying that she had been forced into it and had not been provided with translation or an interpreter.
Saudi Arabia is amongst the top three countries in the world in terms of death penalty enforcement with most cases involving foreign nationals accused of non-lethal crimes such as adultery, apostasy, witchcraft and magic.
Responding to the case, several Sri Lankan politicians have urged Saudi Arabia to pardon the accused.
The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) and the Ministry of Foreign Employment have also instructed the Sri Lankan Embassy in Saudi Arabia to take all steps to save the convicted woman.
After holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the issue, Sri Lankan officials, including Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Thalatha Atukorale, issued a statement calling on the Saudi government to show some sympathetic consideration towards the accused.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
German Spies Say Saudis Shifting to More ‘Impulsive’ Interventionist Action
Germany’s BND foreign intelligence agency warned that Saudi Arabia is becoming “impulsive” in its foreign policy.
In a memo published Wednesday, the agency said Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is second in line to the throne, and his father, King Salman, are trying to establish themselves as leaders of the Arab world, the Associated Press reported.
“The thus far cautious diplomatic stance of the elder leaders in the royal family is being replaced by an impulsive interventionist policy,” the BND said.
Since King Salman succeeded to power in January, Saudi Arabia has intervened in Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, Iraq and Yemen. The moves, according to the BND, are meant to prove that “Saudi Arabia is prepared to take unprecedented military, financial and political risks to avoid falling behind in regional politics.”
Saudi Arabia has long viewed Iran as aggressive and expansionary, and has considered Tehran’s use of non-state proxies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraqi Shi’ite militias as destabilizing the region, Reuters reported. But under Salman, it has moved more assertively to counter its regional foe.
Prince Mohammad has been granted more authority since his father came into power. The BND said there is a risk that the prince could get carried away while trying to secure his spot in the royal family succession, which saw him placed ahead of dozens of cousins.
Mohammad could irritate other royal family members and the Saudi people with reforms, while undermining relations with friendly, allied states in the region, the BND said, according to Reuters.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds of Children Abducted, Killed by Islamists in Iraq Over Four Years
Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, urged the Iraqi government to take robust action to stop the recruitment and use of children by all parties in the current armed conflict and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — Close to 1,400 boys and girls were abducted by Islamist militants in Iraq over the past four years, with hundreds more killed and maimed in ongoing hostilities, a UN children’s rights envoy said Wednesday.
Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said in a statement that militants from Islamic State (ISIL, or Daesh in the Arab world) — a terror group outlawed in many countries, including Russia — used kidnapped children as soldiers and sex slaves.
The UN documented more than 3,000 child casualties between January, 1 2011 and June, 30 2015, the envoy said, adding that attacks by ISIL and al-Qaeda accounted for over a half of those casualties.
Since the start of international involvement in Iraq in 2014, the UN began to receive worrisome reports of children being maimed and killed in airstrikes and shelling, Zerrougui’s statement continued.
She said the UN was following with extreme concern reports of emerging “youth wings” of the ISIL militant group and centers training child soldiers in Iraq and Syria.
Zerrougui urged the Iraqi government to take robust action to stop the recruitment and use of children by all parties in the current armed conflict and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
She warned Iraqi authorities against detaining children on security charges, stressing they must be treated as victims of war.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ruben Navarrette: An Unserious Country in Serious Times
SAN DIEGO — Americans have short memories. For many, the recent terrorist attacks on Paris may have already slipped their minds as they focus on shopping, decorating and baking.
We interrupt this holiday season for an urgent message: These are serious times that call for serious leaders. But serious leaders are elected by serious people. And when the time comes to confront evil, many Americans are not serious people.
In the last few weeks, two Russian planes have been shot down (one by Turkey and the other by the Islamic State), French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin have teamed up to destroy the Islamic State, British Prime Minister David Cameron has urged Parliament to authorize airstrikes in Syria, and the Islamic State has issued a new round of threats against U.S. cities. Meanwhile, there remains little common ground between a U.S.-led coalition that includes Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states and intends to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a Russian-led faction that includes Iran and Hezbollah and seems determined to keep Assad in power. It’s hard to shake the feeling that we’re on the brink of World War III.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China States Its Terrorists Are No Better Than Al Qaeda
China believes other countries apply “double standards” in their approach to its fight with terrorism, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters that her country objected to the selective use of the word ‘terrorism’ by other countries on Thursday.
“We cannot understand why terrorism, when it takes place in other countries, is regarded as terrorism, but [is labeled] ‘ethnic and religious issues’ when it takes place in China,” she told reporters.
“And we cannot understand why other countries’ counter-terrorism acts are justified, but China’s counter-terrorism actions are the so-called repression of ethnic groups,” she added.
Hua Chunying stressed that China’s position on the matter has remained clear and consistent.
She said that China resolutely opposes linking terrorism with certain nationalities or religions, and is up in arms about “double standards” when it came to whether or not attacks were attributed to terrorism.
She also said that China is opposed to terrorism in all its forms and that Beijing has repeatedly warned against carrying out any terrorist attack in the name of a certain idea.
However, the selective use of the word terrorism reflects absurd logic and double standards, ultimately revealing political prejudices, Hua Chunying said.
She added that terrorism is the common enemy of mankind, a fact that she said is recognized by the international community.
Last month, another Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Hong Lei, said that Beijing is poised and ready to cooperate with Russia and the entire international community to jointly fight the terror threat.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Drivers Say Migrants ‘All Have Knives’ as MPs Finally Wake Up to War Zone Calais
Last week Breitbart London broke the story that a Czech driver had narrowly escaped death when migrants threw an 8 foot long wooden stake through the window of his cab. The pictures were shocking, but are merely indicative of the danger faced by drivers of all nationalities every time they pass through Calais, the main gateway for foreign goods into the UK.
Since that incident, many more pictures have emerged of lorry cabs with smashed windows as the migrants continue to hurl bricks, rocks and stones at the vehicles on a daily basis. All week migrants have been clashing with riot police, with as many as 800 migrants mobbing the roads and throwing stones at passing lorries…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
EU to Set Aside More Than $3 Billion to Aid Syrian Refugees in Turkey
BRUSSELS — European Union leaders and the Turkish prime minister sealed a joint summit with a commitment to re-energize Turkey’s long-stalled membership talks and bolster their common resolve to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis.
The 28 EU leaders were leaning hard on Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to stem the flow of migrants seeking a better future in Europe’s heartland and European Council President Donald Tusk said the latest estimate showed that “approximately 1.5 million people” had illegally entered the bloc this year, a lot coming through Turkey.
It left the EU in need of help from Ankara, even if their recent relations have been sown with discord. On Sunday, it was hugs all around as Tusk and Davutoglu completed what they called a breakthrough summit to put relations on an even keel again.
“Turkish membership will be an asset,” said Davutoglu after “no disagreements emerged” during the hastily-called emergency meeting.
Both sides got concessions: The EU desperately needs Turkish help to contain the flow of migrants into the bloc, and Turkey resuscitated long-mothballed hopes to join a bloc in which it would, by population, become one of the biggest member states.
The refugee crisis has reminded European leaders just how much Turkey — whether a bloc member or not — is a pivotal partner for the EU and a buffer state from the bedlam rocking much of the Middle East in recent years.
French President Francois Hollande said Sunday that the EU will need to monitor Turkey’s commitments “step-by-step,” deal with the migrant crisis, fight extremism and help end Syria’s political crisis. He said any funds for a 3 billion-euro ($3.2 billion) package to help Turkey deal with the migrants on its territory will be released progressively as the commitments are checked.
Davutoglu said that money wasn’t earmarked for Turkey per se but for the refugees on Turkish soil. Yet the hundreds of thousands of migrants coming into the EU this year have caused the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II, and EU nations have been at pains to draw Turkey in as part of the solution.
“Turkey must do its utmost to contain the illegal immigration into Europe and the number of refugees has to decline substantially,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.
As a sweetener it is again discussing issues that were long off the table.
Davutoglu said Turkey stood committed to help, but couldn’t make hard promises.
“I wish to say the number of migrants will decline, but we cannot say this because we don’t know what’s going on in Syria,” he said.
As part of the carrot approach, the EU promises to make haste with talks on easing visa restrictions and fast-tracking Turkey’s EU membership.
“I want there to be an agreement so that Turkey takes on commitments. Europe supports it, and the refugees can be welcomed,” Hollande said.
Davutoglu said he was “thankful to all European leaders for this new beginning, which is not just a beginning of a meeting but the beginning of a new process, which is very important for the future of our common bond in Europe.”
The International Organization for Migration said almost 900,000 people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia have entered Europe this year seeking sanctuary or jobs, a figure much lower than Tusk’s assessment. More than 600,000 have entered through Greece, many after making the short sea crossing from Turkey, the IOM said.
More than 2 million refugees from Syria also live in Turkey, but according to Amnesty International, only around one in 10 are being helped by the government. The rest fend largely for themselves.
Even if support for closer relations with Turkey has often been lukewarm at best in many of the EU member states, the refugee crisis has forced a drastic revision of relations with Ankara.
“Turkey is right to expect that the EU provides relief,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
Others though pointed out that any aid had to be offset by Turkish commitments on reform and respect for human rights.
Tusk put it straight to Davutoglu during the opening session of the summit. In return for EU aid, he said, “we expect to see an immediate and substantial reduction of irregular migrants arriving to Europe.” Furthermore, he added, the EU nations want Turkey “to realize the common objective of coming closer together through reforms, the upholding of the highest standards of human rights and media freedom and the implementation of agreed roadmaps and benchmarks” that are part of the EU membership talks.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Europe in for a ‘Nasty Surprise’ As Germany, Turkey Do Secret Deal — Orban
“A nasty surprise lies in wait for Europe,” according to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban who claims Germany has struck a secret deal for the European Union to take in half a million Syrian refugees from Turkish refugee camps.
Speaking in Budapest, Hungary’s right wing anti-immigrant Prime Minister hinted that the pact between the EU and Ankara would be announced on 3 December or the day after.
The claim by Mr Orban has been refuted by European Union officials, who recently reached a deal with Turkey, trading visa restrictions and possible EU membership for the containment of Syrian refugees.
In what has been described by human rights groups as “outsourcing its dirty work”, the EU is to give Ankara US$3.2 billion in aid and assistance in return for Turkey increasing its efforts to stamp out the people-smuggling of Syrian refugees from to Europe — instead housing them in Turkish refugee camps.
Orbán: We want guarantee that #EUTurkey actionplan won’t have negative consequences for Hungary pic.twitter.com/UBnIrNiP8q
— Mariann Åry (@otmarianna) November 29, 2015
Meanwhile, EU officials from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden have admitted that discussions had taken place surrounding the resettling of 400,000 Syrian refugees from Turkey whilst insisting that there is nothing secret about it, as Orban infers.
The idea, according to European Commission (EC) officials is to manage refugees in an open and voluntary fashion. So far, member states have failed to agree to a quota system proposed by Brussels for EU countries to share the resettlement of 160,000 refugees.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is staunchly opposed to any refugee quota. “We cannot accept this”, he says. Slovakia, following Hungary’s lead, has lodged a lawsuit at the European Court of Justice against the resettlement program proposed by the EC.
It’s not exactly clear what Mr Orban is inferring to with his comments that, “A nasty surprise lies in wait for Europe.”
The deal between the European Union and Turkey was only reached when the EU agreed to hand over the money, relax visa restrictions and renew Turkey’s bid to become a member of the EU. In return, all Turkey needs to do is hold back refugees and contain them on their soil to stop them from traveling to the EU.
Or on the other hand, they could let them go, which would probably come as some surprise to certain EU leaders.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Finland to Tighten Family Reunification Rules for Refugees
The Finnish government intends to tighten the requirements for refugees to be reunited with their families, as the number of migrants in the country is expected to increase significantly if migrants’ relatives decide to move to Finland, local media reported Wednesday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Under the new requirements, a refugee applying for family reunification, must have a legal job and a minimum level of income per family member — deemed to be an average monthly income for a couple with two children of at least $2,750, the Finnish broadcaster Yle reported.
The applicant and his family members will also be obliged to know the Finnish language, and be engaged in government programs to assist their integration into society, according to the broadcaster.
The government is expected to introduce a bill on the issue to parliament in the beginning of 2016.
In recent months, the European Union has been struggling to cope with a massive influx of refugees, many of whom have fled conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.
In September, the European Commission announced and later approved a mandatory quota system to relocate some 160,000 refugees among the bloc’s member states.
Under the quota plan, Finland is due to accept over 2,300 refugees.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Gauging the Tide: Rubber Boat Asylum Seekers Raise Alarm in Sweden
A boat carrying suspected migrants has reportedly arrived at Sweden’s southernmost province of Skane, in what can be seen as an attempt to avoid recently-introduced border controls and checkpoints.
At least five suspected migrants have arrived by a rubber boat in the village of Skillinge in southern Sweden, several weeks after Stockholm introduced temporary border checks to control the flow of migrants into the country, Swedish media reported.
The newspaper Dagens Nyheter quoted a local police spokesperson, who warned against jumping to conclusions.
“It’s too early to claim that this separate case with a rubber boat in Skillinge can be considered human trafficking and that it is becoming a new trend”, the spokesperson said.
The information about the boat had already hit local headlines, with users of social networking websites describing the news as “hysteria about refugees” and suggesting that the boat carried ordinary fishermen.
However, the Swedish television station SVT quoted fisherman Tommy Persson as saying that the people in the boat didn’t like fishermen.
“They could not get out into the Baltic Sea on board such a tiny boat. They were certainly dropped into the sea from a larger ship,” Persson said.
On November 30, the European Commission approved the Swedish government’s proposal to send refugees coming to Sweden to other EU countries. Additionally, Sweden will not have to accept refugees in accordance with EU quotas.
As for Sweden’s temporary border controls, they will be in force until December 11, sources said. About 200,000 migrants are expected to have arrived in Sweden by the end of this year, representing a larger per capita inflow than any other EU nation. This vastly outnumbers the 113,593 children who were born in Sweden in 2013, according to Statistics Sweden.
According to the International Organization for Migration, some 650,000 people, mostly Syrians, have taken rickety boats this year to cross the sea and reach Europe, mainly via Turkey and Greece.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Admits Number of Refugees to Exceed 800,000 in 2015
The German government adjusts projections on the number of refugees expected to arrive in the country in 2015, as migrant inflow far exceeds planned 800,000, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Thursday.
BERLIN (Sputnik) — In August, German authorities said the country expected to receive some 800,000 asylum applications in 2015. Local media estimates has put the number of arrivals at 950,000.
“Since the beginning of November this [projected] number has been exceeded, currently it’s far bigger. I will give evaluation to these numbers on Monday,” de Maiziere told reporters after a meeting with German states’ interior ministers.
Europe, and particularly Germany, have been trying to cope with a large-scale refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants fleeing their home countries in the Middle East and North Africa to escape violence and poverty. EU border agency Frontex recorded over 1.2 million illegal border crossings into the European Union in the first 10 months of 2015.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel Under Pressure From Federal States Over Refugee Crisis
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing tough talks Thursday with leaders of the country’s federal states as she tries to deal with the refugee crisis amid criticism from European Council President Donald Tusk.
Merkel is meeting the heads of the German federal states Thursday with the refugee crisis high on the agenda. She is facing criticism for not putting a cap on the number of refugees Germany is prepared to take in.
The German chancellor is already under enormous pressure after political fallouts within her own coalition government. The leader of the CSU Party — allied to her own CDU Party — Horst Seehofer expressed anger over Merkel’s refugee policy after his state — Bavaria — became overwhelmed with the numbers arriving from Austria. He called for a cap on the total number and for border controls.
‘It’s Not About One Leader’
Tusk told a number of European newspapers Thursday that Merkel’s open-door policy on refugees was “dangerous”. He called for a huge overhaul of Europe’s external borders. In a clear reference to the German chancellor, he said:
“Some [European leaders] said that this wave of migrants is too big to stop. I’m absolutely sure that we have to say that this wave of migrants is too big not to stop them. But this change of approach must be a common effort. It’s not about one leader.”
Meanwhile, her plans to set up transit zones came in for criticism from the other coalition party, the SPD, which said the proposed transit camps would be akin to concentration camps. In the end she backed down on transit camps and proposed alternative reception centers and promised to speed up the processing of refugees and the deportation of those refused asylum.
Her proposals included a policy of fast-tracking asylum decisions so that those not eligible could be quickly deported. However, critics — including those in her own coalition — questioned how it was possible to fast-track asylum decisions.
However, she admitted her plans would be postponed for “procedural reasons” until early 2016.
“But I remain optimistic that we’ll get a solution once we’ve discussed all the details,” she told a news conference.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Granted Asylum in UK as Rich Family Threatened to Behead Her for Leaving Husband
A Saudi woman has claimed asylum in the UK after her affluent family said they would “cut off your head like we do to the sheep” for wanting to leave her husband.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Considers Closure of Bridge to Denmark Due to Refugee Influx
Swedish authorities are considering the possibility of closing the Oresund bridge linking Sweden and Denmark to reduce an influx of asylum seekers, local media reported Thursday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the newspaper, the proposal also envisages checking identification documents on public transport and the possibility of closing roads and other bridges.
“A temporary closure of the [Oresund] bridge can provide an additional measure to reduce the risk to public order or internal security affected as a result of the large influx of asylum seekers,” a draft proposal of the Swedish government said, as cited by Swedish Dagens Industri (DI) newspaper.
The European Union is currently struggling to manage a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa with the hope of arriving in a stable and wealthy country, such as Germany and Sweden.
Sweden has accepted over 140,000 refugees since the beginning of 2015 but the number of migrants in the country is likely to reach 190,000 by the end of the year, according to the country’s migration service.
In November, the Swedish Migration Agency reported that it was not able to provide shelter to all the migrants, applying for asylum, however, it would continue to work on creating more places in accommodation centers.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US Immigration Program Vulnerable to Widespread Fraud by Asylum-Seekers
A report by GAO says that US immigration agencies lack the resources and know-how to detect and crack down on growing immigration fraud from a flood of asylum seekers.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US immigration agencies lack the resources and know-how to detect and crack down on growing immigration fraud from a flood of asylum seekers, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said.
“USCIS [US Customs and Immigration Service] and the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) have limited capabilities to detect asylum fraud,” the report, issued on Wednesday, stated.
The two government entities have mechanisms to investigate fraud in individual applications, but neither has assessed fraud risks across the asylum process in accordance with leading practices for managing fraud risks, the GAO pointed out.
“Without regular assessments of fraud risks, USCIS and EOIR lack reasonable assurance that they have implemented controls to mitigate those risks,” the report warned.
USCIS’s capability to identify patterns of fraud across asylum applications is hindered because it relies on a paper-based system for the applications and does not electronically capture some key information that could be used to detect fraud, GAO noted.
The asylum status of 374 people from fiscal years 2010 through 2014 was terminated for fraud. USCIS adopted in August 2015 a target of 180 days for reviewing evidence and decides whether to begin termination proceedings, according to the report.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Top news currently: Vlad Tepes Blog has a note about the development of an air force.
link??
Go down to Number 3, here (today’s page):
http://vladtepesblog.com/2015/12/04/to-report-or-not-to-report-that-is-the-question-to-prevent-an-attack-or-be-ruined-with-outrageous-accusations-links-1-on-dec-4-2015/
also here: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/12/04/isis-takes-flight-terror-group-training-pilots-at-airbase-in-libya/
I totally agree with Mr Wilders. Europe is based on Christian faith and a Christian worldview. Turkey belongs to a civilisation based on Islam. You can prefer one of these civilisations or the other, but you should respect the deep difference between them.
Besides, Turkey has a rich history of persecuting Christians – Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, Roumanians, Hungarians, Assyrians, etc. – became at various times victims of the Turkish State or Turkish rioting mobs. As for Armenians, they were subjected to a full-scale genocide as late as 1915. But Turkey has always denied that.
If European rulers are bent on accepting Turkey into the EU fold, let them wait at least till Turkey recognises its guilt for the genocide of Armenians and for less known mass extermination campaigns against Greeks, Assyrians and other peoples, humbly ask their forgiveness and pay an adequate compensation to them. They would be also wise to wait till Turkey clears itself of all suspicion of aiding and abetting ISIS.
It seems only yesterday that strange men were content to just dress up as horses and not rape them.
My, how fast things are moving now!
As human beings, we have a responsibility in our dominion over the creatures that
God assigned us on this earth. They are the innocent victims of this sort of horrible,
warped inhuman behavior. The Mosaic Law instructed that any animal so treated
should be killed, after first killing the inhuman creature who had committed the
outrage on the poor animal. That sort of behavior toward the animal ruined the
animal itself for any future dealings with humans. – The very idea that the Muslim
imams actually instruct their followers to commit such outrages is horrendous.
Animals are dear and wish to please us. How horrible such behavior toward them
is; and how inhuman those who abuse them! – Their lives are dear to them, too, as
are our lives dear to us. Life is our most cherished and precious gift; and beside it,
money is trash.
I have noticed more people using the word “Daesh” in place of ISIS or ISIL. Please don’t. Although the term/word is supposed to be derogatory and upsetting to members of ISIS, this is simply a ploy by those supporting them to move us away from the understanding that ISIS means islam. The more “daesh” is used, the less people will equate it – quite properly – to islam.
ISIS is the perfect example of islam, following the commands of the qur’an and the examples of the hadith. Let’s not aid our enemies by making people forget that ISIS _is_ islam.