World Day for Migrants and Refugees: 'We cannot remain insensitive': Pope decries world's indifference to migrants, refugees

Pope Francis on Sunday decried "the culture of comfort" that leads to indifference in the face of a global migration and refugee crisis.

The Pope, who has made caring for migrants a major objective of his papacy, spoke during a mass at the Vatican in Rome for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees.

"We cannot be indifferent to the tragedy of old and new forms of poverty, to the bleak isolation, contempt and discrimination experienced by those who do not belong to 'our group,"' Francis said.

 "We cannot remain insensitive,our hearts deadened, before the misery of so many innocent people. We must not fail to weep. We must not fail to respond.

The pontiff has often spoken of the need to be welcoming to migrants, travelling to the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013 on his first trip as Pope to comfort refugees.

His message found political resistance in Italy's previous populist government, during which the former hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, campaigned to prevent the arrival in Italy of migrants rescued at sea by humanitarian groups.

The Pope also noted the weapons that fuel wars are often produced and sold in other regions, "which are then unwilling to take in the refugees generated buy these conflicts."

Read more at: 'We cannot remain insensitive': Pope decries world's indifference to migrants, refugees | CBC News

EU: Migrants stimulate the economy - hope you and your right-wing populist followers around the world are reading this Donald Trump

Migrants from EU boosting the German economy study shows

Read more at:
https://p.dw.com/p/37Psh

EU: How to resolve the EU's migrant crises - by Guy Verhofstadt

For the complete report go to:
https://www.socialeurope.eu/how-to-resolve-europes-political-crisis-over-migration

EU-Africa agree on repatriating migrants, but not on the bill – by Cécile Barbière

African and European countries have adopted a special joint declaration on Libya and said they want to repatriate migrants stranded in Libya to their countries of origin. But the question of who should pay for it has been carefully avoided.

This is perhaps the only concrete action taken at the EU-Africa Summit, which ended on Thursday (30 November) in Abidjan. Some 3,800 African migrants stranded in Libya in inhumane conditions will be repatriated urgently to their country of origin.

These migrants detained in Tripoli recently received a visit from the African Union commissionner for social affairs, Amira El Fadil, who was able to witness firsthand the catastrophic conditions in detention centres.

These thousands of people will be returned by flights made available by the Moroccan and European authorities. “But this is only one detention camp, while the Libyan government has counted 42, and there may be more,” said the President of the Commission of the African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat.

The number of African migrants stranded in Libya is estimated at between 400,000 and 700,000, according to the Mahamat.

The announcement concluded a summit focused on the plight of migrants stranded in Libya, while the announced agenda was dedicated to youth, investment, good governance, migration and security.

EU-Africa agree on repatriating migrants, but not on the bill – EURACTIV.com

EU: How some migrants are switching to Romania in their bid for Europe - by Chris Harri

Migrants have seemingly changed tack in their bid to reach Europe, it’s emerged.

More than 150 people – mainly from Iran and Iraq – crossed the Black Sea from Turkey and were rescued at Midia on Romania’s eastern flank on Tuesday August 12th.
.
It’s part of a new trend over the last month that has seen around 470 migrants arrive in the EU country.

It comes as EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker called for Romania to be part of the Schengen Area, potentially making it easier for migrants to move westwards once in Europe.

The route has been used in the past.

It hit a five-year high in 2014 with around 430 arrivals but numbers then dropped off, falling to 68 in 2015 and just one last year.

Gabriela Leu, a spokeswoman for UNHCR’s office in Romania, told Euronews: “Sea crossing are dangerous and the fact people are putting children on these boats shows they have to be very desperate.

Read more: How some migrants are switching to Romania in their bid for Europe | Euronews

EU Refugee Crises: EU needs a lasting solution to the refugee crisis- by Gianni Pittella

In the summer of 2015, images of the hundreds of thousands of refugees arriving on Europe’s shores dominated the front pages of European newspapers.

Journalists from every major publication were themselves migrating daily to new flashpoints, border fences or makeshift camps – chasing the latest scoop or story. Alongside this blanket media coverage came political urgency.

Heads of state and government met on an almost monthly basis to discuss the issue. However, as soon as the stories began disappearing from the front pages so did the political will to do something.

Despite the receding media coverage, the issue has not gone way.

While the numbers arriving in Greece have declined since the middle of 2015, the numbers arriving across the Mediterranean to Italy have increased markedly in the last two to three years.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants that have been rescued by the Italian navy and are now waiting in reception centres or being housed by local authorities, many of which are stretched to their limits.

Despite warnings from the Italian government, most EU member state continue to ignore the situation.

The newly elected president in France, Emmanuel Macron, has refused to open French ports to migrants and, in Austria, the foreign minister and defence minister even threatened to send the army to the Italian border to stop migrants crossing.

We are reaching another tipping point. Earlier this month we called for an extraordinary European Council summit to discuss migration before the summer break. National governments replied that this could wait till the autumn. This is simply not acceptable.

The most frustrating issue is that it does not need to be this way.

We are a continent of 500 million people and one of the richest regions of the planet – the arrival of a few hundred thousand refugees and migrants is manageable if we organize ourselves effectively.

Read more: EU needs a lasting solution to the refugee crisis

Migrant Crises: Italy and France call for more integrated EU action on migrants

France's new President Emmanuel Macron called on Sunday for deeper European Union integration to tackle the migration crisis, saying bloc members had not paid enough heed to Italy's warnings about the growing burden.

Ahead of a working dinner with visiting Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, he repeated his wish to work quickly within the EU to strengthen rules to protect workers against social dumping and improve regulations on public procurement.

In a nod to Italy, which has received more than 45,000 people arriving by boat from North Africa so far this year alone, he said the EU also had to better share the burden of the high migration flows across the Mediterranean in recent years.

The EU has seen some 1.6 million refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Africa and beyond reach its shores in 2014-2016. Most first arrived in flimsy boats in Greece but now head mainly to Italy. Many have died at sea.

Read  more: Italy and France call for more integrated EU action on migrants | Reuters

Migrants - the Netherlands: Doubled numbers of migrants leave the Netherlands

 Twice as many migrants chose to leave the Netherlands in the first half of 2016 compared to the same period last year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Its ‘assisted voluntary return and reintegration program’ has helped 2,500 migrants leave the Netherlands in 2016 – quite possibly for sunnier climes – compared with 1,288 in the same period last year. Most of these people came from Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kosovo, Mongolia, Serbia and Ukraine.

Last year the IOM’s international organisation helped 70,000 migrants leave the countries where they had taken refuge, and re-integrate on their return. ‘This was the largest number of voluntary returns registered in the past decades,’ says the organisation on its website.

‘The current migration trends seem to indicate that returns could increase in the years to come – not only in the number of migrants in need of assistance, but also in the complexity of the process.’


Read more: Doubled numbers of migrants leave the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl

Refugee Crises: EU leaders finalize migration proposal

European leaders have agreed on a deal to curb the flow of migrants into the EU. The plan will be presented to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday. Here's what you need to know about the summit so far:

-Earlier Thursday, many EU leaders expressed skepticism about various elements of the deal, including the visa liberalization plans for Turkey, which would allow visa-free travel for Turkey's more than 75 million citizens within the EU

-On the table: Turkey has offered to take back all migrants who have arrived illegally in Greece by crossing the Aegean Sea. In exchange, Turkey has requested a total of 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion) in aid from the EU, on top of rapid visa liberalization and the acceleration of EU accession talks

-Human rights organizations have criticized the deal for undermining the right to asylum, breaching international and EU law

-Speaking to reporters at the airport before leaving for Brussels, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he saw "some difficulties within the EU ... in fulfilling these terms [in Turkey's proposal]." He warned that Turkey would not accept any deal which turned his country into an "open prison" for migrants

-Davutoglu will join EU leaders for breakfast on Friday to continue the talks - and possibly for lunch and dinner as well

Read more: EU leaders finalize migration proposal | News | DW.COM | 17.03.2016

Migrants: EU forecasts three million migrant arrivals by 2017

The EU Commission has said it expects three million migrants to arrive in the 28-nation bloc by 2017. The migrant influx is expected to provide a small boost to the economy, the EU's economic commissioner said.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, published its European Economic Forecast for 2015 to 2017 on Thursday, stating that "three million persons" are expected to arrive in the 28-nation bloc by 2017.

"This corresponds to an increase in the population of 0.4 percent after taking into account that some asylum seekers will not qualify for international protection," the report noted.

The EU's executive body added that it expects one million arrivals in 2015, with another 1.5 million in 2016, until the rate drops to half a million in 2017.

EU economic commissioner Pierre Moscovici said that the surge in migrant arrivals could provide a small but noteworthy boost to the bloc's economy.

"There will be an impact on growth that is weak but positive for the EU as a whole, and that will increase GDP (gross domestic product) by 0.2 to 0.3 percent by 2017," Moscovici said in a statement on Thursday.

Read more: EU forecasts three million migrant arrivals by 2017 | News | DW.COM | 05.11.2015

The EU Refugee Crises: Refugees And Reform In Europe - by Mohamed A. El-Erian

There is a simple truth beneath the growing human tragedy of Europe’s refugee crisis, and the European Union cannot address the massive influx of exhausted, desperate people in a manner compatible with its values unless governments and citizens acknowledge it. Simply put, the historic challenge confronting Europe also offers historic opportunities. The question is whether Europe’s politicians – who have failed to deliver on far less complicated issues over which they had a lot more control – can seize the moment.

The scale of the challenge is immense, with the flow of refugees extremely difficult to monitor and channel, let alone limit. Fleeing war and oppression, tens of thousands of people are risking life and limb to find refuge in Europe – a phenomenon that will continue as long as chaos persists in countries of origin, such as Syria, and countries facilitating transit, such as Iraq and Libya.

In the meantime, Europe’s transport networks are under stress, as are shelters, border crossings, and registration centers. Common asylum policies – including, for example, the basic rule that asylum-seekers should be registered at their point of entry into the EU – are not functioning or are being bypassed. And the cherished concept of effortless travel within the border-free Schengen Area is under threat.

These problems are aggravated by coordination failures. Attitudes toward refugees vary widely across countries, with Germany taking a particularly enlightened approach that contrasts sharply with Hungary’s notably heartless one. Some countries, such as the Czech Republic, have blocked deals to share the burden fairly among European Union members, including through mandatory quotas.

Europe has the opportunity to turn today’s refugee crisis into a catalyst for renewal and progress. Let us hope that its politicians stop bickering and start working together to take advantage of this opening. If they fail, the momentum behind regional integration – which has brought peace, prosperity, and hope to hundreds of millions of people – will weaken considerably, to the detriment of all.

Read more: Refugees And Reform In Europe » Social Europe

EU-We Should Not Be Afraid Of Refugees - it will pay off in the long-run by doing it right - by Angel Gurria

Europe is facing an historic moment. By the end of this year, the number of people applying for asylum in the European Union will exceed one million. The human cost of this refugee crisis is appalling. Yet, in all but a handful of cases, the response of Europe’s governments has been tentative, at best: acknowledging the need to do more, while fearing the implications.

Some politicians fear the burden that migrants will impose on local communities and taxpayers. Others fear extremists masquerading as genuine refugees. Above all, many are scared of public opinion, which – for all the heart-warming scenes of welcome and support for asylum-seekers – remains hesitant and even hostile to the prospect of still more migrants from war-torn, troubled countries, especially if they practice a different religion.

European leaders cannot afford to be afraid. The refugee crisis is not one from which they can opt out. No magic wand will empower leaders to transport more than a million people back across the Aegean and the Bosphorus to Mosul and Aleppo, or across the Mediterranean to Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan.

The reintroduction of border controls and the construction of fences may buy time for over-stretched countries, but no one can seriously expect to keep out people who are so desperate to move. Given the dire conditions in the countries from which they are fleeing, perhaps half of the asylum-seekers will qualify for

residency under even the strictest rules. So, whatever the sensitivity or ambivalence of public opinion, European leaders will have to find a bold, coordinated, and unified response.

There are three challenges. The first is to agree on a fair allocation of refugees within Europe; despite their vast numbers, these desperate people must be provided with shelter, food, and support. This will be difficult enough.

The second challenge is to start the process of integrating refugees into Europe’s societies and economies. Some refugees will find it relatively easy to find jobs. A university-educated Syrian civil engineer arriving in Munich will need to learn some German; but, once this is done, he or she is unlikely to have to wait too long before employers come knocking. Other asylum-seekers have lower levels of education, and many may well be traumatized by their experience of war and exodus. It will take time and effort to integrate them

and many voters will be skeptical of the process, especially given that successful integration or assimilation will not come cheap.

However, paying the price to accept and integrate today’s asylum-seekers could reap significant benefits for the Europe of tomorrow. Our work at the OECD shows that migration, if well managed, can spur growth and innovation. Unfortunately, in the past, migration has not always been well managed: migrants have been concentrated in ghetto-like conditions, with few public services or employment prospects.

Note EU-Digest: this is a renewed opportunity for Europe to do migration right - we should not blow it this time. 

Read more: We Should Not Be Afraid Of Refugees » Social Europe

Eastern Europe and Refugees: Fighting the wrong battle: Central Europe’s crisis is one of liberal democracy, not migration - Michal Simecka and Benjamin Tallis

The hostile response of central and eastern European heads of states to the prospect of accepting Syrian refugees is emblematic of a wider problem of democracy and liberalism in these countries.

When the European Commission unveiled its plan for binding refugee resettlement quotas in April 2015, few had expected the governments of ex-communist Member States - which have no Middle Eastern or African immigrant communities to speak of - to warmly embrace the scheme.

However, the intensity, hysteria and hypocrisy of the anti-migrant backlash shocked many, including some in the Visegrad countries themselves. Political cowardice and popular mistrust of supposedly liberal elites has allowed poisonous rhetoric directed at migrants to dominate, which risks political isolation and hinders common European action to address the crisis.
 
Encouragingly, counter-currents of resistance to the xenophobic rhetoric and callous political expediency are starting to emerge in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on the Visegrad governments, meeting in Prague for an emergency summit on Friday, as it becomes increasingly clear that their approach is not only out of line with Europe's moral responsibilities, but also out of line with key European states such as Germany and France.

However, these belated, weak and ineffective responses are symptomatic of deeper social and political problems in the Visegrad countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary). The migration crisis has exposed another crisis – of liberal democracy in post-communist societies.

It is regrettable - indeed "scandalous", as French foreign minister Laurent Fabius put it – that on one of the few issues on which the Visegrad countries have made their collective voice heard, it contradicts European values and the ethos of the EU. Given the region’s history it is particularly concerning that Central Europeans are currently part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Note EU-Digest: Sad and deplorable to see how some of our own EU member states in Eastern Europe like Hungary and Poland are reacting to efforts being undertaken to come to a common solution to solve the avalanche of Middle Eastern refugees by a system of proportional distribution of these refugees around the EU. With an aging population and a lack of qualified workers this migration flow  actually be a blessing in disguise for the EU.

Read more: Fighting the wrong battle: Central Europe’s crisis is one of liberal democracy, not migration | openDemocracy

Religious Discrimination - Migrants crisis: Slovakia 'will only accept Christians'

Slovakia says it will only accept Christians when it takes in Syrian refugees under a EU relocation scheme.

The country is due to receive 200 people from camps in Turkey, Italy and Greece under the EU plan to resettle 40,000 new arrivals.

Interior ministry spokesman Ivan Netik said Muslims would not be accepted because they would not feel at home.

The UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) called on countries to take an "inclusive approach" to relocation.
But Mr Netik denied the move was discriminatory and said it was intended to ensure community cohesion.

Note EU-Digest: whatever way the Slovaks want to call what they are doing - it is discrimination with a capital D and should be unacceptable by the EU.

Read more: Migrants crisis: Slovakia 'will only accept Christians' - BBC News

Syria/USA: Refugees/Migrants: Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Syria - provided by USCIS

Good news for Syrian refugees and migrants who want to apply for residency/immigrant status in the US.

For additional information click on link:: Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Syria | USCIS

Middle East: Migrant Exodus: Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber light way to Europe for Syrian refugees - by Serene Assir

“Our phones and power banks are more important for our journey than anything, even more important than food,” said Wael, a 32-year-old from the devastated Syrian city Homs who reached the Greek resort island of Kos on Thursday morning.

Refugees are using Facebook groups with tens of thousands of members to share photographs and experiences, find smugglers’ phone numbers, map their route from Turkey to Greece and onward to northern Europe, and to calculate expenses.

They use WhatsApp to help the coast guard pinpoint their location once their boats have reached Greek waters, and Viber to let their families know they have landed safely.

“We couldn’t take anything with us on the boat, we were all so crammed. But these phones are our most precious belongings,” said Wael, who fled Syria with his bright green-eyed wife and 12 relatives, including three children.

They are among more than 135,000 refugees and migrants who have arrived in Greece this year, amid Europe’s biggest migration crisis since World War II.

“I wrapped my phone up in a resealable plastic bag to protect it from the water,” said the olive-skinned man.

In Kos, Syrians can be seen taking photographs of each other on the beach using their smartphones, and ordering coffee at local cafes where they can connect to Internet.

Note EU-Digest: As millions of refugees from Syria, Iraq, Libya and Sudan are swarming into Turkey and the EU it is amazing to see that our "good friends" on the other side of the Atlantic. who's Middle East policies created all this mess, remain deadly silent when it comes to also offering some of these refugees some assistance or a new future in the US.

Read more: Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber light way to Europe for Syrian refugees | The Times of Israel

EU - Migrants:: France and UK sign Calais cooperation agreement

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and his British counterpart Theresa May signed a deal on Thursday to set up a joint crisis centre aimed at tackling people smugglers in Calais. Under the agreement, a second facility will also be built near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel to reduce nightly break-in attempts by migrants.

“They’re setting up a command and control centre to go after the traffickers, the people who are making money out of the misfortunes of the refugees and asylum seekers who’ve been turning up at Calais”, said Rob Parsons, FRANCE 24’s chief foreign editor.

The increased security measures include higher fences, new surveillance cameras and more infrared detection technology to prevent migrants from climbing onto trucks and trains.

“A couple of months ago, 2 000 people were attempting to get through every night. That’s been cut down already to 100-150 and that’s partly through introducing toughest tougher security measures: more fencing, better fencing, more lighting. Part of this deal will be more of that”, explains Parsons.

Britain will also provide 10 million euros ($11.2 million) over two years to speed up asylum applications and boost humanitarian aid.

Read more: france 24 - France and UK sign Calais cooperation agreement - France 24

European Migrant Disaster: EU commission says "Worst migration crisis since WWII" - by Mo Ahmad

The European Union says the scale of migration, driven by war, disaster and poverty in Middle East and North Africa, has no parallel since the end of World War II.

So far Italy and Greece have borne the brunt of the emergency in the EU, while Turkey is already coping with housing more than a million refugees.

Greece recently  sent a ship to the resort island of Kos to speed up the registration of hundreds of Syrian refugees following mounting tensions over a huge influx of new arrivals.

While in Italy the situation was not much better. “We were faced with a very emotional scene”, Commander Massimo Tozzi, told the Italian news agency AGI, describing how some bodies were floating on the water. Three hundred and nineteen people, including a dozen women and children, were saved, according to Massimo Tozzi, commander of the rescue patrol.

Nearly 400 other migrants were picked up in the Mediterranean Saturday August 15 by other vessels taking part in the EU’s patrol and rescue operation, Triton.

The Corriere della Sera newspaper revealed that the migrants who lost their lives were in the hold of the vessel. When the sailors got on they discovered the bodies.

“Either the global community is able to resolve the Libyan question, or today’s (migrant tragedy) won’t be the last”, Alfano said.

Survivors of the hazardous crossing from Libya often tell of how traffickers lock migrants in the hold who pay less for the voyage – mostly black Africans.

“The human smugglers have found that road and flows of migrants have been growing, which is a cause of concern”, he said.

UNHCR European Director, Vincent Cochetel, has said facilities on the Greek islands are “totally inadequate”.

“There is still no care being provided for the refugees”, Vangelis Orfanoudakis said. The two fishermen filming the footage can be heard saying there are “many migrants” on the boat. The number is a little less in Italy, where 102,000 migrants have made the journey.

But after the precarious boat trip to Kos and sleeping rough on the streets, a young Syrian man, Anas, who is travelling to Athens with his daughter, feared more hardship was to come.

“Then when the Greeks saw what happened, they decided to pull us out of the water and bring us to land…” The ship is expected to speed up the registration process of about 7,000 refugees who are stranded on the Kos island.

Almost a quarter of a million migrants have crossed the narrow stretch of water from Turkey in small boats and dinghies to Europe this year, according to the worldwide Organization for Migration.

Note EU-Digest: the EU Commission and EU member states better get their act together on solving this crises which has the potential to result in a variety of serious consequences. It should also acknowledge and remedy the fact that this Middle East exodus of refugees to the EU is a direct result of a totally failed Western US led Middle East policy, which goes back many years and is only getting worse.


Read more: EU commission: Worst migration crisis since WWIIPress Examiner

Refugees: Britain calls emergency meeting on Calais migrants

British Prime Minister David Cameron is due to chair an emergency meeting on the situation in Calais, where thousands of people have tried to stowaway to the UK. Cameron has come under fire for calling them a "swarm."

The meeting of the UK government's COBRA emergency committee was due to be held Friday, following another night in which hundreds of people attempted to reach the Channel Tunnel which links the French port of Calais - and mainland Europe - with Britain.

Prime Minister David Cameron's office posted on its official Twitter channel that the meeting would be about how the government would "tackle" the problem.

Note EU-Digest: It's amazing to see with what incompetence this problem is handled by the EU, France and Britain.

Read more: Britain calls emergency meeting on Calais migrants | News | DW.COM | 31.07.2015

EU: Poll shows majority EU citizens want refugees stopped before they cross Mediterranean - by RM

Europeans want refugees stopped at departure points

In a recent poll conducted by EU-Digest in April and May 88.89%  polled said refugees and migrants should be stopped before they make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing.

Only 11.11% said that those reaching EU shores should be processed as legal immigrants.

No one  polled felt that the EU had done an effective job so far in coping or dealing with this momentous problem

The new recently posted EU-Digest poll (May 27 thru June 27) focuses on the increased concerns surrounding the secretive Transatlantic Trade Negotiations ( TTIP) between the European Union and the USA.

Critics say this controversial trade deal presently being negotiated will remove safety standards on a large number of essential products, including agricultural products, pesticides, food and medicines, as well as dismantle financial regulations designed to prevent banks from creating another financial crisis, to mention just a few.

The agreement would also make it easier for multinationals to sue governments and could lead to significant slashes in EU regulatory laws related to environmental pollution controls and a variety of safety and health standards.


EU-Digest