Tag Archives: Migrant Crisis

Flight of 163 Syrian Refugees Arrives in Canada

A plane carrying 163 Syrian refugees arrived in Canada this week, Canada’s government said.

A Royal Canadian Air Force plane brought them to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Thursday night. It was the first flight of privately sponsored Syrian refugees to arrive in Canada.

Canada’s newly elected Liberal government, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has announced it plans to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees in the country by the end of February. The government wants 10,000 of those refugees to arrive in Canada before the new year.

Trudeau originally wanted to bring in all 25,000 refugees by the end of 2015, but adjusted the timeline in November. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported at the time that host communities needed more time to prepare for the refugees, but some politicians had asked for more time for security vetting.

Canada’s resettlement plan says that security checks on refugees will be conducted overseas, before the Syrians even board airplanes. Canada is working with the United Nations Refugee Agency and government of Turkey to select refugees who are not seen as potential security risks and are particularly vulnerable, like members of the LGBT community and complete families.

The government says 687 total Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada since November.

Trudeau personally greeted the refugees who landed at the airport on Thursday.

“I know that, even for those facing extreme hardship, tragedy, and war in their country, leaving home is very difficult. The transition to a new life in a new country can be a very daunting process,” the prime minister said in a statement. “Let me reassure those coming to our country that our communities and all orders of government will work closely, together, to make it easier for you to adjust to these changes and become full participants in Canadian society.”

On Friday, Canadian National Railway announced it would donate $5 million to help various communities welcome Syrian refugees. Canada’s government has announced it will spend as much as $678 million over the next six years to fund its Syrian refugee resettlement program.

Families of Syrian Refugees Settle in Indiana, Texas

A family of Syrian refugees arrived in Indianapolis on Monday night.

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis said in a statement Tuesday that the family — a father, mother and their two small children — “arrived safely” in the city, where they have some relatives.

The Archdiocese said it has been helping the family resettle through its Refugee and Immigrant Services program. It said the family “fled the violence of terrorists” in war-torn Syria three years ago and underwent “two years of extensive security checks and personal interviews” before the federal government cleared the four of them to enter the United States.

The governor of Indiana, Mike Pence, had asked the Archdiocese to hold off on resettling the family until Congress passed legislation that addressed his concerns about the refugee program. But Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin said the church’s refugee program was “an essential part” of its identity and informed Pence that the Syrian family’s resettlement would go on as planned.

In a statement, a Pence spokesman said the governor “respectfully disagrees” with the church’s decision. One of the governor’s main concerns is that one of the Islamic State-linked terrorists responsible for the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris may have been posing as a Syrian refugee.

“The safety and security of the people of Indiana is Governor Pence’s top priority,” the spokesman, Matt Lloyd, said in the statement. “The State of Indiana will continue to suspend its participation in the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Indiana until the federal government takes action to address the concerns raised about this program.”

Pence is among the many U.S. governors who have attempted to block Syrian refugees from resettling in their states since the Paris attacks, touching off political and moral debates about the legality and ethics of their actions. Texas was another state that vehemently tried to prevent Syrian refugees from resettling within its borders, even taking the battle to the courtroom.

But a spokesperson for the International Rescue Committee told the Associated Press a family of Syrian refugees arrived in Texas on Monday and resettled near Dallas, where the six of them have relatives. The AP reported 15 more refugees were expected to arrive in Texas this week.

French PM: Europe can’t accept more refugees

It is impossible for European Union nations to accept any more refugees, the French prime minister has been quoted as saying, and the fate of the bloc depends on its border controls.

Manuel Valls reportedly made the comments in the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Reuters reported that roughly 1 million refugees were expected to arrive in Europe this year. Germany, which began accepting refugees in September, was originally praised for opening its doors for those fleeing the war-torn Middle East. But the nation’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, has faced more and more scrutiny as the number of migrants going to Europe has continued to rise.

Valls, in his comments to the German newspaper, warned that Europe’s external borders needed more stringent regulations.

“If we don’t do that, the people will say: Enough of Europe,” Valls was quoted as saying.

The BBC reported that select European nations have enacted stricter border controls in the wake of the Nov. 13 Paris terrorist attacks that left 130 dead. The attacks have added fuel to the debate over the migrants, particularly because a forged Syrian passport was found near one attacker.

Critics fear terrorist groups could take advantage of the ongoing migrant crisis, which Reuters called the continent’s worst since World War II, and use it to funnel terrorists into Europe.

Economic officials from both France and Germany have proposed setting aside $10.7 billion to improve security, border controls and refugee care, Reuters reported.

The European Union has also voted to devote $3.1 billion for an aid facility in Turkey, which it hopes will help lower the number of migrants headed to Europe, Reuters reported. However, it’s still not finalized and it’s unclear if the member nations will give enough money to fully fund it.

A summit between Turkey and the European Union is scheduled for Sunday. Officials told Reuters there are still major hurdles to clear before any migration pact will be finalized.

Canada to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees by February

Canada’s newly elected government will resettle 25,000 refugees from Syria in the next three months, according to multiple published reports, with 10,000 able to arrive by the end of 2015.

That’s a change to the Liberal government’s original plan to bring all 25,000 in by year’s end.

During his election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had promised to bring in all of the refugees before Dec. 31, 2015. But the country’s immigration officials said host communities needed more time to prepare to receive the refugees, according to a CBC report on the subject. They will be spread out through 36 different cities throughout Canada, 13 of them in Quebec.

Resettling 25,000 refugees between the Oct. 19 elections and the Dec. 31 deadline would have required the country to accept more than 340 refugees every day. Some politicians had been asking to slow down the timeline to allow more time for security vetting, the CBC reported.

Trudeau told the CBC that the adjustment to the proposal was “not about security.” While he conceded that recent terrorist attacks in Paris has affected the public perception of refugees, the prime minister insisted that the ISIS-affiliated attacks did not influence the revision to the plan.

“We want these families arriving to be welcomed, not feared,” Trudeau told the CBC.

The country’s public safety minister, Ralph Goodale, told the CBC that security screenings will completed on the refugees before they board a plane to Canada. If the checks uncover any doubts about applications, interviews or data, he said, the application will be put on hold.

The refugees will be a mix of privately sponsored and government-assisted individuals. They must register with the United Nations or government of Turkey, according to a BBC report.

Canada will accept the most vulnerable individuals first. These include entire families, at-risk women, and members of the LGBT community. Single men and those not accompanied by their families won’t be initially included in the relocation plan, according to multiple media reports.

Some are wondering if excluding straight, single men from the plan is really necessary.

Benoit Gomis, an international security analyst, wrote in an email to Newsweek that “the multi-layer vetting process should be sufficient enough to alleviate security concerns,” and noted that there wasn’t any evidence that suggested refugees were more dangerous than non-refugees.

“The Migration Policy Institute recently pointed out that out of the 784,000 refugees resettled in the U.S. since 9/11, only three were arrested for terrorism offenses (and they were not plotting attacks in the U.S.),” he wrote. “This type of knee-jerk reaction is common after terrorist attacks.”

EU Approves Plan to Relocate Refugees Across Europe

European Union (EU) ministers met on Tuesday and approved a plan for the relocation of the 120,000 mostly-Syrian refugees that have recently arrived in Europe.

The Washington Post reports that all but five EU ministers voted for the plan. Those that were against the plan were: Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Romania.

The plan includes spreading out the refugees who have already arrived, boosting border control so that fewer could sneak into nations undetected, and providing support to those in refugee camps in the nations surrounding Syria.

This plan to ease one of the worst humanitarian crises in years has divided European nations as richer nations like Germany and Sweden can handle more refugees while poorer nations reject the recent requirements because they feel they can’t handle any refugees. The poorer nations also point out that many refugees would more than likely move to other, richer nations. Currently, Germany has taken in the most refugees and expects to take in at least 800,000 this year.

Despite the EU’s plan, the United Nations has stated that their plans will not be enough, but despite their statement, many EU leaders are pushing for a compromise.

“We need solidarity and responsibility,” said German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, as he entered Tuesday’s negotiations. “This will be a hard session, a hard meeting. I’m not sure that we will have a result. We will work hard. I think it is unacceptable if Europe sends the message to Europeans and the world that there is no possible solution.”

An additional meeting between leaders of EU nations will take place on Wednesday in Brussels.

Croatia Closes Borders to Migrants

Croatia said Friday they are closing their borders to migrants after a wave of people overwhelmed their border personnel.

Croatian officials said all migrants will be forced to move through the nation to other countries and will not be allowed to remain on Croatian soil.  The government said they will provide food and water to those who arrive but then immediately will make them leave.

“We cannot register and accommodate these people any longer,” Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic told a news conference.  “They will get food, water and medical help, and then they can move on. The European Union must know that Croatia will not become a migrant ‘hotspot’. We have hearts, but we also have heads.”

Over 11,000 migrants flooded into the country since Hungary closed their border with Serbia on Wednesday.

Many of the migrants are telling western media they have no choice but to continue.

“Returning back to our country is impossible, because we have no financial means or the moral strength to go back home,” Abu Mohamed who fled Idlib in Syria, told The Associated Press.

“We are coming with our modest Islamic perspectives,” he added. “Terrorism remains back home, terrorism is not coming with us. We were the victims and oppressed back home in our societies.”

Bulgaria Places Troops on Turkish Border

Bulgaria announced they are sending their military to secure the border with Turkey as migrants continue to flood into the nation.

“There is a change in the situation in the past few days and it is hard to predict where the refugee wave will head…so we are standing ready,” Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev told public BNR radio.

Nenchev said up to 1,000 troops could end up along the border.

The chief secretary to the interior ministry told reporters that around 660 migrants tried to illegally cross the nation’s border but turned back after they discovered it was heavily guarded.

Bulgaria is not the only nation bordering Turkey facing migrant problems.

Greece is blocking migrants at their border with Turkey, resulting in protests from the migrants who depend to be allowed to cross.  Many are refusing the food given out by a Turkish agency and say they will conduct a hunger strike until they get their desires.

“We are not going back,” Ahmed El Latif told the AP. “Either we all die here or we will go to Greece.”

Migrants Clash with Hungarian Police at Border

Hungarian police have used tear gas and water cannons to drive Syrian migrants away from the now closed Hungarian-Serbian border.

The migrants responded by throwing rocks, bottles and other projectiles at the police.

The Hungarian government closed the border on Tuesday and made it illegal to either enter the country or to damage the new razor-wire fencing at the border.  Serbia’s foreign ministry said that Hungary has actually closed the main border crossing between the two nations for 30 days.

Hungary also announced the fact-tracking of trials for migrants who have been arrested for illegally entering the nation.

Serbia has protested the firing of tear gas into their territory.

The same time that Hungary has shut down the borders of their nation, Croatia has said they will allow migrants to cross through their land to make their way to other EU nations.

“We heard that Hungary was closed so the police told us we should come this way,” Amadou, 35, from Mauritania told AFP news agency.  “We don’t know what we should do now. Do we have to catch a boat?”

The EU’s border agency says the total number of migrants entering their borders has passed 500,000.  Only 280,000 entered the EU throughout all of 2014.

A plan championed by Germany to force all members of the EU to take a certain amount of migrants or pay financial penalties collapsed after arguments within the EU leadership.

Hungary Prime Minster Vows to Seal Border

The prime minister of Hungary, who has been at odds with many european leaders about the mass influx of migrants, is vowing to seal his nation’s border and keep the migrants from illegally entering or passing through his country.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban told reporters that if any migrants attempt to enter the nation except through a designated area, they will be arrested and imprisoned.

“I’m therefore asking those who want to cross into Europe through Hungary: don’t come,” Orban said. “Even though the situation won’t change overnight, we will gradually achieve results and the time will come when we can tell our Austrian and German friends that Hungary’s southern borders are hermetically sealed.”

The move by Orban comes as leaders of Germany and France are pushing a proposal through the European Union where all nations either accept part of the 160,000 migrants in Greece, Hungary and Italy or pay a fee to be temporarily excluded from being forced to take the migrants.

The influx of migrants has become so intense that the Greek island of Lesbos, which has 100,000 residents, is holding 20,000 migrants.

Germany has said they will take 40,000 of the 160,000; France says they will accept 31,000.

Some nations, such as Slovakia, have said they do not want to accept Muslims into their country but will be open to migrants of other faiths.

UN: EU Must Accept 200,000 Migrants

The United Nations has told member nations of the European Union (EU) that they must accept 200,000 migrants in a “common strategy” rather than their current “piecemeal” approach.

The head of the UN’s refugee agency said that the EU is reaching a “defining moment.”

Antonio Guterres said that the EU leadership must demand “mandatory participation” of any country in the EU.

Germany has been taking in the majority of the migrants but is starting to limit migrant access because of the mass influx.

“Germany is doing what is morally and legally required of us, no more and no less,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday. “That’s why this problem concerns all of us in Europe.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron said that because “Britain is a moral nation” they will fulfill their responsibilities.

Germany and France have sent a proposal to all EU nations with suggested amounts of migrants for each country but has found backlash from the smaller nations.  CNN reported over 350,000 migrants have come into Europe this year, a level not seen since World War II.  Over 3,600 people have died trying to make the journey.