Trump on Hannity talking about refugees

[1Ganger]

he said we have our own problems and cant deal with there's pretty much... hmmm kinda has a point.

 

[waltky]

But we've already got 11 million refugees from the drug war south of the border...

Kerry: US to accept 85,000 refugees in 2016, 100,000 in 2017
Sep 20,`15 -- Scrambling to address a growing Syrian refugee crisis, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Sunday that the United States would significantly increase the number of worldwide migrants it takes in over the next two years, though not by nearly the amount many activists and former officials have urged.

The U.S. will accept 85,000 refugees from around the world next year, up from 70,000, and that total would rise to 100,000 in 2017, Kerry said at news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier after the two discussed the mass migration of Syrians fleeing their civil war. Many, though not all, of the additional refugees would be Syrian, American officials have said. Others would come from strife-torn areas of Africa. The White House had previously announced it intended to take in 10,000 additional Syrian refugees over the next year. Asked why the U.S. couldn't take more, Kerry cited post-Sept. 11 screening requirements and a lack of money made available by Congress. "We're doing what we know we can manage immediately," he said, adding that the U.S. cannot take shortcuts on security checks.

Conditions in Syria have been growing increasingly dire as the civil war grinds on. As many as 9 million people have been displaced, including more than 4 million who have fled the country, according to the United Nations. A letter made public last week and signed by several former Obama administration officials urged the U.S. government to accept 100,000 Syrian migrants, and to put in place special rules to speed the resettlement process. Germany says it will accept as many as a million Syrians this year. "Current (American) efforts are not adequate," according to the letter, signed by Michelle Flournoy, a former senior U.S. defense official who once was Obama's choice for Pentagon chief, and Harold Koh, the former State Department legal adviser. "Humanitarian aid has fallen short in the face of unspeakable suffering."

Syrian migrants to the U.S. would be referred by the U.N. refugee agency, screened by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and resettled around the country. "This step is in keeping with America's best tradition as a land of second chances and a beacon of hope," Kerry said. Earlier, he and Steinmeier met with a group of refugees around a conference table on the wooded, lakeside resort-style campus of the foreign ministry's education center outside Berlin. The Syrians, who Kerry asked reporters not to name for security concerns, said the uptick in migration five years into the civil war was being driven by a collapse of hope that the situation ever will improve. "I personally came here in search of a future," said a mother of three daughters who made it to Germany with her five-year-old but left two others behind in Syria with her parents. She hopes they all can come, too.

Congressional approval is not required for the Obama administration to expand resettlement slots, though Congress would have to appropriate money to pay for the additional effort, Kerry pointed out. Intelligence officials and Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns that Islamic State militants could seek to slip into Europe or the U.S. posing as migrants. In 2011, two Kentucky residents who had been resettled as Iraqi refugees were accused of being al-Qaida members. They were convicted of terrorism charges after their fingerprints were linked to roadside bombs in Iraq. That led to new steps to screen refugees, a process that has been criticized as slow and bureaucratic. "Some of the 65,000 that came from Iraq actually were trying to buy stinger missiles in my hometown in Kentucky," said U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican presidential candidate, in a broadcast interview. "So we do have to be weary of some of the threat that comes from mass migration."

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Allowing Refugees in US an Open Door to Terror?
Monday, September 14, 2015 - Stephan Bauman, the head of World Relief, an evangelical non-profit that cares for refugees and immigrants, is calling on the U.S. government to allow 200,000 refugees into the country. Bauman is also calling on every U.S. church congregation to adopt a refugee family. Watch his interview with CBN News.

The European country working hardest to solve the Mideast migrant crisis is now stepping back. Germany has been receiving up to 10,000 migrants per day, but that can't go on for long. Meanwhile, some lawmakers in the United States warn President Barack Obama's recent decision to receive more refugees could lead to another major terror attack.

Battening Down the Hatches

One of the top destinations for Syrian refugees, Germany originally opened its doors to the migrants fleeing from their countries. Now, it's implementing temporary border controls, with many calling it a strong message to the rest of the European Union to step up and start shouldering some of the burden. "There's a need for shelters and care and I hope it will start during the next days. Munich can do a lot but we can't accomplish it all by ourselves," Dieter Reiter, the mayor of Munich, said.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said that according to EU rules, his country isn't technically responsible for the migrants. They're supposed to be registered and processed in the first EU country they arrive in. De Maiziere's urging other countries to apply those rules and stop allowing the people seeking protection to choose the country they get it from. Many migrants have refused to register in countries like Greece or Hungary because they're afraid it would keep them from being granted asylum in other EU states.

Germany suspended train services to and from Austria for 13 hours and is now imposing strict document checks for people entering the country. Officials say such measures are necessary for Germany to limit the number of people coming in and reinstate a more orderly entry process.

Obama Plan 'Reckless, Dangerous'

 

[Avorysuds]

Trump is done, they will squeeze him for that last bit of viewership they can but he's done.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dat's why dey wanna foist `em off on us...

UNHCR: Global Displacement Crisis Exacerbated by Financial Woes
October 05, 2015 — The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, warns the number of people being displaced worldwide by conflict and persecution is spiraling out of control at a time when aid agencies are too broke to help them. Speaking in Geneva, he opened the annual refugee conference with a plea for more financial support to tackle a myriad of global refugee crises.

A video of people fleeing conflict and persecution provided a moving image for conference participants of the desperation facing tens of thousands of refugees forced to uproot themselves from their homes. When Guterres assumed his post in 2005, there were 38 million displaced people around the world. Now, 10 years later, there are more than 60 million refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people. Over the past five years, the UNHCR reports 15 new conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and elsewhere have broken out or been reignited. It estimates the number of people globally displaced by conflict every day has nearly quadrupled in that period.

A man carries his belongings as other migrants and refugees arrive on a ferry from the Greek island of Lesbos at the Athens' port of Piraeus​

Crisis largest since WWII

Guterres says it is becoming more difficult for the world to ignore the plight of refugees since Syria’s almost five-year long civil war has been brought to European shores, triggering the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. He highlighted the reluctance of Europe to deal with today’s refugee crisis by noting how quickly and humanely European countries responded to and assisted 200,000 Hungarian refugees who had fled to Austria and Yugoslavia in 1956. “What was possible then, when Europe was still recovering from the… worst war in human history, should also be possible today. Over half a million people have arrived on Europe’s shores since January. In a continent of more than 500 million inhabitants, 5,000 people arriving daily is a very significant number. But, it is not an unmanageable one, provided things are properly managed,” he said.

A Syrian refugee stands outside her tent in a refugee camp in the eastern town of Houch al-Harimeh, Lebanon.​

Guterres noted the European refugee crisis is just one of many. For example, he said millions of people have become refugees or internally displaced over the past year alone because of conflicts in places such as South Sudan, Yemen, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Ukraine, and Afghanistan. He said the UNHCR and other aid agencies have received less than half of the money they need to provide humanitarian assistance to 82 million people around the world. He said the humanitarian system is not broken, as some argue. But, Guterres said the humanitarian system is financially broke and that must be fixed.

UNHCR: Global Displacement Crisis Exacerbated by Financial Woes

 

[waltky]

Afghani granny seeks freedom in Europe...

105-year-old Afghan refugee seeks better life in Europe
Oct 27,`15 -- She is 105 years old but still dreams of a better life without wars and bombs.

Bibihal Uzbeki, from Kunduz, Afghanistan, is among tens of thousands of migrants who have traveled for thousands of miles fleeing war and poverty to search for a happier, safer future in Europe. Wrapped in a green scarf and a brown blanket, she was brought on a stretcher to Croatia's main Opatovac refugee camp Tuesday after crossing in from Serbia with a large group of refugees, including her son, grandson and several other relatives.

105-year old Afghan woman. Bibihal Uzbeki from Kunduz, Afghanistan, rests in Croatia's main refugee camp at Opatovac, Croatia, near the border with Serbia, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. Centenarian Bibihal Uzbeki, crossed into Croatia on a stretcher from Serbia with a large group of refugees, including her son and several other relatives, among tens of thousands who have traveled across continents, fleeing war and poverty to search for a happier, safer future in Europe.​

The trek across mountains, deserts, seas and forests into Europe is dangerous and exhausting, even for people one-fifth her age. "My legs hurt, but I'm fine," Uzbeki said in Farsi, speaking through a translator while sitting on the floor inside a Red Cross tent. Her hands shook as she spoke. She said her 17-member family had traveled for 20 days to reach Europe, with her 67-year-old son and her 19-year-old grandson often carrying her on their backs. "We had problems many times. I suffered a lot," she said. "I fell and injured my head. I have scars on my head."

As they carried her into a train that took them further west toward Slovenia, her grandson Muhamet said the family hopes its final destination is Sweden. Croatian police said they checked her documents and she is 105 years old. Her grandson also said that's her age, but it could not be independently verified. The Croatian Red Cross wished the family "all the luck in the world, as well as to thousands of others whom we meet daily." More than 260,000 migrants have passed through Croatia since Sept. 15, when Hungary closed its border with Serbia, diverting the flow of refugees to Croatia.

News from The Associated Press

 

[waltky]

Doesn't bode well for the future...

Muslim Invasion of Europe
October 22, 2015 - The flow of illegal migrants does not stop. They land on the Greek islands along the Turkish coast. They still try to get into Hungary, despite a razor wire fence and mobilized army. Their destination is Germany or Scandinavia, sometimes France or the UK. Some of them still arrive from Libya. Since the beginning of January, more than 620,000 have arrived by sea alone. There will undoubtedly be many more: a leaked secret document estimates that by the end of December, there might be 1.5 million.

Journalists in Western Europe continue to depict them as "refugees" fleeing war in Syria. The description is false. According to statistics released by the European Union, only twenty-five percent of them come from Syria; the true number is probably lower. The Syrian government sells passports and birth certificates at affordable prices. The vast majority of migrants come from other countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Eritrea, Somalia, and Nigeria. Many do not seem to have left in a hurry. Many bring new high-end smartphones and large sums of cash, ten or twenty thousand euros, sometimes more. Many have no passports, no ID, and refuse to give fingerprints. Whenever people flee to survive, the men come with whole families: women, children, elders. Here, instead, more than 75% of those who arrive are men under 50; few are women, children or elders.

As Christians are now the main targets of Islamists (the Jews fled or were forced out decades ago), the people escaping the war in Syria should be largely composed of Christians. But Christians are a small minority among those who arrive, and they often hide that they are Christians. Those who enter Europe are almost all Muslims, and behave as some Muslims often do in the Muslim world: they harass Christians and attack women. In reception centers, harassing Christians and attacking women are workaday incidents. European women and girls who live near reception centers are advised to take care and cover up. Rapes, assaults, stabbings and other crimes are on the rise.

Western European political leaders could tell the truth and act accordingly. They do not. They talk of "solidarity," "humanitarian duty," "compassion." From the beginning, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said that illegal migrants were welcome: she seemed to change her mind for a moment, but quickly slid back. In France, President François Hollande says the same things as Angela Merkel. After the heartbreaking image of a dead child being carried on a Turkish beach was published, thousands of Germans and French initially spoke the same way as their leaders. Their enthusiasm seems to have faded fast.

The people of Central Europe were not enthusiastic from the beginning. Their leaders seem to share the feelings of their populations. None spoke as explicitly as Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary. He said out loud what many of his countrymen seemed to think. He spoke of "invasion" and asked if there were another word to describe the massive and often brutal entry into a country of people who have not been invited to do so. He added that a country has the right to decide who is allowed to enter its territory and to guard its borders. He stressed that those who enter Europe are from a "different culture," and suggested that Islam might not be compatible with European Judeo-Christian values.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel paying the price for welcoming refugees
October 29, 2015 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has come under intense pressure for her handling of the refugee crisis with her Bavarian allies warning of a full-blown coalition crisis unless she takes immediate action to limit a record influx of migrants.

The Christian Social Union (CSU), sister party to Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), have been outspoken in their criticism of her "open doors" policy towards asylum seekers, in part because their home state of Bavaria is the entry point for virtually all of the migrants arriving in Germany. Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer has issued a series of ultimatums to Merkel in recent weeks, including a threat to take the government to court over its refugee policies, only to back down at the last minute.

A banner reading 'Mum multiculti' and depicting a manipulated image of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is carried by a protester behind the German flag as thousands of people join a protest in Erfurt, central Germany​

But the rhetoric reached new heights on Wednesday, with one senior Bavarian official saying relations between the longtime allies had reached their lowest point in nearly four decades and a German newspaper reporting that Mr Seehofer was considering pulling CSU ministers out of Ms Merkel's cabinet in protest. "We are in the midst of a real coalition crisis," Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Soeder told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. "The relationship between the CDU and CSU is more difficult than at any time since 1976," he added, referring to a major fight between former party leaders Helmut Kohl and Franz-Josef Strauss which nearly led to a split.

Although the CSU's bark has proved worse than its bite, the sharper tone underscored how serious tensions within the German government have become as hundreds of thousands of migrants, mainly from Syria and Afghanistan, stream into Germany. Berlin expects between 800,000 and a million migrants to arrive in Germany this year, twice as many as in any prior year. Mr Seehofer is due to meet Ms Merkel on Saturday to discuss refugee policy and the two will then hold talks with Sigmar Gabriel, who leads the other party in her "grand coalition", the Social Democrats (SPD).

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[waltky]

Parody on refugees in Britain...

I've got a brand new leather jacket

... to the tune of Melanie's I've got a brand new pair of roller skates.