Seven policemen were injured, at least ten cars and countless containers set on fire, and dozens of windows smashed in several heavily immigrant-populated neighborhoods of the Swedish capital on Tuesday.The police said some 300 people are now taking part in riots, which started in protest against the shooting of a man allegedly armed with a knife in the Stockholm district of Husby. The protesters also cited beatings and ‘discriminative’ derogatory remarks of the officers.The protester are mainly young, the police said. Of the seven rioters arrested on Tuesday only four were detained, two of them later released, and one turned out to be underage.All of the men arrested on suspicion of violent rioting and assaulting a public official were aged between 15 and 19, the police said.Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on Tuesday commented on the matter, urging a halt to the violence, but acknowledged in the short term that may be unlikely.“We have groups of young men who think that that they can and should change society with violence. Let’s be clear: This is not okay. We cannot be ruled by violence,” Reinfeldt said as cited by the Local.He also urged “everyone, including parents and adults” to help restore calm.“Husby residents must get their neighborhood back,” Reinfeldt stressed, speaking of the district, where around 80 percent of about 11,000 residents are first- or second-generation immigrants. This particular district has seen employment increasing and crime falling in the last seven years, Reinfeldt added, speaking of the “right direction” it has been going.But not everyone agreed with Reinfeldt’s assessment of immigrant-populated Swedish districts development, with critics saying the integration policies of the country – and that of the whole of Western Europe – are “not working.”“This is a clear consequence of this multiculturalism politics that Sweden adopted around ‘80s and increased in the ‘90s… And this is not a unique one single occasion… we have had these ethnic-based riots against Swedish authorities. We have seen this in Western Europe, that is very sad, and I think we will see more of this, if we don’t change the politics,” the chairman of the Sweden’s National Democrats Party Marc Abramsson told RT.While not elaborating on the incident that caused the current riots, Abramsson said all such incidents have a common “problem beneath” – that is, the immigrants not identifying themselves with the country’s society, nor accepting the country’s authorities, sticking only to their own ethnic group.“Sweden has been trying harder than any of the countries in Europe to try to push for integration. We have invested virtually billions from taxpayers’ money into it, we have tried everything that the scientists have presented – and still it’s not working,” the politician argued.“They live in their area, and they feel the area is their own. And when the police arrive, they feel they are you intruding into their, sort of, ‘country.’ The police… who work in these areas, there have to be in two cars, one protecting the other. People are trying to maintain buildings, to have security guards, the fire department can’t work, they get attacked by angry immigrant youth that feel like they’re intruding into their own area, even though they’re trying to help,” Abramsson went on to say. … Read More
Senate Panel Approves Even More Stringent Biometric Measures
The immigration reform measure the Senate began debating yesterday would create a national biometric database of virtually every adult in the U.S., in what privacy groups fear could be the first step to a ubiquitous national identification system. … Read More
EU to donate €520mn to rebuild Mali as conflict rages on
EU leaders plan to channel 520 million euro (US$73 million) into the impoverished country between 2013 and 2014 at an international aid donors’ conference in Brussels on Wednesday. The Union has said that the total amount of aid could increase in coming months. The funds will be invested into the “total relaunch” of the country, a 4.3-billion-euro initiative that includes organizing the elections for July. However, doubts have been raised over the viability of holding elections so soon given the tens of thousands of Malians displaced by the conflict and taking refuge in neighboring countries. The EU money will also go towards installing basic infrastructure in Mali’s north, the lack of which has undermined public support for the interim government. In spite of the ongoing presence of 1,000 French soldiers in the embattled nation, European Commission Leader Jose Manuel Barroso told press the donation “is essential to establish a Mali that is stable, democratic and prosperous.” The French government has made repeated statements during the conflict that they are close to eradicating insurgency.“We are winning this war, now we have to win back the country,” said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Tuesday. When France originally intervened back in January, Fabius insisted the French military presence would stay for “a matter of weeks” until regional forces could take over. The French military presence has thus far served to push back Islamist militant forces advancing on the country’s capital Bamako four months after they intervened. However, pockets of resistance still remain deeply entrenched in Mali’s northern mountainous zone which they use as a base from which to launch attacks. Concerns have been voiced that a prolonged campaign against insurgency could lead to a spill-over into other African nations. Independent journalist Robert Harneis told RT that Libya would be an “ideal place” for the Malian immigrants to take refuge as it is in a “state of chaos” following NATO intervention.“They disperse, they conceal their weapons, their assets, they merge with the population and they wait because they know that sooner or later the intervention forces will go home,” said Harneis. Of the 4,500-odd French troops that were initially deployed the majority have been withdrawn, but the 1,000 that remain are expected to stay until the end of the year until regional forces are ready to take on full security responsibilities. The Malian government called on its former colonial ruler, France, to intervene in January when northern militants took control of key cities in the center of the country. Islamist extremists took control of the North African nation last year following a coup. The Islamists forced extreme Sharia law on the inhabitants of the northern territories. … Read More
The Stream – Indicting Germany’s Neo-Nazis
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Israel exploited loophole to take 1,000 DNA samples from African refugees
The news was comfirmed by Commander Eran Kamin of the Investigations Division, who reported on the issue to a Knesset committee on Tuesday. The issue was first revealed in an article in Haaretz, which said that police officials had earlier had their request for collecting refugees’ DNA samples rejected by Knesset Committees. To bypass this rejection, the police opened criminal cases against the African migrants – they had technically entered the country illegally, which the police then classified as a ‘security-related’ crime.”We are aware that those entering Israel have had unpleasant experiences, to say the least, but still, we’re aware of the fact that they broke the law. The law defines them as infiltrators,” Kamin said, according to Haaretz.In 2012, Israeli police collected more than 600 samples. However, they have not solved any reported crimes as a result of this DNA collection practice, Haaretz said.Police officials claim they are not creating a refugee database, and that the personal data they receive from migrants are placed in a general pool. African immigrants are nevertheless reportedly angered by the procedure, which they have slammed as discriminatory.Human rights activists in Israel strongly oppose the practice: “The criminal process is meant to reach the truth and punish offenders who have been legally convicted. But in terms of asylum-seekers, police are making a different use entirely of the criminal proceeding,” said attorney Asaf Weitzen of the Hotline for Migrant Workers. He added that police were “creating a new law and suiting it to a regime in which there is no longer a need for courts, legislators or public opinion.”Alva Kolan of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said this is “a cynical use of the Prevention of Infiltration Law, and squarely contradicts the International Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which explicitly states that infiltration, in itself, cannot be considered a criminal offense.” The DNA collection is another facet of the Israeli government’s crackdown on immigrants coming from such African nations as Libya, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea. After being dubbed “infiltrators” and a threat to state security, they are encouraged to return to their native countries. Many of those unwilling to return home face indefinite jail terms.Israel has regularly been accused of deporting Sudanese migrants back to their homeland, where visiting or living in Israel is a crime. In February, Israel reportedly forced at least 1,000 Sudanese to return home.Israel described the deportations as “voluntary leave,” which the UN Refugee agency dismissed as unlikely. “Deporting Sudanese to Sudan would be the gravest violation possible of the refugee convention that Israel has signed – a crime never before committed,” the UN representative to Israel Michael Bavli said. In August 2012, a report by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed that Israel deported Sudanese asylum seekers by issuing documents with intentionally incorrect nationalities. Having no repatriation agreement with Sudan, Israel gave more than 100 Sudanese nationals passports or birth certificates labeling them citizens of South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan in 2011, the report stated. … Read More
Queen’s Speech: UK government to crackdown on EU migrants
In her annual speech to parliament, Queen Elizabeth II began by saying the government’s priority is to “strengthen Britain’s economic competitiveness.” She also announced a cap on social care costs and a single state pension of £144 a week, in contrast to the cuts which have dominated government policy since coming to power.However, there was no mention of changes to Chancellor George Osborne’s controversial austerity program, despite comments on Wednesday from the Trade Union Congress (TUC) that the UK is facing a “lost decade of growth.”The Gracious Speech – as it is also known – takes place every year in Britain, and is part of the official State Opening of Parliament. It allows the government to set out its proposed bills and the problems it wants to address for the next parliamentary session. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were also present, which is seen symbolically as a sharing of the Queen’s duties now that she is growing older.In this year’s Speech there were a number of new measures aimed at curtailing immigration to the UK, especially from poorer EU nations such as Romania and Bulgaria.Private landlords will be required to snoop on their tenants and report those that do not possess the documents required to live in the UK. Landlords who do not will face fines running up into the thousands of pounds. The proposal has prompted criticism that ordinary people are being made to police the immigration system where the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has failed.There will also be measures enacted to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining driving licenses and to make it harder to access the National Health Service (NHS) for those who aren’t entitled to use it, by making EU member-states pay for their citizen’s medical treatment.There will also be a six-month restriction to the jobseeker’s allowance, which will apply to all EU nationals who are not actively seeking employment and are unable to show they have a genuine chance of getting work.There will also be a new residence test requiring residents to have lived in the UK for at least a year before they gain access to civil legal aid.An immigration bill was also announced that will make it easier to deport criminal and terrorists, such as Muslim preacher Abu Hamza. Home Secretary Theresa May, who has been unable to deport Hamza despite repeated attempts, will make it impossible for such figures to use Article 8 of the Human Rights Act – the right to family life – to stay in the UK.May believes only a full change in the law will persuade UK judges not to defer to the Human Rights Act in cases such as Hamza’s. “We want to attract people who will add to our national life, and those who do not should be deterred,” the Queen announced.Other proposed bills include a cap in social care costs, a raise in state pensions from £107 to £144 per week, and the scrapping of means-tested top-ups.Preliminary funding of the second stage of the HS2 high-speed rail link between Birmingham and Leeds and Manchester was also announced, allowing funding to be made available for the early design stages.A bill to monitor mobile communications was dropped due to objections from the Liberal Democrats, the government’s coalition partners.Plans to impose a minimum charge on alcohol and to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes were also left out, although this does not mean they will not become law at a later date.Euroskeptics on the rise?The new laws designed to curb immigration will be viewed by many as a reaction to the rise of UKIP and their recent successes in local elections. However, the Speech was written before polling day.Cameron will also hope that the new tougher measures on immigration will help to quell the growing clamor in his backbenches for a referendum on EU membership in this parliament. Cameron has said this would be impossible because he has an agreement with pro-EU Liberal Democrats not to hold a referendum on the issue, although he has promised to hold one in the next parliament if the conservatives win the elections in 2015.The Prime Minster vowed he will be able to secure real changes in Britain’s EU membership terms by negotiating with the body. “I want to give people a proper choice between Britain remaining in a reformed EU or leaving that EU,” Cameron said on Tuesday at a London conference on the future of Somalia.The festering issue was given game-changing status by the intervention on Tuesday of 81-year old Lord Lawson, Margaret Thatcher’s longest-serving chancellor. In the Times, he urged Britain to completely quit Europe, saying it was a “bureaucratic monstrosity” which damaged the interests of the City of London. No-growth BritanniaIn a further blow to Chancellor George Osborne’s unwavering austerity program, the TUC warned the government that they are facing a “lost decade of growth,” and that the UK is lagging behind its rivals. A recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed that Britain was experiencing a slower economic recovery than 23 of its 33 rival economies.The TUC report comes as the IMF visit London on Wednesday for their annual report on the state of the UK economy. … Read More
