EU May Punish States for Failing to Take Refugees
[AnNahar] The EU warned Wednesday that it will consider punishing member states next month if they fail to share the burden of asylum seekers stranded in Greece and Italy. European Commission vice president Frans Timmermans criticized the bloc for having so far admitted only 12,000 of the 160,000 Syrian and other refugees required to be relocated from Greece and Italy to other EU countries by September this year.
He said Brussels still hoped "peer pressure" would convince recalcitrant countries, but that it would consider penalties if there had been no progress by the time its next report on the issue comes out in March.
EU countries can be hit with large financial penalties by the commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation bloc, if they break the union's rules.
Timmermans added that it was "highly unfair" to leave overstretched Greece and Italy to try to persuade other countries, particularly Eastern European states where there is resistance to Muslim immigration.
Searches in Germany, Britain focused on Islamist suspects: Prosecutor
[AlAhram] German authorities searched homes and other properties in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia and Britain on Wednesday to gather evidence about two suspects believed to have supported the Islamist group "Jabhat al-Nusra," the chief federal prosecutor's office said.
"The two suspects are believed to have supported the foreign terrorist group JAN for several years," the office said in a statement.
They allegedly collected donations for the Islamist group and supplied ambulances, medical equipment and medication through groups called "Medicine with Heart" and "Medicine without Borders," it said. There was no mention of any specific attack preparations in the case.
Germany arrests Syrian IS suspect accused of rape
[AlAhram] German police on Tuesday arrested a Syrian man on suspicion of belonging to the Islamic State (IS) militant group and of raping a woman as she attempted to flee an IS-held area in Syria with her children, officials said. The 31-year-old suspect, named as Akram A., was detained in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomeria, the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Prosecutors allege that he manned a checkpoint in Syria that sought to prevent citizens from escaping IS-controlled territory. In early 2016, he stopped a woman who was trying to flee with her children, they said.
"Under the pretext of obtaining the necessary 'exit permit', the accused lured her to a house and raped her," prosecutors said in the statement.
The rape could amount to a war crime, they added.
Spain: 2 alleged ISIS recruiters detained near Barcelona
[Ynet] Spain's Interior Ministry says two Moroccan who are accused of indoctrination in Islamist extremism and recruiting others have been detained in Barcelona. The ministry said in a statement that the men, aged 25 and 27, allegedly raised money through drug trafficking and theft to support the Islamic State group. Agents of Spain's Guardia Civil police were searching the men's apartment on Tuesday morning in Badalona, a city next to Barcelona, for further evidence.
Hungary plans to detain migrants while asylum requests assessed
[Ynet] Hungary plans to detain migrants while their asylum requests are assessed, a ruling party lawmaker said on Wednesday, a proposal that human rights campaigners said could be illegal. The plan will be part of the spring legislative agenda of the Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose popular hardline stance on immigration may help him retain power at an election early next year.
Under the plan, migrants whose asylum applications are not immediately rejected would no longer be allowed to move freely while their requests are processed, Fidesz parliamentary group leader Lajos Kosa told a news conference.
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7 Feb 2017
Police in northern Germany have been forced to apologise after a draft email suggesting migrants should be kept away from carnival celebrations was leaked to migrant organisations, prompting accusations of racism.
Angela Merkel Rules Out Migrant Cap
7 Feb 2017
As pressure mounts on German Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of this year’s election, the chancellor has flat out refused to place a limit on the number of asylum seekers coming into the country.
German Regions Refuse To Deport Afghan Migrants
7 Feb 2017
Despite the German federal government’s plan to deport thousands of failed Afghan asylum seekers, German regions are not cooperating and claim Afghanistan has become far too dangerous.
Migrant Protesters Confront Greek Minister
6 Feb 2017
Greek and refugee protesters have confronted the country’s migration minister at the entrance of a sprawling migrant camp in the south of Athens, trying to stop him from entering the site.
Italian Rescuers Pick Up 1,500 Migrants in Mediterranean in Two Days
6 Feb 2017
Some 1,500 migrants have been rescued in the Mediterranean this weekend, an unusually high number for winter when crossings tend to slow because of difficult sea conditions, the Italian coastguard said Sunday.
Islamic State Paying Migrants’ Smuggling Fees if They Join Jihad
5 Feb 2017
Islamic State (IS) has targeted hundreds of ‘refugees’ and migrants heading towards Europe, calling on them to wage Jihad on the West and offering to their pay people smugglers if they join.
Police Officer: Almost All Serious Crime Committed By Migrants
5 Feb 2017
Migrants are to blame for the vast majority of serious crime in Sweden causing the police force to become overloaded, a detective has said. In an exasperated rant in Swedish on Facebook the officer, Peter Springare, conceded it was not
Cyprus Official Says 700 Migrants Could Land in Next Week
5 Feb 2017
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Up to 700 migrants could arrive on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus next week on smuggling trips from Turkey, a top Cypriot official said Saturday, hours after 93 migrants landed in the dark on the island’s northwestern shore.
Berlin Senate To Investigate Why Migrant Crime Stats So High
5 Feb 2017
The Berlin Senate has launched a formal inquiry as to why migrants are disproportionally mentioned in the city’s police crime reports in comparison to Germans. Berlin police say that migrants are more and more frequently recorded in their crime statistics
Father of Paris Louvre ‘Allahu Akbar’ Attacker: My Son Is Not Radicalised
4 Feb 2017
CAIRO (AFP) – The father of an Egyptian suspected of being the machete attacker in Paris’s Louvre museum said Saturday his son showed no sign of radicalisation and he believed in his innocence. Reda El-Hamahmy, a retired police general, told AFP he
Sweden To Ban Gender-Segregated Classrooms
4 Feb 2017
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden’s education minister wants to ban gender-segregated classes after last year’s public outcry after a Muslim school was allowed to separate boys and girls for gym classes. Gustav Fridolin says “if there are problems by having
‘Anti-Migrant’ Gun Shop Shut Down, Database of Customers Handed to Cops
3 Feb 2017
An anti-migrant website called “Migrant Fear” has been shut down and its customers investigated by German authorities for purchasing pistols and rifles that fire rubber bullets.
Historian: European Civil War Within 30 Years
3 Feb 2017
Belgian historian David Engels claims a civil war in the next 20 years is inevitable as he sees parallels between Europe and the fall of the Roman Republic.