Pope Francis has drawn criticism from a Jewish organisation for comparing European refugee holding centres to “concentration camps”. The pontiff made the comparison during a visit to Rome Basilica where he met with migrants on Saturday. Recalling his visit to a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos last year, he talked of encountering …
Child refugees in northern France facing exploitation and violence on a daily basis, UNICEF warns
Child refugees in northern France are facing exploitation and violence on a daily basis, including threats from adult men armed with knives and machetes, Unicef has warned. An alarming report has revealed that unaccompanied minors who lived in the Grande-Synthe refugee camp in Dunkirk before it burnt down last week were “constantly fearful” of sexual …
Italy accelerates asylum procedures
Italy’s parliament yesterday approved measures to accelerate asylum procedures, cutting the number of possible appeals and speeding up deportations of rejected migrants. Since 2014 the number of migrants reaching Italy’s shores has surged, with half a million arriving in the country, and under European Union law Italy has to set up so-called “hotspots” where migrants …
Hungarian government facing pressure after border protests
Protestors in Roszke on Saturday demanded the government change its anti-refugee policies and open its borders, according to the Hungary News Agency. Demonstrators gathered in front of a church in the city’s square before walking to a border area surrounded by razor wire fences where they demanded the release of a Syrian who was sentenced …
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Czech Interior Minister turns against EU refugee quotas
The Interior Minister of the Czech Republic, Milan Chovanec, stated in an interview with Czech newspaper “Pravo” that he did not support the refugee quota set out by the European Union. Chovanec said if the EU threatened the country with financial penalties, the Czech Republic would still not accept further refugees. “We have accepted 12 …
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Fake lawn signs with anti-immigrant message turn up in LA
Fake lawn signs with the city seal and an anti-immigrant message have cropped up on a weedy street median near Beverly Hills. The signs at Burton Way and Doheny Drive read: “Landscaping by L.A. City Council, We’d rather spend your taxes on welfare for illegals.” City Councilman Paul Koretz condemned the signs on Friday and …
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97 missing after asylum seeker boat sinks off Libya
At least 97 people are missing and believed to have drowned after their Europe-bound boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday, according to the Libyan coastguard. Spokesman Ayoub Qassem said 23 migrants were rescued around 10 kilometres off the coast of Tripoli after authorities received a distress call. Fifteen women and five children are …
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EU falls short of goal for relocating refugees: Report
European countries have relocated only 10 percent of the refugees they promised to shelter by this September, figures from the European Commission showed Wednesday. According to the commission’s 11th Relocation and Resettlement Report, the total number of relocations stands at 16,340 since last March, far below its 160,000 goal for relocating refugees from Greece and …
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Mafia took control of migrant centre for a decade, received tens of millions of euros from state funds, Italian police say
Italian mobsters took charge of one of Europe’s largest migrant reception centres, using a Roman Catholic charity organisation as a cover to skim millions of euros in state funds, prosecutors have revealed. Police arrested 68 people in early morning raids in southern Italy, including a priest and the head of the local Misericordia association that …
UNHCR spokesperson: More than 1,350 people are now missing or dead in the Mediterranean Sea
Reports emerging from the sea rescue effort between Italy and Libya suggest around 20 men, women and children are missing and feared dead after rescuers were able to pluck some 500 survivors from the Mediterranean Sea over the weekend. Information gathered by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in Italy indicates that the survivors were rescued …
