Saturday, January 2, 2016

Islamic invasion of Europe update (January 2, 2016)

As 2016 dawns, Europe braces for more waves of Muslim migrants

Bitter cold, biting winds and rough winter seas have done little to stem the seemingly endless flow of desperate people fleeing war or poverty for what they hope will be a brighter, safer future in Europe. As 2016 dawns, boatloads continue to reach Greek shores and thousands trudge across Balkan fields and country roads heading north.

More than a million people reached Europe in 2015 in the continent's largest refugee influx since the end of World War II — a crisis that has tested European unity and threatened the vision of a borderless continent. Nearly 3,800 people are estimated to have drowned in the Mediterranean last year, making the journey to Greece or Italy in unseaworthy vessels packed far beyond capacity.

The European Union has pledged to bolster patrols on its external borders and quickly deport economic migrants, while Turkey has agreed to crack down on smugglers operating from its coastline. But those on the front lines of the crisis say the coming year promises to be difficult unless there is a dramatic change.

Greece has borne the brunt of the exodus, with more than 850,000 people reaching the country's shores, nearly all arriving on Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast.

"The (migrant) flows continue unabated. And on good days, on days when the weather isn't bad, they are increased," Ioannis Mouzalas, Greece's minister responsible for migration issues, told The Associated Press. "This is a problem and shows that Turkey wasn't able — I'm not saying that they didn't want — to respond to the duty and obligation it had undertaken to control the flows and the smugglers from its shores."

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PARIS (AP) — The push by France’s Socialist government to revoke the citizenship of convicted terrorists with dual nationality after the Paris attacks has turned into a harsh political dispute, with the far right applauding the move while some on the left express indignation at what they call a divisive measure.

French President Francois Hollande submitted the proposal three days after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 dead, in a shift toward a hard line on security. The idea appears to have strong support in French public opinion. Several polls over the past week suggest that 80 to 90 percent of the French are in favor of the measure.

Under current French law, citizenship revocation can only be applied to people who have been naturalized, not if they are French-born, and the procedure is rarely implemented.

The new rules would extend it to all dual nationals, but cannot be applied to people who are only French citizens, as France’s obligations under international law prevent it from leaving a person stateless.

Opponents of the measure consider it would create two classes of citizens – dual nationals who could lose their citizenship and others who cannot – in opposition to the principle of equality set out in France’s constitution.

French authorities have not said how many of those arrested over the Paris attacks are dual nationals.

Prominent Socialist Party figures, including former Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, have publicly expressed their disapproval, but Hollande has stuck to his guns.

“France must take the good decisions beyond traditional party divisions,” the president said in his New Year’s Eve speech.

While the left is divided, Hollande is getting unusual support from the right. The far-right National Front has claimed it is at the origin of the idea. “Terrorists don’t deserve French citizenship, because French citizenship is an honor”, vice president of the party Florian Philippot told France Info radio.

Members of the conservative opposition, including former President Nicolas Sarkozy, have also largely supported the proposal – while also calling for more security measures.

The government says the new measure would apply to a very small number of people.

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Posted by Watcher at 1/02/2016 05:25:00 PM | | E-mail this article

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