Saturday, December 26, 2015

Islamic invasion of Europe update (December 26, 2015)

Czech President calls Muslim migrant wave in Europe an 'organised invasion'
Prague (AFP) - Czech President Milos Zeman, known for his anti-migrant comments, on Saturday called the current wave of refugees to Europe "an organised invasion", and that young men from Syria and Iraq should instead "take up arms" against the Islamic State (IS) group.

"I am profoundly convinced that we are facing an organised invasion and not a spontaneous movement of refugees," said Zeman in his Christmas message to the Czech Republic released Saturday.

He went on to say that compassion was "possible" for refugees who are old or sick and for children, but not for young men who in his view should be back home fighting against jihadists.

"A large majority of the illegal migrants are young men in good health, and single. I wonder why these men are not taking up arms to go fight for the freedom of their countries against the Islamic State," said Zeman, who was elected Czech president in early 2013.

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Hundreds of migrants stormed Spain’s border with Morocco at Ceuta early on Christmas Day. Two drowned and over 100 were intercepted, but many more reportedly reached Spanish territory.

The storming of the Spanish border in the north of Ceuta took place in the early hours of Friday morning, with the migrants attempting either to swim to Spanish-claimed territory or climb over a barbed wire fence, reports The Local.

Local authorities say that of the 200 or so migrants who tried to swim from Morocco, two were pulled dead from the waters and another 104 intercepted. Police trying to protect the border against the onslaught themselves sustained injury after coming under fire from stones and sticks thrown by the migrants.

Red Cross volunteers in Ceuta said they were treating 185 migrants who did get into Spanish territory. A dozen of that number were hospitalised for more serious injuries including an open leg fracture, deep cuts, symptoms of drowning, and hypothermia.

Those well enough to avoid hospitalisation were equipped by the Red Cross with clothing and shoes, before being taken to a temporary migrant detention centre. This follows the normal practice of not sending back those migrants who reach Spanish territory, instead allowing them to submit asylum claims and sometimes flying them to the Spanish mainland.

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Demonstrators ransacked a Muslim prayer hall and set fire to copies of the Koran on the French island of Corsica Friday, police said, in an attack condemned by the government.

The violence came on Christmas Day amid heightened security measures for the holiday, and nationwide fears after the November 13 attacks in Paris by jihadists that killed 130 people.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls wrote on Twitter that the break-in in the city of Ajaccio was “an unacceptable desecration”.

Tensions had mounted in Ajaccio Friday after two firefighters and a police officer were injured overnight in a low-income neighbourhood of the city when they were “ambushed” by “several hooded youths”, authorities said.

On Friday afternoon around 150 people had gathered in front of the prefecture in a show of support for the police and firefighters, officials said in a statement.

But some in that crowd broke away and headed for the low-income housing estate where the violence took place the night before.

They shouted slogans in Corsican meaning “Arabs get out!” or “This is our home!”, an AFP correspondent reported.

Nearby was the Muslim prayer room and a small group smashed the glass door and entered the place of worship, ransacking the room and partially burning books including copies of the Koran, said regional official Francois Lalanne.

“Fifty prayer books were thrown out on the street,” Lalanne said, adding that some of the pages were burnt.

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German navy 'rescued over 10,000 migrants' in 2015
BERLIN (AFP) - Germany's navy said Saturday it rescued over 10,000 migrants at sea this year, including more than 500 people off the coast of Libya on Christmas day.

"The German navy's ships rescued 10,528 people since May 7, 2015," when its fleet launched a rescue operation, the Bundeswehr said on its website.

One ship went into action at Christmas on Friday some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Libyan coast, rescuing 539 people on board three inflatable boats and a wooden vessel.

A frigate and a patrol boat from Italy as well as a Maltese tanker assisted in the latest rescue operation.

Two German ships are taking part in the European Union's rescue Operation Sophia.

The UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said this week more than one million migrants and refugees reached Europe this year, most of them by sea.

Nearly 3,700 people drowned or went missing at sea, the IOM said.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Europe needs to regain control of its borders, Germany’s foreign minister was quoted on Saturday as saying, after reports that forged Syrian passports are in the hands of Islamic State militants.

More than a million refugees, many fleeing war and violence in the Middle East, have arrived in Germany this year. Since last month’s Paris attacks, concern has grown that Islamist militants may enter undetected among the influx.

On Tuesday, German media quoted Bavaria’s Interior Minister as saying that refugees with fake Syrian passports have disappeared in Germany and there are grounds for suspicion that they may have had contact with Islamic State militants.

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Four Christians have been beaten up in Berlin, Germany’s capital city, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

German media reports that four men were leaving the Adagio venue in the bustling Potzdamer Platz area when they were challenged by a man who exclaimed: “I am a Muslim! What are you?” before setting upon the four 20-somethings. He was reportedly assisted by four, older accomplices.

Police are now investigating the incident as a politically motivated attack, and at least five people are thought to have been injured in the melee, including one passer by who tried to settle the dispute.

The injured apparently refused medical treatment, and police records indicated they were from Serbia and Montenegro, and are Orthodox Christians.

According to the Tagespiegel newspaper, the venue in the heart of Berlin was hosting a “Balkan Party” in the evening on Christmas Day.

The assailants fled the scene before police arrived, and there have been no reports yet as to their whereabouts.

Posted by Watcher at 12/26/2015 08:15:00 PM | | E-mail this article

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