Category: Europe

Who is twitter-luring refugees to Germany?

Content-analysis of a great number of tweets that triggered the ongoing wave of migration from Turkey to Germany since August this year suggests that these human streams were inspired and channeled from outside of the continental Europe.

According to Vladimir Shalak from the Russian Academy of Science who developed the Internet Content-Analysis System for Twitter (Scai4Twi), his study of over 19000 refugees-related original tweets (retweets discounted) demonstrates that the vast majority of them mention Germany and Austria as the most refugee-welcoming countries in Europe:

Importantly, 93% of all tweets dedicated to Germany contained positive references to German hospitality and its refugee policy:

• Germany Yes! Leftists spray a graffiti on a train sayin “Welcome, refugees” in Arabic
• Lovely people – video of Germans welcoming Syrian refugees to their community
• Respect! Football fans saying “Welcome Refugees” across stadiums in Germany. _ • This Arabic Graffiti train is running in Dresden welcoming refugees: (ahlan wa sahlan – a warm welcome).
• ‘We love Germany!,’ cry relieved refugees at Munich railway station
• Thousands welcome refugees to Germany – Sky News Australia
• Wherever this German town is that welcomed a coach of Syrian refugees with welcome signs and flowers.

Analysis of 5704 original tweets containing #RefugeesWelcome” hashtag and a country name lead to even larger gap between Germany and the rest of Europe.

Only 6,4% of all tweets with “#RefugeesWelcome”+Germany came from Germany itself. Almost half of them were originated from UK, USA and Australia! Remote planetmates are thus inviting guests to visit your home without inquiring your opinion beforehand!

On Aug 27 forty automatic netbots @changing_news, @changing_news1,…, @changing_news39 from the United States simultaneously issued the following tweet at 8:00:33AM:

«A new welcome: Activists launch home placement service for refugees in Germany and Austria #News #Change #Help»

On Sept 1 the same group of netbots releases same tweets with caps on at 22:30:37:

«A New Welcome: Activists Launch Home Placement Service For Refugees In Germany And Austria #News #Change #Help»

On August 29 at 11.02PMa group of 80 netbots posts the following:

«Thousands Welcome Refugees to Germany at Dresden Rally: Thousands of people took to the streets of the German city of Dresden on Satu…»

Another group of fifty netbots from Australia (all created on Feb 14, 2014 between 06:02:00 до 06:24:00AM) publish a post on Aug 31 at 17:26:08:

«#hot Football Fans in Germany Unite with ‘Refugees Welcome’ Message #prebreak #best»

On Sept 1 at 07:29AM 95 netbots owned by Media for Social and Cultural Impact, Dallas, Texas, USA publish the following tweets:

«German Soccer Fans Welcome Refugees Amid Ongoing Crisis: As Europe faces the challenge of a wave of migration…»

Needless to say that every original tweet was multiplied in dozens of copies and spreaded Twitter-wide.

Andrey Fomin

Source: Oriental Review (Russia)

German intel concerned about Islamists recruiting migrants

German intelligence warned Tuesday that the number of Islamic extremists in the country had increased sharply in recent months and expressed serious concern that they were recruiting among refugees.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic security watchdog, said the number of radical Salafists had surged to 7,900 in September from 7,500 in June, and that many were trying to lure asylum-seekers into their ranks.

“We are very concerned that Islamists in Germany are trying, under the cover of humanitarian assistance, to exploit the situation of the refugees for their own ends and to proselytise and recruit among asylum-seekers,” BfV president Hans-Georg Maassen said in a statement.

Germany expects to receive up to one million asylum-seekers this year, five times more than last year. Syrians, who are fleeing their war-ravaged country, form the largest group.

Maassen said that a total of 740 radical Muslims had left Germany to join jihadists in Syria and Iraq, 20 percent of them female. Around one-third of those who went to the region have returned to Germany, while about 120 of them have been killed.

He said the BfV was keeping close watch on such activities given their “significant radicalisation potential” in the migrant community.

“We are keeping a particularly close eye on unaccompanied minors among the refugees, who could be easy targets for Islamists,” he said.

German police carried out dawn raids in Berlin Tuesday targeting individuals suspected of inciting people to go and fight for the Islamic State group in Syria.

The raids began at 6:30 am (0430 GMT) and targeted, among others, a 51-year-old Moroccan suspected of recruiting for the jihadists, police said in a statement.

A 19-year-old Macedonian thought to be currently in Syria is also suspected of involvement in the recruitment drive, it said.

“We are looking for evidence to see whether these allegations are true,” a police spokesman said. No arrests were made.

One raid was conducted at an association linked to a mosque in Berlin’s central Tempelhof district, the spokesman said. Seven homes were also searched.

Source: AFP

Berlusconi visits Putin in Crimea

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi became the most prominent Western politician to visit Russian-annexed Crimea when he strolled beside the Black Sea on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Western visitors have been rare since Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014. The takeover drove relations between Moscow and the West to their lowest point since the Cold War era, and prompted the United States and European Union to slap economic sanctions on Russia.

Putin and Berlusconi, known for their warm rapport going back more than a decade, laid flowers at a monument commemorating soldiers who fell in a 19th century war over Crimea. They included troops of the Kingdom of Sardinia, part of modern-day Italy.

Short footage run by Russia’s state TV broadcaster showed Putin telling Berlusconi he wanted to find out the names of the Italian soldiers and imprint them on the memorial.

As part of a joint two-day tour of Crimea, the two men then sat down in an open-air restaurant for a meeting with local residents of Italian origin.

A crowd of several hundred along the way cheered Berlusconi and Putin, who at one point took a small girl in his arms. Both took pictures with residents.

Source: Reuters

EU approves migrant quota plan despite massive opposition

EU interior ministers have approved a relocation plan on distributing 120,000 refugees among member states. The Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary, voted against it, while Finland abstained.

Under the plan, refugees will be relocated from Italy, Greece, and Hungary to other countries in the EU.

Prague’s decision did not come as a surprise, as Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said hours before the meeting began that the country would reject any quota system.

He added that any attempt to impose such a scheme could end in “big ridicule for the European Commision” and the governments supporting the plan.

Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec expressed his distaste for the plan after the vote, tweeting:”We will soon realise that the emperor has no clothes. Common sense lost today.”

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said those who decided to push through quotas nonsensically caused a deep rift over a very sensitive issue.

However, under European law, three of the countries that voted against the proposal — the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia — would be required to accept migrants against their will, an EU diplomat told The New York Times on condition of anonymity after the vote.

Finland was the only country of the EU’s 28 members to abstain from the vote. Poland, which had previously opposed the proposal, voted in favor of it.

The plan has been criticized by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), which says it is insufficient.

“A relocation programme alone, at this stage in the crisis, will not be enough to stabilise the situation,” UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said, urging the EU to set up reception facilities able to handle tens of thousands of refugees at a time.

The UN estimates that around 480,000 migrants have arrived in Europe this year alone, and are now reaching European shores at a rate of nearly 6,000 a day.

Earlier in the day, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn suspended services to Austria and Hungary until October 4th, citing border controls introduced to manage the record surge of refugees.

Hungary has come under fire for its construction of a 110 mile fence along its border with Serbia. Budapest is expected to extend that barricade by also building fences along the Croatian and Romanian borders.

Slovakia introduced temporary controls on its borders with Hungary and Austria last week, sending an additional 220 police officers to the area.

Germany and France have been rallying for a quota system for weeks, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying earlier this month that such a plan would be a “first step.” She has stressed that all member states should share responsibility.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says Europe can expect a record one million people to request asylum this year, almost half of which will likely qualify to be taken in.

Source: RT

Hungary takes out ads to warn migrants

Hungary posted full-page advertisements in local Lebanese newspapers Monday warning refugees and migrants from illegally crossing into the country, two weeks after Denmark took out similar ads as Europe grapples with its biggest migration crisis since World War II.

“Hungarians are hospitable,“ read the full-page English and Arabic ad, ”but the strongest possible action is taken against those who attempt to enter Hungary illegally.”

The full cost of the campaign was unknown.

The privately-owned Annahar newspaper said it had charged the Hungarian government $17,100 for a page.

The ad likely targeted the nearly 1.2 million Syrian refugees living in Lebanon, many of whom have expressed frustration with the lack of support and infrastructure available to refugees there.

On Monday, Hungary passed legislation allowing for army deployment along its own borders as refugees and migrants camped there.

“What’s taking place now is an invasion,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a speech opening a session of parliament.

Hungary, whose conservative policies toward refugees and its police force’s use of tear gas against those massed at its borders have been criticized by some of its neighbors, including Germany, which has issued an open-door policy to refugees and promotes a unified border policy between countries in the European Union.

Last week Hungary completed the construction of a 110-mile-long fence along its border with Serbia, forcing thousands to alter their route to Germany via Croatia.

Earlier this month, Denmark took out similar cautionary ads in Lebanese newspapers. In notices that ran in four outlets, it listed tightened procedures in its immigration law, including a 50% cut to social benefits for newly-arrived refugees.

“Foreign nationals granted temporary protection in Denmark will not have the right to bring family members to Denmark during the first year,” said the ad, posted by Denmark’s Ministry of Immigration, Integration & Housing.

Denmark’s ad was posted to correct information circulating among “human traffickers and others profiting from smuggling immigrant and refugees across borders,” the ministry said.

Over 500,000 people applied to asylum for the first time in the EU since January 2015.

Source: WSJ

Danish Muslims march to demand Caliphate

In September 2014 the Muslim Party in Denmark announced that Denmark would be the first Muslim country in Europe.

Now, a year later, they are demanding to be part of the Caliphate, but one in two Danish citizens favor a cap on the number of Muslims permitted to live in Denmark, a YouGov poll indicates.

The poll, which was conducted for the Danish publication Metroxpress, specifically targeted immigration from non-Western countries and also found one in four Danes do not want the country’s population to be more than 5 percent Muslim.

A video posted this weekend shows Muslims with police escort marching in Denmark screaming and demanding a caliphate.

The anti-immigration Danish People’s Party called for a national programme that would help Muslims leave Islam in March this year.

Danish People’s Party (DF) spokesman Martin Henriksen wants to see the Danish state step in and offer help to Muslims who want to leave the religion but feel bullied into staying.

“We unfortunately have seen many examples of someone wanting to leave Islam but having a hard time doing it or not daring to do it because they fear reprisals from certain groups within the Muslim communities of Denmark. This is a way in which we can begin doing something about it,” Henriksen told Politiken.

Henriksen stressed that the programme would not be proactive but would rather only help those who reached out for assistance.

“People shouldn’t directly be offered an exit. One should make the decision oneself. And if one decides that they no longer want to be there, there should be a place to go to get support and back-up,” he told Politiken.

Henriksen added that the programme would help those who “live a double life because they don’t dare to leave the religion”.

Scorn is not illegal
There are around 250,000 Muslims in Denmark and religious scholar Mogens Mogensen said that Henriksen is right that some Muslims face heavy resistance when they want to leave the faith.

But he stressed that the state should not get involved.

“If the consequences for those who want to leave Islam are within the law, then this is not an area where society should get involved. Scorn, mockery and ridicule is legal in our society. However, if one uses violence against someone who wants to leave Islam, that is illegal. But the only place where we can document that that happens is in the asylum centres,” Mogensen told Politiken.

“Grotesque” and “un-Danish”
Judging by the political reactions to Henriksen’s suggestions, an Islam exit programme seems unlikely to see the light of day anytime soon.

Representatives from government coalition parties Social Democrats and Social Liberals (Radikale) called Henriksen’s idea “grotesque” and “un-Danish”.

“We have freedom of religion in this country. And that means that politicians should not declare one religion better or worse than another. To make special initiatives aimed at particular religions is very un-Danish,” Social Democrats spokeswoman Trine Bramsen told Politiken.

Primary opposition party Venstre, however, was more open to the idea – if Henriksen can “find some money for it”.

“We should help the young people who are repressively forced to remain in an environment they don’t want to be a part of. It is precisely in these kinds of situations that the power of the state can go in and help,” Venstre spokesman Martin Geertsen told Politiken.

An estimated 35 million migrants heading for Europe

Shock estimates predict up to 35 million refugees could head for Europe due to hugely unstable situations across the world.

The huge figure was revealed today by Hungary’s minister for foreign affairs and trade Peter Szijjártó.

Speaking as the country begins work on its second fence to stop migrants heading across its border he predicted the current crisis will continue for years.

Mr Szijjártó told the Hungarian Times: “The name of the fence is ‘Temporary Security Border Fence’ but I think there is no question that in this case temporary means years.

“It’s a self delusion to call this situation a migration crisis; it is a massive migration of nations, with inexhaustible reserves.

“I don’t think that the analysis results, stating that 30-35 million people out there could possibly become migrants, would be an exaggeration.

“Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are all countries with a huge population and an extremely unstable situation.”

The Hungarian government also defended itself from criticism over its fences.

The first barrier was put up at its border with Serbia but, after migrants changed their route, they have now begun erecting a 41 kilometre fence at Croatia.

Migrants look to break through to Hungary as that sees them enter the European Union’s Schengen Zone which offers free movement between member countries.

He said: “The recent international political decisions created an unstable situation around Europe that makes sure that the amount of people won’t decrease.

“This is why it’s extremely important to protect our borders.

“This issue wasn’t this important until now, so the European Union neglected it a little bit.

“It became clear that – though its the border of Schengen – Greece couldn’t protect the border of the European Union.

“The Hungarian/Serbian border is another border of Schengen. If we want to follow the orders of Schengen, we have to build a physical obstruction, because this 175 km long area is quite easy to cross.

“The European Union just realised what the Schengen border means.

“If we want to keep the freedom of movement in the European Union, we have to protect the outer borders.”

Source: Express

Top Imam vows to trample whites underfoot

A top Iman has told Muslims to use the migrant crisis to breed with European citizens and ‘conquer their countries’.

Sheikh Muhammad Ayed gave the speech at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem claiming Europe was only welcoming refugees as a new source of labour.

He said Europe was facing a demographic disaster and urged Muslims to have children with westerners so they could ‘trample them underfoot, Allah willing.’

‘Throughout Europe, all the hearts are enthused with hatred toward Muslims. They wish that we were dead, but they have lost their fertility, so they look for fertility in our midst,’ Infowars reports.

‘We will give them fertility. We will breed children with them, because we shall conquer their countries.’

Birth rates are far higher in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, which is where most migrants are coming from.

The notion of using mass migration as a form of stealth jihad is outlined in the Koran, which states, ‘And whoever emigrates for the cause of Allah will find on the earth many locations and abundance.’

To move to a new land in order to bring Islam is considered a meritorious act.

Source: Daily Mail

English the least patriotic nation

It may be St George’s Day in April, but don’t expect a sea of red and white flags to be flying across the nation.

England is the least patriotic country in Europe, according to a survey that found only 10% of people would proudly display our national emblem in public.

Political correctness and fears of being branded racist because of the flag’s links with far-right groups have left folk too “scared” to fly the cross.

But, incredibly, just one in three people actually knows when St George’s Day is, the survey by This England magazine found. Editor Stephen Garnett said: “It was shocking to see the results.

“We’re disappointed English people are afraid of displaying the St George’s Cross. We want to reclaim the flag from extremists by asking as many people as possible to fly it.

“It was shocking to see the amount of people who don’t fly the flag because of fear of being judged. It was also very worrying that so many said political correctness stopped them celebrating their national pride.”

The study found most English people gave themselves 5.8 out of 10 when asked how patriotic they felt. The Dutch are Europe’s most loyal at 7.18, narrowly ahead of the Welsh on 7.06.

Four out of 10 participants said they felt England has completely lost its identity.

Source: The Mirror

Riot police clash with migrants on Hungarian border

Hungary detained 29 asylum seekers in clashes at the Hungarian-Serbian border on Wednesday. Among them was “an identified terrorist,” according to a PM security aide.

Gyorgy Bakondi, a security adviser to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said that 20 police officers were injured in the violence after refugees and migrants broke through a razor wire fence on the border between the Hungarian town of Roszke and Horgos in Serbia on Wednesday.

Twenty-nine people were detained, said Bakondi who added that “police also captured an identified terrorist” RT reported.

Meanwhile Hungarian riot police have fired tear gas and water cannon to force migrants back from the Serbia-Hungary border.

Hundreds of people have massed at a closed crossing point near the Serbian town of Horgos, and are involved in a tense stand-off with police on the other side of the border.

Some migrants threw missiles, including stones and water bottles.

Many of the migrants want to reach Germany, amid divisions within the EU over how to deal with the crisis.

Migrants break through police lines in Croatia

Amid chaotic scenes in Croatia, hundreds of asylum seekers surged past security forces on Thursday to continue their journey to Western Europe.

Some 9,000 migrants and refugees have now poured into Croatia after riot police and a razor wire fence thwarted their efforts to pass from Serbia into Hungary.

Fed up with waiting for transport to continue their journey, huge crowds at the Croatian border town of Tovarnik pushed past police lines.

Now there seems no stopping this surge of humanity – including many people fleeing the Syrian conflict – despite Croatia saying it can’t take any more migrants.

Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic said Croatia would provide migrants with safe passage to reception centres around the capital, Zagreb, but that those not seeking asylum would be considered illegal immigrants.

He said 6,500 had entered in the past 24 hours.

Source: Euronews

Wilders urges premier to stand up for his own people

PVV leader Geert Wilders’ anti-refugee, anti-Islam comments have caused many ruffled feathers in the immigration debate in the Tweede Kamer, lower house of the Dutch parliament, this week.

According to the PVV leader, the refugees are safe enough in the refugee camps in their own regions.

The only ones coming to northwest-Europe are “economic refugees”, NU reports. He spoke of an “Islamic invasion” of “men with beards” flooding into Europe.

Wilders insisted on closing the borders and abandoning the Schengen Treaty. He closed his speech with a statement to Prime Minister Mark Rutte: “Stop building refugee centers. Stand up for your own people, your own culture.”

During his speech Wilders had used phrases such as ‘Islamic asylum tsunami’ and described refugees as ‘testosterone bombs’ who ‘threaten our girls’.

Prime minister Rutte launched a strong attack on Wilders.

Rutte said on Thursday such terminology is ‘terrible’ and failed to make any contribution to finding a solution.

While agreeing with Wilders that some councils had not properly consulted their residents about the arrival of refugee centres, the prime minister said he had ‘very great faith’ in the Dutch people.

In support of Rutte, Amnesty International placed hundreds of welcome mats on the Plein in The Hague on Thursday morning. This is a call on Prime Minister Mark Rutte to be more welcoming to refugees.

Journalist buys fake Syrian passport for Dutch premier Rutte

A Syria-based journalist for news magazine Nieuwe Revu has managed to obtain a forged Syrian passport and ID card with a photograph of prime minister Mark Rutte on it.

Harald Doornbos paid some €750 for the passport, which he was able to pick up from the forgers within 40 hours.

The fixer told Doornbos that he would be able to enter Cyprus with the passport, which was in the name of Malek Ramadan.

Doornbos said the aim of the exercise had not been to buy a forged passport featuring Rutte, but he had been asked to supply a name and photograph, so he opted for the prime minister.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian war, thousands of blank passports and the Assad government’s printers have ended up in the hands of insurgents, according to Revu. These insurgents will sell passports showing any photo given to them to anyone willing to pay.

Doornbos describes the consequences as terrifying as it will be even more difficult for security services to detect terrorist if getting hold of a fake identity is this easy. Doornbos describes the route a terrorist will take, according to his sources:

“From an ISIS or al-Qaeda area in northern Syria a returning foreign terrorist fighter will travel to Bodrum in western Turkey. From there he makes the illegal crossing to Greece. In Greece he shows his false Syrian passport to the authorities. Since the fake passport gives a fake name, the Greeks have no idea that they are not dealing with a Syrian refugee but a member of ISIS or al-Qaeda. From Greece the journey goes through Macedonia and Serbia to Hungary. After arriving in Schengen member Hungary, the jihadist can travel with his false Syrian passport through all the other Schengen states without any further checks.”

Hungary closes main migrant crossing as EU struggles with deal

Hungary closed the main migrant crossing with Serbia and more states imposed border checks Monday as the failure of EU ministers to agree how to share the burden of a flood of refugees deepened the crisis.

With Europe’s 20-year-old Schengen passport-free zone creaking under the pressure, Austria and Slovakia said they would follow economic powerhouse Germany’s lead in reinstating border controls to deal with the flow of people.

Poland said it was considering similar steps while the Netherlands said it would have “more patrols” on its frontiers.

Long traffic jams built up on the Germany-Austria border and refugees were left stranded on non-EU Serbia’s side of the frontier with Hungary in the latest chaotic scenes from the biggest such crisis since World War II.

Yet amid opposition from eastern states, EU ministers failed to reach agreement on a plan to share out 120,000 refugees and ease the burden on frontline states from the tide of people fleeing war zones like Syria and Afghanistan.

A day before Hungary has vowed to begin arresting illegal migrants, police fenced off a gap in the razor-wire barrier with Serbia that hardline Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government is racing to complete.

At the Roszke border crossing, several dozen migrants including many children, some in pushchairs, were stuck on the Serbian side of the border, with several women crying, after police shut the border, AFP journalists saw.

“We had heard the Hungarians were closing their border, but they told us it would be Tuesday,” cried Hassan, a Syrian in his thirties who is trying to reach Sweden.

The migrants were redirected to the official crossing around two kilometres (1.6 miles) away, from where they were being taken on buses to Roszke train station, officials said.

Hungary is on the frontline of Europe’s migrant crisis, with almost 200,000 people travelling up from Greece through the western Balkans and entering the country this year, most of them seeking to travel on to economic powerhouse Germany.

Austria and Slovakia pounced on the U-turn by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government — which had previously said it would throw open its doors to Syrian refugees — to reinstate their own border checks.

“We will proceed as Germany did,” Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said in Brussels.

Poland said it will impose border controls at the first sign of “any threat” while Netherland promised “more” patrols.

Source: AFP