Justins refugee headache

[valve37]

Will Canada have 25000 before end of the year. Better be cautious.

Germany imposes surprise curbs on Syrian refugees

Angela Merkel has performed an abrupt U-turn on her open-door policy towards people fleeing Syria’s civil war, with Berlin announcing that the hundreds of thousands of Syrians entering Germany would not be granted asylum or refugee status.

Syrians would still be allowed to enter Germany, but only for one year and with “subsidiary protection” which limits their rights as refugees. Family members would be barred from joining them.

Related: Germany receives nearly half of all Syrian asylum applicants

Germany, along with Sweden and Austria, has been the most open to taking in newcomers over the last six months of the growing refugee crisis, with the numbers entering Germany dwarfing those arriving anywhere else.

However, the interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, announced that Berlin was starting to fall into line with governments elsewhere in the European Union, who were either erecting barriers to the newcomers or acting as transit countries and limiting their own intake of refugees.

“In this situation other countries are only guaranteeing a limited stay,” De Maiziere said. “We’ll now do the same with Syrians in the future. We’re telling them ‘you will get protection, but only so-called subsidiary protection that is limited to a period and without any family unification.’”

The major policy shift followed a crisis meeting of Merkel’s cabinet and coalition partners on Thursday. The chancellor won global plaudits in August when she suspended EU immigration rules to declare that any Syrians entering Germany would gain refugee status, though this stirred consternation among EU partners who were not forewarned of the move.

Thursday’s meeting decided against setting up “transit zones” for the processing of refugees on Germany’s borders with Austria, but agreed on prompt deportation of people whose asylum claims had failed.

Until now Syrians, Iraqis and Eritreans entering Germany have been virtually guaranteed full refugee status, meaning the right to stay for at least three years, entitlement for family members to join them, and generous welfare benefits.

Almost 40,000 Syrians were granted refugee status in Germany in August, according to the Berlin office responsible for the programme, with only 53 being given “subsidiary” status. That now appears to have ended abruptly.

An interior ministry spokesman told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: “The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees is instructed henceforth to grant Syrian civil war refugees only subsidiary protection.”

De Maiziere described the new regime as “a win for security and order for Germany”.

Related: Winter is coming: the new crisis for refugees in Europe

But the suddenness of the move by the country that has been pivotal in the EU’s biggest ever immigration crisis will ripple across the region with unknown consequences, particularly in the transit countries of the Balkans and central Europe through which hundreds of thousands have been trekking towards Germany.

The German curbs will encourage these countries to establish barriers of their own to the refugee wave. Merkel is also pressing countries such as Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia to establish “reception centres” or camps where refugees can be processed and screened before they reach Germany. The countries are resisting because no one knows what to do with those who are screened and do not pass muster for passage to Germany.

Berlin is the most powerful advocate of sharing the refugee burden across the EU, but has also frustrated and angered several countries with a series of unilateral decisions that have had major knock-on effects across the union.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/germany-imposes-surprise-curbs-on-syrian-refugees/ar-CC2Bcm

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

I do hope people can read between the lines of your comment. Myself, I know you well. 

[sheepgal54]

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@prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil wrote:

Here's the bottom line......there are innocent people who need our help. We waste enough money in our government that if we actually stopped squandering we could help those in need and still run a country very efficiently. We should be thankful we are not in the same situation as the refugees are. As my grandmother use to say "there but for the grace of god go I". I'm not religious but her comment speaks volumes. We must do the right thing.....no excuses. 

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This is what we are seeing now.  Perhaps you may change your opinion

So I'm staying at this hotel. Turns out the 35 kids playing with elevators, knocking on doors and running, yelling in a foreign language at me and my kids in the pool and throwing objects at us are Syrian refugees. Tell me this.....I see 8 adults on brand new iPhone 6's, brand name clothing I can't supply to my own children on all of them, and every single one of them is smoking cigarettes. Complained at the front desk and she says it's been a daily occurrence for 3 weeks since 8 couples with 31 children between them all arrived. They won't adhere to the rules, and they cannot be asked to leave. They have turned the hotel into their personal space. **bleep**.

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

First off, a lot or most of what those people have were given to them by different charity agencies. Don't blame them if someone says "here have this".......or is it that they didn't say that to you???? Maybe some people would prefer that these people are seen wearing rags and grovelling for food at street corners. Would that be more befitting to their position in life?

Secondly, I managed a large international hotel for several years. We had every large group in the hotel from Rock Bands, to assorted Conventions, to major Sports Teams, to the worst week which was a Police Convention. Yeah imagine that.....cops breaking the law, playing the bagpipes in the corridors at 2 am and waking all the guests up, refusing to listen to local cops who showed up, being drunk in both bars in the hotel complex, insulting and sexually harassing the female bar employees and the restaurant staff in the hotel. So the moral of this story is two fold: A/ you meet irritating people from every nationality and walk of life everywhere and B/ you really need to get out more to savor a wide variety of people.  

[gauge33]

Not cleared and vetted by UN standards  as true refugees? One wonders.

‘Very, very few’ Syrian refugees came to Canada from refugee camps: CBSA official Bolduc

“Very, very few” of the thousands of Syrian refugees who have come to Canada came from refugee camps and most had been living in rented apartments in Syria’s neighbouring countries, a senior CBSA official told Parliament in February.

“Most of the 25,000 refugees who have made it to our borders were not housed in camps,” Mr. Bolduc told committee members. “They had been living in theatre for a number of years, renting apartments, so I just wanted that for the precision. They were not housed in camps administered by the UNHCR.United Nations Refugee Agency ”

http://www.hilltimes.com/2016/04/04/very-few-syrian-refugees-came-to-canada-from-refugee-camps-cbsa-...

[gauge33]

The Munk Debate on Global Refugee Crisis

https://munkdebates.com/debates/Global-Refugee-Crisis

Interesting to read the comments.

[gauge33]

Unfortunately when you hear news like that from Attawapiskat today you begin to realize Trudeau's Syrian refugee program trumps our native reserve needs in the far north.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/attawapiskat-suicide-first-nations-emergency-1.3528747

[pierrelebel]

"our native reserve needs in the far north."

,,, the result on ten years in power by Harper and his Reform/Conservatives.  It will take time and money to fix this neglected problem.

[gauge33]

You are wrong to blame just the Cons. I was in far north reserves, Pikangikum, Sandy Lake, North Spirit Lake, Big Trout Lake and everything in between in the mid 70s and it was the same then.

[disisus]

‘Very, very few’ Syrian refugees came to Canada from refugee camps: CBSA official Bolduc

That's because there isn't enough room for all of them.The number of displaced people far exceeds the capacity of the camps.

[pierrelebel]

".... it was the same then."

So what exactly did your Reform/Conservative government under Harper do in ten years to improve the situation?

You managed to double the national debt in ten years, yes double it, yet I agree with you the situation in Northern reserves has not improved. Ten lost years.

The new government was sworn in five months ago.  They will need time to start addressing the problem.

[gauge33]

The solution is not throwing more money at it. Change has to come from within. Here's a portion of a article written by a native Frank Assu who lived it.

When First Nation people find themselves in difficult situations they generally are there because of their own making. I think that it is due to the colonial systems put in place by the Canadian government but to continue to use that as a crutch is no longer an excuse.

It is time First Nations people stood up for themselves and admitted they have to break free of the dependency of others. Being this dependent is like an addiction, one that is very hard to break.

First Nation people need to stop blaming others for their predicaments and take responsibility for their own actions and situations.

I want people to know that I am simply not trying to slam First Nations people. I generally want all of them to succeed in life and make their individual and group situations better; but without changing themselves asking for others to do it for them is the wrong approach to take.

For thousands of years First Nations people in what is now Canada prospered. We need to make changes in ourselves before we can again reach those pre-contact levels of success and prosperity.  Finally, I want to make it clear that this is my opinion, and not one that is meant to cause people harm or to hurt their feelings. I want things to change, but to do that some hard work is in store first.

Frank Assu, also known as Tlakwatsi, is a member of the We Wai Kai First Nation of Quadra Island. He lives in Comox.

http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/opinion/135952853.html

[gauge33]

It's been three weeks since Attawapiskat First Nation took the extraordinary step of declaring a state of emergency. Since then, not a single federal or provincial official has even bothered to visit the community.

No aid agencies have stepped forward. No disaster management teams have offered help.

The province of Ontario has the responsibility to ensure equitable standards for education, as well as water, fire safety and building codes citizens in Ontario. And yet, when the families of Attawapiskat look to the province for help, they are continually told that they are a federal "responsibility.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/charlie-angus/attawapiskat-emergency_b_1104370.html

However when it comes to Syrian refugees, well you get it.

[pierrelebel]

"not a single federal or provincial official has even bothered to visit the community."

Much depends on where you get the "news':

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/04/11/crisis-team-sent-to-attawapiskat-after-it-declares-sta...

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

He believes what works for his agenda. We are all well familiar with that

If you could have got the job as Harper's 'dresser' he would have sold his soul for it.

[gauge33]

Yes Wynne is doing much better than the last time. Maybe putting Syrian refugees up in warm urban premises while natives reach crisis situations in the province is creating an embarrassment for her, and Trudeau's refugee program. That program has trumped native critical needs so far.    

[gauge33]

Pamela Palmater a Mi'kmaq lawyer, professor, activist and politician from Mi'kma'ki, New Brunswick said it like it is on CBC today.

The government can spend money on the Syrian refugee crisis and in other countries but cannot and refuses to deal with a crisis in this country.  

[pierrelebel]

You guys lost the election in Ontario.  You guys lost the election in Alberta.  You guys lost the election in Ottawa.

It is time to get over it.  Move on.....

[gauge33]

Repeat, repeat and repeat do you not have an opinion on fixing the crisis at hand? Or are you afraid nothing may change under the Trudeau government and so silence on the subject. 

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

He didn't care one iota about the First Nations people before, but now he uses the Syrian refugees as fodder to attack anything liberal. It's so obvious, I feel embarrassed for him.

[gauge33]

Protesters stages sit-in over Attawapiskat

The group said they had two key demands — that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visit Attawapiskat immediately, and that the demands of the youth of Attawapiskat, which include calls for better resources for young people, be met.

http://www.newhamburgindependent.ca/news-story/6494722-protesters-stages-sit-in-over-attawapiskat/

So what does he do? Comes to London today to support General Dynamics producing 15 billion worth of killing machines for Saudi Arabia instead of showing up in Attawapiskat where multiple kids are attempting suicide. And just a couple of months ago Trudeau was honoured by natives with a ceremonial headdress.

http://globalnews.ca/video/2558853/prime-minister-trudeau-receives-ceremonial-headdress/