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You are here: Home / Archives for Aylan Kurdi

Charlie Hebdo mocks the drowned Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi

September 14, 2015 by Nasheman

Charlie Hebdo Aylan Kurdi

by Emre Basaran, Daily Sabah

Eight months after the terror attack, which claimed the lives of 12 people including its cartoonists, French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s latest issue features the Syrian toddler washed ashore on a Turkish beach.

The magazine featured cartoons depicting the three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, who was washed ashore in southwestern Turkish city of Bodrum two weeks ago. Mocking the death of the toddler, the the drawing’s title was “Si près du but…” which translates to “So close to his goal.” The drawing featured the dead body of the toddler washed ashore in front of a publicity board with a McDonald’s ad, saying “Two children combos for the price of one.”

In another controversial cartoon, the magazine also features a cartoon entitled “The proof that Europe is Christian,” which featured a man -supposedly Jesus Christ- standing on water and saying “Christians walk on the water” and a toddler sinking into the sea, saying “Muslim children sink”.

The magazine received harsh public reaction by Twitter users after the pages started circulating on social media.

Following the magazine’s controversial cartoons featuring Prophet Muhammad, on January 7, 2015, a group of extremists forced their way into the Paris headquarters of Charlie Hebdo and opened fire, killing twelve persons including five staff cartoonists, an economist, two editors Elsa Cayat and Mustapha Ourrad, guest Michel Renaud, a maintenance worker, two police officers and wounding eleven, four of whom were in critical condition.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Aylan Kurdi, Charlie Hebdo, Children, Refugees, Syria, Syrian refugees

Saudi claims it has taken in 2.5 million Syrians since uprising

September 12, 2015 by Nasheman

Saudi Arabia has recently been heavily criticized for its response to the Syrian refugee crisis. (Al Bawaba/File)

Saudi Arabia has recently been heavily criticized for its response to the Syrian refugee crisis. (Al Bawaba/File)

by Arab News

Saudi Arabia has hosted around 2.5 million Syrians since the beginning of the crisis in that country in 2011, the Foreign Ministry has said.

In a statement issued to SPA, the ministry said the Syrians have been leading a decent and normal life in the Kingdom like other expatriates. “The Kingdom does not deal with Syrian expats like refugees. They are living in a normal environment not in special camps.”

According to the ministry, the Syrians have been granted legal residence permits and full freedom to travel inside the country.

“Moreover, they are allowed to study in Saudi schools as per the royal order issued in 2012.

A total of 100,000 Syrians are registered in public schools,” the ministry clarified, reacting to reports about the Kingdom’s role in tackling the Syrian refugees crisis. “All Syrians in the Kingdom receive free medical treatment. They are allowed to work in the private sector like other expatriates,” the ministry added.

Saudi Arabia has spent $700 million to help Syrian refugees, according to figures made available during the Third Intentional Conference of Donors in Kuwait in March this year, the ministry said.

The Kingdom played a vital role in helping Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon through humanitarian aid including food, medical treatment, medicines and clothes,” the ministry added.

An online publication quoted a source as saying that the Labor Ministry has excluded Syrians from labor inspections being carried out to correct expat status. “This will be a great help to my fellow Syrian visitors,” said a Riyadh-based Syrian expat. “We have lived here for many years and benefited not only financially from this country but also from free education for our children,” he observed.

The visitors residing with their families here feel that the gesture would help them put their skills to good use and benefit from their stay, he said, adding that it will be a win-win situation for them and the host country.

The directive by King Salman aims at letting the departments that face skills’ shortage to benefit from Syrian visitors, many of whom are experienced and highly qualified to make a qualitative change to the local market.

Western countries have realized the advantage of absorbing refugees with a wealth of talent and skills, which is a cost effective solution for them amid the global economic slump.

Similarly, these Arab refugees could be a blessing in disguise for the Kingdom in the face of declining oil prices. Their professional skills, along with knowledge of Arabic, will give them an edge over non-Arabic speaking expats.

This year, the king also ordered rectification of the residential status of Yemeni illegals to let them work in various sectors.

Filed Under: Muslim World Tagged With: Aylan Kurdi, Children, Human rights, Refugees, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Syrian refugees

As refugee aid falters, European leaders pursue military action at sea

September 11, 2015 by Nasheman

Led by Britain, European leaders ask United Nations Security Council to approve military targeting of ‘human smugglers’ along route from Libya

 Refugees and migrants on a fishing boat pictured before making contact with the Italian navy. (Photo: Italian Coastguard/Massimo Sestini)

Refugees and migrants on a fishing boat pictured before making contact with the Italian navy. (Photo: Italian Coastguard/Massimo Sestini)

by Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams

As their humanitarian response to the ongoing refugee crisis falters, European leaders are pressing the United Nations Security Council to authorized an escalated military force to pursue so-called “human smugglers” in the Mediterranean Sea’s international waters.

The effort to advance the draft resolution is, according to Foreign Policy, being led by Britain, whose government has come under fire for “turning its back” on people seeking refuge from war and poverty.

Specifically, the plan would approve military action in international waters along a route from the coast of Libya to Italy, according to reports from the New York Times on the proposal, which will soon be circulated within the UNSC.

The route is commonly used to transport people fleeing West Africa, Eritrea, and Afghanistan, while Syrians are increasingly using a pathway that passes through Turkey.According to an unnamed Security Council diplomat quoted by The New York Times, the proposal stipulates for seized boats to be taken to Italy, where the refugees aboard would then be considered for asylum.

The plan is less severe than a previous proposal, circulated by Britain last spring, that would have allowed European military forces to pursue “human smugglers” in Libyan waters and even on the country’s soil. Britain eventually abandoned the measure after failing to secure Libyan approval.

However, many have argued that military targeting of “smuggling” networks would neither deter nor help refugees, who undergo tremendous hardship and risk their lives in a bid to escape war and poverty. The UN refugee agency recently declared they do not expect the influx of refugees to Europe to slow.

Going further, many observers argue a military response is the polar opposite of the humanitarian response wealthy nations owe refugees. “A whole generation of people are putting themselves in debt to be smuggled into Europe, only to be thrown out,” UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants Francois Crepeau told Al Jazeera last month. “That is a really ridiculous transfer of wealth… We can help people by giving them better options.”

The Britain-led resolution is not the only effort underway to ramp up Europe’s military response to the humanitarian crisis. The European Council agreed in May to another plan to escalate military targeting of so-called smugglers, by giving a European maritime force the power to seize vessels. The Council is continuing to press Libya to approve pursuit on their soil.

The proposed military campaigns at sea have been accompanied by parallel efforts on land, with some EU leaders already tightening borders, and Hungary moving forward with a 110-mile razor wire fence to bar refugees from entry—while also bolstering its military at the border.

What’s more, elected leaders across Europe and the world are using the humanitarian crisis to justify military escalation towards Syria, despite warnings that there is no military solution to the hardships refugees endure.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Aylan Kurdi, Children, European Union, Human rights, Refugees, Syria, Syrian refugees, United Nations

Macedonia mulls border fence to stop flow of refugees

September 11, 2015 by Nasheman

UNICEF says millions more in Syria could become refugees and head to Europe if there is no end to the war.

refugees

by Al Jazeera

Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki has said that his country might follow Hungary’s example and build a border fence to stem the influx of refugees trekking through the Balkans to reach Western Europe.

The news comes as foreign ministers from four Central European nations are meeting in Prague on Friday, amid a growing rift over the refugee crisis.

The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia reject quotas proposed by the EU Commission, which proposed 120,000 additional asylum seekers per year to be shared out between 28 member states.

“We too will need some kind of physical defence to reduce illegal border crossing… Either soldiers or a fence or a combination of the two,” Poposki was quoted as saying in an interview with Hungarian business weekly Figyelo on Thursday.

He said his country was currently forced to let the 3,000 to 4,000 migrants who arrive in his country on a daily basis continue their journey to Serbia and Hungary unimpeded.

“There is no European consensus on how we can handle this question,” he said.

As of 0600 GMT on Friday, an estimated 7,600 refugees had already crossed into Macedonia from Greece in a 24-hour period, according to the UN refugee agency.

Peter Salama, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said millions of people in Syria could become refugees and head to Europe if there is no end to the war.

Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from the border between Greece and Macedonia on Friday, said the situation has settled down after tensions on Thursday.

At the border crossing station, from where our correspondent was reporting, about 1,500 had crossed on Friday morning. They are reportedly being organised into groups of 50 people.

From there, public transportation will then take them to the border with Serbia, our correspondent said.

But overnight, the situation was tense, with “impatient” refugees facing off with the police.

“Macedonian border police had blocked their path and frustrations grew once more,” she said. “This is not the first time for the Macedonian border guards to use force.”

Syrian refugees Bassem, his wife Marwa, and their child Ali, were among those in the crowd. They left Syria 25 days ago, entering Greece through the island of Rhodes.

Bassem and Marwa told Al Jazeera that they feared Ali would not make the Mediterranean crossing.

“We know it’s going to be difficult here, we know some don’t want us, but it’s still much better than Syria,” Bassem said.

Major transit

Along with neighbouring Serbia, Macedonia has become a major transit country for tens of thousands of refugees who trudge up from Greece, after risking their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea crammed into makeshift boats.

The majority are heading for Germany, which has pledged to welcome hundreds of thousands more refugees having already taken in 450,000 to date since January.

So far, more than 160,000 have already crossed through Macedonia on their way to Serbia and Hungary this year.

Last month, the small Balkan nation declared a state of emergency as it struggled to cope with the relentless stream of people.

Reports overnight said that Hungary’s government is considering declaring a state of emergency within the next week.

Hungary completed a razor-wire barrier along its 175km border with Serbia in late August, but it has failed to stop distraught refugees from scaling the barrier.

The central European nation is building another fence four metres high that it aims to complete by late October or early November, and the government has said it will be manned by the military.

Some 85 percent of those hoping to eventually reach wealthy EU nations such as Germany or Sweden are not merely in search of a better life, but have been forced to leave because of wars in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, according to the UN’s refugee agency.

On Friday, the wife of an Austrian politician said Hungarian police have been feeding refugees “like animals in a pen” inside a border camp.

Michaela Spritzendorfer filmed the footage of the refugees surging forward against the fences surrounding them as officers toss food packets to them.

It reportedly happened at a makeshift camp in the Hungarian town of Rozke.

The incident was filmed on the same day the UN commissioner on refugees said conditions were getting worse there.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has ordered his administration to increase the number of Syrian refugees allowed into the country.

The United States has taken in just 1,500 Syrians since the civil war began in 2011.

Filed Under: Human Rights Tagged With: Aylan Kurdi, Children, European Union, Human rights, Macedonia, Refugees, Syria, Syrian refugees, United Nations

EU sets deadline to relocate 160,000 refugees

September 9, 2015 by Nasheman

EU Commission President Juncker calls on member nations to agree on plan by next week as he unveils $2bn refugee fund.

eu-refugee

by Al Jazeera

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has called on EU countries to agree by next week to share 160,000 refugees, as thousands continued to stream across European borders, fleeing from war and persecution.

In an impassioned appeal on Wednesday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Juncker unveiled a list of new proposals to help Europe confront its biggest refugee crisis since World War II.

The plan, which will see Germany and France take in the lion’s share of refugees, is likely to run into serious resistance from some member states.

Juncker warned that Greece, Italy and Hungary, where most of the refugees are currently camped out, can no longer cope alone.

“It is time for bold, determined action by the European Union,” Juncker told EU lawmakers, noting that some 500,000 migrants have entered Europe this year, many from conflict-torn Syria and Libya.

In his proposal, Juncker wants 22 of the member states to accept another 120,000 people, on top of the 40,000 already agreed upon in June, bringing the total number to 160,000.

All the 120,000 additional refugees are currently in Greece, Italy and Hungary. Under the new proposal Germany will take in 31,443 refugees; France, 24,031; Spain, 14,931; Poland, 9,287; and The Netherlands, 7,214. Other member nations will take the rest based on wealth, population, unemployment rate and the number of asylum applicants already processed.

“It is a matter of humanity and human dignity,” Juncker said.

“We are fighting against Islamic State, why are we not ready to accept those who are fleeing Islamic State?” he said, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) armed group that has taken over territories in Iraq and Syria.

“It is high time to act, to manage the refugee crisis, because there is no alternative. No rhetoric. Action is what is needed for the time.”

Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland, reporting from Strasbourg, said the EU leader “told it like it is”, making the point that many Europeans themselves have been refugees at in recent years.

Stiff resistance

Under the proposal, countries refusing to take in refugees could face financial penalties.

Germany, which hosts the largest number of refugees, has already backed the idea. It has welcomed Syrian refugees, waiving EU rules and saying it expects to deal with more than 800,000 asylum seekers this year alone.

Italy, which is one of the main arrival points for thousands of refugees crossing the Mediterranean is also in favour and so are France and Spain.

But the plan has met stiff opposition from countries like Hungary, which is building a fence to keep refugees away from its borders.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from the Roszke on the Hungarian Serbian border on Wednesday, said Hungary has already clamped down on refugees crossing the country, and has stopped providing information to countries like Austria about the movement of refugees.

Its neighbours, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Slovak Republic have also said that mandatory and permanent quotas would be unacceptable.

Following Juncker’s speech on Wednesday, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said Europe does not need a new plan to deal with the crisis, and instead stick to an earlier agreement.

“It is necessary to move from negotiating tables to action and to work hard on those measures that we have approved with other EU leaders and agreed on in the past months,” Sobotka said in a statement.

The EU’s first refugee plan never won full support, and only around 32,000 refugees have been allocated. Hungary was among the countries to reject it, along with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.

Juncker wants both plans endorsed on Monday at a meeting of EU interior ministers in Brussels. “This has to be done in a compulsory way,” he said.

In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed the new plan and also called for it to be made compulsory.

On Monday, France threw its weight behind the EU plan by saying that it would take in 24,000 refugees this year, exactly the figure the new scheme calls for.

Britain, which is not taking part, announced separately that it would welcome up to 20,000 refugees currently in countries outside of the EU over the next five years.

On Wednesday, the Commission also unveiled a plan to set up a $2bn fund to help African nations better manage their borders and help reduce the number of refugees heading for Europe.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Aylan Kurdi, Children, European Union, Human rights, Jean-Claude Juncker, Refugees, Syria, Syrian refugees, United Nations

UN to Europe: Guarantee to relocate 200,000 refugees

September 8, 2015 by Nasheman

UNHCR spokeswoman calls for EU-led refugee mega-reception centres to be established in Greece, Italy and Hungary.

EU states are divided on a quota system, which allocates refugees to different member countries [AP]

EU states are divided on a quota system, which allocates refugees to different member countries [AP]

by Al Jazeera

The United Nations has called on European states to guarantee relocation for 200,000 refugees, as record numbers flee to the continent from war-torn nations.

UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that Europe is a “wealthy” continent that could manage the numbers of people coming in.

The UN official said European Union countries needed to form a plan where it was mandatory for member states to accept refugees.

“There should be EU-led mega-reception centres established in Greece, in Italy and also in Hungary – whereby the people arriving could go to these centres and be received in decent humane conditions, and apply for asylum” Fleming said.

She added that under the current system, countries on Europe’s frontier were being “overburdened”.

At an earlier press briefing, Fleming said there was not a “German solution to a European problem”, in reference to the leading role taken by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in ending the crisis.

“Those can only work if there is a guaranteed relocation system whereby European countries saying yes will take X number. We believe it should be 200,000, that’s the number we believe need relocation in Europe countries.”

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Vienna, said many refugees arriving there were worried about new measures that would restrict their movement.

“Even the Austrian government at this point doesn’t have a clear-cut path ahead… We spoke to a member of the interior ministry and quite clearly the government is struggling to come up with a coherent policy to stay within EU rules,” Jamjoom said.

A record 7,000 Syrian refugees arrived in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Monday, while some 30,000 are on Greek islands, including 20,000 on Lesbos, according to the UN.

‘Exodus’

Fleming’s comments came as EU President Donald Tusk warned that the refugee crisis affecting Europe was part of an “exodus” from war-torn countries that could last years.

Tusk said the current movement of people mainly from the Middle East would be a “problem for many years to come”.

“The present wave of migration is not a one-time incident but the beginning of a real exodus,” the EU president said addressing a thinktank in Brussels on Monday.

European leaders are scrambling for solutions as bloody conflicts in mainly Syria and Iraq send hundreds of thousands of refugees on dangerous voyages through the Balkans and across the Mediterranean.

“Let us have no illusions that we have a silver bullet to reverse the situation,” he said.

Tusk, who represents the bloc’s leaders, urged for pragmatism and said member states must put aside their deep differences in facing the crisis.

One of the flashpoints of the crisis is Hungary, where tens of thousands of refugees seek to transit through on their way to wealthier EU states.

On Monday night, hundreds of angry and frustrated asylum seekers broke through police lines near Hungary’s southern border with Serbia and began marching north towards Budapest.

Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting from Roszke in Hungary, spoke to several refugees who said they had been poorly treated and did not have access to adequate shelter or sanitation.

One refugee said she had been beaten with a stick, while another pleaded with authorities to help his sick child.

The five-year-old, who was suffering from heat exhaustion and fever, was eventually helped by Hungarian medical teams and put on a drip, Simmons said.

Fresh clashes also erupted between police and refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Monday night, which authorities said was “on the verge of explosion”.

A number of European countries have announced they will be taking in part of the influx of people wanting to escape the conflicts in the Middle East.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said his country would resettle up to 20,000 Syrians from camps in Turkey, Jordan, and Syria over the next five years.

French President Francois Hollande said his country would take in 24,000 refugees over the next two years.

The United States government said it was considering a range of approaches in response to the crisis.

Filed Under: Human Rights Tagged With: Aylan Kurdi, Children, European Union, Human rights, Refugees, Syria, Syrian refugees, United Nations

As major culprit in creating crisis, US rebuked for failing refugees

September 7, 2015 by Nasheman

Observers say the U.S. is not only lagging in its humanitarian response, but also driving the war and conflict behind ongoing displacement

Children rest on the ground at Piraeus harbor in Greece. (Photo: Michael Debets/Pacific/Barcroft )

Children rest on the ground at Piraeus harbor in Greece. (Photo: Michael Debets/Pacific/Barcroft )

by Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams

As refugees are stranded at train stations, attacked by riot police, and killed during the perilous journey across the Mediterranean, Europe’s failure to address the rising humanitarian crisis is being met with global outrage and sorrow.

Now, many are also looking across the Atlantic to the United States, where observers say key responsibility for the crisis lies—not only because the country is lagging in its humanitarian response, but also because its war policies lie at the root of the ongoing displacement.

“Iraqis, Syrians, Palestinians, and Libyans are not running away from their homes because of a natural disaster,” Raed Jarrar, expert on Middle East politics and government relations manager for the American Friends Service Committee, told Common Dreams. “The U.S. should see this crisis as partially caused by its own actions in the region.”

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said at a press briefing on Thursday that the United States sees no “impending policy changes” in light of the worsening crisis. He indicated the U.S. plan will remain focused on lending assistance from afar while letting EU nations take the lead on confronting the crisis. “There is certainly capacity in Europe to deal with this problem,” Earnst said, “and the United States certainly stands with our European partners.”

Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in March 2011, the U.S. estimates it has contributed over $4 billion in aid to those impacted by the conflict. That figure, Earnest declared, is “certainly more than any other country has done.”

But Phyllis Bennis, senior fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, told Common Dreams that such claims are factually true, yet misleading. First of all, explained Bennis, the European Union donates money as a group. “But more significant,” she continued, “is the fact that the U.S. is—by a high margin—the largest economy in the world, representing somewhere near 25 percent of the global economy. We should be paying 25 percent of whatever the United Nations says it needs, just as a starting point, without blinking. We don’t do that.”

What’s more, many have pointed out that aid dollars pale in comparison to U.S. military spending. Yacoub El Hillo, the top United Nations humanitarian official in Syria, recentlynoted to the New York Times that while the U.S. government spends $68,000 an hour on warplanes targeting ISIS, the UN grapples with dramatic funding shortfalls in which it has less than 50 percent of what it needs to care for Syrians uprooted by war.

Oxfam America is calling on the United States to immediately boost the amount of money it sends to the World Food Program, which warned in mid-August that it is facing “critical funding shortages that forced it to reduce the level of the assistance it provides to some 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.”

And then there is the matter of the refugees themselves. The U.S. has admitted roughly 1,500 Syrian refugees since 2011 and says that it will resettle no more than 8,000 by the end of 2016. In 2013, the last year for which Homeland Security statistics are available, the U.S. granted asylum to just 36 people from Syria.

This puts the U.S. far behind Germany, which has committed to accepting up to 800,000 refugees by the end of this year.

However, even Germany’s commitments pale in comparison to the roughly 4 million Syrian refugees who have fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq—where a refugee crisis has long been brewing. In Lebanon, Syrian refugees now comprise one quarter of the population.

“This is getting attention now because refugees are trying to flood into Europe,” said Bennis. “But this should not just be about how do we support the Europeans.”

The aid group International Rescue Committee is circulating a petition for the the U.S. to resettle at least 65,000 Syrian refugees by 2016, and it has so far garnered nearly 12,000 signatures. And 14 Senate Democrats have joined in the call to “dramatically increase the number of Syrian refugees that we accept for resettlement.”

But many insist the ultimate solution lies in creating the conditions that will allow refugees to return home—where U.S.-led policies laid the groundwork for the ongoing violence, including the rise of ISIS.

“The U.S. should consider some immediate humanitarian solutions to ease the suffering of millions of refugees fleeing the Middle East, but we should also keep in mind that humanitarian assistance is not the solution to this crisis,” Jarrar emphasized. “The ultimate solution to the onging refugee crisis is a political solution that will stabilize the region and give refugees the option to go back home.”

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Aylan Kurdi, Children, Human rights, Refugees, Syria, Syrian refugees, United States, USA

Europe plans to house an additional 120,000 refugees

September 7, 2015 by Nasheman

Germany and France will reportedly take in 50,000-plus additional refugees as Hungarian PM Orban dismisses quota plan.

Europe-refugees

by Al Jazeera

France’s President Francois Hollande has announced his country will take in 24,000 refugees over the next two years, while it is understood Germany will take 31,000 additional people under a European plan which is strongly opposed by Hungary.

The figure revealed by the French leader on Monday represents France’s share of a European proposal to relocate 120,000 refugees.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is due to unveil new proposals on Wednesday.

EU officials have said Juncker will propose adding 120,000 people to be relocated on top of a group of 40,000 the commission previously proposed relocating.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a gathering of foreign ambassadors on Monday, however, that the plan could not be discussed while the EU’s outer borders were not secured.

“Our problem is with the timing. As long as we can’t defend Europe’s outer borders, it is not worth talking about how many people we can take in,” he said.

“What does that solve if we divide up 100,000 people, while in the meantime millions are coming?”

The Hungarian leader instead wants the EU to provide funds to Turkey to keep refugees there, explaining refugees were coming to the EU for financial gain.

“If they want to continue on from Hungary, it’s not because they are in danger, it’s because they want something else,” he said, adding the wanted  “a German life”, not physical safety.

Unchecked, the stream of refugees would place an intolerable financial burden on European countries, he said, adding that this would endanger the continent’s “Christian welfare states”.

The plan is backed by countries including Germany, Austria, and Sweden, but former Eastern Bloc countries like Hungary, have been reluctant to accept the mainly Muslim influx of refugees.

Hungary has struggled to cope with more than 150,000 refugees entering the country this year, including 50,000 in August alone with several thousand arriving each day. The vast majority of those are heading for northern European countries such as Germany and Sweden.

Orban’s criticisms of the EU plan came as Austria said it planned to end emergency measures that have allowed thousands of refugees to flow into the country since Saturday.

In an announcement on Sunday, Austria’s Chancellor Werner Faymann said his country would move gradually “towards normality”.

“We have always said this is an emergency situation in which we must act quickly and humanely. We have helped more than 12,000 people in an acute situation,” Faymann said, according to the Reuters news agency.

Vienna had suspended its random border checks after photographs appeared online of a Syrian toddler lying dead on a Turkish beach. The images sparked global outcry and calls within Europe for governments to do more to help those trying to reach the European Union.

Vienna had agreed with Germany to waive rules requiring refugees to register an asylum claim in the first EU country they reach.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Nickelsdorf in Austria, said refugees “are concerned about the remarks they’ve been hearing” from Prime Minister Orban and the Austrian chancellor.

“Austrian officials have told us there won’t be border controls, but there will be spot checks because they’re trying to stem the tide of human trafficking,” he said.

Leaders from Merkel’s governing coalition also agreed to speed up asylum procedures and facilitate the construction of asylum shelters in a meeting on Sunday.

 

The agreement also included widening the list of countries deemed “safe”, meaning their citizens generally have no claim to asylum, to include Kosovo, Albania, and Montenegro. Among those already in that category are Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia.

The aim is to speed up asylum and extradition procedures for those from southeastern Europe, in order to focus on refugees from war-torn countries such as Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

European leaders have faced pressure domestically to do more for refugees in light of a series of deadly incidents [AP]

Filed Under: Human Rights Tagged With: Aylan Kurdi, Children, European Union, Human rights, Refugees, Syria, Syrian refugees

Can one terrible image change the direction of a humanitarian crisis?

September 5, 2015 by Nasheman

Newspapers report the death of Aylan Kurdi. EPA/Andy Rain

Newspapers report the death of Aylan Kurdi. EPA/Andy Rain

by Gabriel Moreno Esparza, The Conversation

The harrowing picture of a man carrying the corpse of a drowned boy on Bodrum beach published by numerous news organisations could be the defining image of a globally significant event.

As a piece of photojournalism it has already made an impact in a way Daniel Etter’s moving picture of a crying father holding his children after landing on Kos beach did not. Etter’s piece was said to have “brought the world to tears” and has been used for fundraising . It was certainly example of how photojournalism is “at its best when it embodies our ability to benefit the issues and people with whom we connect“.

But the images of the little boy, taken by Nilüfer Demir, a photographer for the Turkish news agency Doğan, seem to have touched a deeper nerve.

We’ve since been told that the boy’s name was Aylan Kurdi and that his mother and brother also died trying to get to Europe, while his father survived.

The Huffington Post reports that this image in particular has prompted several British opposition politicians to call for action. “Bodrum” quickly became a top trending topic on Facebook, while the hashtags #refugeeswelcome and #SyriaCrisis were the centre of attention on Twitter.

Why it’s different

It remains to be seen whether the image coincides with a shift in attitudes toward what is being labelled as the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II or whether it will become as imprinted in our minds as the three great images of the Vietnam War: Huỳnh Công Út’s “Napalm girl”, Eddie Adams’ 1968 “Murder of a Vietcong by Saigon Police Chief”, or Malcolm Browne’s 1963 “Burning Monk”.

These images are recognised for their ability to communicate human suffering, letting the viewer know they are witnessing evidence of a reality that cannot just be captured in words. They convey the sense that the scene in the frame is part of something much bigger than what any observer can make of it.

The picture of the small boy is of course part of an individual and a collective tragedy. It is a scene from a humanitarian crisis that has forced millions to flee their war torn hometowns in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Bodies have been washing ashore in southern Europe for some time, and my guess is we’ll be witnessing more of these images before long.

But pictures like “Napalm girl” or “Burning Monk” were part of national narratives that told the world of the horrors of war experienced in distant countries. “Drowned boy’s corpse”, on the other hand, makes us confront a reality too close to look away.

This one image carries the echo of millions of men and women who are too scared of the nightmare they are living to think twice before putting their little boys and girls onto rafts, hoping they’ll make it to a better place.

Perhaps Lee Miller’s 1945 Dead Prisoners in Buchewald concentration camp communicated some of the same collective horror – but again, there is something different in the more recent image. It’s tragic at face value, but horrific for what it doesn’t show – the bloody realities of millions of people who aren’t in the picture.

Changing the narrative

We could stop for a minute to ponder the conflict between the ethical and journalistic dimensions in imagery of violence and tragedy. One could also remark on the hypocrisy of many conservative newspapers that have run this image to suit their sensationalist agendas after months of using others to stoke anti-immigrant sentiment.

British tabloids should be ashamed of their hypocrisy on the drowned Syrian boy http://t.co/GJlPTwjOSB pic.twitter.com/TY2jUq276V

— Vox (@voxdotcom) September 3, 2015

Personally, I would prefer to stick with the momentum of favourable media attention that the photograph is generating. It has been used by campaign groups to galvanise citizen action. The hope is that it could finally tip world leaders into softening their stance on this issue.

Gabriel Moreno Esparza is a Lecturer in Journalism at Northumbria University, Newcastle.

The Conversation

Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: Abdullah Kurdi, Aylan Kurdi, Children, European Union, Human rights, Refugees, Syria, Syrian refugees

Four suspected smugglers tried in Turkey for organizing Syrian toddler’s boat trip

September 5, 2015 by Nasheman

A Turkish police officer escorted suspect Hassan Ali Salih to court in Bodrum. He was charged with "conscious negligence" for allegedly organizing the trip that killed Syrian toddler Aylan al-Kurdi. (Courtesy of eshopmall.co.uk/Roland Hoskins)

A Turkish police officer escorted suspect Hassan Ali Salih to court in Bodrum. He was charged with “conscious negligence” for allegedly organizing the trip that killed Syrian toddler Aylan al-Kurdi. (Courtesy of eshopmall.co.uk/Roland Hoskins)

by Euronews

Four Syrians have been remanded in custody by a Turkish court, after being charged in connection with the drowning of refugees including tragic toddler Aylan Kurdi.

Mothers of the suspects were there to support their sons who were charged with smuggling migrants and causing multiple deaths by “conscious negligence”.

The mother of one of the men, Meliha Recep, insisted her son was not a smuggler but himself a migrant.

“They did nothing, they were just trying to escape. Our children are also victims. They were just on the same boat, that’s all,” Recep, dressed in a grey headscarf, told reporters.

The hearing took place at the Turkish resort of Bodrum, near the spot where three-year-old Aylan’s body was washed up in scenes that shocked the world.

In Syria’s border town of Kobani, Aylan was buried on Friday with his five-year-old brother Ghalib and their mother.

His father Abdullah, who had hoped for a new, safe life for his family now wants to stay in the war-ravaged town beside their graves.

He wept as his sons and wife were laid to rest, and also called on Arab governments to do more to alleviate the refugee crisis

Abdullah Kurdi survived the perilous crossing from Turkey that killed his family and at least nine other people packed onto two small boats headed to the Greek island of Kos just a few kilometres away.

Harrowing images showing Aylan’s tiny body have put a human face on this crisis – and forced European governments to accept that this is a refugee emergency that cannot be ignored.

Filed Under: Muslim World Tagged With: Abdullah Kurdi, Aylan Kurdi, Children, European Union, Hassan Ali Salih, Human rights, Refugees, Syria, Syrian refugees

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