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| Europe |
| Europe |
| 2016-10-01 |
| Serbian police arrest migrants who fled airport detention [Ynet] Serbian police say they have arrested two migrants after they fled from detention at Belgrade airport. Police said Friday that the two Tunisians face charges of illegal border crossing and people-smuggling. They say the men escaped Thursday from temporary detention facilities at the airport. Local media reported migrants arrived on a plane from Tunisia and were not allowed into Serbia. Reports say they broke through the detention room wall. Germany Revises Down 2015 Refugee Arrivals to 890,000 [AnNahar] Germany has revised down the number of asylum seekers it took in last year from 1.1 million to 890,000, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Friday. He also reported a sharp drop so far this year to 210,000 people seeking safe haven in the biggest EU economy as of last week. De Maiziere cited new centralised figures that are more precise than previous anonymised first-registration data, which did not allow for people being counted multiple times or for those who had since left Germany. The minister said of the 890,000 arrivals last year -- equivalent to over one percent of the national population -- that "the number is still very high". Berlin has also declared some states in the western Balkans and north Africa "safe countries of origin", making it harder for their citizens to obtain refugee status in Germany, and sought deals to speed up deportations of those refused asylum. Morocco to Speed Up Repatriation of Illegals from Germany [AnNahar] Morocco has agreed to streamline the procedures for the repatriation of citizens living illegally in Germany, the royal court said late on Thursday. A wave of sexual assaults by migrants on New Year's Eve outraged German public opinion. Around 30 of the 73 suspects arrested were Moroccan. Speaking in Vienna last weekend, Merkel said Europe needed to secure more deals with third countries on the repatriation of migrants who do not qualify for asylum. "It is necessary to get agreements with third countries, especially in Africa... so that it becomes clear that those with no right to stay in Europe can go back to their home countries," she said. The Akhbar Al-Yom newspaper reported on Friday that the more than 10,000 repatriation cases were to be considered but the interior ministry said the figure was erroneous as no precise data existed. Bulgaria Bans Full-Face Islamic Veil [AnNahar] Bulgaria's parliament approved on Friday legislation outlawing face-covering Islamic veils in public, joining a small number of EU countries as debate rages across Europe about religious freedoms. The law "bans wearing in public clothing that partially or completely covers the face", referring to the burqa or the more common niqab. Infringements carry fines of 200 leva (103 euros, $114), rising to 1,500 leva for repeated offenses. Bulgaria's mostly centuries-old Muslim community, dating back to conversions during Ottoman times, makes up around 13 percent of the population, mostly in the Turkish minority. Muslim women in Bulgaria have generally worn just a simple scarf to cover their hair. But recently there has been a small rise in the number of women wearing the niqab among ultra-conservative Muslim communities of the Roma minority. The often impoverished and marginalized Roma make up just under 10 percent of Bulgaria's population, around a third of whom are Muslim. Several Bulgarian towns had already banned the niqab at local level. The legislation was approved despite opposition from the MDL Turkish minority party which accused the other parties of "sowing religious intolerance". France and Belgium have both banned the burqa or niqab and Switzerland's lower house this week narrowly approved a draft bill on a nationwide ban. In August Germany's interior minister came out in favor of a partial ban. France was also this summer embroiled in a row over bans on the burkini, a full-body Islamic swimsuit, in resorts around the Riviera. A poll published earlier this month showed Britons to be strongly in favor of a burqa ban. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |