Reader’s links, Sept 11, 2017

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About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

114 Replies to “Reader’s links, Sept 11, 2017”

  1. Turkey claims US judiciary is working with US-based cleric (abcnews, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-claims-us-judiciary-working-us-based-cleric-49769661

    “Turkey’s government has accused U.S. prosecutors and judges overseeing a case against a former Turkish economy minister of being an instrument of an alleged conspiracy by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen against Ankara.

    Last week, ex-minister Zafer Caglayan was indicted in a widening U.S. investigation into a Turkish businessman and officials accused of allegedly helping Iran evade sanctions. The move has heightened the tense relations between Ankara and Washington.

    Speaking to reporters Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said the accusations against Caglayan were “part of a dirty game” and claimed the U.S. judiciary had become “a tool of the (Gulen movement).”

    Turkey blames Gulen’s movement for last year’s failed coup as well as a corruption scandal that unseated Caglayan and other ministers in 2013. Gulen denies involvement in the coup.”

  2. Militants attack convoy in Egypt’s Sinai, kill 18 police (abcnews, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/militants-attack-convoy-egypts-sinai-kill-police-49761510

    “Islamic State militants ambushed a police convoy in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Monday, killing 18 police and wounding seven others in one of the deadliest attacks this year in the restive region bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip.

    Police and military officials said roadside bombs destroyed and set ablaze four armored vehicles and a fifth carrying signal-jamming equipment meant to neutralize roadside bombs that are remotely detonated. The gunmen later opened fire with machine guns and commandeered a police pickup truck.

    Among those killed were two police lieutenants. The wounded included a police brigadier general, according to the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.

    The Islamic State group, which is spearheading an insurgency centered in northern Sinai, claimed responsibility for the attack on its Aamaq news agency…”

    • Islamic State militants ambushed a police convoy in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Monday, killing 18 police and wounding seven others in one of the deadliest attacks this year in the restive region bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip.

      Islamic State militants ambushed a police convoy in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Monday, killing 18 police and wounding seven others in one of the deadliest attacks this year in the festive region bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip.

      There, fixed that…

  3. Turkey urges Iraqi Kurds to call off vote on independence (abcnews, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-urges-iraqi-kurds-call-off-vote-independence-49769728

    “Turkey is calling on the head of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region to cancel a planned referendum on Kurdish independence.

    Speaking to reporters Monday following a Cabinet meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said the referendum slated for Sept. 25 will add to problems in the conflict-ridden region. Bozdag said: “This referendum is of no benefit to (Kurdish regional President Masoud) Barzani, it is of no benefit to Kurds, it is of no benefit to the people of the region.”

    Turkey — which has a large Kurdish population and is battling Kurdish rebels — has close ties with Iraq’s autonomous region but is strongly opposed to an independent Kurdish state.

    The minister said: “I call on Mr. Barzani to call off this referendum.””

  4. Crimean Tatar leader sentenced to 8 years (abcnews, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/crimean-tatar-leader-sentenced-years-49771560

    “A court in Russia-annexed Crimea has sentenced a leader of the region’s Tatars to eight years in a labor colony on a charge of organizing a riot in the crisis of 2014.

    Akhtem Chiygoz was deputy chairman of the Mejlis, a representative body for the Tatars, an ethnic group of Turkic origin. The Mejlis was outlawed by Russia after it took control of Crimea.

    Chiygoz was convicted in connection with a demonstration by thousands of Tatars in the Crimean capital, Simferopol, as fears grew that Russia would try to annex the peninsula from Ukraine in the wake of protests in Kiev that drove out the Russia-friendly Ukrainian president.

    Russia sent troops to Crimea and declared annexation about three weeks later.

    Amnesty International on Monday said his trial was a sham.”

  5. Turkey says U.S. indictment of former minister amounts to ‘coup attempt’ (reuters, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFKCN1BM24F

    “Turkey said on Monday its former economy minister, indicted in the United States for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran, acted within international law and that charges against him amounted to a coup attempt through American courts.

    Former minister Zafer Caglayan “has protected Turkey’s interests as Turkish economy minister, and has acted within the laws of our country and international laws while doing that,” government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said.

    The charges against Caglayan were “a repetition of the December FETO coup attempt … through the American judiciary”, Bozdag said, referring to 2013 leaks about alleged government corruption which were blamed on President Tayyip Erdogan’s opponents.

    Caglayan and the ex-head of a state-owned Turkish bank were charged on Wednesday with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran by illegally moving hundreds of millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system on Tehran’s behalf.

    The charges stem from the case against Reza Zarrab, a wealthy Turkish-Iranian gold trader who was arrested in the United States over sanctions evasion last year. He has pleaded not guilty.

    Wednesday’s indictment marked the first time an ex-government member with close ties to Erdogan had been charged in the investigation that has strained ties between Washington and Ankara.

    Erdogan said last week he had told Washington that Turkey had never agreed to comply with its sanctions on Iran, and called on the United States to review the indictment.

    Turkey’s presidency said on Saturday Erdogan spoke by phone with U.S. President Donald Trump. It did not say whether the two leaders discussed the case.

    Bozdag also condemned the indictment of Erdogan’s guards over violence during his visit to Washington in June, saying it relied on testimony from supporters of the outlawed militant PKK group, and had done “great damage” to U.S.-Turkish ties.”

  6. Anarchy In the Caribbean: Escaped prisoners and hundreds of looters armed with guns and knives terrorise hurricane-hit islands as police from Britain and France are flown in to restore order (dailymail, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4872376/Richard-Branson-s-son-warns-civil-unrest.html

    “Escaped prisoners and hundreds of looters armed with guns and knives are terrorising hurricane-hit islands amid anarchy in the Caribbean, it has emerged.

    Britain and France have both sent extra police resources and the Netherlands have dispatched troops to the region amid reports of lawlessness in the wake of the devastating 185mph storm.

    Terrified tourists on the Dutch-French island of St Martin have described cowering in their hotel rooms amid reports up to 600 looters are running riot. One soldier posted on the island said he was ‘stopping a looter every 10 minutes’.

    Sam Branson, the son of Virgin tycoon Richard Branson, whose luxury resort in the British Virgin Islands was destroyed in the storm, warned of ‘civil unrest’ and said prisoners had escaped.

    Meanwhile, his father called for a ‘Marshall Plan’ to help the Caribbean recover from the devastation, a reference to the multibillion-dollar U.S. program that helped rebuild Western European after the devastation of World War Two…”

  7. BREAKING NEWS: Three British soldiers ‘are charged with terror offences and membership of banned far-right group’ (dailymail, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4874034/Two-British-soldiers-charged-terror-offences.html

    “Three British soldiers have been charged with terror offences including being members of a banned far-right activist group.

    Army members Mark Barrett, 24, from Northampton, 22-year-old Alex Deakin from Coventry and Mikko Vevhilainnen, who is 32 and originally from Finland, are all accused of being members of National Action.

    They have also been charged with possessing terrorist material.”

  8. Rotherham child sex grooming gang victim was denied compensation because officials said she ‘consented’ – even though she was 14 at the time (dailymail, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4873488/Rotherham-child-sex-grooming-victim-denied-compensation.html

    “A survivor of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham has described her shock at being turned down for full compensation for what she suffered because authorities deemed she had consented to the abuse.

    Sammy Woodhouse, who waived her entitlement to lifelong anonymity so she can campaign against sexual exploitation, said the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA)’s letter concluded: ‘I am not satisfied that you were a victim of sexual activity to which you did not in fact consent.’

    This conclusion was reached despite Ms Woodhouse’s abuser being convicted and sentenced to a substantial prison sentence.

    She was just 14 when she fell under the spell of 24-year-old abuser Arshid Hussain and suffered years of appalling treatment…”

    • “…because authorities deemed she had consented to the abuse.”

      Islam: “…she had consented to the abuse.”
      Pederasty: “…she had consented to the abuse.”
      Male Child Inversion: “…she had consented to the abuse.”
      4th Wave Feminism (Female Child Inversion): “…she had consented to the abuse.”

  9. Manus Island

    S??? Y???s???

    70 MILLION DOLLARS…
    1905 MEN…
    1 RELIGION…

    NOTHING COULD EVER GO WRONG.

  10. Frenchmen admit to IS-inspired plot after accidental bomb factory discovery (rfi, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://en.rfi.fr/france/20170911-french-men-admit-inspired-plot-after-accidental-bomb-factory-discovery

    “Two men who had set up a bomb factory in a Paris bedsit have admitted planning terror attacks and been charged and kept in detention awaiting trial.

    The pair were manufacturing explosives so as to launch an attack but had not decided on a target, public prosecutor François Molins said after they were charged on Sunday.

    One of them told investigators they were thinking of attacking soldiers involved in France’s anti-terror Sentinelle operation.

    The plot was uncovered by accident last week when workmen spotted half-concealed bottles, a mysterious white paste, syringes and a set of scales on the bedsit’s balcony…”

  11. Spanish Red Cross worker killed by patient in Afghanistan: ICRC (dailymail, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-4872260/Foreign-Red-Cross-worker-killed-patient-Afghanistan-ICRC.html

    “A Spanish physiotherapist working for the Red Cross in northern Afghanistan was shot and killed Monday by a wheelchair-bound patient, in the latest attack on the international charity.

    Lorena Enebral Perez, 38, was shot inside the aid group’s rehabilitation centre in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, where she treated disabled children, women and men including amputees, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.

    Perez was taken to the NATO military base hospital at Camp Marmal where she died of her wounds.

    “Energetic and full of laughter, Lorena was the heart of our office in Mazar. Today, our hearts are broken,” said Monica Zanarelli, the ICRC´s chief in Afghanistan.

    “Lorena was a skilled and caring physiotherapist who assisted patients, especially children. The violent fluctuations of life seem particularly cruel today.”

    Two people have been arrested over the deadly attack, including the 21-year-old shooter whom police said was a “regular patient”…”

  12. ATHEISTS Want Historic Churches Excluded from Preservation Funding

    (Kaylee McGhee, Liberty Headlines) After hearing oral arguments on Thursday, the Massachusetts Supreme Court will decide whether or not churches can receive federal aid for historic preservation projects.

    http://www.libertyheadlines.com/atheists-want-historic-churches-excluded-preservation-funding/?AID=7236

    Richard: How is a State Court getting the right to direct who can and can’t get Federal Funds? That is a Federal Issue not a State Issue.

  13. CBC – Young Canadian ISIS recruit says he saw violence on scale he could never have imagined

    […]In Syria, ‘people were forced to watch, some were disgusted, some even recorded it on their phones’

    Abu Huzaifa said CSIS and RCMP agents have questioned him extensively since his return to Canada, but that he has not been charged.

    In a written statement, CSIS said it is aware of approximately 60 “extremist travellers” who have returned to Canada as of the end of August.

    […]Abu Huzaifa said he was never sent to the frontlines, and although he didn’t speak Arabic, he was eventually able to understand basic commands in the language.

    He told CBC that he made friends with other foreign fighters from Australia and Finland. The foreign fighters from central Asia were nice, he said, but they didn’t speak English and he had no way of communicating with them.

    […]After days of planning his escape from ISIS, Abu Huzaifa ditched his Pakistani passport and headed for the Turkish border with his Canadian passport, which he had kept hidden.

    […]He said he began to abuse heroin, Ritalin, ketamine, anything he could get his hands on that would drown out his emotional pain. That’s when the nightmares about dying started.

    Abu Huzaifa now believes that joining ISIS and enforcing its code was a violation of true Islamic principles and he is determined to complete his studies at a Toronto area university[…]His new vision for a peaceful life in Canada can be attributed in part to Mubin Shaikh.

    more :

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/isis-canadian-recruit-returns-1.4281860

  14. BELGIUM CEMETERY SLAUGHTER Belgian mayor murdered as his throat is slit in graveyard ambush near his home in Mouscron

    Police arrest suspect after Alfred Gadenne, 71, was found near his home

    A KNIFEMAN has ambushed and slit the throat of a mayor in Belgium at a cemetery near his home tonight.

    Alfred Gadenne, 71, was found dead after being attacked as he closed the graveyard for the day at around 7:50pm local time.

    Police have arrested a suspect who handed himself in, according to local paper Het Laatste Nieuws.

    Prime Minister Charles Michel said: “I have learned with horror of the brutal death of Alfred Gadenne.

    “All my thoughts are with his family and friends.

    The politician with the conservative CDH party has been mayor of Mouscron, a town of 57,000 people in the north west of the country near the French border with Lille.

    CDH President Benoit Lutgen said: “My sorrow is immense. I express my condolences to his neighbours.”

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4443416/belgium-mayor-alfred-gadenne-murder-mouscron/

    DAILY MAIL – BREAKING NEWS: Belgian mayor is found dead in cemetery ‘with his throat slit open’

    Body of Alfred Gadenne, 71, was discovered by his wife in Luingne Cemetery
    The Mayor of Mouscron had been out to shut the site when he was attacked
    A suspect has ‘handed himself in to police’ but motive for the attack is unclear

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4874344/Belgian-mayor-dead-cemetery.html
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  15. You NEED to watch this Donkeyman, et al
    what a cracking idea!
    Rumors of Japan’s Imminent Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

    Black Pigeon Speaks

  16. What the EU costs YOU: UK forks out staggering amounts to Brussels – this is the REAL toll (express, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/852826/EU-costs-UK-pays-amounts-Brussels-Brexit

    “BRITAIN has paid a staggering £375billion to Brussels over the last 43 years, official figures have revealed.

    Data released to MPs at Westminster showed UK taxpayers have contributed the eye-watering sum to the budgets of the European Union and its predecessor the European Community from 1973 until last year.

    Euro-sceptics insisted the colossal payment means the country should not be forced to pay a so-called “divorce fee” to leave the bloc.

    They spoke out as MPs were voting at Westminster last night on the Government’s crunch EU Withdrawal Bill that has been drafted to ensure a smooth departure from the bloc.

    Richard Tice, co-chairman of the Brexit-backing pressure group Leave Means Leave, said: “This truly staggering amount of money shows what the real cost of EU membership has been to the UK.

    “The British people should feel vindicated by their decision to leave this anti-democratic, bureaucratic bloc that has drained us of money and sovereignty over many decades.

    “In light of these shocking new statistics, UK negotiators should stand firm against extortionate and unsubstantiated EU demands for tens of billions of pounds as a divorce bill.”

    The total cost of the UK’s contribution to the Brussels budget was revealed in a briefing paper released by the House of Commons during Parliament’s summer recess.

    Britain’s total net contribution to Brussels in current (2016) prices between 1973 and last year was £374.5billion after the budget rebate and other refunds are taken into account, the document shows.

    When grants from Brussels directly to public-sector bodies in Britain are included, the figure falls to £183.7billion.

    However, Eurosceptics argue that the larger figure should be used to assess the cost of Britain’s membership of the European bloc because decisions about where such cash were taken by the European Commission.

    Britain’s annual contribution to Brussels has soared from £1.8billion in 1973 in today’s prices after the country first joined the European Community to £13.1billion last year, the figures show.

    According to the document, British taxpayers are forecast to pay at least a further £28billion in annual contributions before the country quits the EU in March 2019.

    But EU officials are demanding up to another £90billion on top of that sums in an exit fee.

    The issue of the bill has become a major sticking point in the talks on Britain’s exit and led to tetchy exchanges between EU Exit Secretary David Davis and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier.

    The revelation came as MPs were set to vote last night to allow the EU Withdrawal Bill to allow Brexit to take place smoothly to progress…”

  17. UN Security Council Unanimously Sanctions North Korea Over Latest Nuke Test (sputniknews, Sep 12, 2017)
    https://sputniknews.com/news/201709121057302002-un-security-council-sanctions-north-korea/

    “The United Nations Security Council passed a new round of sanctions in retaliation for North Korea’s most powerful nuclear test every conducted on September 3. The resolution bans Pyongyang from exporting textiles while capping how much crude oil and refined petroleum products can be imported.

    Natural gas condensates and liquids are also included among the items North Korea is restricted from importing in excess of UN guidelines, the resolution says.

    If nearby states have reasonable suspicion that ships transiting to North Korea are carrying prohibited items, those ships should undergo inspection by the proper authorities, according to the UN-drafted resolution.

    North Korea is suspected of having conducted its sixth and most explosive nuclear test ever at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the isolated nation’s North Hamgyong province.

    “The ranges I hear are from 100 to 250 kiloton, depending on who you ask,” Hans Kristensen, Director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists told Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear last week. “That’s a significant increase from the 10 to 20 kiloton [explosion] they had in previous tests,” the expert told Sputnik.

    US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said the “strong relationship” between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping played a major factor in passing the new resolution.

    The diplomat continued, “If [North Korea] agrees to stop its nuclear program, it can reclaim its future. It if proves it can live in peace, the world will live in peace with it.”

    Echoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford’s statement that the “US is focused on a peaceful way ahead,” Haley said the US is not seeking to participate in a war on the Korean Peninsula unless it crosses the line with respect to its nuclear program.

    “We do not take pleasure in further strengthening sanctions today. We are not looking for war. The North Korean regime has not year passed the point of no return,” Haley said.”

  18. MPs Back European Union Withdrawal Bill, Passed with Majority of 36 (breitbart, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/09/11/government-vote-brexit-repeal-bill/

    “The House of Commons has voted to pass the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill at second reading shortly after midnight on Tuesday, 326 votes for, 290 against.

    The bill overturns the 1972 Act which took the United Kingdom into the European Economic Community, and in so doing, incorporates 40 years of EU law into the UK statute book. Parliament will be able to “amend, repeal, and improve” laws once the country leaves the EU in March 2019.

    The bill also grants the government powers to make other preparations for Brexit, and ends the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

    The Government won the first EU Withdrawal Bill vote with MPs voting against the Labour amendment to the bill (‘ayes’ 296, ‘nos’ 318, majority 22).

    This represents the next step in implementing last year’s historic referendum vote to leave the bloc after Prime Minister Theresa May formally notified Brussels of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal by triggering Article 50 on March 29th, 2017.

    The vote represented a victory for the minority Conservative Government, with the majority of Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs voting against.

    However, a number of Labour Party members defied the three-line whip and voted in favour of the bill including former Labour Europe minister Caroline Flint who said: “Our [Labour MPs] job is to improve this Bill, not to kill it”…”

  19. Exclusive: Trump to weigh more aggressive U.S. strategy on Iran – sources (reuters, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-iran-exclusive/exclusive-trump-to-weigh-more-aggressive-u-s-strategy-on-iran-sources-idUKKCN1BM2XD

    “President Donald Trump is weighing a strategy that calls for more aggressive U.S. responses to Iran’s forces, its Shi‘ite Muslim proxies in Iraq and Syria, and its support for militant groups, according to five current and former U.S. officials.

    The proposal was prepared by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and other top officials, and presented to Trump at a National Security Council meeting on Friday, the sources said.

    It could be agreed and made public before the end of September, two of the sources said. All of the sources are familiar with the draft and requested anonymity because Trump has yet to act on it.

    The plan is intended to increase the pressure on Tehran to curb its ballistic missile programs and support for militants, the sources said…”

  20. Saudi Arabia says foils Islamic State bomb, foreign spying plots (reuters, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-saudi-security-plot/saudi-arabia-says-foils-islamic-state-bomb-foreign-spying-plots-idUKKCN1BM2QA

    “Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it foiled an Islamic State plot to bomb its defence ministry headquarters and also said it had arrested several people suspected of carrying out espionage in the kingdom on behalf of foreign powers.

    It was not immediately clear whether the two announcements, made separately by a security official to state news agency SPA and a security source speaking to Reuters, were related.

    The would-be bombers were identified as two Yemeni nationals living under aliases in the kingdom who were detained along with two Saudi citizens also suspected of involvement in the attack planned for the capital Riyadh, the official from the Presidency of State Security added.

    Saudi Arabia has previously been hit by deadly bombing and shooting attacks by Islamic State militants targeting security forces and Shi‘ite Muslims.

    The assailants were training in the use of explosive belts, the security source added, while authorities said they seized grenades and firearms during the operation to foil the attack.

    Islamic State has for years criticized the leadership of Western-allied Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, accusing it of deviating from their strict interpretation of Islam and advancing the interests of their U.S. enemies…”

  21. Teenage couple electrocuted in Karachi ‘honour killing’ (tribune, Sep 12, 2017)
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/1503752/teenage-couple-electrocuted-karachi-honour-killing/

    “A teenage couple who tried to elope was murdered with electric shocks in an “honour killing” by family members who were carrying out the orders of an influential tribal council, police said.

    The teenagers in Karachi were said to have brought dishonour to the community by the Pashtun council of elders, or jirga.

    “The innocent souls were tied to a charpai [rope bed] and given electric shocks,” said Aman Marwat, the police officer who arrested the two fathers and two uncles and is pursuing some 30 members of the jirga who have gone into hiding…”

  22. Man nabbed for raping tourist in central Rome (ansa, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2017/09/11/man-nabbed-for-raping-tourist-in-central-rome-3_ce687a38-b59d-402d-9fae-aaac98225d3a.html

    “A 22-year-old Bangladeshi man was arrested Saturday night for allegedly raping, beating and robbing a young Finnish tourist on the night of Friday and Saturday, judicial sources said Monday.

    The young woman was reportedly approached by the man after a hight out with her friends.

    When she began looking for a taxi he came up to her and said he could give her a ride. She followed him but after about 100 metre she turned on her, hit her with a rock and dragged her into a secluded area where he allegedly raped her after threatening to kill her, before robbing her of 40 euros and making off.

    The assailant and his alleged victim were not immediately named.”

  23. What is the status of German deportations to Afghanistan? (DW, Sep 11, 2017)
    http://www.dw.com/en/what-is-the-status-of-german-deportations-to-afghanistan/a-40451011

    “In Germany, deportations of rejected asylum seekers to Kabul are set to resume, reviving the heated debate over the security situation in Afghanistan. InfoMigrants looks at the current developments.

    This Tuesday, a flight is set to take off from Düsseldorf to Kabul carrying 15 rejected asylum seekers after a brief moratorium on deportations to Afghanistan.

    In June, Chancellor Angela Merkel postponed a flight of deported asylum seekers after a truck bomb killed 90 people in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. But in August, the German government made the decision to restart deportations to Afghanistan.

    Deportation flights began taking off from Germany to Kabul last December, after Berlin made a deal to repatriate failed Afghan asylum seekers in October 2016.

    Around 10,000 Afghans await deportation

    From January to August 2017, there were 134,935 initial asylum applications in Germany. Of those, 9.1 percent came from Afghanistan, the third highest group after Syria and Iraq. In the first-half of 2017, the German government sent back 261 people to Afghanistan. As of August, around 10,000 Afghans whose asylum requests were denied are no longer legally allowed to stay in Germany. The policy change occurred because some governmental officials consider it a safe country of origin as compared to countries like Syria or Iraq, where active conflicts are displacing millions.

    German human rights group Pro Asyl has heavily criticized the deportations from Germany to Afghanistan and is “outraged” by the German government’s recent declaration to restart deportations there. “War dominates Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing,” said Günter Burkhardt, the organization’s managing director. The Pro Asyl organization has frequently demonstrated at German airports where the deportations have taken place. In late August, 500 students protested in the German city of Offenbach over the pending deportation of their Afghan classmates. In March, high school students in Cottbus made headlines across Germany with a similar campaign to save three classmates from being deported to Kabul.

    Election debate

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel initially embraced an open door asylum policy in 2015, allowing over 1.2 million asylum seekers into the country. But following events such as the Cologne New Year’s eve assaults in 2015 and the attack on a Berlin Christmas market by a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker, Merkel has begun to take a tougher stance on deportations.
    Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has advocated for more deportations, with Afghanistan being the main country of focus.

    The Social Democratic Party, led by Martin Schulz, wants to stop deportations to Afghanistan on security grounds, as do the Left Party and the Green Party. In February of this year, the German government unveiled a program called Starthilfe Plus that would pay 1200 euros to migrants that would return to their country before their asylum status was decided.

    Security situation

    Although Afghanistan is safer now than it was 15 years ago, security threats still persist. In addition to the bomb attack in Kabul that occurred in June, there have been numerous attacks in Afghanistan over the past year. In late August, ‘Islamic State’ militants stormed a mosque, killing at least 20 people. In February, the Afghan Supreme Court was attacked by a suicide bomber, killing 20 people. In March, two attacks occurred with one in Kabul at a police station on March 1 killing seven people and one just a week later killing fifty people at a hospital.

    Attacks like these aren’t the only issue, however. Minorities from Afghanistan who make it to Germany may face discrimination. For example, in January this year an Afghan-Hindu was deported. Afghan-Hindus face religious persecution in Afghanistan as it is a conservative Islamic country. Other minorities, like the Shiite Hazaras, face danger from Sunni extremists in their home country.”