Reader’s Links for November 25, 2019

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Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

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

92 Replies to “Reader’s Links for November 25, 2019”

  1. Saudi Arabia arrests eight writers and entrepreneurs in latest crackdown
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-fresh-arrests-intellectuals-and-entrepreneurs

    “Saudi Arabia has detained at least eight people, including intellectuals, writers and entrepreneurs, the London-based Saudi rights group ALQST and one other source have said, as a two-year crackdown on free expression in the kingdom continues.

    Those detained were taken from their homes in the capital Riyadh and the Red Sea port city of Jeddah last week by plainclothes police over unclear motives, one of the sources told Reuters news agency.

    The Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday from Reuters.

    Riyadh denies having political prisoners, but senior Saudi officials have said monitoring and potentially detaining activists is needed to maintain social stability.

    Those detained are not frontline activists, the sources said. Some are intellectuals who have published articles or appeared on television, while others are entrepreneurs.

    As Riyadh takes over the presidency of the Group of 20 countries, it is struggling to overcome intense international criticism over its human rights record, including last year’s killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the arrest of women’s rights activists and its involvement in the devastating Yemen war.

    Earlier this year, official Saudi sources announced the mass execution of 37 prisoners, including one who was crucified. The majority of those executed were Shia Saudis arrested over protests and activism, with several under 18 at the time of their arrest.

    The court cases in which many of the 130 or more people were sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia before being executed this year have been criticised for lack of due process, including the use of torture against detainees and forced confessions.

    Even as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has touted economic and social openness in the traditionally closed-off country, authorities have rounded up critics, an effort that gathered pace in September 2017 with the arrest of prominent clerics, some of whom could now face the death penalty.

    An “anti-corruption” campaign two months later netted top businessmen and senior officials. It was criticised as a power play and shakedown of the crown prince’s potential political rivals.

    In mid-2018, more than a dozen women’s rights activists were arrested just as Riyadh lifted a ban on women driving cars.

    Local media portrayed them as traitors, and a court has charged some of them with crimes including contacts with foreign journalists.

    This April, eight people who had supported the detained women, including two dual Saudi-US citizens, were also arrested.

    Public protests, political parties and labour unions are banned in Saudi Arabia, where the media are controlled and criticism of the royal family can lead to prison.”

  3. Sudan militias move to Libya to support Haftar’s forces
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191125-sudan-militias-move-to-libya-to-support-haftars-forces/

    “Sudanese militias who make up part of the Sudan Liberation Front headed to Libya in support for the forces of Brigadier General Khalifa Haftar, Arabi21 reported yesterday.

    The news site said that it obtained an exclusive video showing the Sudanese militias moving from the city of Bani Walid to the city of Tarhouna.

    A Libyan military source revealed in July that foreign soldiers, including some from the UAE were supervising the transition of the mercenary fighters from the Sudan Liberation Front to Haftar’s military bases…”

  4. Mental health epidemic in UAE prompts concerns over its ‘nanny culture’
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191125-mental-health-epidemic-in-uae-prompts-concerns-over-its-nanny-culture/

    “The UAE’s “nanny culture”, where parents tend to employ a maid to look after babies during the early years, is said to be fuelling a mental health epidemic, a leading psychologist has warned.

    Dr Sandra Willis, an adviser to Abu Dhabi’s Department of Community Development, raised concerns over this common practice across Gulf countries during the launch of an initiative to improve mental well-being services and to promote a culture of openness about psychological issues.

    “Attachment is really key, particularly for young children, in their first year of life,” Willis, a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York, is reported saying in the event organised by the government agency Ma’an. “This is where it starts, but this is where we tend to hand off our babies to others, because all they need is feeding, changing, sleeping, right? Actually all the science opposes that,” she added.

    Willis went on to explain the importance of the early years to developing the kind of attachment between parents and child that is required to reduce the risk of mental health problems at the latter stages of a person’s life. She warned about the culture of getting contracted nannies to look after children.

    “I do feel it impedes secure, long-term attachment,” she is reported saying in UAE media sources. “We all know nannies are on a contract, it’s cyclical, they will leave. So what happens with children when their principal carer, to which they are attached, leaves? That’s assuming there is a positive attachment with the outsourced help.”

    Willis touched on what has become a sensitive issue across the Gulf by claiming that mistreatment of nannies could result in harm to the children under their care. “You need to treat that domestic worker well, with kindness, compensate them appropriately, give them leave to rest and do their jobs effectively,” she said. “Often if you’re overworked, and it’s not your child… it’s a challenge even if it is your own child to maintain positive and healthy relationships, explained Willis.

    Social start-up initiatives with ideas to improve mental well-being among residents is being encouraged by Ma’an who announced that it would offer more than Dh2 million ($544,498) to support plans to address mental health problems.

    In Gulf states, domestic work is the largest sector of employment for female migrants, driven by a higher standard of living since the 1970s oil boom and increasing female workforce participation among nationals.

    Even so, female domestic workers are perhaps the least protected workers, facing legal, institutional and societal barriers to basic securities.

    The kafala system, in which foreign workers must be sponsored by an employer, renders domestic workers unable to escape abusive situations until their contract expires, at risk of being reported to authorities and subsequently fined, jailed or deported.”

  5. ‘Turkey-Qatar force command serves stability of region’
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191125-turkey-qatar-force-command-serves-stability-of-region/

    “Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday a joint force command of Ankara and Doha serves stability and peace of not only Qatar but also the Gulf region, reports Anadolu Agency.

    “It [Turkey-Qatar Combined Joint Force Command] serves stability and peace of not only Qatar but also the Gulf region,” Erdogan said during his visit to Turkish troops at Tariq bin Ziyad – Muslim commander – military post in Doha.

    Dubbing the command as “the symbol of brotherhood, friendship, solidarity, and sincerity,” Erdogan said it [this command] has never based on “interests like that of the other countries’.

    “We have never left our friends alone in any period of the history against threats and risks, and we never will,” he said, and added: “We [Turkey] attribute great importance to peace, security, and stability of the Gulf region where we are connected with deep roots”.

    He also noted that the construction of the new Turkish military post has been completed and it will be named after the famous Muslim commander Khalid bin Walid.

    Erdogan said he and the accompanying Turkish officials held “fruitful, successful and sincere” meetings with their counterparts during the day.

    “We confirmed our will to strengthen bilateral ties from a strategic perspective, and boosted our cooperation with the new agreements we signed,” Erdogan said, referring to the seven deals inked during the meetings.

    Following his meetings, Erdogan departed from Qatar.”

    • 400,000 displaced civilians in northeast Syria since Oct 6. That evening call between the filthy Turk and our President. A one-sided ceasefire.

      Who’s cares, right? Qatar’s propaganda machine, MEEye. The media in lock-step with the MB.

      We will regret having enabled this Führer monster. That’s a blood-debt.

  6. Erdogan: ‘Violence against women a crime against humanity’
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191125-erdogan-violence-against-women-a-crime-against-humanity/

    “Violence against women is a crime against humanity, Turkey’s president said on Monday, reports Anadolu Agency.

    “Violence against women is one of the gravest crimes against humanity,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

    Erdogan stressed they will continue to fight abuse, harassment, discrimination, and violence against women.

    He also said he wished Turkey could completely eliminate this shame.

    Also marking the day, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said: “A total of 124,521 cases of domestic violence and violence against women took place, according to 10-month data [for 2019], but this is a drop of 19.1% compared to the same period last year”.

    Soylu highlighted that the ministry has stepped up preventive measures and tried to provide data to all studies aiming to prevent violence against women.

    Turkey’s Women Emergency Assistance Notification System (KADES) app, which allows immediate reaction in case of violence against women, has been downloaded by over 353,000 people, Soylu said.

    KADES is an emergency application to enable women who have been the subject of domestic violence or may face violence to notify police faster.

    He added that nearly 79,000 personnel, especially those who are working in police stations, have been trained on the issue of violence against women since 2014.

    “Sensitivity to the issue, especially contacting security units, filing complaints, and follow-up mechanisms, give very positive results,” he added.”

  8. Netherlands to join French-led Strait of Hormuz naval mission: ANP
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-iran-netherlands/netherlands-to-join-french-led-strait-of-hormuz-naval-mission-anp-idUSKBN1XZ25W

    “The Netherlands will contribute a ship to a French-led naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz for a six-month period starting in January, Dutch news agency ANP said on Monday, citing government sources.

    France has pushed for a European security alternative in the Strait of Hormuz after ruling out joining a U.S.-led coalition protecting oil tankers and cargo ships from threats they say Iran poses to shipping in the strategic waterway.

    French Defense Minister Florence Parly said on Saturday the initiative could start early next year and around 10 European and non-European governments would join, pending parliamentary approvals. She did not name the countries.

    The Dutch government is expected to formally announce its contribution to the French-led mission on Friday, ANP said.

    Denmark, Italy and Spain are among countries that have previously expressed interest in joining the French-led initiative.

    The European-led maritime force is meant to ensure safe shipping in the Strait after tanker attacks earlier this year that the United States blamed on Iran.

    Tehran has denied being behind the attacks on tankers and other vessels in major global shipping lanes off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in May that aggravated tensions between the United States, Iran and Gulf Arab states.

    Britain, Australia and several Gulf states have so far joined the U.S.-led naval coalition.”

  9. Special Report:‘Time to take out our swords’: Inside Iran’s plot to attack Saudi Arabia
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-aramco-attacks-iran-special-rep/special-reporttime-to-take-out-our-swords-inside-irans-plot-to-attack-saudi-arabia-idUSKBN1XZ16H

    “Four months before a swarm of drones and missiles crippled the world’s biggest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia, Iranian security officials gathered at a heavily fortified compound in Tehran.

    The group included the top echelons of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite branch of the Iranian military whose portfolio includes missile development and covert operations.

    The main topic that day in May: How to punish the United States for pulling out of a landmark nuclear treaty and re-imposing economic sanctions on Iran, moves that have hit the Islamic Republic hard.

    With Major General Hossein Salami, leader of the Revolutionary Guards, looking on, a senior commander took the floor.

    “It is time to take out our swords and teach them a lesson,” the commander said, according to four people familiar with the meeting.

    Hard-liners in the meeting talked of attacking high-value targets, including American military bases.

    Yet, what ultimately emerged was a plan that stopped short of direct confrontation that could trigger a devastating U.S. response. Iran opted instead to target oil installations of America’s ally, Saudi Arabia, a proposal discussed by top Iranian military officials in that May meeting and at least four that followed.

    This account, described to Reuters by three officials familiar with the meetings and a fourth close to Iran’s decision making, is the first to describe the role of Iran’s leaders in plotting the Sept. 14 attack on Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled oil company.

    These people said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved the operation, but with strict conditions: Iranian forces must avoid hitting any civilians or Americans.

    Reuters was unable to confirm their version of events with Iran’s leadership. A Revolutionary Guards spokesman declined to comment. Tehran has steadfastly denied involvement.

    Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for the Iranian Mission to the United Nations in New York, rejected the version of events the four people described to Reuters. He said Iran played no part in the strikes, that no meetings of senior security officials took place to discuss such an operation, and that Khamenei did not authorize any attack.

    “No, no, no, no, no, and no,” Miryousefi said to detailed questions from Reuters on the alleged gatherings and Khamenei’s purported role.

    The Saudi government communications office did not respond to a request for comment.

    The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Pentagon declined to comment. A senior Trump administration official did not directly comment on Reuters’ findings but said Tehran’s “behavior and its decades-long history of destructive attacks and support for terrorism are why Iran’s economy is in shambles.”

    Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, at the center of a civil war against Saudi-backed forces, claimed responsibility for the assault on Saudi oil facilities. That declaration was rebuffed by U.S. and Saudi officials, who said the sophistication of the offensive pointed to Iran.

    Saudi Arabia was a strategic target.

    The kingdom is Iran’s principal regional rival and a petroleum giant whose production is crucial to the world economy. It is an important U.S. security partner. But its war on Yemen, which has killed thousands of civilians, and the brutal murder of Washington-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last year, have strained its relations with U.S. lawmakers. There was no groundswell of support in Congress for military intervention to aid the Saudis after the attack…..”

  10. Egypt Space Agency to announce African development satellite initiative on Wednesday
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/356564/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-Space-Agency-to-announce-African-development.aspx

    “With the participation of eight African countries, the Egyptian Space Agency is set to announce an initiative to build the African Development Satellite during the initiative’s first coordination meeting on Wednesday in Cairo.

    The first coordination meeting for the Egyptian Initiative for the African Development Satellite Project, organised by the Egyptian Space Agency, will be held for two days starting Tuesday, with the participation of Sudan, Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya.

    According to the Egyptian Space Agency, the participation of the eight countries in the meeting comes in light of the integration of African countries in the field of space, and the political weight that Egypt represents in this field, especially after Egypt hosted the headquarters of the African Space Agency in 2019.

    The agency said that the project aims to develop a space system able to monitor the emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming and their impact on the African continent, depending on the capabilities of each participant country.

    The project comes in coordination with the Egyptian Ministry of Environment to benefit from its technical expertise in this field.

    Established in 2016 by the African Union, the African Space Agency is an African initiative dedicated to promoting, advising and coordinating the development and utilisation of space science and technology in Africa and associated regulations for the benefit of the continent and the world, as well as the forging of intra-African and international cooperation.

    Egypt won a bid to host the African Space Agency in February.

    The Egyptian Space Agency was established in 2018 to put in place the necessary infrastructure to establish a satellite industry for remote sensing and communications.”

  11. Spain Imprisons Moroccan-Spanish Maker of ISIS Uniforms
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/11/287566/spain-moroccan-businessman-isis-uniforms/

    “Spanish police have arrested Nourdine Chikar, a Moroccan-Spanish businessman, after his conviction on charges of “economic crimes” related to ISIS. Police picked up Chikar at his residence near Alicante in southeast Spain on Wednesday, November 20, according to El Espanol.

    Along with a Syrian named Ammar Termanini, Chikar provided ISIS with uniforms. Using his business that recycled used clothes, Chikar helped to smooth out obstacles related to shipping containers of clothes to Syria and Iraq.

    Termanini also created a company for the export and import of textiles.

    Chikar will go to jail for the economic crimes of money laundering, embezzlement, tax offenses, document forgery, and fraudulent money transfers, El Espanol reported.

    Chikar is still facing charges of being part of a Jihadi cell based in Alicante, Valencia, and Ceuta that Spain dismantled in February 2016.

    After his arrest, police transferred Chikar to Madrid so that he can be “available to the National Court.”

    Police also arrested Chikar’s wife as an accessory to his crimes but released her after questioning.

    Termanini, who collaborated with Chikar, sent clothes to terrorist groups in Syria under the guise of humanitarian aid. Chikar also sought funding using his role as businessman, president of the local Concentaina mosque, and secretary of the Concentaina Islamic community.

    For the first time in Spain, according to El Espanol, prosecutors brought the charge of committing a “crime against protected cultural property in armed conflict.”

    The charge relates to the trafficking of historical artefacts from Syrian museums to raise money for ISIS.

    Three years ago, Spanish police seized three containers in Cadiz and Valencia, packed with 10 tons of military uniforms and on their way to Turkey, according to the Spanish news outlet.

    Spain arrested Nourdine Chikar in 2016, but he paid €60,000 in bail to be released.

    At the time, Chikar’s three companies in southeast Spain, Melilla, and the Canary Islands ceased operations, although it is not clear if the government closed them. However, Morocco did not close Chikar’s €10,000 textile company in Tangier.

    After he paid bail, El Espanol details, Chikar traveled to Morocco in December 2018 and signed business deals with local authorities in the north. In Nador, Chikar agreed to set up the “Karama Textile” company for import and export of textiles. And in Oujda, the regional assembly granted him €1 million for the company.”

  12. Over 3,900 judges, prosecutors dismissed since coup attempt: Minister
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/over-3-900-judges-prosecutors-dismissed-since-coup-attempt-minister-149096

    “Over 3,900 judges and prosecutors have been dismissed since the defeated terrorist coup of 2016, the Turkish justice minister said on Nov. 25.

    “The number of judges and prosecutors who have been dismissed since July 15 [2016] is 3,926,” Abdulhamit Gül told the members of the parliament’s planning and budget committee.

    FETÖ threat did not basically start at the night of July 15, or ended in the morning of July 16, he noted.

    Gül said Turkey faces a terror group, which has infiltrated the state institutions “for 40 years”.

    “We know that it is not correct to say ‘we have completed the fight with this terror group in 40 days’,” he stressed.

    FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.

    Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions,

    particularly the military, police, and judiciary. Gül reminded that Turkey has sent the U.S. total of seven extradition requests for FETÖ leader Gülen.

    He added that total of 270 out of 289 cases related to the coup attempt have been concluded since 2016.”

  13. Turkey ‘neutralizes’ 163 PKK terrorists in N. Iraq
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-neutralizes-163-pkk-terrorists-in-n-iraq/1654926

    “A total of 163 PKK terrorists were “neutralized” since Turkey has launched Operation Claw in northern Iraq, according to the country’s National Defense Ministry on Monday.

    A total of 90 terrorists were “neutralized” as part of the Operation Claw 1-2, and 73 terrorists in Operation Claw 3, Lt. Cmdr. Nadide Sebnem Aktop, ministry spokeswoman, told reporters in the capital Ankara.

    Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” in statements to imply terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

    Aktop said that 320 caves and 266 mines and hand made explosives were destroyed during Operation Claw 1-2, and 53 caves and 78 mines in Operation Claw 3.

    Aktop added that 11 ammunition, which would be used by the terrorists for production of handmade explosives, were detected and destroyed in Tal Abyad.

    She also said that a total of 683 rocket launchers and 93 cases of handmade explosives were seized in a building in Ras al-Ayn.

    On May 27, Turkey launched Operation Claw against the PKK in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq, followed by its second and third phases in July and late August.

    In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU — has been responsible for deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.”

  14. Migrant ship sinking in video and children’s screams heard
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2019/11/25/migrant-ship-sinking-in-video-and-childrens-screams-heard_6b1d28be-d4d2-4366-8881-f9749b507afb.html

    “The screams of children and heartbreaking cries for help can be heard in a Coast Guard video of a rescue operation on Saturday of men and women trying not to drown after their boat sunk about a mile from Lampedusa’s Isola dei Conigli. The Coast Guard released some parts of the moments just after the boat sunk and the desperate attempts by the Coast Guard to rescue all of those at sea, starting from the children. The soldiers can be seeng breathing a sigh of relief with every person pulled onboard. Some 149 people were saved, including an infant and a visually impaired individual. About 15 people are believed to be missing still and rescue operations continue amid rough seas and strong winds.”

  15. Council of Europe says Turkey violates freedom of expression
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2019/11/25/council-of-europe-says-turkey-violates-freedom-of-expression_8b9c5d8e-fe60-4811-8db6-5e88a8c23b22.html

    “Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic on Monday published her written observations submitted to the European Court of Human Rights, in which she said Turkey’s internet law is “directly causing numerous violations of the right to freedom of expression”.

    The observations concern Wikimedia’s case against Turkey, which has been blocking access to Wikipedia for more than two and a half years. Mijatovic said the block on Wikipedia, “while particularly egregious, is far from being an isolated case”.

    “It is a symptom of a deep systemic problem stemming from, on the one hand, the incompatibility of Turkey’s internet legislation with its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, and on the other hand, the persistent failure of the Turkish judiciary to mitigate these legislative shortcomings,” Mijatovic said.”

  16. Swedish prosecutors investigate Iraqi minister for ‘crimes against humanity’
    https://www.thelocal.se/20191125/swedish-prosecutors-investigate-iraqi-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity

    “An Iraqi minister who has been reported for alleged benefits fraud in Sweden is being investigated for suspected crimes against humanity, Swedish media report.

    Swedish media identified the subject of their inquiry as Defence Minister Najah al-Shammari, but the statement from the Swedish Prosecution Authority did not name anyone.

    The prosecutors’ body said in a statement that it had received complaints about “an Iraqi minister suspected of crimes against humanity”. The investigation was “in a very early stage”, it added.

    Several Swedish media outlets, including the country’s main dailies, identified him as al-Shammari, reporting that he was also a Swedish citizen, though he goes by a different name in Sweden.

    An unnamed Swedish-Iraqi lawyer told Svenska Dagbladet that he had reported al-Shammari to police in October for his role in the shooting of hundreds of protesters during weeks of unrest.

    Since October 1st, Iraq’s capital and majority-Shiite south have been swept by mass rallied protesting corruption, a lack of jobs and poor services. Those demonstrations have escalated into calls for a complete overhaul of the ruling elite.

    An estimated 350 protesters have been killed and thousands wounded in clashes with the security forces, according to a tally compiled by AFP. The authorities in Iraq no longer update their figures.

    The defence minister is also under investigation for benefits fraud for claiming housing and child benefits from Sweden despite living in Iraq, according to online news site Nyheter Idag and Swedish newspaper Expressen.

    Swedish social insurance agency Försäkringskassan told AFP that they were unable to confirm whether they were investigating al-Shammari as all their cases are classified.

    Al-Shammari arrived in Sweden in 2009 and was granted a permanent residency in 2011 before getting his citizenship in 2015, according to Expressen.”

  17. Questions surround Greece’s stricter course on refugees
    https://www.dw.com/en/questions-surround-greeces-stricter-course-on-refugees/a-51409366

    “Athens has announced tougher action against migrants and refugees. New deportation camps are to be set up, while asylum applications are to be processed more quickly. But some doubt the efficacy of the planned measures.

    After the Greek government announced plans to shut down hopelessly overcrowded registration camps for refugees in the eastern Aegean and to build new, closed holding centers for several thousand people instead, the mayor of the island of Samos openly threatened consequences. Giorgos Stantzos, who initially had supported the new conservative government’s stringent course, warned that the entire city council would resign if the government went ahead with the plans.

    Why the change of heart? The administration on Samos agreed on the whole with the government’s proposal to set up closed camps, deputy mayor Giorgos Dionysiou told DW, but said it opposed “the fact that we will continue to have to accommodate 5,000 new arrivals; it is time to give our island some relief.”

    Not far from city hall, refugees and migrants at the Vathy registration center live under deplorable conditions. The former barracks were originally meant to house about 700 people; now, there are more than 5,000, most of them from Afghanistan, Iraq or sub-Saharan Africa.

    The camp is bursting at the seams. Entire families live in emergency tents and have hardly any access to sanitary facilities. During the day, the new arrivals hang around in the shopping streets of the island’s capital. They refer to the center as a second Moria, in reference to the infamous camp on the neighboring island of Lesbos.

    Dionysiou argues that it would be better if the new arrivals didn’t roam the island but were under supervision in closed camps, “Otherwise, the safety of our citizens and ultimately of the newcomers, too, is at risk,” he says.

    ‘Security’ as an election pledge

    “People should feel safe again,” the new conservative government has said time and again. The sentiment scored Prime Minister Mitsotakis points even in the election campaign. His good news is that overcrowded camps like Moria on Lesbos or Vathy on Samos are to shut down. Instead, new, closed camps are to be built on the islands of the eastern Aegean. According to Greek media reports, there are also plans to build several such camps on the mainland. The new government has also pledged to make sure asylum applications are processed more quickly. Unlike current practice, refugees in future are not to stay in open camps for years while their asylum applications are being decided. Rejected asylum-seekers would be sent to closed “pre-departure” centers and returned to neighboring Turkey.

    Details have not been revealed. Representatives of Amnesty International and the UNHCR are wary, and Greek politicians are also taking a hard look at the plans. Closed camps would not solve problems, but create new ones, says Kostas Arvanitis, an MEP for the opposition leftist Syriza party. “Not far from my holiday home in Lavrion near Athens, there is a camp for 290 refugees,” Arvanitis told DW. “The people go to the market every day; their children go to school; there are no problems.”

    Arvanitis admits that the overcrowded Moria camp is a dire situation. But the new government’s approach shows only that the conservatives don’t have a concept for overcoming the refugee crisis, he says. The number of new arrivals has not declined since the change of government in Athens; it has even risen, the left-wing politician complains.

    ‘No. 1 problem’

    Eliza Vozenberg, a conservative politician in the European Parliament, disagrees. “The increase in new arrivals has nothing to do with the new government, but with the fact that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is allowing refugees and migrants to go on their way toward Europe,” the lawyer told DW.

    The previous left-wing government in Athens was also partly responsible for the current situation because it pursued an open-door policy, Vozenberg added. But now it was time to make the security of citizens in Greece a priority, she said, in particular as the number of refugees is continuing to rise. “Last week we registered 400 new arrivals per day in the eastern Aegean. Where is this going to end?” she asked.

    Survey results seem to show public support for a stricter refugee policy. According to a recent poll conducted by the Athens weekly To Vima, 33% of respondents believed refugee and migration policies were currently “the No. 1 problem in Greece.” Only 28% saw the country’s economic situation as the most important problem and just 14% were concerned about the continuing high level of unemployment.”

  18. Lebanon: Unrest continues for second night, including gunfire
    https://www.dw.com/en/lebanon-unrest-continues-for-second-night-including-gunfire/a-51411745

    “Tensions have increased in the Middle Eastern country as anti-government protesters and their opponents clashed in Beirut. Followers of Shiite groups have been roaming the streets chanting pro-Shiite slogans.

    Violent clashes broke out late Monday between supporters of Lebanon’s former prime minister, Saad Hariri, and Shiite groups Hezbollah and Amal, state news agency NNA reported.

    Shots were fired during the face-off between the rival groups in Beirut as the streets were filled for a second day of civil unrest. So far, there have been no reports of injuries…”

  19. New migrants put Germany’s established crime gangs under pressure
    https://www.dw.com/en/new-migrants-put-germanys-established-crime-gangs-under-pressure/a-51408164

    “More and more foreigners are suspected of ties with organized crime in Germany, authorities told public broadcaster ARD. Newly arrived immigrants often act as competition to established Arab-Lebanese clans.

    Newcomers from Syria, Iraq and other countries are changing the structure of organized crime in Germany, federal police representatives told the public broadcaster ARD in a new documentary set to be aired on Monday evening.

    While investigating Arab-linked crime families, Germany’s BKA (Federal Criminal Police Agency) noted a rising number of suspects with foreign passports.

    “In about one third of proceedings, suspects also included immigrants — and that means that we need to keep a very close eye on this phenomenon,” BKA leader Holger Münch said.

    Lessons learned?

    German authorities are already battling long-established so-called “clans” with ties to the Arab world, most notably crime families with Lebanese background. The newly arrived Syrians and Iraqis have not yet developed such organizational structures, according to Münch.

    However, Münch warned against repeating the mistakes made by German authorities in the 1970s, when a large number of Lebanese migrants moved into the country.

    The aftermath shows that “such things should not be allowed to go on for years and years — that is, I believe, the biggest lesson that we need to learn from the development in the last 30 years.”

    Migrants with ‘combat experience’

    Police chief in the western German city of Essen, Frank Richter, told ARD that migrants are putting the existing clans under increasing pressure and are beginning to act as competition. While those gangs have long used Iraqis as couriers for the drug trade, authorities have now noted that some groups of newcomers are trying to “take over the business.”

    Richter also said conflicts between the old and new groups might pop up in the future. Some of the newcomers have “combat experience” from living in war zones, Richter added.

    “Of course, this is would be very, very different situation from what we have at the moment,” he added.

    Police want more tools

    Crime gangs are active all over Germany, boasting thousands of members in Berlin alone. This type of crime in the German capital is controlled by “about 20 influential families, seven or eight of whom are extremely involved in crime,” said Berlin’s interior minister, Andreas Geisel.

    Speaking to ARD’s Morgenmagazin breakfast show on Monday, Geisel also said the authorities needed “additional tools” to fight crime. One of those tools would be the so-called reverse onus, a measure that would force suspected criminals to explain the origin of their property. Geisel said that the measure worked well in Italy.

    Geisel also said the authorities were using the “full scope of the rule of law” to fight crime in Berlin, because “the rule of law is under pressure.””

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