Europe
Does the European Union Need Stricter Immigration Laws in Light of the Recent Terror Attacks?
Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, hundreds of thousands of migrants have flocked to the European continent in hopes of finding sanctuary. Many of these immigrants eventually ended up choosing Germany as their destination, largely due to the generous public welfare services available in the country. For the many immigrants who settled in, they have had few issues in regards to integration and, for the most part, have followed the law respectfully.
However, it was only a matter of time before an incident would occur that would bring into question the fairly liberal immigration policies put into place by the European Union. You see, before the recent wave of attacks that have taken place across Germany and the rest of Europe, people largely sympathized with the refugees. The logic was that “they (the immigrants) deserved somewhere to stay so why not give them a place at least until the war concludes?”
In an ideal world, it is hard to argue against this and I would argue that most people would agree to extend a helping hand to the Syrian refugees who have suffered as a direct result of the war. Part of human nature is being compassionate and I fully believe that in the worst of times that’s when some of the best characteristics of humans come to fruition. When reality hits, though, the issue at hand is more complex than just allowing immigrants to obtain asylum.
Many of the immigrants from Syria were coming from a very active war zone that is hardly contained even to this day. Groups like the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, which actively operate in the region, have established a large presence in Syria, in addition to having recruited and trained tens of thousands of members ready to do their bidding. Consequently, when many of the immigrants started arriving in Europe, along came with them members of these radical groups that seek to sow terror across the world.
Essentially, when you have an open-border policy, coupled with an inability to conduct thorough background checks on the immigrants attempting to enter your country, you will inevitably encounter great security risks. It would be naive to claim that the member states of the European Union weren’t aware of this issue. Perhaps they knew about it and decided that the benefits outweighed the risks at the time. After all, the humanitarian choice would have been to grant refuge to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants seeking help. By refusing them, the potential political and humanitarian fallout could have been disastrous so it was only logical for the EU to deal with the problem immediately and sort it out later. Unfortunately “later” has lead to the deaths of many innocent people.
In the past week or two, there have been multiple attacks just in Germany, claiming the lives of many individuals. Just look at this list of attacks that have occurred in Europe during the year 2016.
Why is it that all of a sudden people are concerned with the current policies and think they should be reviewed only after a slew of terror attacks have taken place? Why are people so reactive instead of proactive? Maybe I am being a bit harsh, actually. Nobody really thinks about possible terror attacks occurring, rather, people usually are more concerned with how they are going to pay their bills or what they are going to eat for dinner at night.
This still is no excuse for gross negligence, though. It was only a matter of time before the very group that wants to harm us – ISIS – managed to slip through the borders of Europe and carry out attacks to harm as many people as possible. While it is clear that huge mistakes were made on behalf of the European Union in handling the refugee crisis, moping about it will not bring about constructive change.
What needs to be done now is to look at all remaining options to ameliorate the immigration issue at hand. Quite a few options remain, but few are ideal. As I am not expert policy analyst on immigration I will refuse to engross myself in the debate, but it doesn’t take an expert to know that the current policies are an abysmal failure.
My fear is that the longer we beat around the bush and refuse to admit the core of the issue, more frequent attacks will occur in Europe and abroad. While I truly believe in assisting people when they require help, I also believe in the idea that we also deserve a safe place to live. Nobody should be fearful of attacks occurring just outside of their home.
Featured Image via Wikimedia
Europe
Riots erupt in Dublin after children stabbed
Three small children were among the five persons hurt in a knife assault in Dublin on Thursday. The incident, which triggered rioting in the city center and for which the police have not yet ruled out any reason, including the possibility that it was tied to terrorism, injured a total of five people.
After conflicts between riot police and anti-immigrant protestors, who arrived at the scene of the attack next to the main thoroughfare of O’Connell Street, public transportation was halted, and patients were urged not to travel to a nearby maternity hospital unless it was essential. The incident took place alongside the main thoroughfare of O’Connell Street.
In front of the statue of Daniel O’Connell at the top of the street, a double-decker bus was torched to the ground, and windows of a nearby Holiday Inn hotel and McDonald’s restaurant were damaged. A Footlocker store was broken into and pillaged.
“These are shameful events that have taken place. After sending 400 police to restore public order, Police Commissioner Drew Harris told reporters, “We have a complete lunatic, hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology engaged in serious violence.”
In addition, a police car was destroyed by the fire.
The city of Dublin has nearly never seen violence on this scale. Although no far-right groups or MPs are elected to parliament, there has been a steady increase in the size of anti-immigrant demonstrations over the last year. Following a recent demonstration that forced members to take shelter inside, the administration is reevaluating the security around parliament.
Harris contradicted a senior official who had previously informed reporters that police were convinced the event was not tied to terrorism by saying that all lines of inquiry related to the attack remained open. Harris added that all lines of inquiry related to the attack remained open.
“I am not going to speculate any further about the possible motivations of terrorists. He says, “We have to keep an open mind as to why this happened as long as we don’t know for certain what the motivation is.”
A young girl, aged five, was sent to the hospital for urgent care after suffering life-threatening injuries as a result of the stabbing. Police have stated that they are not seeking any additional suspects after they made an arrest involving a guy in his late 40s who was also being treated for severe injuries.
Shortly after 13:30 local time, the individual is believed to have attacked many persons in Parnell Square in Dublin, according to the police. Several members of the general public stepped in to stop the assault when it was still in its early stages.
A lady in her 30s was also being treated for critical injuries, while the two other children, a boy aged five and a girl aged six, received less severe injuries. The woman in her 30s was also being treated for severe injuries. The medical staff decided to release the youngster from the hospital.
“There was complete and utter pandemonium, women wailing, men screaming and crying,” Anthony Boyle, 31, an IT consultant who lives on the road and was passing by, told Reuters. Boyle lived on the road and was traveling through the area.
DIVIDING THE SOW
A group of perhaps fifty anti-immigrant demonstrators managed to temporarily break over a police barrier while the location was still being cordoned off shortly before 1800 GMT. Some of the protesters yelled, “get them out,” and one of them removed the wing mirror from a police car. One was covered in an Irish flag from head to toe.
As soon as the riot police with their helmets and shields were in place, an enormous mob started hurling things and launching fireworks at them, which caused the unrest to spiral out of hand quickly. At around 2100 GMT, the masses started to disperse.
The police declined to answer when asked about the man’s nationality while in custody.
Ireland’s population of 5.3 million had its second-highest level of net migration since records began being kept in the 12 months leading up to April. Additionally, about 100,000 Ukrainian refugees have come to Ireland since Russia invaded their country, which is among the highest per capita in the EU.
According to Justice Minister Helen McEntee’s statements to the press, “there is a group of people who are using this appalling attack to sow division.” Thugs and criminals are responsible for this attack.
“The Gardai (police) are employing every kind of force to restore order. This behavior will not be permitted in any form.
Europe
Russia’s Shoigu accuses the West of seeking to expand the Ukraine war to the Asia-Pacific.
According to Russian official media, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that the West intends to take the war in Ukraine to the Asia-Pacific area. He made these remarks on Monday at a defense event in Beijing.
According to reports from Russia’s TASS news agency, Shoigu claimed that NATO is concealing a force buildup in the Asia-Pacific region by using an “ostentatious desire for dialogue” at the Xiangshan Forum, China’s most significant military diplomacy event.
According to Shoigu, NATO members are stepping up their military presence in the area and holding larger-scale and more frequent drills, encouraging an arms race.
According to Shoigu, American forces would utilize intelligence sharing on missile launches with Seoul and Tokyo to dissuade China and Russia. Additionally, he charged that Washington was attempting to justify “humanitarian interventions” by using natural catastrophes and climate change.
New security blocs like the Quad and AUKUS, according to Shoigu, are undermining the influence of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and regional efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation.
However, he clarified that Russia was not reducing its bar for the use of nuclear weapons and that its decision to withdraw its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty did not signal the end of the pact.
Shoigu stated, “We are only seeking to restore parity with the United States, who have not ratified this treaty,” according to the Russian news agency RIA. “We are not talking about its destruction.”
Shoigu stated that while Moscow was prepared to negotiate a post-conflict settlement of the Ukraine problem based on continued “co-existence” with the West, Western nations should give up, hoping Russia would lose strategically.
Shoigu stated: “It is also important to ensure equal relations between all the nuclear powers and permanent United Nations Security Council members who carry special responsibility for upholding peace and global stability.” This made it evident that the circumstances for such discussions were not yet in place.
Europe
U.S. says it is ‘concerned’ about Hungary’s relationship with Russia
On Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Budapest stated that the U.S. worries about Hungary’s ties to Russia and considers Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s choice to meet with Putin “troubling.”
On Tuesday’s margins of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, Orban and Putin had a private meeting. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he is the only head of state from a member of the European Union to attend the event or meet Putin.
According to a statement by the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman, “the United States is concerned about Hungary’s relationship with Russia.”
The pressman stated this week on X that “Hungary’s leader chooses to stand with a man whose forces are responsible for crimes against humanity in Ukraine, and alone among our allies.”
Hungary, a NATO member receiving most of its crude oil and gas from Russia, has vetoed many E.U. measures to aid Ukraine in fending off Russian soldiers.
During their discussion in Beijing, Orban informed Putin that Hungary was working to restore bilateral ties and had never intended to oppose Russia.
According to Radio Free Europe, the ambassadors of NATO nations and Sweden in Budapest met after Orban’s meeting to discuss their worries over Hungary’s growing reconciliation with Moscow.
Balazs Orban, Orban’s top political assistant, responded to the U.S. criticism by stating that Hungary was “fed up” with the ambassador’s “hypocrisy” in a post on X earlier this week.
Hungary’s procrastination on the acceptance of Sweden’s NATO membership has strained ties with Washington during the last year.
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