COPENHAGEN, December 20 -- The Danish government will begin holding foreign criminals on a remote island, located approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Copenhagen. The controversial plan was included in the 2019 budget proposal, which the legislature approved on Thursday. Under the measure, some 100 migrant criminals would be sent to Lindholm Island. People with criminal records and those who were denied asylum, but cannot be deported due to risk of torture or execution in their home countries, would be included. Denmark has taken a tough stance on immigration in recent years. The center-right government, which governs with the anti-immigration People's Party, has made notable changes to reduce the flow of migrants. These include the reduction of benefits for asylum-seekers, shortening temporary residence permits, stepping up deportations of rejected asylum-seekers and granted power to authorities to seize valuables from migrants, to help finance the costs of their stay. Thursday's budget proposal also includes a cap on family reunification. "Now we tell people from day one that they should not remain in Denmark for the rest of their lives. They only get temporary shelter until they can return home," said Peter Skaarup, parliamentary group leader of the Danish People's Party, when the measure was introduced to the budget law earlier this month. Island decontamination required Lindholm Island has been used as a laboratory and crematory by scientists researching swine flu, rabies and other contagious diseases. The government said it would decontaminate the uninhabited island by late 2019 and open the detention facilities in 2021. "They are unwanted in Denmark and they must feel that," said Integration Minister Inger Stojberg in a Facebook post, shortly after the proposal was announced in early December. The foreign criminals will be allowed to leave the island during the day, but will have to report their whereabouts to authorities and return at night. Martin Henriksen of the anti-immigration Danish People's Party said that the decision was somewhat inspired by Australia, which currently holds asylum-seekers in detention centers on neighboring Pacific island nations. But the mayor of Vordingborg municipality, Mikael Smed, where the island is located, was not enthusiastic about the measure."People think this is not the solution to the real problems," Smed said prior to Thursday's parliamentary vote. UN condemns the move UN human rights Chief Michelle Bachelet had expressed concerned about the island measure. "I have serious concerns with this plan and we will monitor it and discuss it ... with the government," Bachelet told journalists in Geneva earlier this month. "We've seen the negative impact of such policies of isolation, and (they) should not replicate these policies. Because depriving them of their liberty, isolating them, and stigmatizing them will only increase their vulnerability," Bachelet added. Human rights activists have likewise denounced the decision, calling it degrading and inhumane.
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WASHINGTON, December 7 -- U.S. President Donald Trump said he’ll nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be his next United Nations ambassador, replacing Nikki Haley. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump said Nauert is “very talented, very smart, very quick and I think she will be respected by all.” Prior to joining the State Department last year, the 48-year-old Nauert several years as an anchor and correspondent for Fox News, including on the “Fox and Friends” show watched by Trump. While she doesn’t have extensive foreign policy experience, Nauert built a strong rapport with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, accompanying him on trips to Pyongyang and the recent Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires last week. ASTANA, November 29 -- Turkey has moved its heavy weapons to Syria’s provinces.
It's conducting a policy of Turkization of the local population, which is tantamount to outright aggression, the Syrian government’s chief delegate to the Astana talks, representative at the UN Bashar Jaafari said on Thursday. "Instead of sending a lightly armed agreed police mission Turkey has moved helicopters, troops and heavy military equipment to cities in northern Syria," he said. "Turkish flags are being hoisted in the cities. We regard Turkey’s actions as outright aggression," Jaafari said. NEW YORK, November 28 -- The UN Council on Human Rights-linked Committee for the Protection against Racial Discrimination discussed the situation of religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq, Qatar and Honduras at a session held at the UN Geneva Office with the participation of international NGOs.
During the Iraqi debate, civil society group Minority Rights underlined how there are still religious and ethnic inequalities in Iraq. While the minorities in Iraq cannot benefit from the riches of the country, the group underlined that the religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq are in danger of attack. In a speech on behalf of the International Geneva Center for Justice, it was stated that the Iraqi government never obeyed international treaties to protect minorities. Emphasizing that the Iraqi government supports local militia forces that are violating human rights, the Geneva Center for Justice called on Iraqi government to ban violent videos in Iraq. Maat for Peace and Development and Human Rights, said that women in Iraq face great discrimination and violence. Iraqi government policies have actually strengthened attacks on women, and the two organisations called on the government to develop policies to protect religious and ethnic minorities, and particularly to protect women. It was also pointed out that everyone, especially women, targeted by DAESH should actually enjoy protection. Many international non-governmental organizations pointed out in their speeches that ethnic and religious minorities targeted by DAESH still live in a vulnerable situation. International NGOs said that the Yazidis who were specifically and violently targeted by DAESH, are still facing many dangers, and underlined that people who fled their houses due to DAESH attack still cannot return to them because of security reasons. The speeches also emphasized that Yazidis and women still live in a vulnerable situation of discrimination and called upon the Iraqi government to take action on this. The Czech government on Wednesday decided it will not join a United Nations pact on migration, becoming the latest European state to shun the accord. The non-legally binding Global Compact for Migration was finalized in July and is set to be adopted by UN member states at a meeting in Morocco in December.
"The Czech Republic has long favored the principle of separating legal and illegal migration," Deputy Prime Minister Richard Brabec told a news conference. "That is what the Czech Republic's and other European countries' suggestions aimed for. The final text does not reflect those proposals." Prime Minister Andrej Babis had previously stated he was against the migration pact even though it was non-binding because "it, in fact, defines migration as a basic human right." Latest country to reject pact The United States was the first to announce it would not join the pact. It was followed by Hungary, Australia, Bulgaria and Austria. Poland, Slovakia and Italy have signaled they may not sign on. Among other reasons, opponents of the compact say it does not distinguish between economic migrants and asylum-seekers. The agreement, officially titled the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, marks the first time the UN has agreed on a list of global measures to tackle the challenges involved in migration while at the same time maximizing benefits for the countries taking in immigrants. The compact is based on the recognition that the world needs to cooperate if migration flows are to be managed in a humane manner, while still taking account of the principle of state sovereignty. Some 258 million people currently live outside their country of birth worldwide, a number that is expected to increase because of climate change, trade, inequality, and population growth. ROTTERDAM, November 5 -- Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic will not sign the UN’s Global Compact for Migration (GCM).
The website bases the decision on a Facebook post by Croatian TV journalist Velimir Bujanec. He asked her position on the GCM after a lot of people we’re interested in her stance. In the answer his editorial board received, President Grabar-Kitarovic literally states: ‘Be assured I will not sign the ‘Marrakech Agreement’, Bujanec writes on Facebook. The President’s reply was forwarded by her spokeswoman, Mrs. Ivana Crnić, and among other things, she states: “Your concern about illegal migration and the ‘Marrakesh Agreement’ is absolutely understandable, however, in this case it is not about accepting illegal migrants, the Office of the President is in any form involved in the negotiations on the Declaration and you can refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs, which is the holder of all activities, in the sense of details … Be sure I will not sign the “Marrakech Agreement” … ” Croatia joins a growing number of countries that have decided to not sign the UN migration pact. Earlier the United States, Hungary and Austria refused to sign it. Countries like Poland and the Czech Republic are mostly opposed to it as well. |
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