Joseph, Mary & Jesus were Illegal Immigrants

Signore Berlusconi doesn't even pretend to give a shit. He's from the "social Darwin" school school of philosophy: if you aren't strong or powerful, you deserve to die. Just look at that face!
Italy to jail clandestine migrants
A new crime of 'illegal immigration' has been constructed in Italy. (Photo: European Commission)
RENATA GOLDIROVA
Today @ 09:27 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU home affairs ministers are gathering in Brussels to discuss a number of proposals on immigration, attempting to set a common approach across member states.
Eyes will also be on Italy after the country passed a controversial law on Wednesday (23 July) that would make undocumented migration a crime punishable by up to four years in jail.
A total of 161 Italian lawmakers in the country's senate supported the measures, while 120 were against and eight abstained.
According to media reports, the legislation will introduce a new criminal offence - "illegal immigration" - punishable by six to four years in prison. The law also states that property rented to an undocumented immigrant can be confiscated.
[...] "Foreigners committed 60 percent of the attempted homicides, 60 percent of the robberies [and] 82 percent of the muggings," [my bold] Sandro Mazzatorta of the anti-immigrant Northern League party told the the BBC, referring to his perceptions of the situation in the city of Brescia.
The country's interior minister is also a member of the Northern League, in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's governing coalition. Mr Berlusconi returned to power following snap parliamentary elections in April. Fears over irregular immigration featured prominently during the campaign.
But the tough line has come under heavy criticism from the country's left-wing opposition political parties as well as the Catholic Church and human rights organisations.
According to Anna Finocchiaro from the Democratic Party, the newly adopted law undermines the principle of equality. "I don't know why someone should be punished more because they're an illegal immigrant," she said, Euronews.net reports.
Other opposition politicians have warned it could also aggravate racism in the country.[...]
http://euobserver.com/9/26531/?rk=1

The Iraqi Refugee Crisis

From today's EU Observer comes a substantial report on the refugee crisis:
Iraq and the EU: five years on
20.03.2008 - 09:21 CET By Renata Goldirova
It has been five years since the United States began its military operation dubbed 'Iraqi Freedom'. The war resulted in a deep rift in transatlantic relations, caused a split within the European Union and made Iraqis the single largest group seeking refuge in Europe.
[...] Some estimates suggest that up to one million Iraqis have been killed since 2003, while the financial burden amounts to some $9 billion for London and $845 billion for Washington. Former head of the IMF Joseph Stiglitz has recently estimated the cost to be as high as $3 trillion.

[...] According to fresh numbers released by the UN high commissioner for refugees earlier this week (18 March), asylum requests from Iraqis climbed to 38,286 in 2007, a sharp increase from the 19,375 claims in 2006.
A number of non-governmental organisations have therefore blamed the EU for not doing enough over a major refugee crisis, pointing to the fact that the treatment of Iraqis varies significantly from one member state to another.

For example, Sweden's reception facilities have been under huge pressure, as the Scandinavian country is the only one within the 27-nation bloc granting refugee status or other protection to almost all Iraqi asylum seekers. A total of 9,065 Iraqis applied for refugee status there in 2006, compared to 2,330 the previous year.

The EU "cannot continue to ignore one of the world's major displacement crises," says a statement of a group of eight NGOs, including Amnesty International and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles.

In general, it is estimated that six million people inside Iraq need urgent humanitarian assistance as a result of the conflict. Some 2.5 million are internally displaced, while an additional two million are hosted by neighbouring countries such as Syria and Jordan.
http://euobserver.com/9/25856/?rk=1

Rendition is Terrorism

EU capitals ignore Brussels' questions about rendition flights
19.03.2008 - 17:09 CET By Renata Goldirova

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission is set to criticise EU governments for failing to reply to a questionnaire, which, among other issues, aimed at shedding more light on CIA activities in Europe. So far, only Finland, Luxembourg, Poland and Spain responded to Brussels' call for clarity.
[...] The EU's executive body sent the questionnaire to all EU capitals on 15 December, with a 15 March deadline. The move followed a report from the European Parliament alleging that the US routinely flies terror suspects via Europe to overseas prison camps where some of them face torture.

[...] But EU states are traditionally reluctant to share security information, with the commission currently having "no legal power" to force them to do so. "The best we can do is to apply political pressure," the spokesperson said, adding that the situation will change once the EU's new treaty comes to force next year and a significant proportion of the justice and home affairs dossier will no longer be under the exclusive power of national governments.
http://euobserver.com/9/25851/?rk=1