Calais migrants abandon plans for life in UK and start learning French
The roof is plastic held up by a crooked tree trunk, the desks just a jumble of cast-off chairs, but the students inside the Chemin des Dunes school are studying with the same intensity you would find in a Oxford seminar. At stake is the hope of a new life in France.
“The French language is very difficult, but we try hard. If we come every day, maybe we can touch our dreams,” says Kamal, a refugee from Sudan’s war-torn Darfur district who comes to three or four hours of classes every day. “It’s a good thing to keep your brain active.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/01/calais-camp-migrants-abandon-uk-learn-french
Church attacks David Cameron’s lack of compassion over asylum crisis
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The 29-year-old electrical engineer is one of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of refugees living in the “jungle” camp outside Calais who have applied for asylum in France and are eager to learn the language of what they hope will be their new home.
Like many of his fellow students, he is frustrated that media coverage of the sprawling tent-village has focused only on those who use it as a staging post for risky nightly bids to sneak on board cross-Channel lorries or trains.
Immigration the major concern for Europeans: poll
Immigration is the main concern of Europeans, ahead of economic problems and unemployment, according to a new opinion poll released by the European Commission.
A similar poll last November had the economic situation, employment, and public deficits top of the list.
Since then immigration has been a hot topic, with Italy, Greece and Malta having to deal with unprecedented arrivals by sea from Africa and the Middle East.
The latest flashpoint is in Calais, northern France, where each day hundreds of migrants attempt to sneak across to Britain via the Channel tunnel.
According to the study, released on Friday, 38 percent of respondents across the European Union cited immigration as their top concern.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/immigration-major-concern-europeans-poll-131706408.html#4avbNbu
Migrant crisis requires urgent multinational response
It is important to note that the migrants are not seeking to enter Britain to claim benefits (Report, 30 July): migrants can access benefits in France more easily and the British Red Cross points out that migrants want to enter Britain as they already speak English and think it will be easier to find work. Those advocating tougher punishments for migrants should remember what they have already risked to reach Calais. About half of those seeking to cross the Mediterranean in 2014 were Syrian (and fleeing a brutal civil war) or Eritrean (and escaping a regime so oppressive it’s nicknamed the “North Korea of Africa”), meaning they were willing to take extraordinary risks to escape. The EU’s Operation Triton is far less comprehensive than Italy’s previous Mare Nostrum rescue operation, drastically increasing the risk posed to migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean. Nonetheless, even as the crossing has become more perilous, the numbers attempting it have surged. Even if they reach Calais, any attempt to cross the Channel is a gamble: in the last month alone, nine people have been killed trying. With migrants willing to take such risks, it is difficult for David Cameron’s government to dissuade them any further.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/31/migrant-crisis-requires-urgent-multinational-response
Foreign visitors to Canada to face electronic screening
Starting Saturday, Ottawa will start accepting applications for electronic travel authorization from foreign travellers who wish to visit Canada by air
Millions of travellers will soon face another layer of red tape when they try to visit Canada.
Starting Saturday, Ottawa will start accepting applications for electronic travel authorization (eTA) from people who wish to travel to Canada by air.
Prospective travellers have until March 15 to submit their biographic, passport and other personal information through Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s website for pre-screening or face being denied entry when the border enforcement kicks in.
The new measure — part of the harmonization with the United States’ travel security system — will apply to most air passengers, including all applicants for study and work permits, as well as those who come from countries that currently do not require a visa to come to Canada.
“Providing the information required by these amendments will allow Canada to determine the admissibility of foreign nationals before they arrive at the border and whether their travel poses migration or security risks,” the immigration department says.
The eTA system will “enhance data-gathering capacity, improve intelligence, close the gap on the lack of information that is provided for commercial aviation inbound traffic, and more generally to enforce the visa program.”
Abandoned by Canada, Afghan women’s rights activist wins refugee status in Great Britain
MONTREAL — Three years after her work with a Canadian government-funded human rights group sparked death threats and forced her to flee Afghanistan, Adela Mohseni has finally found a safe refuge.
But instead of building a new life in Canada, as she had hoped, Mohseni has been taken in by the United Kingdom. While happy to have been granted asylum, she feels abandoned by Canada and says the years in limbo took a toll.
“It’s three years that I have been seeking asylum, three years that I have been unemployed,” Mohseni, 35, told the National Post in a written statement. “My mental health has deteriorated. … Who will make reparations for all this misfortune?”
In February 2012, Mohseni was on staff at the Kabul office of Montreal-based Rights and Democracy when she received a letter at her home accusing her of “co-operating with infidels.” An expert on international and Islamic law, Mohseni had been working on a program to reform Afghan family law. The night letter, a common Taliban intimidation tactic, said she had betrayed the Qu’ran and now faced death.
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