MidnightCall Magazine
In this issue:
- Hear theWord of the Lord — By Thomas Lieth
- FirstThessalonians 3 and the Rapture — By Dr. Ron J. Bigalke Jr.
- Popular Prophecy:CheckingDogmaTwice — By Wilfred Hahn
News From Israel MagazineIn this issue:
- Why Jerusalem is Jewish — By Arno Froese
- ON THE HORIZON:
- Analysis: Birthright Needs to Transform on Larger Scale
- Israel Praises Turkish Authority for Preventing Hezbollah Attack
- Relationship with American Jews Is Changing
- A Festival of Discrimination—Funded by the EU
- The Cyrus Cylinder
Pirates Want to Stay in Europe
Pirates captured after attacking a Dutch vessel have gone on trial in the liberal Netherlands and at least two of them have declared their intention to stay on as residents.
Geert-Jan Knoops, an international criminal law attorney and professor at the Royal University of Utrecht, has suggested that the Dutch trial might encourage pirates to surrender just in order to seek a better life in Western countries.
“These trials may trigger other pirates to let themselves be arrested on purpose,” he told the Volkskrant newspaper.
“The Dutch Justice department must be cautious. I cannot imagine the five alleged pirates would voluntarily return to Somalia after their conviction.”
The five Somali pirates were arrested off the coast of Africa by Danish marines after attacking the Samanyulo, a Dutch-flagged cargo ship.
But since Somalia has a record of international human rights violations it will be almost impossible to deport the men after their conviction in the Netherlands.
“Life is good here,” said one of the defendants, named Sayid, about his experience in a Dutch jail.
“I appeal to the government not to send me back to Somalia. The people who live here respect human rights. I wish to settle here.”
Willem-Jan Ausma, a Dutch defense attorney who is representing another pirate, described his client’s relief to be in a Western prison.
Mr. Ausma has told the Somali that he will be considered for a residence permit after serving his sentence, expected to be a maximum of four years in prison.
“He intends to send for his wife and children as soon as he is released from prison. He knows he cannot easily be sent back to Somalia. He loves it here in the Netherlands,” Mr. Ausma told the NRC Handelsblad newspaper.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk, 20 May 2009
This report confirms again that valid international laws must be established and enforced. The pirates say it’s better in prison than living in Somalia. This country of about 10 million Sunni-Muslims is one of the poorest in the world. The GDP per capita stands at $600. Life expectancy is only 49 years and infant mortality is 110 deaths per 1,000 live births. The Netherlands (Holland) on the other hand, is listed to have a 79.4 year life expectancy, with 4.73 infant mortality and a GDP which stands at $40,300. Thus, even the poorest from among the poor are extremely rich in comparison with Somalians.
The African plight is also highlighted by the virtually unending legal and illegal immigration to Europe. Another article by the euobserver.com reports:
UN figures indicate a big leap in the number of African migrants crossing the Mediterranean to the EU, with people increasingly willing to take the risk in winter as well as summertime.
Over 35,000 African migrants landed in italy in 2008 compared to some 20,000 in 2007, according to fresh figures from the UN refugee center, the UNHCR.
“We can no longer consider summer the only season when people arrive. Now they are coming all year round,” UNHCR spokeswoman Laura Boldrini said. “That is more dangerous because the sea conditions are apt to change more abruptly in the colder months.”
The remarks come after 2,400 people arrived on the small Italian islands of Lampedusa and Linosa over two days. The Maltese coastguard picked up another 139 migrants.
The UNHCR and NGOs such as Arci have warned that any group deportations may violate asylum rights. In the past, most of the people trafficked to Europe have been economic migrants from Maghreb states. But a significant proportion were also fleeing conflict zones, such as Somalia and Eritrea.
“These people come from terrible places and are running from the extremes of human behavior – torture, rape and violence – and deep poverty. It cannot be right to treat them with contempt, detain or house them in horrible conditions in Europe,” Jesuit Refugee Service activist, Father Joseph Cassar, told the Guardian.
Fortresseurope – a blog charting local news reports – says that since 1988 at least 9,400 people have died at sea trying to get to Europe, on top of those who actually arrive.
(30 December 2008)
There is no ceasing in sight of the exodus from African countries to Europe. Obviously, this immense problem cannot be solved in the near future and will require closer cooperation between African nations and the European Union. Quite naturally, it will lead to the establishment of new international laws.