Immigration

Germany’s police chief says country struggles to deport foreigners Germany's federal police chief said a lack of pre-deportation facilities is hampering the deportation of rejected asylum seekers and illegal foreigners to third countries.

(Deutsche Welle) Germany is struggling to deport rejected asylum seekers, the country’s top police chief said on Wednesday. Federal police chief Dieter Romann blamed a lack of pre-deportation facilities for deportations not being carried out. Speaking to Germany’s Funke media group, he […]

Clerics & Preachers

Challenging Swedish city of Malmo honors Jewish-Muslim organization Rabbi Moshe David Hacohen and Imam Salahuddin Barakat established Amanah in 2017. Since then, they have been working together relentlessly to fight prejudice and foster trust.

(Jerusalem Post) The Swedish city of Malmö has bestowed its Human Rights Award on a rabbi and an imam who have been working together to bridge the gap between the city’s large Muslim population, the Jewish community and the general society. Rabbi […]

Law Enforcement

Germany: Nine terror attacks prevented since Berlin Christmas market killings Police say two terror-related incidents were prevented last month alone. Germany has been on heightened alert for fresh atrocities following the death of 'Islamic State' (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October.

(Deutsche Welle) Since the 2016 terrorist attack in Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz, German authorities have prevented a further nine attacks of a similar nature, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said Sunday. Indeed, last month alone, two acts of terror were thwarted, the BKA told Germany’s Welt […]

Children & Teens

Sanna Marin: ‘It’s not the government’s job to decide individual al-Hol cases’ The new PM told Yle on Saturday she wondered why the conservative NCP decided to take a hard line on Finns at al-Hol.

(Yle) Speaking on Yle’s talk show Ykkösaamu on Saturday, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said she was very pleased with the government’s decision to repatriate Finnish children from the al-Hol refugee camp. “It’s up to ministry officials to determine whether Finland will also […]

Law Enforcement

Germany: Berlin Christmas market evacuated over reported suspicious objects The Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz, where an Islamist terrorist carried out a deadly truck attack in 2016, was evacuated over reports of suspicious packages. But police later said nothing of the sort was found.

(Deutsche Welle) German police said on Saturday that they had asked visitors to Berlin’s Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz to leave the area after receiving information about suspicious objects. A concert event at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church had also been broken off as […]

Government & Politics

Germany: Fewer Islamists pose terror risk The number of Islamists posing a terrorist risk in Germany has decreased, according to figures from Germany's Interior Ministry. One official put this down to increased vigilance following the 2016 Berlin terror attack.

(Deutsche Welle) The threat from potential Islamist terrorists in Germany has decreased from last year, according to data from the German Interior Ministry. A total of 679 Islamic extremists in Germany were considered to pose a terrorist risk at the beginning of November 2019, compared […]

Children & Teens

Foreign Ministry: Two children to be repatriated from al-Hol camp The Foreign Ministry said that it will provide an update when the children are safely in the care of Finnish officials.

(Yle) The Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that Finland is preparing to evacuate two Finnish children from the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria, where relatives of Isis combatants are being held. The ministry said that to protect the children’s privacy and ensure […]

Children & Teens

‘Aren’t you ashamed?’ PM Marin stands ground during heated al-Hol debate Opposition parties came together to grill the government over a plan to repatriate Finns from a Syrian refugee camp.

(Yle) Opposition and government MPs clashed during a tense parliamentary debate over the government’s position on repatriating Finnish citizens currently at the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria on Tuesday afternoon. An opposition interpellation tabled last week set its sight on putting the […]