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The number of people seeking international protection in Ireland in the first three months of this year has risen by more than 2,000 compared to the same time last year. Figures from the Department of Justice show 5,163 people applied for international protection up to 28 March. This represents a rise of 2,170, or 72%, from the same period of time last year when 2,993 applications were made by 28 March 2023. More than one third of those who have applied for international protection so far this year are from Nigeria (1,668) while 416 are from Bangladesh, 400 from Pakistan,...

Focus Ireland is hoping to help thousands of homeless people to register to vote ahead of the local and European elections in June. Focus Ireland’s director of advocacy, Mike Allen, said that there are around 9,500 homeless adults in Ireland and many of them would not be registered to vote. The charity is now hoping to change that as voting registration was simplified after the Electoral Reform Act was passed in 2022. More than 50,000 Irish people have spent at least one night of their lives homeless, according to figures published by Focus Ireland. …

Since opening the gates to unfettered mass migration in 2015, at least 7,000 women have been raped or sexually assaulted in Germany by alleged asylum-seeking illegal migrants, an analysis of government figures has found. A report from the Swiss-German paper of record, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, claimed that statistics from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) show that more than one thousand women — mostly Germans — have been sexually assaulted by migrants seeking refuge every year since 2017.

Because it spotlights the current state of affairs in the West -- and all the key players -- the recent uprising in Dublin should not be so quickly forgotten. Background: on Nov. 23, 2023, a Muslim man of Algerian origin, with a known criminal record, knifed a group of preschool children attending Saint Mary’s, a Catholic school in Dublin. Three children -- two girls and a boy aged between five and six -- and a care assistant who tried to defend them, were stabbed in the assault. Knifed near the heart, a five-year-old girl was critically injured and, as of...

A 30-year-old man has appeared before Dublin District Court charged in connection with a stabbing yesterday. The assault happened at the north end of Grafton Street, close to the junction with Wicklow Street, in Dublin city center at around 9 am. A man in his 30s suffered multiple stab wounds and was taken to St James’ Hospital for treatment. […] Mr. (Mohamed) Akrouf, who is originally from Algeria and moved to Ireland last November, is charged with assault causing harm and possession of a knife. …

PARIS (AP) — Hundreds of empty, parked cars go up in flames in France each New Year’s Eve, set afire by young revelers, a much lamented tradition that appeared in decline this year, which saw only 874 vehicles burned. The number of cars burned overnight has declined compared to New Year’s Eve 2019 when 1,316 vehicles went up in flames, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Saturday on Twitter. Fewer arson attacks occurred because of massive police presence on cities’ streets this New Year’s Eve, enforcing law and order and restrictions on public gatherings and wearing face masks as infections driven...

Germany remains the top destination for people seeking protection in Europe, with the number of asylum applications filed in the country already exceeding the 100,000 mark in 2021. Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) said that by the end of September it had received 100,278 initial applications from asylum-seekers. This is 35.2% more than in the same period last year. Most of the asylum-seekers who applied for protection for the first time came from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Of those, 40,472 initial applications came from people from Syria (up 57.1%), and 8,531 from people seeking protection from Iraq...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott asked President Biden to issue an emergency declaration for his state due to the increasingly difficult border crisis. In a letter to the president, Abbott specifically pointed to Val Verde County, where Haitian migrants have set up an encampment in Del Rio under the International Bridge. The governor said that as of Saturday there were nearly 16,000 migrants in Del Rio.

WARSAW, Poland -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that she found it unacceptable that refugees were being used to apply pressure to Poland and other European Union members on the border with Belarus. Speaking at a news conference during what she said she expected to be her last official visit to Poland as chancellor, Merkel appealed to Belarus...She stressed that she found it “completely unacceptable that such hybrid attacks” were being carried out with the use of people seeking to reach the EU...

A New Zealand supermarket chain announced that it was temporarily removing all scissors and knives from its shelves following an attack that left several people injured at one of its stores on Friday. A general manager of supermarket chain Countdown said it was also considering if they would sell such items in the future. "Last night, we made the decision to temporarily remove all knives and scissors from our shelves while we consider whether we should continue to sell them," Kiri Hannifin, Countdown’s general manager for safety, said in a statement on Saturday. "This is in no way a reflection...

Belarus has trucked Afghan migrants to the Polish border and forced them to cross at gunpoint as strongman dictator Alexander Lukashenko plays a 'dirty game' to destabilise the EU. Record numbers of refugees have been pouring across the 420-mile EU frontier with Belarus, which includes Latvia and Lithuania, since Brussels imposed sanctions on Minsk in June. Belarus is accused of keeping the migrants in prison-like hotels before driving them to the border as part of a Kremlin-backed 'hybrid war' to weaken the 27-state bloc,,,

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) said Afghans being evacuated from Afghanistan and resettled in the United States by President Joe Biden’s administration are “welcome” in his neighborhood. During an interview with Fox News Channel’s Chris Wallace, Sasse said American citizens have an obligation to bring anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000 Afghans to the U.S. for permanent resettlement.

Hundreds of Afghan refugees are staying at a northern Virginia campus as they await relocation to a more permanent destination. After arriving at Dulles International Airport Friday night, refugees spent the night at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, news outlets report. A college spokesperson said the refugees will stay at the campus anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Many refugees are destined for Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, Fort Bliss in Texas and Fort Lee in Virginia. The Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management set up more than 500 cots in ballrooms and community rooms. As word...

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said Sunday that his state will try to accept as many Afghan refugees as it can while the United States evacuates Americans and their Afghan allies from the country. “I was the first governor in America who came forward and said that we wanted to reach out and take more of these special immigrant visas for the people who have been our allies that we have committed to,” said Hogan, a Republican. CBS News’ Take on the nation.

Former President George W. Bush on Monday urged President Joe Biden to “cut the red tape” and allow for the swift evacuation of Afghan refugees following the Taliban’s takeover of the country. Responding to the fall of Afghanistan’s US-backed government, Bush said the Afghans “at the greatest risk are the same ones who have been on the forefront of progress inside their nation.” The costly US-led war in Afghanistan began just shy of 20 years ago after the 9/11 attack while Bush was president. Bush, in his Monday statement, noted Biden has promised to evacuate the Afghans who assisted Americans...

As more Afghan provinces fall into the hands of the Taliban, a debate on migration is underway in the European Union, with Germany and the Netherlands stopping deportations of failed Afghan asylum-seekers, and other countries asking for deportations to continue. Minister of State at Germany’s Foreign Ministry, Niels Annen, told Germany’s Funke Mediengruppe Thursday that it was “naïve” to believe that the advance of the Taliban and the violence in Afghanistan would have no consequences for migration policy “We will feel the effects in Germany as well, even if not in the coming weeks,” Annen said. An EU official on...

For decades, America led the world in humanitarian policies by creating a sanctuary for the oppressed, admitting more refugees annually than all other countries combined. That reputation eroded during Donald Trump’s presidency as he cut the number of refugees allowed in by more than 80%, and Canada replaced the U.S. as No. 1 for resettling people fleeing war and persecution. Trump has arguably changed the immigration system more than any U.S. president, thrilling supporters with an “America first” message and infuriating critics who call his signature domestic issue insular, xenophobic and even racist. The pain from a dismantling of the...

Canada, a nation of not quite 37 million people, wants to add more than 1 million immigrants through 2021. "Thanks in great part to the newcomers we have welcomed throughout our history, Canada has developed into the strong and vibrant country we all enjoy," Ahmed Hussen, minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, wrote in an annual report to Parliament. "Immigrants and their descendants have made immeasurable contributions to Canada, and our future success depends on continuing to ensure they are welcomed and well-integrated." Hussen, now in his early 40s, fled to Canada from war-torn Somalia when he was 16. A...

British interior minister Sajid Javid has said the fast-growing number of would-be immigrants crossing the English Channel from France in dinghies is a “major incident.” Nearly 70 people have been intercepted in the past three days as they try to reach England by crossing one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. […] The Member of Parliament for Dover on England’s southeast coast, Charlie Elphicke, has called for more government funding to deal with the arrivals and the Home Office said Javid has asked border officials to look at options for bringing in extra patrol ships. …

Europe must get a handle on immigration to combat a growing threat from rightwing populists, Hillary Clinton has said, calling on the continent’s leaders to send out a stronger signal showing they are “not going to be able to continue provide refuge and support”. In an interview with the Guardian, the former Democratic presidential candidate praised the generosity shown by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, but suggested immigration was inflaming voters and contributed to the election of Donald Trump and Britain’s vote to leave the EU. “I think Europe needs to get a handle on migration because that is what...