Invest in migrants to avert civil unrest

Social integration crucial

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 11, (RTRS): After decades of spending on infrastructure to develop poorer parts of Europe, the European Union must invest in migrants to avert a “nuclear bomb” of civil unrest, a top EU official said.

Armed with a war chest of 350 billion euros ($428 billion) to spend by 2020 on its so-called cohesion policy, the European Union is aiming to reduce inequality across the bloc - mainly by pumping money into countries in eastern and southern Europe.

“Social integration will be crucial in the years to come,” European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu told the Thomson Reuters Foundation this week at the World Urban Forum, the world’s largest conference dedicated to cities.

“If we allow ghettos or segregation of migrants, this will become a nuclear bomb in the future,” the Romanian politician said at the gathering in Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur.

The EU asylum system came close to collapsing in 2015 as a million refugees and migrants arrived by boat, overwhelming Greece and Italy. Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic refused to take some of the new arrivals.

The dispute ended up in the courts and has weakened the bloc’s unity, spilling over to other policy areas.

European Union interior ministers are now grappling with the politically charged issue of reforming the bloc’s asylum system.

Ex-communist states continue to defy pressure from other European capitals to accept refugees travelling across the Mediterranean which would ease the burden on frontline nations such as Greece and wealthy destination countries like Germany.

Cretu, who oversees the cohesion policy, highlighted recent investments on the frontlines of Europe’s migrant crisis - from the purchase of two rescue boats for Italian authorities to a support network for mayors of cities wrestling with migration.

When residents and migrants clash, “mayors are in the middle”, Cretu said, citing the tiny Greek island of Chios, where arrivals of refugees and migrants have risen recently.

Corina

UN warns of rampant sexual violence:

Asylum seekers in Greece suffer widespread sexual violence and harassment in the country’s sub-standard, overcrowded reception centres, the UN said on Friday.

In 2017, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) received reports from 622 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence on the Greek islands, around one third of whom said they had been assaulted after arriving in Greece.

But UNHCR spokesman Cecile Pouilly said that there is a reluctance to report such violence out of fear, shame and concerns about discrimination, retaliation and stigma.

“The actual number of incidents is therefore likely to be much higher than reported,” she told reporters in Geneva, acknowledging that the UN has only a “very partial picture of what the reality is.”

Pouilly said the situation was most worrying in the reception and identification centres of Moira on Lesbos, and Vathy on Samos, “where thousands of refugees continue to stay in unsuitable shelter with inadequate security.”

These centres are currently holding around 5,500 people -- double their capacity, she added.

“In these two centres, bathrooms and latrines are no-go zones after dark for women and children,” she said, adding that “even bathing during the daytime can be dangerous.

Italians march against racism:

Thousands of Italians marched against racism on Saturday in the city of Macerata where a man opened fire on African migrants a week ago, injuring six people in what police said was a racially motivated attack.

The shootings have dominated recent days of campaigning for Italy’s March 4 parliamentary elections in which immigration is a major issue. More than 600,000 migrants have arrived on Italy’s shores from North Africa in the last four years.

Officials in Macerata, in central Italy, had originally banned the event due to fears of violence involving extreme right-groups, and only authorised it on Friday.

Italians and migrants peacefully carried Italian flags and banners against violence and racism, and flew red, heart-shaped balloons with the names of the victims of the shooting.

One placard read “fascist Salvini” a reference to Matteo Salvini, the leader of the right-wing Northern League party which campaigns strongly against illegal immigrants.

However, in a sign of widespread and growing antimigrant sentiment in Italy, none of the leaders of the main parties attended the march.

“We are here because we want to be a dam against this mountain of hate which is spreading continuously, a social hate against migrants and, in general, against the poor,” Francesco Piobbicchi told Reuters.

“The political parties are using populism to create hate, terror and division,” said fellow marcher Valentina Giuliodora.

Igloos built by migrants warm hearts:

San Simone, a tiny village in the Italian Alps, once had a thriving ski trade. But financial issues kept the lifts closed this winter. The local hotel now houses about 80 African asylum-seekers who were assigned to live there when they arrived in Italy.

But restaurant owner Davide Midali saw promise in both his village and its new residents. To lure tourists back, he set out to build igloos that could be rented overnight, like ones he had seen in Sweden. That’s how a handful of immigrants unaccustomed to the cold picked up the art of igloo-making.

“When some of them saw me creating these blocks of snow, they voluntarily decided to give a hand to reach a common goal,” Midali said.

Working with a small crew of volunteers, Midali built six igloos, each taking four or five days to complete. Omar Kanteh, a Gambian citizen who has been in Italy for nine months, is among the newcomers who embraced the construction project, as well as its friendly foreman.

“God made snow, but this time, man made igloos,” Kanteh said. “It was very strange to me, so I am very excited. This is a new talent in my life.”