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30 December 2008, by Cornelisse Galina
Analyses of the legal challenges posed by the interception of migrants, be it in the territorial waters of sending states or the high seas, have predominantly focused on the rights of refugees and non-refoulement. However, a focus on the wider implications of this specific form of externalisation and the international legal framework in which it takes place is much called for. In order to evaluate the remarkable discursive shift from illegal immigration to illegal migration in European policies, an overview of the legal norms regulating international movement is indispensable.
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24 December 2008, by Eurostat
This pocketbook provides a comprehensive picture of the current living conditions in the Member States and the Candidate Countries of the European Union, as well as in the EFTA States. For the first time in this publication some data is presented concerning the potential candidate countries of the European Union.
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24 December 2008, by Commission of the European Communities
The report presents a global overview of the European Union’s main strategies, policies and actions to anticipate change and tackle the negative effects of restructuring, that is to say when companies, industries and economic sectors are reorganised. It is the first of a series of regular reports dedicated to analysing restructuring processes and their effects on jobs.
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24 December 2008, by Conseil de l’Europe
The Committee of Ministers has just adopted a resolution on the protection of national minorities in Azerbaijan. The resolution contains conclusions and recommendations, highlighting positive developments but also a number of areas where further measures are needed to advance the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
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23 December 2008, by The Muslim Weekly
A doctor accused of attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow has told «astonishing lies», jurors have heard. Bilal Abdulla, 29, claimed he did not know Kafeel Ahmed, 28, was planning a suicide attack when a Jeep was driven into a building at Glasgow Airport. Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw QC told Woolwich Crown Court Mr Abdulla gave a «simply absurd» account of the June 2007 attack on the terminal building.
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23 December 2008, by The Telegraph
Reports that some of the terrorists who attacked Mumbai were British has focused attention on the UK Muslims who receive military training at extremist madrassas in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In this report, filed three years ago, Telegraph correspondents expose how young Britons travel to al-Qaeda camps to learn how to destroy the West: Deep inside an anonymous office building at the heart of the Pakistani Army’s sprawling Rawalpindi headquarters last week, a metal door swung open and two smartly dressed British officials stepped into a spartan, windowless room.
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23 December 2008, by The Guardian
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is said to have been one of the founders of Lashkar-e-Taiba when it was formed in 1989. When the Guardian met him in Pakistan in 1998, it found a «short, round man in spectacles» delivering a sermon to his disciples in which he told them: «Terrorists are killers, they kidnap and murder the innocent, but a jihad is to help the poor, the weak and the starving and to establish the supremacy of Allah.» His stated opponents then were those he regarded as heretics - liberal Pakistanis and the Shia Muslim, Christian and Hindu minorities.
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23 December 2008, by Independent
More than 4,000 British Muslims have passed through terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to security agencies, providing a fertile recruitment pool for the Islamist international jihad. Men from the UK’s Kashmiri community have joined groups such as Lashkar-e-Toiba, the prime suspects in the Mumbai attacks, which have been fighting against Indian forces in Kashmir. Others from a Pakistani background are in the ranks of the Taliban and other groups taking part in action against British and Nato forces in Afghanistan.
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22 December 2008, by Deutsche Welle
German federal police arrested two men Tuesday, Nov. 25, for operating a radical Islamist website and they are likely to face charges of supporting terrorism, prosecutors said. The German-language website, GIMF, which stands for Global Islamic Media Front, contained videos from al-Qaeda, Mesopotamian al-Qaeda and the radical group Ansar al-Islam. It also contained two videos made in Germany demanding the withdrawal of German and Austrian troops from Afghanistan, the prosecutor-general’s office in Karlsruhe said.
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22 December 2008, by News Agencies
According to Dutch government counter-terrorism chief Tjibbe Joustra, the threat of a terrorist attack in the Netherlands is higher than ever. At present, the threat level rests at its second highest level – «substantial.» Justra, however, said that he believes the level should be set to «substantial plus.» He dies not say what specific threats have lead to this occasion.
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22 December 2008, by Spiegel Online
Eric Breininger has been one of Germany’s most-wanted men since he joined the Islamist Jihad Union terrorist organization. He’s now resurfaced in a video from Afghanistan. His message: He has no plans for an attack against Germany. German officials have been looking for the young man for months. It is a search that has spanned the globe, but which had largely been fruitless. Until Tuesday that is, when Eric Breininger, a young German man from the western state of Saarland, popped up in an Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) terror video claiming he is currently in Afghanistan.
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22 December 2008, by Conseil de l’Europe
UNMIK (the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo) progress report on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) in Kosovo is now public. This report provides information on the measures taken to follow up on the 2006 recommendations of the FCNM monitoring bodies.
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22 December 2008, by News Agencies
The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE) condemned the «inexcusable and reprehensible» terror attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai. «The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe reminds of the vital importance of exercising self-restraint, and respect for the principle of peaceful coexistence and harmony in community relations in the multi-ethnic Indian society,» said a statement released by the Organization.
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22 December 2008, by News Agencies
Milan police arrested two Moroccan-born men on charges of plotting attacks against Italian targets. These targets included a supermarket, police barracks, and Milan’s Piazza del Duomo. The two men were said to have no ties to international terrorist groups, but did admire the work of such groups as Al Qaeda.
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17 December 2008, by The Muslim Weekly
Prominent Muslim organisations in Reading have condemned an Islamic group which has been set up in opposition to the Government’s Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) initiative. Reading Borough Council and Thames Valley Police are implementing a Home Office initiative designed to tackle violent extremism by working with Muslim communities. The Evening Post reported on Friday that Reading PVE Crisis Group has been set up with the support of more than 1,000 Muslims who feel the Government initiative is unfairly targeting the Muslim community.
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17 December 2008, by The Muslim Weekly
Three Tunisian men wanted in Italy for alleged terrorist offences have been extradited from Britain, police say. Habib Ignaoua, 47, Mohamed Khemiri, 54, and Ali Chehidi, 35, were arrested in 2007 on a European Arrest Warrant. Italian authorities accuse the trio of recruiting young men to join the jihad in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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17 December 2008, by The Telegraph
Extremists banned from entering the UK will be «named and shamed» under plans to be announced by the Government this week: In the last three years a total of 230 people have been barred from entering the country because of their extreme views but they are not currently named publicly. The bans on high profile figures, including radical Isalmist cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrkhan, only became known after the individuals themselves spoke out against the decisions.
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17 December 2008, by South Wales Echo
Muslim teenagers in danger of being «brainwashed» by extremists preaching hatred of western society are being targeted by an anti-racism group. It is just one of the new initiatives from Race Equality First designed to promote tolerance across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. Director Mohammed Tufail said: «There are young people in the UK who are trying to brainwash other young people into hatred.»
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17 December 2008, by Evening Standard
Just days after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced tough new measures to name and shame foreign-based extremists and prevent them coming from abroad to stir up hatred in the UK, firebrand preacher Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad cocked a snook at her new initiative, the Evening Standard can reveal. More than 200 Muslims at a packed public meeting in Tower Hamlets were told by organiser Anjem Choudary: «We have a special surprise, a special treat for you. Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad will be joining us on a live feed from Lebanon.»
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16 December 2008, by The Telegraph
Despite the fact that Islamist extremists have only mounted one «successful» attack in Britain - the 7/7 bombings in which 56 people died - the threat of terrors attacks in the UK has not gone away: The official threat level is classed as being «Severe» - this is one down from the highest level, «Critical», which means an attack is imminent. Over the last few months, we in Britain have become a little obsessed with the economy, falling house prices and the credit crunch, but it should not be forgotten that a significant number of UK citizens have been planning to carry out attacks with the aim of causing mass casualties.