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17.11.2008, 11:14

The trouble with tolerance

In these times of globalisation, mass mobility of people and interdependence, the International Day of Tolerance is a laudable exercise in trying to diffuse the problems arising from our advancement to a more pluralist society, says freelance writer Ciara

24.11.2008, 07:01

Neo-Nazis sentenced in Israel

An Israeli court has sentenced a gang of neo-Nazis to up to seven years in jail for a series of violent attacks last year.

“Hypocritical” UK rejects asylum seekers

Published: 12 November, 2008, 10:24
Edited: 26 February, 2010, 15:47


The British Government stands accused of “double standards” on the emotive issue of asylum. While the Foreign Office in London has warned that 21 countries face humanitarian disasters, UK immigration officials have refused refuge to 77,000 fl

During the past five years some 77,000 people have been refused asylum from countries that the UK Foreign Office has described as “dangerous and unstable”. What amounts to an astonishing 40 refugees a day are facing a closed door when they arrive in the country which until recently provided refuge to those escaping terror and persecution.

At the same time that these shocking figures were exposed, the Foreign Office, following a human rights report, listed 21 “major countries of concern”. Fifteen of the 21 still have the death penalty and terrified citizens are trying to flee the turbulent and troubled nations.

The report warned of “widespread sectarian violence, lawlessness and violent insurgency” in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq. Yet at the same time destitute citizens fleeing the pandemonium are being denied safety and sanctuary, with as many as 13,131 Iraqi nationals having their applications for asylum turned down.

Paul Holmes, the Liberal Democrats justice spokesman said it was “staggering” that so many asylum applications had been refused.

He said many of the applications were “from countries the government admits it is concerned about.”  He said it was “vital that Britain remains a beacon of freedom in a world of too many tyrants”.

The British Home Office has defended its policy saying that refugees that arrive in Britain are individually judged on a case by case basis. A spokesperson for the UK Border Agency said that “Britain has a proud tradition of offering refugee status to those in genuine fear of persecution. However, when an independent judge decides a person does not need asylum, we expect them to return home.”

Although Britain is a notorious “soft touch” for those seeking asylum, UK ministers stand accused of behaving hypocritically in hastily labeling 21 countries as “urgent”, while refusing to offer safety and protection to people fleeing those very nations.

Perhaps Britain needs to take a more relaxed approach to destitute individuals by offering them stability until their own countries are a safer place to return to.

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Blue blood... Anya Bazanova 12.11.2008, 07:39 2 comments

Russian girl learns she's an African princess

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AFP Photo / Alberto Pizzoli 12.11.2008, 10:40

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David February 26, 2010, 05:36
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Hi All, The next election will be a choice between two main political parties that represent nothing more than two deckchairs on the uk titanic which is rapidly sinking under the financial burden of the following: a) Large numbers of mostly unskilled legal immigrants who do menial jobs on low wages (paying virtually no tax) but who are entitled to Free education for their children and free NHS care for themselves and their families as well as a raft of other benefits after a qualifying period. Within this sub group are Asylum and failed asylum seekers and illegal immigrants with various entitlements. b) The other group of people that have brought the country to its knees are the ever growing underclass of home grown benefit scroungers whose lifestyle is to live off other taxpayers. The financial squeeze has merely exposed the fact that the above burdens can no longer be maintained, driving the UK into near bankruptcy. The only way out for the taxpaying middle class is to emigrate (as i plan to do) to a lower tax and lower cost country. This is already taking place on a massive scale as the total white population is the only population to have declined in the uk in the past 10 years despite the baby booming efforts of the white underclass scroungers. At least where i am going, i know that the taxes i pay will not go to scroungers of any description as scroungers are not allowed into the country, and in any case no benefits are paid by the government to anyone so the scroungers cannot survive. A novel idea, i know, but where i'm going, everyone works for a living. God knows what will happen to the UK - maybe another Zimbabwe? I will observe the news from a safe distance.

frank February 07, 2010, 13:26
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Is;nt it time Russia came off the fence and took a more responsable attitude towards world affairs there is no cold war anymore,the largest country in the world with untold wealth in oil and raw material,it is a country so inward looking ,still hanging on to it's super power status,let go..as far as asylum seekers are concerned Russia is a cold inhospitable country,i mean would you go to a country years behind the west when you can go to a country where you are treated better than it's indigenous peoples.. no Russia is still a decadent police state where human life is still cheap,and would most probably worst off in Russia than the country they came from, untill theres radical reform from central govt,( does anyone know of a party who fits the bill??) admit no more immigrants,ruthlessly police our borders,after all we are an island.

BLOCKEM January 14, 2010, 20:21
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Igm .... The assorted immigrants ARE being invited to make use of our democratic process by being encouraged to vote: This is included in the Glasgow Register of Electors 2008/09 .... quote: Citizens of Member States of the European Union - include all citizens of the following states. Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden. These citizens will be registered as local government electors and (unless they are all qualifying commonwealth citizens such as citizens of Cyprus, Malta, or the Irish Republic, who can vote in all elections) are also entitled to vote in Scottish Parliament elections. :unquote The big concern is that the UK’s indigenous people will opt to emigrate - taxpayers leaving to be replaced by immigrants who cannot contribute to our economy.