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Trump said the 1st amendment -which stands for freedom of belief and speech- makes clear “that our rights do not come from our government; they come from God”. He regretted “80% of the world’s population live in countries where religious liberty is threatened, restricted or even banned”.

The percentage he cites comes from a report from the Pew Research Center in 2016, where this independent think tank also mentions Muslims being targeted in the United States and directly links this to the current present president of the country:

“In the United States, Muslims were the targets of derogatory rhetoric and proposed discrimination. In July, Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump criticized the parents of a Muslim soldier who was killed in Iraq (…). Later in the year, President-elect Trump appeared to stand by plans for a temporary ban on Muslim immigration to the United States and a proposed requirement that U.S. Muslims register in a database”, the report summary reads.

>>> You may also read: Alicia and Aladdin, the beautiful love story of a Catholic and a Muslim<<<

But Donald Trump’s speech on religious freedom this Monday at the UN ignored his rethoric and measures against Muslims: “As we speak, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Yazidis and many other people of faith are being jailed, sanctioned, tortured and even murdered, often at the hands of their own government, simply for expressing their deeply held religious beliefs. So hard to believe”.

He called upon all the countries of the world “to end religious persecution”, “repeal laws restricting freedom of religion and belief, protect the vulnerable, the defenceless and the oppressed”. The US president assured: “Protecting religious freedom is one of my highest priorities and always has been”.

“Repeal laws restricting freedom of religion and belief, protect the vulnerable, the defenceless and the oppressed”

What he did not mention was the “temporary ban” on Muslims he promised to implement if he became president and which finally has gotten a version of it for some Muslim majority countries plus Venezuela and North Korea after the judges declared his first travel ban illegal.

He recalled recent “evil attacks” against worshippers in sinagogues in the US, in mosques in New Zealand and churches in Sri Lanka and urged every nation “to increase the prosecution and punishment of crimes against religious communities”. “There cannot be greater crime than that”, he said.

>>> You may also read: Attacks against mosques are more usual than you might think: they are committed by anti-Muslim terrorists and also by groups like ISIS <<<

Trump announced a coalition of US businesses for the protection of “all faiths” in the workplace, although he did not go into detail. “True tolerance means respecting the right of all people to express their deeply held religious beliefs”, he pointed out before saying to the victims of religious persecution that the US “will always stay at your side”.

Last July Donald Trump held a short meeting with people who survived religious persecution worldwide. Sitting on his chair at the Oval Office and surrounded by them, he talked with them in front of the cameras (watch White House video).

The victims were grateful for the opportunity to be listened, like Farid Ahmed, a victim of the Christchurch attacks against Muslims who became known after publicly forgiving the terrorist. But there were also awkward moments during the meeting with Trump, such as when a Rohingya refugee asked him for solutions to go back home after being forced to flee to Bangladesh together with another 740,000 Muslims since 2017. “Where is that exactly?”, Trump asked. “Burma”, an official had to clarify (meaning the state nowadays known as Myanmar). Or like when he asked Nobel Peace Prize Nadia Murad why she obtained the award. She is a Yazidi woman survivor of ISIS genocide against this religious community who brought up attention worldwide about these mass killings, mainly in Iraq.

The law known as “Muslim ban” or “Travel ban” finally included countries which are not Muslim majority nations: North Korea and Venezuela. But it kept Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Iran among those with restrictions, including no travel at all for Syrians and North Korea people. Iraq and Sudan, which where among the countries in the first executive order, where finally dropped.

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Only 32% of respondents consider the EU’s fight against terrorism as adequate, although it is a 9% more than in 2016. At the same time, 57% of the citizens assess the EU’s fight against terrorism as insufficient, a 12% less than in the former Eurobarometer.

Terrorism is placed as the top priority of the survey respondents, closely followed by unemployment (76%) and the protection of the environment (75%). “These three areas were and remain the citizens’ top priorities’ for European intervention,” the report says.

>>> You may also want to read: Orbán’s Hungary suffers its worst defeat to date… but will there be real consequences?<<<

Together with the fight against tax fraud (74%), promotion of democracy and peace in the world (73%) and migration (72%) these six policy areas also match the topics citizens have chosen as priorities for the European elections next May.

27,601 people older than 15 years and from the 28 EU countries took part in the survey. 

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La entrada The fight against terrorism remains the top priority for EU citizens se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

The British organization registered at least 1,201 anti- Muslim reports in the UK in 2017. Together with another 129 reports which could not be verified as being of islamophobic nature, this is the highest annual number of incidents recorded by Tell Mama since its launch in 2012.

“We are in deeply worrying times,” director of Tell Mama, Iman Atta Obe, has said. “We are seeing more aggressive street-based incidents, younger perpetrators, increased vandalism and international interference by well organised social media accounts,” he added.

Obe indicated that “the younger perpetrator base seems to indicate that online anti- Muslim hate may be bleeding out into wider society and into a younger demographic. More than ever, we need to come together and redouble our efforts against those who seek to divide and play communities off against each other”.

“The younger perpetrator base seems to indicate that online anti- Muslim hate may be bleeding out into wider society and into a younger demographic”

70% of the verified incidents occurred offline, or on a street-level (839), which represents a 30% rise in offline reports when compared to 2016 (643). Over the last three years, Tell Mama has recorded 3,005 verified islamophobic incidents across the UK. While the number of online incidents has remained relatively constant, it has recorded a steady increase in offline anti- Muslim incidents year-on-year.

The most common age for victims (a total of 978) was 26 to 35 last year, while the most common age for perpetrators (a total of 1,161) was 13 to 18 (where the data was available). But there are also victims and perpetrators under 12, with a much higher proportion of victims (15%) than abusers (4%).

Crimes or incidents occurred online on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter account for a third of reports in 2017, a 16% more than in 2016. The ‘online hate’ figure is part of a wider trend in Tell Mama’s datasets where there has been a marked shift towards more serious offline incidents, such as physical attacks, threatening behaviour and abuse more generally, the NGO indicated in a press release. It may also be due to a growing awareness of this organization resulting in a greater willingness amongst victims and witnesses to report.

Russian Twitter bots

The annual report of Tell Mama has listed examples of Twitter bots which actively promoted islamophobic hatred. One such Twitter account was @DavidJo52951945. Responses to the rhetoric on this account, called for violent action against islamic institutions and on August 30^th 2017, the Times reported that this bot originated from Russia.

Another Twitter account called @SouthLoneStar (now suspended) was responsible in starting a global trend after the Westminster terrorist attack, Tell Mama assures. After the attack on Westminster Bridge it shared a photo of a Muslim woman walking across the bridge on a mobile phone apparently ignoring one victim.

‘The Guardian’ reported that the @SouthLoneStar account was the “creation of the Internet Research Agency, a Russian “troll army” based in St. Petersburg although the bio of the Twitter account said its owner was a “proud TEXAN and AMERICAN patriot”. This army would be where, “in rooms of about 20 people working 12-hour shifts for pay of between 45,000 and 65,000 rubles a month (£575-£830), a disinformation campaign is crafted”, the newspaper explained.

“We need to maintain vigilance against foreign interference, in these cases, emanating from Russia, which seek to promote division and intolerance in the UK”

“We need to maintain vigilance against foreign interference, in these cases, emanating from Russia, which seek to promote division and intolerance in the UK,” Tell Mama says.

52% of the islamophobic incidents reported to Tell Mama in 2017 happened on Twitter (37% on Facebook). The British organization accused the social media platform of “inactivity in removing anti- Muslim hate material”, an attitude it considered not only “deeply worrying” but “a wanton lack of desire to understand this hatred on its platform”.

Its annual report strongly criticizes Twitter’s “inability to stop individuals opening up new accounts repeatedly, when they have been banned from using the platform”. In one case, a victim had to report in eleven separate accounts for harassment, Tell Mama exemplified.

Most common hate incidents

The most widely reported anti- Muslim hate incident was classified as ‘abusive behaviour’ followed by ‘physical attack’ as the second most reported incident.

Vandalism replaced threatening behaviour as the third most common islamophobic incident.

Discrimination was the fourth most common incident. This category included mistreatment, denial of opportunities or denial of services based on “Islamophobic prejudice, some of which was institutional in nature”, according to Tell Mama.

These incidents often happen in busy public spaces, such as shopping areas or transport networks. This may make perpetrators “feel they can act with impunity”, the report says.

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La entrada Anti- Muslim perpetrators in the UK are mostly minors se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

The people who have obtained refugee status around the world are 25.4 million, the equivalent of the entire population of Australia. And that is not even half of all the people who have been forced to move away from home around the world (68.5 million in total), because the majority stays elsewhere in their own country. In addition, there are 3.1 million people worldwide waiting for a response to their asylum application. The figures continue to rise for the fifth year in a row, according to the ‘Global Trends Report’ of the UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR).

On the occasion of the World Refugee Day on June 20, Salam Plan collects the most surprising data on refugees:

How many people who have had to flee their homes are minors?

More than a half. The 53% of those who have had to flee their home due to some conflict, war or because they were suffering persecution are under 18 years old, according to UNHCR.

Which countries are the ones that receive the most refugees?

Turkey is the country which hosts more refugees, giving international protection to 3.5 million people. Before the agreement with the EU, it already hosted more than 2 million. Proportionally, however, it is Lebanon that receives the most refugees. This small state between Syria and Israel hosts 1 million refugees along with 6 million Lebanese.

Among the five countries that receive the most displaced people there are also Pakistan and Uganda (both host about 1.4 million respectively) and Iran (979,400).

How many EU states are among the top 10 of the refugee-hosting countries?

Only Germany. It occupies the sixth place, with 970,365 refugees and people in similar situations, excluding asylum seekers.

The next European country that has granted international protection to more people is France, with 337,000. It is in 13th place among the host countries, at the same level with Cameroon.

>>> You may also read: The truth about the alleged pull-backs of migrants from the sea to Libya<<<

How many displaced people do the developing countries receive?

85% of the forced displaced people in the world are in developing countries, according to UNHCR, the neutral UN agency that manages international protection requests.

The ‘top 10’ is formed by Turkey, Pakistan, Uganda, Lebanon, Iran, Germany, Bangladesh, Sudan, Ethiopia and Congo in this order.

How many people are stateless, without recognized nationality?

10 million, the same as the population of Hungary.

Which are the countries of majority origin of the refugees?

Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia. In all of them there is war or an open armed conflict. The case of Myanmar is particular, because of the ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslim minority denounced by the UN.

How many people have died in the Mediterranean since 2015, the year in which there were large arrivals of asylum seekers to Europe?

12,887 have died or disappeared, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a United Nations agency. The deadliest year was 2016, with 5,143 dead. These are the people for whom there is some proof, but the organizations warn that the numbers are probably higher.

The Mediterranean is the “deadliest” migration route in the world, according to the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR). So far in 2018, 857 people have died or disappeared in the Mediterranean.

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La entrada These are the facts that will surprise you the most on the World Refugee Day se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

Of the nearly 30,000 people who left their country -the so-called ‘foreign fighters’, at least 5,600 citizens or residents of 33 countries have returned home; 1,700 of them, to Europe. These are data of the new report Beyond the Caliphate; Foreign fighters and the threat of returnees published by the The Soufan Center, an organization devoted to the analysis of global security and emerging threats based in New York.

Most of the foreign fighters of ISIS or Daesh are originally from the former Soviet republics (more than 8,700), followed by people from the Middle East (more than 7,000) and in the third place, from Western Europe (more than 5,700). At present there are at least 15 European countries – including the Balkans – that have recorded the return of these suspected terrorists to their countries.

Although the United Kingdom is the third European state in number of foreign fighters, it is the one that more returnees has registered: 425, according to data of February of 2017. That is 25% of a total of 1,700.

On the other hand, France is the European country which produced more foreign fighters: it estimates that 1,900 citizens or residents in their country travelled to Iraq and Syria to join Daesh on the ground of their supposed caliphate; at least 271 of them have returned, according to data from last August. Germany is the second country most affected by this phenomenon, with approximately 915 foreign fighters and a large number of returnees in Europe: approximately 300, according to March figures.

It is important to note that not all those who are counted as foreign fighters managed to arrive at their destination, as on many occasions the Turkish, Moroccan or other authorities prevented them from doing so thanks to the cooperation with their countries of origin.

France is the European country that has frustrated more attempts of this emigration: more than 2,600. Behind it are Belgium (over 1,500), UK (about 1,200) and Germany (over 650).

The returnees pose a “huge challenge” for security and law enforcement but most of the attacks claimed by Daesh both on European soil and in the rest of the world were not carried out by returnees

Richard Barrett, author of the report and former director of global counter-terrorism at MI6, says that returnees pose a “huge challenge for security and law enforcement entities”. But at the same time he acknowledges that the facts show that in most of the attacks claimed by Daesh both on European soil and in the rest of the world were not carried out by returnees, the same argument Raffaello Pantucci, counterterrorism expert of RUSI think tank, recently pointed out on Salam Plan.

“They generally appear to have had a stronger desire to join something new rather than destroy something old. As a result, returnees have, so far, proved a more manageable problem than initially anticipated,” Barrett says. And reminds that last September, the French authorities spoke of a decrease in the ratio of returnees.

Barrett, who also was UN coordinator of its al-Qaida/Taliban monitoring team from 2004 to 2013, points out as well that among those who return there are also repentant or disenchanted people, because they did not find what they were looking for when they followed the promise of the alleged caliphate of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“Returnees have, so far, proved a more manageable problem than initially anticipated (but) states have not found a way to address the problem of returnees. Most are imprisoned, or disappear from view”

Nevertheless, Barret warns that the defeats on the ground and loss of terrain- especially now, following the recent fall of Raqqa, the ‘capital’ of the terrorists – will lead its leaders to put more emphasis on supporting terrorist attacks outside Syria and Iraq, also profiting from the returnees. There are also women and children among them, by the way.

In his report, the analyst warns: “States have not found a way to address the problem of returnees. Most are imprisoned, or disappear from view. There will be a need for more research and information sharing to develop effective strategies to assess and address the threat.”

La entrada 1,700 ISIS members have returned to their home in Europe after migrating to the ‘caliphate’ se publicó primero en Salam Plan.