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She has been a member of Angela Merkel‘s Council of Ministers since the beginning of the Chancellor’s Office in Germany in 2005. She has been Minister of Defense since December 2013 and was Merkel’s right-hand woman in the German Christian Democratic Party (CDU) since November 2010. Before Defense, she led the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs, and previously the Ministry of Family during one term each.

On her new Twitter account, Von der Leyen defines herself as “mother of seven [children], born in Brussels and European at heart”. In Europe there are almost 26 million Muslim citizens, according to a 2016 study by the Pew Research Center. This has been the political evolution of Von der Leyen with respect to this part of society:

An agreement for ​​value education only among Christians

At the beginning of her political career at federal level in Germany, the then minister for Family, promoted an “agreement for [value] education” ​​only with representatives of the Catholic and Protestant faith. It was in 2006 and both the Social Democrats and the Central Council of Muslims in the country criticized the initiative, considering it biased.

“The same way we learn our mother tongue, we have to first clarify our own position so that later we can open ourselves to other religions,” Von der Leyen justified. But she did not convince even all the members of her party. “If it’s about education, it’s also about an intercultural dimension,” the president of the Turkish-German forum of the CDU and Muslim politician Bülent Arslan, told Spiegel Online.

The policy was also criticized for limiting the educational alliance to religious organizations, without taking into account those who do not profess any faith nor did she invite teachers and educators to take part in the initiative.

Rabbis and imams in the army

As Minister of Defense, in November 2015 she was open to include imams as spiritual advisors in the Army for those soldiers who profess Islam, the Die Welt newspaper reported.

Five years later, this issue has been put on the table again, with the arrival of rabbis as spiritual advisers in a pilot project, as reported by the German media last April. Defense has committed to also incorporate imams, although it has not given a date to specify this measure and has explained that there is not a single Muslim body with which to make the necessary agreement.

Ursula von der Leyen argued that the measure – very much discussed – was an “important signal”. “Precisely in times in which anti-Semitism, religious polarization and narrow-mindedness in many places are booming,” the candidate to chair the European Commission found it important to also provide Muslim and Jewish soldiers spiritual advice, just as Catholics and Protestants already did, Deutsche Welle informed. She acknowledged that “they have expressed this desire for a long time and it is a justified wish”.

There are approximately 3,000 Muslim troops in the German Army and some 300 Jews, in addition to some 53,000 Protestant soldiers and 41,000 Catholics, according to official estimates.

Muslim soldiers, “indispensable” for missions abroad

In Germany there are between 4.4 and 4.7 million Muslims, according to official figures. In an interview in 2016, Von der Leyen tried to value German Muslim soldiers when asked about a “multicultural” army. “We have soldiers [of] Turkish, African or Arab [origin] and many German-Russians. In missions abroad we currently have some 170 Muslim soldiers. They are indispensable. With their knowledge of the language and culture, they provide us with access to the corresponding population, “she said to the Berliner Morgenpost.

Although this way she linked Islam to migration, and putting Muslims as foreigners is one of the discriminatory elements denounced by the European experts on islamophobia -like the Runnymede Trust-, it is necessary to indicate that the current leader of her party and its Spokesman in the Bundestag have stressed that Muslims are part of Germany just like any other person of another faith. Von der Leyen has spoken publicly in favor of “diversity” in society.

The much-talked-about visit to Saudi Arabia, without hijab

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La entrada Ursula von der Leyen and her view on Muslims in Europe se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

While being Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the socialist politician has expressed on more than one occasion his interest in tackling hatred and prejudice against Muslims, be it the 25 million Europeans who, it is estimated, follow this religion, or foreigners. There are two key statements he has made in this regard this year, which offer a hint to what his approach might be in regard to Islamophobia as the new head of European diplomacy:

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1. “Islam did not arrived in a rubber boat (…). It is part of European culture,” he said at the opening of a series of conferences entitled “Dialogue on open societies”, promoted by his Ministry in Casa Árabe, a Spanish public institution whose missions include the fight against Islamophobia.

The minister underlined that day, on January 14 of this year, that Spain is the part of Europe where Islam has been most lasting and remains “alive in language, in architecture, in Spanish demography.” In Spain, Muslims make up 4% of the population, with about 2 million Muslims and 43% of these being Spanish.

For Borrell, it is the presence of more than seven centuries of Islam in Spain that grants its country part of its character of “exceptionality” that is adduced in Europe. He stressed: “We must integrate the Islamic factor in an appropiate measure. Yes, there is an Arab [and Muslim] pillar in the European culture.”

Borrell said in that conference as well that “in the face of closed and xenophobic visions, we must bet on an open society” and regretted that in Spain “there are emerging parties that want Muslims to be considered enemies who must be expelled from the country.”

2. “We are studying – because it seems reasonable to us [the Spanish Administration]- that Islamophobia, like anti-Semitism, is considered a manifestation of hatred towards other human beings and receives the same kind of condemnation.”

This was Borrell’s response to Salam Plan in a press conference, when this website asked him about the possible specific classification of Islamophobia in the Spanish Penal Code or the separate registration of Islamophobic hate crimes in the statistics, in line with what United Nations and international experts ask for. It was during a press conference offered by the Spanish Foreign Minister after meeting with the Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in Madrid last March.

“Together we have to share a fight against the messages of xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism … in general against hate messages. Join our struggles against terrorism and extremism, common enemy, “he had previously declared.

The need to legally reflect Islamophobia separately is clear to both the UN and the OSCE or the editors of the European Report on Islamophobia. “It would be necessary to know in how many cases have been prosecuted hate crimes against the Muslim community [to] know the seriousness and extent of this problem,” UN special rapporteur on the rights of minorities, Fernand de Varennes, explained after visiting Spain in January.

The breakdown by ethnic and religious groups in statistics of hate crimes for him is “indispensable”. The rapporteur, did not want to give an opinion on the need or not to penalize specifically Islamophobia in the Spanish law on that date, as he recognized he needed to study the Spanish situation more in depth before drawing a conclusion on that respect.

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La entrada New head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell against Islamophobia: “Islam did not arrive in a rubber boat: it is part of the European culture” se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

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Ramia Chaoui does not want to go alone to the demonstration of this International Women’s Day in her city, Barcelona (Spain). But not only because it is more pleasant to attend in good company, but because she knows that she will be exposed to contempt or worse by some non-Muslim women. This happened last year to other Muslims like her who took to the streets to demand equality for women.

This time they have organized themselves in advance to go together and create what Chaoui calls a “safe space”. “Among all the things that affect me as a woman, like the rest, I also want to claim my presence on the streets and my space and my place”, this insurance consultant and Youtuber, better known as Ramia Schannel on social media, explains.

“Feminism is not having one [unique] conception of being a woman but rather granting women the ability to be anything they want and to give them the opportunities to make the choices for themselves”

— Hajar El Jahidi, European Forum of Muslim Women

“Feminism is not having one [unique] conception of being a woman but rather granting women the ability to be anything they want and to give them the opportunities to make the choices for themselves”, says the advocacy coordinator of the European Forum of Muslim Women based in Brussels, Hajar El Jahidi.

This Canadian-Morrocan woman makes clear that the situation described by Ramia Chaoui is not an exception: “There are feminist groups that often forget or exclude minority groups such as women of color or religious minorities.” Jahidi assures that “we are impacted by gender inequality the same way as other women”, in addition to facing discrimination because of their faith.

“The feminist movement in Greece has tried to impose another oppression, telling us what we should do and what not”

— Anna Stamou, Muslim Association of Greece

Anna Stamou is director of an export and import company in Athens. She is also the marketing director of the Muslim Association of Greece. “All women, regardless of their religion or ideology, have been discriminated against the men priority,” she recalls and asks for unity for women.

Stamou does not feel identified with the feminist movement in her country, though, because she says that “they have tried to impose another oppression, telling us what we should do and what not. The feminist movement in my country considers Muslim women oppressed, brainwashed and unable to form their own opinion.” Even so, this 8th of March she will participate in the mobilizations and the strike for the International Women’s Day, to stand up for women’s equality rights.

>>> You may also read: Muslim and feminist? These women show it is possible<<<

Neither submissive nor stupid

It is the demand for equality that Muslim women ask not only towards men, but towards some non-Muslim women who insult them or believe that they can not be feminists. They repeat for the umpteenth time that the veil or hijab is a personal and religious option. They do also condemn those policies in countries where women are forced to wear it.

The recently appointed High Representative of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), Miguel Ángel Moratinos, even highlighted this week on Twitter that in his fight for equality for women he will also include “the perception of Muslim women.”

“I do not accept that other women educate me, because I believe that I have enough tools, knowledge and critical thinking for me to rethink myself the questions of how I choose to lead my life and my spirituality,” explains Chaoui, from Barcelona.

“I do not accept that other women educate me, because I believe that I have enough tools, knowledge and critical thinking for me to rethink myself the questions of how I choose to lead my life and my spirituality”

— Ramia Chaoui, assurance consultant

The chairperson of the Citizen Platform Against Islamophobia and CEO of the Halal Institute in Spain, Isabel Romero, says that “of course” she takes part in the feminist strike and will be demonstrating. She asks “to leave us alone with what we wear or what we do not wear. If there are Muslim women who decide to cover themselves with the hijab, because they think that is part of their religious commitment, they are not hurting anyone.” By the way, she does not wear a headscarf.

Not dressing with a veil, the discrimination suffered by Romero is minor, she admits. But the tables turn when others learn about their faith: “I have been a professional for many years and at the moment in which I identify myself as a Muslim woman, it seems that I can only comment from that axis (and) it seems that I cannot give an opinion on economy, society or anything, just because I am Muslim.”

“I have been a professional for many years and at the moment I identify myself as a Muslim woman, it seems that I cannot give an opinion on economy, society or anything”

— Isabel Romero, Citizen Platform Against Islamophobia

Faced with the image of a submissive woman, Romero emphasizes that different rights of women such as divorce or inheritance have already been established in the Quran. The Islamologist and professor of the University of Barcelona, ​​Dolors Bramon, who is not a Muslim, also considers that the sacred book of Islam was revolutionary for women’s rights. She explains it in her book Ser mujer y musulmana (Being a Woman and Muslim)  (Ed. Bellaterra) and explained it HERE on Salam Plan.

Aurora Ali is secretary general of the Muslim Association for Human Rights, based in Spain. “Muslim women are not clothes”, she answers to those who believe that headscarf and feminism are not compatible. “Wearing the hijab right now is an act of bravery, a feminist claim, because ‘it is my faith and I am going to wear it and I decide on my body’, ” she claims. Like Romero, she recognizes that on the street she has the “privilege” of not being an object of hatred because she is Muslim, since she has chosen not to wear hijab.

“As soon as they see that you are a Muslim woman the hate speech is directly the typical one of: ‘your country’, ‘in Saudi Arabia’, ‘in Iran’ … Then the attacks follow and then the terrorist insult, after [calling you] ‘submissive'”

— Aurora Ali, Muslim Association for Human Rights

She says that she has suffered the so-called “gender Islamophobia” on social media. “As soon as they see that you are a woman, you are a Muslim, then the hate speech is directly the typical one of: ‘your country’, ‘in Saudi Arabia’, ‘in Iran’ … Tatata, tatata”, she lists with glut. And she adds: “They start with this, then the attacks follow and then the terrorist insult usually comes, after [calling you] ‘submissive’. And this happens to virtually every woman who is visibly Muslim in their social networks. ”

She confesses that it is precisely that comparison of Muslims to terrorists the insult that has hurt her most, but not when getting it on Twitter or Facebook, but from the Administration in training courses against violent radicalization and terrorism. She cannot go into detail on this, due to a confidentiality clause she signed.

Double glass ceiling

Equality, equality, equality. It is the concept cited by all these women when asked about their claim this International Women’s Day. They also fight for the empowerment of women, the end of the so-called “patriarchy“, against glass ceilings to reach high positions or the discrimination in the labor market, in society … struggles equal to those of other feminists which for Muslim women sometimes become double as difficult, though.

The most common discrimination that visibly Muslim women -meaning the ones who wear a headscarf- face twofold is found in the labor market, according to several interviewees of this article and data which confirm that.

“The real fight for social justice exists when we fight for another human’s rights even if we don’t agree with or understand them”

— Hajar El Jahidi, European Forum of Muslim Women

Women wearing a headscart in the photo of their CV only received an invitation to a job interview in 3% of cases in Germany, according to a study on “Forgotten women” carried out in 2016 in eight European countries by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR). In Belgium, 44% of employers admitted that wearing a hijab could negatively influence the candidate’s selection.

Faced with incomprehension or rejection of Islamic feminism, the spokesperson of the European Forum of Muslim Women Hajar El Jahidi asks not to be marginalized: “The real fight for social justice exists when we fight for another human’s rights even if we don’t agree with or understand them.”

“It’s time for women especially to come together a lot more, to stand together in solidarity against all of these issues and not just speak but to act together and stand up for each other,” executive director of the Islamic Society of Britain, Julie Siddiqi, has asked on a video released by the British NGO Tell Mama. European Muslim women also want equality… and inclusion in the feminism movement.

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La entrada Muslim European women claim their place in feminism se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

The country went through a long civil war which lasted from 1975 to 1990 and, although it still faces many challenges, it is often mentioned as an example where different religions have been coexisting for decades. In recent years, it has also become the country with the highest concentration per capita of refugees in the world, due to the war in neighbouring Syria.

Fadi Daou is a Maronite Catholic priest in Lebanon, where he chairs the Adyan Foundation, ‘adyan’ meaning ‘religions’. With a team of people from different faiths, the Foundation works to improve the interreligious understanding in the country and worldwide. Daou has contributed to international policymaking speaking at the United Nations, the European Parliament and to the Arab League. Salam Plan talked with him during his recent stay in Madrid this week to take part in a seminar on Lebanon at the cultural centre Casa Árabe.

Lebanon is many times mentioned as an example of coexistence of religions. Is there a real together living or does every community rather stay within the group they belong to?

When we say coexistence it’s about managing the plural identity of the Lebanese society in a positive way: on the cultural, legal level and political levels.

Lebanon has officially 12 Christian communities, 5 Muslim and one Jewish community that are officially recognized by the Constitution. Of course, there is also the freedom of religion and the existence of other religions, but these are the historical ones in Lebanon.

So when we speak about coexistence, definitely we are speaking about an inclusive way of living together without the domination of one party over others. This is a very delicate balance, which Lebanon kept searching throughout its history and it ended up in the civil war. Today Lebanon is looking again to redefine this balance.

“When we speak about coexistence, we are speaking about an inclusive way of living together without the domination of one party over others”

Would you say this balance is currently working?

This balance is never working 100%, no. It’s always somewhere between 50% and 100%. Today we have some major challenges. One of them comes from the consequences of the civil war, where we had direct conflict from people of different communities. Now the communities are more segregated than before , so we are fighting stereotypes, healing wounds and also building knowledge through education to ensure that the Lebanese society is attached to its shared values before the conflict.

Another challenge is the huge number of refugees living in Lebanon. We see today how much the refugee and immigration issue is challenging Europe, although the proportion of refugees is really non-significant in comparison to what is happening in Lebanon. You have less than 1% of refugees compared to the European population, whereas in Lebanon we have more than 30%. It’s challenging, but at least we are avoiding that it generates conflict, although it is being sometimes used in populist political discourse. But, globally, the Lebanese society demonstrated a huge capacity of hospitality and solidarity.

Other type of challenges are more on the legal level, where we are trying to enhance this situation based on real equality and respect of human dignity and human rights for all citizens.

Lebanon hosts around 1.5 million refugees in a country of 4.5 million Lebanese people. The majority of refugees are Syrians and there are also Palestinians. What lessons can Europe learn from Lebanon about hosting refugees?

I would say, first it is to fight and refuse all political manipulation, because the refugee situation is always a humanitarian and humanistic situation and not at all an ideological and political one. Sometimes politicians in Europe are raising the fear among the population, saying for example that “we are being invaded” by people from outside Europe or by Muslims… All these discourses are definitely against the fundamentals of human rights, which make Europe what it is. The richness of Europe is because it is a space where, we believe, it respects human rights and dignity.

“Europe should not be afraid from the changes which are already happening and its new plural identity. Today all societies are diverse and it should be dealt with in a very realistic way”

The second lesson, is our responsibility of solidarity between each other. We don’t know when we will have to leave. Thirdly and finally, Europe should not be afraid from the changes which are already happening and its new plural identity. Many European societies were used to think themselves as one cultural identity, but today all societies are diverse and they will become more and more diverse. It should be dealt with in a very realistic way.

Diversity is a resource of richness. My Foundation uses the slogan “Diversity builds unity”. The challenge is not to try to stop diversity or the fear of otherness, the challenge is how to make of this diversity a resource of richness and unity in society.

The arguments you are giving don’t seem to convince any of the voters of the European politicians you were talking about, so I was hoping you could tell me something really practical which you would apply for diversity to work.

The first example would be to make people need each other and work with each other and collaborate to face their common problems. We are working to avoid segregation.

On an educational level, [you need] to know each other, because ignorance is a source of fear.

There is another aspect related to Islam. It is important to promote the discourse of Muslim thinkers, scholars and public figures who totally endorse human rights standards and an inclusive approach of living together. Give them a voice. It also can help Europeans to see Islam is also diverse. It has its own challenges and problems, but there are many Muslims who are working on this and they deserve support.

“The laicism of France is not at all my model. I advocate for an inclusive model based on a secular political system, respecting diversity as well as the freedom and richness of each community”

You advocate for the separation of religion from politics. Would the laicism of France be your model?

Not at all. In fact, I don’t advocate for a separation, I advocate for an inclusive citizenship, which means that religion should not be the framework of living together. We need to establish a citizenship system that can recognize the diversity of religions but prevent religious authorities from interfering in politics.

It’s not the French model, it’s more an inclusive model based on a secular political system, but a system that is also inclusive to all diversity, respecting the freedom but also respecting the richness of each community and what it brings to societies.

Some people argue Islam cannot be democratic. What do you think?

Those people lack a historic perspective of democracy, because in the 19^th century Christianity and Catholicism were against democracy too. Any stigmatisation saying that Islam is not compatible with democracy is completely unrealistic, it’s not true. There are very good Muslims democrats in Lebanon and there are also Muslims who are against democracy.

“Any stigmatisation saying that Islam is not compatible with democracy is completely untrue. Some populist parties in Europe are against the values of democracy”

But I think some [non-Muslim] extremists here and even Europe, some populist parties are themselves against the values of democracy. It is true in many Muslim societies today that democracy is a challenge, but it is not about Islam, it is about interests and politics. The young generations are striving to build democracy in their countries.

So, I don’t think there is a religion which is more democratic than others; it’s about culture, about people, about the value system.

Do you think the rise of policies against Muslims in Europe and the United States are announcing a new form of Nazism?

I hope not. I think these waves of populism and extreme right parties are too serious not to be taken into consideration. It can one day lead to totalitarianism. We should remember that Hitler arrived to power democratically. The Western countries have to be very careful about this.

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La entrada Fadi Daou, Lebanese priest: “There is no religion which is more democratic than others” se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

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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The proposal was approved with 448 votes to 197 (with 48 abstentions). To succeed, it required an absolute majority of the European Parliament (376) and two thirds of the votes cast, excluding the abstentions. It is the first time such a situation has occurred. Even the chairman of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, voted to trigger article 7, although he gave permission to each EMP to vote freely.

This decision means the EP urges the Council of the EU – formed by the ministers of European governments – to act against Hungary in the face of what it considers “a systemic threat to its founding values”. These values, reflected in Article 2 of the EU Treaty, include respect for democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights.

“The vote is a clear defeat for the Hungarian government and its illusion of ‘remodelling’ the European People’s Party”

— Edit Inotai, Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy

“The vote is a clear defeat for the Hungarian government and its illusion of ‘remodelling’ the European People’s Party,” Edit Inotai, analyst of the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy (CEID), considers. “His argument saying that the European Parliament wants to punish Hungary for having an antimigration Government doesn’t work in Europe. The ‘Sargentini report’ [which was voted] critizices the Government in twelve points and only one of them is related to migration.”

Parliament’s key concerns generate a long list and relate to:

• the functioning of the constitutional and electoral system,
• the independence of the judiciary,
• freedom of expression,
• academic freedom,
• freedom of religion,
• freedom of association,
• the right to equal treatment,
• the rights of persons belonging to minorities, including Roma and Jews,
• the fundamental rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and
• economic and social rights
• corruption and conflicts of interest,
• privacy and data protection.

Among other issues, Viktor Orbán has always cast the suspicion of terrorism on asylum seekers arriving in Hungary and the rest of Europe in recent years. His administration built up fences to avoid a large arrival of these persons.

And in August of this year the NGO Human Rights Watch reported that the Hungarian authorities did not provide the necessary food to the asylum seekers whose petition they had rejected at the border. This happened, while these people were being held in Magyar detention centers.

He does neither make a difference between refugees and economic migrants, to whom international law confers very different rights and forces the reception of those fleeing from a situation that puts their lives at risk. International law also establishes a whole process with guarantees before deciding whether a person should be a refugee or not and thus avoid the so-called “pull backs” at the borders.

“The government firmly rejects the principle that the current migration should be seen as a human right,” government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said a month before the elections in Hungary last spring. Fidesz, Viktor Orbán’s party, won with 49% of the votes.

>>> You may also read: This is why hate speech is so successful in Hungary<<<

“It’s a nasty surprise for Orbán that his supporters in the EPP, especially Weber and the Germans, voted against him”, Inotai notes. She forsees Fidesz’s exit from the European People’s Party in the near future to come together with the extreme right parties. But she warns that would not be such a good measure for the EPP, which would loose twelve of its representatives in the European Parliament.

‘Sargentini’s report’

The European Parliament voted its agreement with the report of the Dutch MEP for The Greens Judith Sargentini, who has been working on it for months.

“The European Parliament sends out an important message: We stand up for the rights of all Europeans, including Hungarian citizens and we defend our European values,” Sargentini said. “Now it is up to the European leaders to take their responsibility and stop watching from the sidelines as the rule of law is destroyed in Hungary. This is unacceptable for a Union that is built on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights.”

“Orbán and his spokesmen will behave as if nothing had happened. Hate speech and propaganda won’t change, but I’m sure they are a little scared”

— László Cselényi, former head of the Hungarian international public TV

Everyone agrees that this Wednesday’s vote is a warning to other European governments going in the same direction as Orbán is. But its practical consequences remain to be seen. For László Cselényi, former head of the Hungarian international television Duna TV, “Orbán and his spokesmen will obviously behave as if nothing had happened. Persons who may critize them will be called communists and servers of [George] Soros, [Hungarian tycoon contrary to Orbán with whom he has an open confrontation]. ”

Csenényi believes that “hate speech and propaganda won’t change” in a country where there is practically no traditional mass media which remain independent. He believes that the Magyar president will “back down” on some specific decisions to calm the mood in the EU, such as the closure of the CEU university. But little more.

“Sargentini’s criticism has come at an appropriate time and is justified, but it won’t have any positive consequences on Hungary’s domestic policy in the near future,” he says. At the same time, the former head of public television concedes: “I’m sure that [Orbán and his team] are a little scared.”

Will there be sanctions now?

If the application of article 7 were carried out, sanctions would be imposed on the Orbán government, which could lose its right to vote in the decisions of the European Council (the heads of state or government of the 28). French presidente, Emmanuel Macron, welcomed yesterday’s vote. But European legislation provides for a dialogue with the Member State concerned – in this case, Hungary – to avoid reaching this situation.

The proposal for a Council decision is now forwarded to the Member States, which must vote. They will need a majority of four fifths to support the ‘Sargentini report’. The Hungarian Government has the right to restate its arguments before the Council, as it has done this Wednesday before the European Parliament.

The Council may then make recommendations to Hungary “to counther the risk” of violation of the founding values instead of directly putting sanctions in place, explains the press release. In a later stage, the European Council can rule on the “existence in Hungary of a serious and persistent breach of the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights”. But it must be agreed unanimously and passing through the European Parliament again. Only then could the sanctions take place.

* Article updated in a second version to include Edit Inotai’s analysis.

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La entrada Orbán’s Hungary suffers its worst defeat to date… but will there be real consequences? 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.

A group of grannies agrees to go together to the market in their town because they are afraid of immigrants coming to rape them. It is not a fictional scene. It is what is really happening in Hungary, as described by Edit Inotai, an analyst at the Center for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy (CEID) in Hungary, on a telephone conversation with Salam Plan. She cannot help but laughing at a situation that seems ridiculous to her. “There are not even immigrants here,” she says.

László Cselényi, former director of the Hungarian international television Duna TV, criticizes that there is no real government programme. “They are based on exploiting fear of the unknown, fostering hatred towards other religions and cultures,” he argues.

More and more Hungarians agree with the extreme defense of Hungarian culture as they think they could be facing a flood of illegal immigrants who are potential terrorists because they come from countries with a Muslim majority, as Orban’s government puts it. According to it, thousands of them are waiting on the other side of the border fence raised during the European refugee crisis to cross it as soon as they can. Orbán and his party, Fidesz, have been repeating this idea of ​​the ‘invading threat’ for years.

“It’s more of a cultural thing, to maintain the European society. I don’t think we Hungarians have a strong Christian faith, like the Poles,” Inotai points out. “I also have conservative friends who travel a lot abroad and say they see a lot of Muslim people and tell me: ‘we don’t want a country with such diversity'”, adds the analyst.

In words of the government’s spokesman, Zoltan Kovacs, the people who would arrive in Hungary should the Executive accept the current quota of about 1,200 refugees or future quotas, would just bring “problems” with them. Orbán’s team does not distinguish between asylum seekers and economic migrants, so Kovacs denies their admittance as a human rights issue. “The government firmly rejects the principle that current migration should be seen as a human right,” he recently said.

“The government firmly rejects the principle that current migration should be seen as a human right”

The prime minister was re-elected last Sunday with 49% of the votes and a 70% of participation to the surprise of researchers, acknowledges Inotai, who thought that high participation would favor the opposition. In addition, another 20% of the votes was taken by Jobbik, the party which formerly was the far-right-wing representative in the country and which, for these elections, tried to swap into moderation and snatch votes from Fidesz.

Orbán said in an interview with the German newspaper Bild last January that for him, the refugees “are not refugees, but Muslim invaders”. He argued that is the reason why many Syrians had tried to reach prosperous Germany before going through “stable” countries like Hungary. It was in 2015 that many asylum seekers actually passed through the Magyar country, but most of them stayed there only during the days that the Orbán Executive prevented them from taking trains at the Keleti station in Budapest to continue their way out of the country.

“All terrorists are basically immigrants,” he said in another interview, this one with Politico in 2015, although it is an idea sustained over time by the Hungarian leader.

Propaganda without effective counter-campaign

This barrage of statements against foreigners, especially against Muslim foreigners, found almost no ideas or contrary explanations in the public domain. Little did it matter that most of the terrorists who have attacked in recent years in Europe were born or raised here, like those who killed in Spain in 2017 or like the terrorists of the Paris attacks in 2015. Neither did it matter that the vast majority of terrorists had nothing to do with the hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers who arrived in the midst of the refugee crisis in Europe – although some did get away, like the teenager who attacked with an ax in a Bavarian commuter train.

It did not even matter that for mere practical reasons it might be interesting to host future workers in an economy that is certainly going well with only around 5% of unemployment, which nevertheless requires labor force in sectors such as construction, health or education, according to Inotai. She recognizes that the Hungarian language is very complicated to learn for foreigners, though.

And, while for the elections of 2014 some media had already closed and some NGOs critical of the government had already been raided in their headquarters, for this election the media and political opposition had virtually disappeared. Cselényi recalls that a friend of Orbán named Mészáros Lörinc owns 18 local and regional newspapers “that disseminate the same propaganda content”. Inotai adds that although there is still an important critical newspaper in Budapest, regional radio stations are also uncritical and only on the internet there is a broader spectrum with divergent opinions to those of Orbán. But older people in the provinces do not access these media, she thinks.

‘Serious risk for the rule of law’

This week the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Judith Sargentini presented a report on the political situation in Hungary in view of the possibility that the Magyar State is failing to comply with the principles of the European Union of respect for human dignity, democracy, plurality, tolerance, etc. established in Article 2 of the Lisbon Treaty.

“Since 2012, the (Hungarian) Constitution has been changed six times. Justice has lost independence in favor of control of the Executive”, the MEP of The Greens highlighted at a press conference. She also pointed to issues such as the closure of media, a “new legislation that affects the freedom of religion, with already registered churches that were removed from registration,” or harassment of some NGOs and problems for freedom of expression.

Despite accusations by Fidesz’s MEPs of publishing the report four days after the elections in their country as a revenge, Sargentini stressed that she initially planned to publish it in March and it was precisely postponed not to interfere in the election campaign. In addition, she underlined that her report is based on facts documented by bodies outside the European Parliament, such as the United Nations or the Hungarian courts themselves.

An OSCE report on the 2014 elections already put in serious doubt the cleanliness of those elections, since Fidesz “enjoyed an undue advantage due to restrictive campaign regulations, biased media coverage and campaign activities that blurred the separation between the political party and the State”. On this occasion, the OSCE has emphasized that the news programmes on TV, for example, gave the government version and that the opposition had no real option to publicize its message.

The opposition does not want immigrants either

However, the opposition’s message would not have really refuted the anti-immigrant propaganda of Orbán’s team. For Inotai and Cselényi, there is no doubt that this year’s elections have suffered from a lack of plurality in speeches, not only because of the media panorama, but also because of the Hungarian opposition parties.

“The opposition parties ignored the issue of immigration – erroneously – to avoid falling into the trap of Fidesz. They did not dare to go against public opinion, given that they accused them of being agents in the service of foreign interests,” Cselényi explains.

“The opposition was very distressed about this topic. No one is really in favor of immigration, because society does not want it”

“The opposition was very distressed about this issue. No one is really in favor of immigration, because society does not want it,” Inotai says. There is another factor that explains the triumph of the speech of fear in Hungary, according to this expert. “It is not only the anti-Muslim propaganda, it is also the feudal situation of Hungary. The best results of Fidesz have been in the provinces, where they receive state aid with community work programmes. Many people live from it. They are very poor and in these areas there is no other work.”

The ‘Sargentini report’ now enters a period of amendments and will be finally voted on next September. In case of obtaining at least one third of the agreement of the European Parliament, Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty will apply, which would lead to sanctions against the Magyars for violating the rule of law according to European regulations.

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La entrada This is why hate speech is so successful in Hungary 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.

On the wall of his room in Berlin, Modamani has hung the selfie he took with Angela Merkel soon after arriving in Germany in August 2015. He recognizes in a telephone conversation with Salamplan.com that the encounter with the chancellor was “a great experience” for him. He had fled the war in Syria at the age of 18, where he had succeed at his A-levels. He was eager to find a job and a university to study at near his hometown of Darayya, in the suburbs of Damascus. But there was a long and dangerous way to get to the university and when the house where he lived with his parents and siblings was reduced to rubble by the bombings of the war he decided to leave.

He arrived in Germany after a brief stay in Turkey, having survived the crossing of the Aegean Sea and the so-called “Balkan route” that in those days saw so many asylum seekers pass. But that selfie in which he posed smiling with the chancellor who opened the doors to the refugees played a bad trick and some took the image to assure he was a terrorist. Today it is clear that it was simply fake news and Modamani even sued Facebook in court for spreading it. He lost the case in March of this year, although a couple of months before -and just a couple of days after it went public that the refugee had filed his demand– Mark Zuckerberg’s company promised to fight against fake news in Germany.

It’s a real shame that AfD is in the ‘Bundestag’ with 13% of support, but I do not really feel afraid

Modamani now lives in a country where the extreme right party AfD openly opposed to Islam has obtained 94 of the 709 seats in Parliament, with 13% of the votes. He was not expecting it, because he has felt welcomed despite the bad experience with threats in his Facebook account. “Well, it’s a real shame that they are in the Bundestag with 13%. That’s a lot. I feel very bad (for that). I would never have imagined they had so much (support)”, he admits with a good German accent on the other side of the line. But “I do not really feel afraid.” He explains that he feels very well integrated, working as a cashier in a McDonald’s and enrolled to start his IT studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin in the next semester. “I feel welcome in Berlin. I have built many friendships, with many Arabs born in Germany, with Germans, at work too…”

Alternative for Germany emphasized during its campaign that the German language would be key to keep the national identity “safe” of the threat they think is posed by the arrival of the hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers (there were more than 1 million only in 2015, according to official data of the German authorities). Modamani, who is now 20 years old, is interested keen to integrate and has already reached level B2 of German, which means that he can speak with native speakers without much difficulty on either side, according to the Goethe Institute’s definition. This week he delayed the interview with Salamplan.com because he needed to study for a level test in order to qualify for a scholarship. His rich vocabulary during this interview leaves in the background some grammatical errors that are even committed by those who have spent their whole life speaking this complicated language.

Of course there are many extremist people, like Daesh (ISIS), but if you are a Muslim in your heart, you do not cause any trouble

The radical right party argues in its ideology as well that Islam and democracy “don’t fit together” and they hung up posters on the streets with phrases like “Islam does not fit our kitchen” with a pig as image or “Burkas? We like bikinis.” Its election manifesto assures that this religion “is not part of Germany”. On the contrary, Modamani believes that Islam does have a place in this country and stresses that he has had no problem due to his believes as a Muslim. “Of course there are many extremist people, like Daesh, but if you are a Muslim at home, in your thoughts, in your heart … you do not need to show it to everyone, so you do not cause any trouble. The word Islam means peace and I have read the Qur’an: it says that one must always be peaceful, polite and kind,”anwers this Syrian refugee.

He does not speak of anger at any moment; he does mention, on the contrary, more than once that he feels “saddened” by this vision of Alternative for Germany and the support it has received. “They equate Islam with terrorism, but no. Maybe the terrorists have a mental problem, they are fools, they are not true Muslims (and they should) leave Islam alone.”

We haven’t had any information (about my friend Mounir) for a long time. We don’t know if he’s stille alive

He recalls that before the war he enjoyed playing with children -Muslim and Christian alike- at his school in Darayya. They often went to the park, although at that time he also helped his father at work, repairing engines. With the war came the bombings that not only destroyed his house, but also killed three uncles of Modamani. “We did not take any weapon, nothing,” he says. He often thinks of his friend Mounir, who was put in prison a long time ago. “We have not had any information (about him) for a long time. We don’t know if he’s stille alive,” he explains about this case, which recalls the thousands of cases reported in various Amnesty International reports (Syrian Torture Prisons, August 2016, Mass Expenditure and Extermination, February 2017).

Anas Modamani poses at the Brandenburg Gate, today’s symbol for the fall of the Berlin Wall. Copyright: A. Modamani

This week, the European Union member States should have relocated or resettled 180,000 refugees after a two-year-long period, but they have only accomplished a 25% of it. Modamani believes that the solution is to carry out checks on asylum requests at intermediate countries as well as providing then a safe passage for those who qualify for it. At the same time he is in favor of increasing the control of the German borders, just as AfD wants (although the party also speaks of building up fences in the Schengen area).

We just want to live in peace, we also want to work. (But) they need to increase the border controls in Germany (to avoid people taking unfairly advantage of the situation)

Modamani agrees with them that it is necessary to avoid those who, according to him, take advantage of the circumstances arguing, for example, to be Syrians without this being true or taking public assistance without working. “I am also in favor of increasing the control of German borders, (…) there has to be more control. In Berlin there are many people who have been here for almost 6 years and live receiving money from the Hartz IV [a controversial German social program] or the work center [which complements salaries to reach a monthly minimum]. There is a lot of work in Germany. They do not ask for so much experience, you can apply for a job and get it. But they do not want to work, I think.” He clarifies that he has been working for a year and earns about 1,200 euros a month, although he has also received a supplement from the state when the salary was lower.

This Syrian, who has not technically been granted asylum, but a temporary protection, believes that greater control is not only necessary for security or social assistance, but also as a tool to combat fear and hatred against Islam in Europe. ” German police have to know where each person comes from, what they do every day in Germany, whether they work or study…”

I don’t have a special dream, (other than) a normal life: to find a job with a better loan to send money to my family, a large flat, get married…

At the same time he warns German citizens about fake news circulating on the Internet and asks them not to trust them, to relate directly to the refugees and thus discover, as Modamani argues, that “we just want to live in peace, we also want to work.”

Although this 20-year-old feels integrated in his Berlin environment, he misses his family a lot: “I do not feel at home here. A foreigner will remain a foreigner.” Yet he has no intention of returning to Syria “at all” when the war is over. He argues that he has already begun to build up a good future in Germany: “I have built up a lot here: work, studies … and maybe the situation will improve so that I feel at home, but later.” Anas Modamani says that he does not have “a special dream, (other than) a normal life: to find a job with a better loan to send money to my family, a large flat, get married…” At the moment, he is happy to start his university studies in a few months and to be able to combine it with his job.

La entrada The Syrian refugee who took a selfie with Merkel: “There has to be more control over the borders” se publicó primero en Salam Plan.