She is cofounder and chair of Muslim American Leadership Alliance (MALA), which works to empower these US citizens within their communities by sharing their stories and “normalizing” that one can be Muslim and American at the same time. Bottom line against stereotypes is as well: Muslims are not a “monolith”. MALA is the first organization to collect oral histories of Muslim Americans, which are then archived in the Library of Congress of the United States.

She avoids pointing at anyone specific with the finger but acknowledges that bigotry and hate not only against Muslims, but also against other minorities, has risen in recent years in the US. This week she is visiting Spain to share her experience at Madrid’s Casa Árabe and at Barcelona’s Blanquerna Observatory.

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What does being both Muslim and American mean nowadays?

Being Muslim and American is a chance and a space right now. We’re in interesting times. From my perspective, I was born and raised in the United States, both of my parents are Muslim, I identify as a Muslim, but I also come from a background where my siblings are married to a Catholic or a Hindu. I’ m first generation, I grew up with American values, but also with a strong sense of my Muslim heritage, culture and identity.

I think one of the things being Muslim and American right now is that we are living in one of the best countries, where there is freedom, there is ability to practice, to pick up your identities, to assimilate, whether you are first generation, whether you are refugee, whether you are immigrant or if you are fourth generation of converts.

I think the challenge right now in the United States is that there is discrimination, there is bigotry… With over 750 stories that we have collected in MALA over five years, one of the things which does come up is discrimination, issues with assimilation, dual identity or multiple identities, trying to find belonging, within your community and outside… The whole purpose of having pride in being Muslim and American is the cornerstone of our work, so that people can speak freely and openly about their own experiences, whatever it may be, whether you are secular, whether you are orthodox…

“Having pride in being Muslim and American is the cornerstone of our work”

Is it usually not possible to speak freely about one’s religion? Do people feel frightened to do so?

I don’t think they feel frightened. I think they feel more that, it’s almost like that’s just not my only layer of identity. I don’t just want to be known as a Muslim, I’m also Iranian, Turkish or Bosznian, and I’m also a female, and a mum… Muslim Americans, especially, are not a monolith. They’re one of the most diverse groups in the United States: socially, politically, economically… it’s the broadest social demographic [group].

Your siblings are married to a Catholic and a Hindu. With the current atmosphere, sometimes it seems this together living of different religions or beliefs is not possible, but they are a clear example that it is.

There is actually a quite large number of stories that we have collected of people of mixes heritage. One of the things that I have seen from my experience it that diversity and coexistence of Muslim Americans is phenomenal, wonderful, and it’s possible.

I have the impression that in previous years Muslims rather stayed silent and hid from telling others what their beliefs are. But this seems to be reversing now and Muslims are going public, like going out of the closet. Was there a need for it?

That’s actually a wonderful observation, and to be honest, when we started MALA we would get two types of people, that would be like ‘well, I’m Muslim, [but] I don’t want that label and I don’t want to identify myself, just because of all the baggage in the media, because I don’t want to be associated with this stereotype or this stereotype’.

I think that people now are a lot more at ease, because there is community cohesion, support, social media [and] people’s voices and representation is heard. People are a lot more forthcoming and also have, still, pride in saying that they are Muslim, which is beautiful, because you can be Muslim, American… you could have multiple layers of identity and you could still exist and that’s who you are, that’s who I am.

Zainab Khan presents herself as a “human being” who is Muslim, among many other things. © Salam Plan

Is it also, may be, the reaction to the hate speech of politicians like Donald Trump against Muslims?

I think that in the United States there is a very polarizing social-political climate. Hate crimes have been under increase, and not just for Muslims, but for Jewish people, for people of faith and for people of minority backgrounds.

There is a lot more need for representation in politics and public policy, in civic engagement… It’s wonderful to see Muslim Americans run for office and to see the richness of the diversity of elected officials that we have in the United States compared to other countries. But we still have a long way to go to continue to build bridges, to continue to show solidarity and social cohesion, and also to celebrate our differences and our similarities. When we look at both, I think that’s when we are able to really see that this is how we live together: with shared values.

“You can be Muslim, American, have multiple layers of identity and still exist”

Islamophobia is becoming the new normal, isn’t it?

Hate is never supposed to be the norm. And any type of bigotry, prejudices… that is something that we have to really grab by the horns and address it. The rhetoric around minorities, groups, communities… are labelling. Putting Muslim Americans as a monolith… These are all harmful towards society.

We can continue by showcasing the diversity, the leadership, the incredible amount of recognition and what communities have done… The Muslim American communities… it is a community of very highly educated resilient people.

What is the main prejudice you are tired of listening to and that you feel it is the main issue we all need to address?

That all Muslims are a monolith. That because you are a Muslim, you must be x, y and z. You must be ultra-rigid, or you must be an immigrant, or you must be a refugee, or you must be uneducated, or you must be close-minded. These are all prejudices that we hope to dispel and continue building bridges.

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La entrada Zainab Khan, mentor of Muslim Americans: “Muslims are not x, y and z. We are not a monolith” se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

La entrada Hungarian party Fidesz suspended from the European People’s Party until further notice se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

In 2015, the picture of little Aylan Kurdi dead on a Turkish beach went global. Last January 15^th another small child passed away trying to cross the sea. She was 4 years old and it has hardly hit the news. She also left Turkey behind with her family in a boat and did not survive.

Data indicate that neither Aylan nor this Iraki girl are an exception. Only last weekend about 170 people lost their lifes in the Mediterranean. Some testimonies speak about children and a pregnant woman on-board, Unicef recalls.

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The father of the girl, Mohammed Fadil, told back in Turkey that their boat with about 45 people on-board (among them several children) had to confront strong waves on their way to Greece. He assures Greek Coast Guard agents approached and told them to stop the engine. They seemed to want to tow the boat to a save place, but then they began to turn violently in circles. “It was inhumane, they tried to kill us,” a broken father denounced in a statement reflected by the Turkish public news agency Anadolu.

Other testimonies also registered by Anadolu speak about violent manoeuvres of the Greek Coast Guard and they accused Hellenic agents of putting their lifes at risk. They were rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard, near their coast. By then, Mohammed Fadil’s daughter was already dead, according to the news agency.

The Hellenic Coast Guard has responded to the accusations assuring on the morning of January 15^th they detected a boat with a “considerable number of immigrants in Turkish territorial waters”. They say they informed Turkish authorities in accordance with the international law. A Greek boat and another one from Frontex attended the arrival of a Turkish coast guard vessel. Greek authorities assured they were not informed about a missing girl.

Fadil’s spouse and their other two children survived with him.

In 2016, the European Union signed a controversial treaty with Turkey to avoid more people arriving in search of asylum across to Greece. The 28 member states agreed to a 6,000 million Euros package for Ankara so it would stop the migrant flow and also to be able to give back those people who would still manage to reach Europe after the deal was signed.

29 children a day reach Europe crossing the sea

During the first two weeks of 2019, more than 400 children have reached European coasts across the Mediterranean, an average of 29 per day. Unicef asks European governments to protect them urgently and to provide a regional “predictable” solution which offers safe harbours to which migrants may arrive quickly.

The UN agency for children’s protection, warns that “freezing temperatures and rough waters” in winter make the already dangerous journey through the Mediterranean even worse. That is the reason why it is especially important to avoid maintaining rescued people out at sea waiting for a safe harbour to open up for them.

Minors have to face “violations of their most basic rights during their dangerous journeys at sea as well as when they arrive in Europe,” according to Unicef.

At the beginning of this year, at least six children had to wait adrift on a Sea Watch NGO boat, as the vessel had no permission to enter any port in Europe. Children on-board were on a limbo, some of them as long as 18 days, without urgent medical attendance and other basic services until they could finally disembark, Unicef regrets.

About 23,000 children arrived through the sea to Greece, Italy and Spain in 2018. Most of them fled from war, extreme poverty and persecution, Unicef stated.

This UN agency asks European governments as well to ameliorate the attention children get when they arrive on land and asks for more compromise on terms of resettlement which prioritize the minors’ well-being and family reunifications.

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La entrada A 4-year-old Iraqi girl died in the Mediterranean and (almost) nobody knows se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

“When people ask me who my biggest opponent is, I don’t give a name— I tell them the truth— it’s Islamophobia, Racism, Patriarchy, Xenophobia and Misogyny. We can’t let them win,” said Ilhan Omar at the Muslim American Society convention.

“As I watch what is happening in this country and with this administration, I can’t believe the lack of panic”, she confessed to Elle magazine. This 34 year-old public servant arrived at the States when she was 12, after having spent four years in a Kenian refugee camp. She is not only one of the two first Muslim women to arrive in Congress but also the first Somali-American to do so, plus the first one wearing a hijab. She made it after just two years as legislator in Minneapolis.

The youth has apparently been key to her success. Almost half of her constituents are aged under 24, she explained in an interview on MSNBC. During the campaign she met with them to listen to their aspirations and worries, and went from door to door to ask for their support until the last moment.

“When people ask me who my biggest opponent is, I don’t give a name— I tell them the truth— it’s Islamophobia, Racism, Patriarchy, Xenophobia and Misogyny. We can’t let them win”

— Ilhan Omar, Congress Rep. for Minnesota’s 5th District

Rashida Tlaib is a 42 year-old lawyer who defines herself as a “social worker at heart”. She does indeed give a name to fight: Donald Trump. She focuses her present fight on him and his message. Once, when the president of the United States, went to an event in Detroit, she stood up and screamed asking him: “Have you ever red the US Constitution? You need to read the US Constitution!”

“He can ban us from coming into the country, but he can’t ban us from getting elected to U.S. Congress”, she said to Marie- Claire magazine during the campaign.

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In a campaign video she was wearing a T-shirt which read “Mums against Trump” and she explained that was “the spirit of why we are doing this”.

“Me being elected is a big message to the whole country: that we are part of the government, we are part of the country and that we wanna give back, just like anyone else”, Tlaib told in an interview on CBS.

It is a specially relevant message the one Tlaib and Omar are sending with their election, taking into account that immigration has been the key issue of Trump’s campaign with Republican candidates. Even its beloved Fox News channel did not was to broadcast a spot where he criminalized the hundreds of people crossing Central America fleeing from violence and poverty in their countries (mainly Honduras) with the hope to get to the US.

Tlaib’s victory is even more significant, due to her Palestinian origin and given that president Trump just recently moved the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. That way he broke with decades of global diplomacy which had avoided to take part in the dispute about the capital city of Palestinians and Israelis.

“Me being elected is a big message to the whole country: that we are part of the government, we are part of the country and that we wanna give back, just like anyone else”

— Rashida Tlaib, Congress Rep. for Michigan’s 13th District

Both Tlaib and Omar belong are Democrats and have social-progressive views. They advocate for rights like public education, health care for everybody, better environment policies or the defence of minorities, such as LBGT or immigrants.

Omar will replace Keith Ellison, who was the first Muslim elected to Congress and who is currently the Democrat candidate for attorney general. Tlaib will sit on Democrat Rep. John Conyers, who resigned after sexual-harrassment allegations. Her victory was a given, as no Republican candidate presented himself in her district.

These Midterm Elections of November 6th have marked a record of Muslim candidates in response to the anti-Muslim policy and discourse of Donald Trump Associated Press reported. This time there were almost 100 Muslim candidates, as opposed to 2016, when there were about a dozen.

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La entrada Meet the two first Muslim women elected to Congress in the US: Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

Fox defends George Soros against “many unfounded conspiracy theories”.

The billionaire advocates for the rights of migrants and minorities, ranging from LBGTQ to Muslims, through its Open Society Foundations. These aim to “build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens”.

Donald Trump accused him of organizing the demonstration against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in Washington DC and stated protesters were “paid professionals” who got the money from Soros “and others”.

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After the report of an explosive device in Soros mailbox emerged, Fox News used the opportunity to clarify that he is “subject to many unfounded conspiracy theories”, such as financing the march of migrants from centralamerican Honduras crossing Mexico towards the States. It is a similar accusation to the ones the Hungarian billionaire faces in his country of origin from its prime minister, Viktor Orbán, himself.

Meanwhile, Hungarian media outlets which favour Orbán -such as Magyar Idök, Magyar Hírlap, Faktor or Origo, had not informed about the bomb package against Soros and Orbán had not said anything either by the time this piece was redacted. Soros has been a target of Orbáns policies in the last years to the extent that his Governments itself speaks about its “Stop Soros” legislative package to tackle migration and refugees.

The European Parliament recently voted in favour of applying sanctions against Orbáns Government as it sees “a clear risk of serious violations” of the European Union’s values, due among other issues, to its media censorship or its treatment to immigrants. The European People’s Party members -to which Orbán’s Fidesz belongs- had freedom to vote and many of them voted against him, included its president, Manfred Weber.

The offices of Soros’s Open Society in Budapest have had to move to Berlin.

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La entrada Fox News says George Soros is “subject of many unfounded conspiracy theories” from the right 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.

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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 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 boat with 130 people on board is in distress off the Libyan coast. The rescue vessel of the German NGO Sea-Watch arrives to rescue them, but on instructions from the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (IMRCC) and its Libyan counterpart, they have to let the Coast Guard of the North African country take the survivors back. It does not matter that they were in international waters.

About twenty passengers of that vessel died, including children. Those who were taken back by Libyan coast guards, endured detentions “in inhumane conditions”, beatings, extortion, starvation and rape. Two of the survivors were “sold and tortured with electrocution.”

This week 17 of the survivors of that event last November have filed an application against Italy before the European Court of Human Rights, defending this version. They are represented by various legal and medical associations, including the prestigious Yale Law School.

Sea-Watch has long been denouncing similar episodes in international waters and describes them as “illegal and deadly”. They assure these pull-backs are orchestrated not only by Italy, but also by the European Union, which they blame for “facilitating forced returns to Libya”.

“Pull-backs to Libya are illegal and deadly”

— Sea-Watch

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has also criticized Italy, which coordinates rescues in the Central Mediterranean. On March 30, a boat operated by this NGO together with SOS Mediterranée arrived first to rescue some 120 people from a rubber boat “in distress”, according to the alert sent to them from the Italian coordination center. It was also in international waters near Libya and MSF says the center in Rome instructed them to stand by and not engage. They had to wait for the Libyan coast guards to arrive.

The situation of the boat worsened while they were waiting and the NGO negotiated to be able to deliver life jackets and to evaluate the people’s medical conditions. They identified 39 “medical and vulnerable cases” and could evacuate those. Among them there were a newborn, a pregnant woman and families with children.

MSF later said in a statement that due to the “violent reactions in recent months by the Libyan coast guard to the few other remaining humanitarian organizations” in the area, the crew could not “complete the rescue”. They had already other 253 people from other rescue operations on board and the Libyans ordered them to leave.

Another case is the one of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, which had its ‘Open Arms’ rescue ship in Italy recently withheld until a judge settled its release. Two members of the NGO formed by lifeguards still face charges of human trafficking, the same accusation against three Spanish firefighters of the small NGO Proem-Aid that in a brief court hearing in Athens were acquitted last Monday. Proactiva publicly denounced already last summer that the Libyan coast guards made some shots to try to prevent them from rescueing people near there territorial waters.

“European Governments actively enforce policies of deterrence and containment in Libya”

— Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

These are just some examples. The cases of pull-backs reported by humanitarian organizations continue to pile up week after week. MSF, which traditionally avoids making statements of  political nature to keep impartial, has said: “MSF continues to call on European Governments to prioritise the safety of refugees and migrants rather than actively enforcing policies of deterrence and containment in Libya.”

Libya is “hell for refugees”

The UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) has access to 12 “disembarking points” on the western coast of Libya as well as to detention centres. It ensures that the country is a “death trap” and “hell for refugees”. Moreover, the agency explains in its recent report “Desperate journeys” that those who are returned from the sea to Libya end up systematically in detention centres.

Another revealing data collected by UNHCR: the number of dead at sea crossing to Italy has “more than doubled”, with one death per 14 persons attempting to cross the Mediterranean in the first quarter of 2018 compared to one death every 29 persons in the same period last year. At the same time, arrivals by sea to Italy were reduced “dramatically” since July 2017. At the same time, boat rescues or interceptions by Libyan coast guards increased.

“Among those arriving in Italy from Libya there are more people in a state of extreme weakness and thinness, and in general with poor health”

— UNHCR

“In addition, in recent months there has been a worrying health deterioration of those arriving in Italy from Libya, with more people arriving in a state of extreme weakness and thinness, and in general with poor health,” UNHCR reported in April.

The changing factor between the beginning of 2017 and now is the agreement that Italy signed in February last year with the only government in Libya internationally recognized. Rome provides them with the necessary means and training to monitor the international waters near the North African country. It is also true that the UNHCR itself recognizes that thanks to Rome and that Libyan government (one of three who are fighting for power in the failed state) they have been able to evacuate several hundred refugees safely. But let’s go step by step.

The European Commission will not take action against Italy

The European Commission (EC) assures that making forced returns to Libya is illegal, as a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights made clear in 2012. However, in practice it moves between turning a blind eye and denying that these actions are taking place in international waters, with no intention of investigating the repeated claims of humanitarian organizations.

The Commission’s position was confirmed in the responses of its spokesperson, Natasha Bertaud, during a press conference on Tuesday. At the insistence of several journalists about the passivity of the Commission, she said: “European boats, including Italian boats, are acting in full respect of the principle of non-refoulement.” There is, therefore, no hint of sanction or warning to Italy, as it is happening respectively with Poland and Hungary in other matters.

“European boats, including Italian boats, are acting in full respect of the principle of ‘non-refoulement'”

— Natasha Bertaud, European Commission

Bertaud argued that they cannot interfere in an issue that, according to her, depends on regulations outside the European one. But article 7 of the Treaty of the European Union states that measures can be taken against a Member State when it does not respect the fundamental values ​​of the Union (article 2). Among them are “respect for human dignity”, “respect for human rights” and “a society in which [among other maxims] solidarity prevails”.

The spokeswoman for the Commission did describe as “regrettable” another incident that confronted Italy and the United Kingdom earlier this week. 105 people, including children, had been rescued at sea by another Proactiva ship. They had to wait more than 24 hours before they could be transferred to one operated by MSF, which was right next to it. The reason? Italy assured them that they were not under their jurisdiction, but under the British.

Italy’s agreement with a failed state

That returns of migrants to Libya are currently taking place, is a fact, according to Wolfgang Pusztai, someone who knows the situation on the ground first hand and one of the security advisors on Libyan issues to the EU and Italy. “There are currently a large number of migrants in the SAR (search and rescue) region of ​​Libya who are caught with the support of the Italian Maritime Coordination Centre in Rome and the Italian Navy – through information on the location of the boats- and transported back to Libya,” he confirmed to Salam Plan.

Whether these actions are legal or not depends, according to him, on the assessment of the situation of the refugees in Libya. We already know what UNHCR thinks, and it is an agency the European Commission works with in that country. Pusztai would not send back the migrants found at sea.

The agreement signed by the Executive of Matteo Renzi with the Libyan Government of National Accord last year has led to collaboration in the surveillance and rescue or interception of boats with migrants outside the Libyan territorial waters, but in an area that theoretically would correspond to the North African country. The Mediterranean is divided into search and rescue zones (SAR) and Italy has for years been responsible for the area that now Rome and Brussels are trying to transfer to Tripoli.

“There are currently a large number of migrants in the search and rescue region of ​​Libya who are ‘caught’ with the support of the Italian Maritime Coordination Centre in Rome  and transported back to Libya”

— Wolfgang Pusztai, security adviser to the EU and Italy

For that to be possible, there is a project of a Libyan Centre for Maritime Coordination (LMRRC), such as the one in Rome coordinating rescues in the central Mediterranean. It is an initiative of the Italian Coast Guard funded by the European Commission, “with the aim of conducting a feasibility study in order to establish a Libyan MRCC and to support the Libyan authorities in identifying and declaring their Search and Rescue Region”.

That is what they told the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This centre in Libya is essential to be able to declare a SAR zone, according to international maritime laws. Although an IMO representative has explained to Salam Plan that it is the countries -and not this organization- who recognize or not the legitimacy of a SAR area.

The complexity of the whole situation is due to the fact that Libya is a failed state. The country has been plunged into chaos since the fall of dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011. The three parallel governments of the country are fighting over territorial power not only with each other, but also with militias and terrorists like Daesh/ ISIS. The authority recognized by Western countries is the already mentioned Government of National Accord, which only controls the city of Tripoli, and not even completely, Pusztai says.

On the other hand, Italy does not act solely by virtue of the agreement with that government and with a half-implemented Libyan SAR area, but as part of the so-called ‘Operation Sophia‘. That military operation of the EU before the Libyan coasts to prevent irregular immigration, human trafficking while at the same time rescuing those boats in distress, as required by maritime law. The same that also gives training to the Libyan coast guard and provides them with means to operate.

A 2017 report by the Oxford Analytica consultancy for the European Council recognizes that “the rescue/interception of migrants in the Libyan SAR zone raises questions about the state responsible for the rescue operation and the port of disembarkation, which should be a ‘place of safety’”. At the same time, it reminds that the SAR Convention does not include the obligation to allow disembarkation in a particular port; neither does it oblige a state to accept the rescued people.

The pull-backs from international waters that denounced by humanitarian organizations occur in the area designated theoretically to Libya. Rome remains the legal authority to which their ships have to oblige, but Italy coordinates with them and with the Libyan coast guards.

The dangers of Libyan chaos

The annual report of Amnesty International 2017/18 states that in Libya all parties to the conflict carry out “indiscriminate attacks”, “serious violations” of international law and human rights. Torture and other ill-treatments are “widespread” practices in prisons. “Migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers were subjected to widespread and systematic serious human rights violations and abuses at the hands of state officials, smugglers and armed groups,” the study indicates.

There are also testimonies of migrants who claim to have been sold as slaves in Libya -a circumstance confirmed by Pusztai, the security expert- although he denies that it is happening on a large scale.

“Many of those who arrive to Italy by sea are persons fleeing violence and persecution, and people who had experienced trafficking, torture, and other forms of abuse in Libya”

— UNHCR

More than 662,000 migrants in Libyan territory are exposed to these dangers. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), deployed in the country, has counted among them 5,000 migrants currently detained, including children.

In addition, about 51,500 refugees and asylum seekers are registered at UNHCR. This is without counting the displaced Libyans themselves in their country, which are 184,000. This does not mean that other migrants in Libya cannot qualify for asylum in Europe. In fact, UNHCR explains in its recent report that among “those arriving to Italy by sea from Libya, many were seeking international protection including persons fleeing violence and persecution, and people who had experienced trafficking, torture, and other forms of abuse in Libya.”

“The current reception system, despite recent improvements, remains unacceptable as migrants remain in detention after being returned”

— International Organization for Migration (IOM)

This week, IOM positively assessed the work of the coast guards of Tripoli, who have intercepted one out of every three boats in recent months. But at the same time, it warned: “The current reception system, despite recent improvements, remains unacceptable as migrants remain in detention after being returned.”

Pusztai, the adviser to Rome and Brussels earlier mentioned, shows his concern for the “harassment” of the Libyan coast guards against the NGOs “to try to push them out” and “to be the only ones who can rescue”. Why are they so keen to pick up the people drowning in international waters (albeit within their theoretical area of ​​responsibility)? “That certainly also has to do with the Italians and the Europeans exercising the corresponding pressure. There is no doubt about that,” he says. “The Government of National Accord is completely dependent on international support.”

The responsibility of the EU

The document mentioned by leaders of the EU Member States recalls that “a safe place” to land shipwrecked people in accordance with the Geneva Convention is “a place on dry land where the lives and freedoms of those alleging a well- founded fear of persecution, torture, and ill-treatment would not be threatened.” Still, each government and European body interprets it differently.

For the socialist MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar the answer to whether Libya is a safe country to which migrants or asylum seekers should be sent back, is: “Flatly, no.” On Italy, this member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament emphasizes that “it has a history of convictions (and it is) under scrutiny (of the EP), but that does not prevent us from recognizing that it has invested its own resources to save lives at sea”.

Is Libya a safe country to which migrants or asylum seekers should be sent back? “Flatly, no. It’s a ‘non-state’ in which, unfortunately, Italy has been forced to look for local partners”

— Juan Fernando López Aguilar, MEP

He considers that the Italian Public Prosecutor’s Office is an independent body that will be able to judge the specific cases of alleged automatic returns, but he does not believe that Italy’s overall work in the central Mediterranean is comparable to the hot returns produced in places like Spanish Ceuta and Melilla, condemned by the Strasbourg Court of Justice.

“Libya was a failed state, now it is a ‘non-state’ (…) in which, unfortunately, Italy has been forced to look for (local) partners to try to alleviate the tremendous pressure that it has been suffering alone in recent years,” says the socialist MEP. He adds a crucial remark to assess the security or not of Libya: among those interlocutors with whome Rome “has reached some kind of understanding” there are also not only militias, but human trafficking networks.

>>> You may also want to read: The most surprising facts about the refugee crisis <<<

In spite of everything, a European high official familiar with the terrain that asks for anonymity assures Salam Plan: “Libya does not seem dangerous to me (…). It depends a lot on the area. Regarding immigrants, the south controlled by Tebus and Touaregs is much more dangerous than the areas of departure at the coast. Western Libya, near Tunis, is relatively quiet.”

Nevertheless, he recognizes that in Libya “immigrants won’t be able to be protected the same way as in Europe, especially if they are refugees”. Asked about “the pull-back of migrants found adrift in the Mediterranean and returned to Libya by order of the center of Rome”, this person recognizes that “that is illegal according to a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).”

The case that ruling refered to was also against Italy, which in May 2009 intercepted a ship in the middle of the Mediterranean with 834 people on board and returned them to Libya. At that time, Gaddafi still ruled the country, but the work document of the European Council does not make distinctions with the current moment: “As stated by the ECtHR, (…) Libya cannot be considered a ‘place of safety’ because of the well-documented inadequacy of its response to flows of migrants and asylum seekers.”

The European Commission therefore maintains that hot returns are illegal, but it denies that they are occurring. On the other hand, the Commission explains to this website that they work with UNHCR and IOM “to improve the conditions of people who are trapped in Libya.” They also collaborate to evacuate migrants there legally, either by returning them to their countries of origin or by resettling them.

In the last three months, UNHCR has been able to safely evacuate more than 1,000 asylum seekers and refugees to Italy and Niger. But the Agency for Refugees continues to struggle to have access to all migrants and asylum seekers in order to evaluate their request.

“Everything indicates that (pull-backs) will keep on rising. It is happening more and more often”

— Laura Lanuza, spokesperson for the NGO Proactiva Open Arms

Pusztai acknowledges that the European Commission “has been much stricter with Hungary and Poland” than with Italy. He assures that precisely because of the situation of insecurity in Libya, eventual investigations on the ground would be “very difficult” to conduct. Even so, this expert believes that the reports of UNHCR and IOM are reliable. “Everything here comes back to the question of what is still ‘acceptable’. The answer of the Italians is obvious”, he resolves.

It cannot be forgotten that the EU has also formed and provided means to the Libyan coast guards and is financing the project of a possible maritime control centre in Libya.

Possible short-term solutions

“Many of us have been complaining for a long time against hypocrisy, that the EU continue to return so-called irregular migrants – even if they are asylum seekers – without giving an option for regulation at origin,” MEP López Aguilar regrets. He advocates for “humanitarian visas“, which would give a limited entry permit only to be able to raise the asylum or subsidiary protection request once in the EU, if they cannot present it in their countries of origin.

Pusztai proposes another possible transitory solution: to construct migrant and refugee camps on uninhabited or sparsely inhabited islets of the Mediterranean where these people can make their applications. The European authorities could study each case before deciding whether they are entitled to asylum here or whether they are economic migrants and should be sent back to their place of origin.

“I think it is urgent to save these people and evaluate them before bringing them to Europe. Everything else would not be really responsible,” explains this expert. He does not say it solely because of the humanitarian concerns, but also because in his opinion both the Operation Sophia ships and those of the NGOs exert a “suction effect”.

He mentions another aspect to be taken into account: Daesh is recruiting sub-Saharan Africans who have already attacked in Tripoli. For this reason he estimates that they could leak among the migrants on the boats. It is worth remembering here that the vast majority of the so-called ‘jihadist’ attacks on European soil have been carried out by people born or raised here, such as the attacks in Paris or Catalonia. While it is true that in some cases, like the young man who attacked the passengers of a Bavarian train with an ax, he was a radicalized refugee.

>>> You may also want to read: The true meaning of ‘jihad’ and how ISIS fails to accomplish it step by step <<<

Humanitarian organizations insist that it is essential to establish legal and safe passage for asylum seekers. But while a solution to the so-called “migratory flow” is found in the central Mediterranean, Italy is already applying its agreement with Libya without much European scrutiny.

So far this year, more than 9,500 migrants or asylum seekers have arrived in Italy across the Mediterranean, according to IOM. So far, at least 385 people have died in that journey. Meanwhile, almost 6,000 migrants have been returned to Libya.

“Everything indicates that (pull-backs) will keep on rising. It is happening more and more often,” says Laura Lanuza, spokesperson for the NGO Proactiva Open Arms. And she warns: when the Libyan coast guards take the people back they do not rescue them, they “capture” them.

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La entrada The truth about the alleged pull-backs of migrants from the sea to Libya 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.