five years since the immigration flare-up that put the borders of Ceuta and Melilla on the world map. In late September of 2005, hundreds of men from sub-Saharan Africa tried to reach EU soil by crossing the land borders of the two North African cities. Five of the men were shot dead by [Moroccan] border patrols. A total of 11 died in the siege, many more were injured by the barbed wire on top of the fences.
It is now clear, with five years’ hindsight, that the incident marked a turning-point in EU immigration policy. What occurred in 2005 threw into painful relief that the migration issue had to be shunted to the top of Europe’s political agenda.
Anti-immigrant sentiment spreading across Europe
What happened ushered in a new stage in EU external border policy. Ceuta and Melilla are now the most heavily guarded border posts in the EU. And ironically enough, Morocco is doing its best to help guard borders it considers illegitimate and colonialist. Over the past five years, rapid progress has been made towards creating a European Corps of Border Guards, and the budget for Frontex (European External Borders Agency) has grown exponentially. The EU’s external borders definitely won’t be what they once were.
The fact is the EU border regime discriminates on the basis of country of origin. Look at the list of countries whose nationals need a visa to enter the EU – which they often don’t get – and lo and behold: you’ll see a remarkably large number of Muslim and/or developing countries. So clearly, if implicitly, candidates are filtered according to religion and wealth. Certain contingents are thrown onto the “undocumented aliens” heap, a burden that then has to be divided up among the EU member states. But nobody is born undocumented – or a “burden”, for that matter. It is governments that define and construct these categories.
Closing down the access roads to the EU generates a vicious circle by artificially increasing the number of undocumented immigrants, which sows panic in the resident psyche. That in turn supplies electioneering fodder to populist politicians. The upshot: a cloud of anti-immigrant sentiment spreading across Europe.
Europe - less a fortress than a gated community
Meanwhile, the closing of the Ceuta and Melilla passage has given rise to a perverse game of cat and mouse between border patrols and would-be immigrants, channelling the latter towards new and more dangerous routes. The EU has been silent about the deaths of undocumented immigrants attempting to reach its shores. Out of protest, alternative organisations like United Against Racism or No Borders try to count the casualties: they estimate roughly 13,000 have died since the external borders of the Schengen Area were sealed off in 1993.
In the meantime, a wholly different territorial reality is taking shape in Ceuta and Melilla, one of vigorous and intensifying cross-border interaction. Witness the swelling ranks of workers and shoppers plying between the two Spanish cities and the Moroccan provinces of Tetuan and Nador. Daily life around the EU borders in África now verges on a flying trapeze act, swinging back and forth between efforts to reinforce the perimeter ordained by the EU and implemented by Spain, on the one hand, and autonomous cities keen on interacting with the country of Morocco that surrounds them, and whose economy is ready to take off.
And yet, in spite of the changes taking place on the ground, there is no prospect of even slightly demilitarising the border, given the anti-immigrant sentiment taking hold of the EU. Even as it liberalises worker mobility within the Union, the EU border regime is cherry-picking immigrants from outside the EU with a view to admitting only those with economic value to add. So Europe is beginning to look less like a fortress than a gated community: a residential complex in which, driven by fear of crime and of the projected loss of well-being and cultural identity, the wealthy are digging themselves in, cutting themselves off from the rest of society. And by doing that, the EU is widening the development gap – which in turn fuels what it defined as a problem, namely illegal immigration – and cementing a global system of apartheid.
Border Watch Headline Animator
Wednesday 20 October 2010
five years since the immigration flare-up that put the borders of Ceuta and Melilla on the world map.
It's the global boom and bust, not the immigrants, threatening the Spanish way of life
economic downturn has hit Spain hard, especially its immigrant workers, among whom unemployment is 10% higher than the national average. But are calls for them to return to their native countries caused by financial worries or by fears about how Spain is changing following unprecedented immigration to the country in recent years?
"Immigrants who can't find work should go home now," Jose Luis Roberto tells me.
He is the president of the political party Espana 2000. But I wonder if it is not the lack of jobs, but what he says next that is the real reason he wants immigrants to leave.
"We don't want Muslims here who don't integrate and whose religion is incompatible with Spanish culture."
Spanish shoppers have largely forsaken open-air markets
Espana 2000 may be a small party, with only three members elected to council level and only 3,000 members nationwide, but its views cannot be dismissed.
The rate of immigration into Spain over the last few years has been extreme, not just for the numbers - during the boom 500,000 migrants were arriving every year - but because it has been so sudden.
'All suffering together'
In 1999, Spain was a country with barely any immigrants at all. Today they make up 12% of the population.
Moroccans form the second largest immigrant group here. Many of them are young men who have come to Spain alone.
They are under-schooled and under-skilled, so they stand little chance of finding employment in the current downturn.
"I'm not saying Spain is racist," says Mustafa Assan.
He has worked here for 14 years. He has married and had children in Spain and, even though he has not been able to find work for a year now, he says he cannot even consider going back to Morocco.
Spain is his country and I can hear it in the easy, colloquial way he speaks the language. His every gesture utterly Spanish.
Spain had changed anyway, with the economic liberalisation and investment that came with membership of the EU
"Sufrimos juntos," he says - "We're all suffering together." (Spanish people cannot find work either.)
I met Mustafa in a bar in El Ejido in the south. He was having coffee, waiting for his number to come up in the unemployment queue.
Local hub
Bars play a particular role in Spanish life.
Local bars are the lynchpins of the community, so perhaps they are a useful measure of how much immigration is changing Spain.
The bar is where workmen go for a cognac at 6am.
By 10.55am, coffee cups and saucers line the tables, ready for the white-collar workers who descend from the surrounding office blocks and are back at their desks five minutes later, leaving the bar deserted but for stained cups and cigarette butts.
When my family came to visit me in Barcelona, I had to introduce them to Juan, the owner of my local bar. Not to have done so would have been rude.
It was Juan who fed me for free when I locked myself out of the flat without my wallet. It was Juan who got a ladder and climbed in through the open window to let me back in.
I knew he was struggling during the recession but, when I came back from a work trip and found the bar closed for good, I was not the only one on the street to be horrified.
Juan's bar has been replaced by a clothes shop you find on high streets all over the world.
Shopping habits
The downturn has changed Spain for good, perhaps more than rapid, high rates of immigration.
Spain had changed anyway, with the economic liberalisation and investment that came with membership of the European Union.
A neighbourhood bar is often the centre of local activity
Spanish shoppers have forsaken the open-air markets for the French-owned supermarket chain Carrefour.
And it is sad. You do not tend to talk to people at the supermarket checkout.
You cannot help but get caught up in conversation at the market, though.
There is always an old lady in front of you in the queue, inspecting a cut of meat to cook for her son's visit.
"He's a doctor you know," she'll say, before giving the stall owner and the rest of the queue a full description of his house, job and beautiful children, as well as an aside about the wife who is not quite good enough.
When I first lived here in 1995, everyone went to the market. In the handful of supermarkets there were then in Barcelona, there was not a single brand name I could recognise.
Now the Pakistanis and Bangladeshis who have set up shops all over the city stock PG Tips tea and Heinz baked beans.
Because despite the speed with which the immigrant community has grown, there has also been rapid, deep integration.
And the bar I chose as a replacement for Juan's bar is proof. It is staffed by one Filipino and two Bangladeshis who run the gamut of local greetings as if they had been born here.
"Hola, nena," they say, greeting everyone in Catalan slang.
In another bar, run by Chinese immigrants, the owner's children pester the customers for help with their Catalan homework. The customers do not seem to mind, this is after all their local neighbourhood bar. The centre of goings-on.
"It's the global boom and bust, not the immigrants, threatening the Spanish way of life,"
"Immigrants who can't find work should go home now," Jose Luis Roberto tells me.
He is the president of the political party Espana 2000. But I wonder if it is not the lack of jobs, but what he says next that is the real reason he wants immigrants to leave.
"We don't want Muslims here who don't integrate and whose religion is incompatible with Spanish culture."
Spanish shoppers have largely forsaken open-air markets
Espana 2000 may be a small party, with only three members elected to council level and only 3,000 members nationwide, but its views cannot be dismissed.
The rate of immigration into Spain over the last few years has been extreme, not just for the numbers - during the boom 500,000 migrants were arriving every year - but because it has been so sudden.
'All suffering together'
In 1999, Spain was a country with barely any immigrants at all. Today they make up 12% of the population.
Moroccans form the second largest immigrant group here. Many of them are young men who have come to Spain alone.
They are under-schooled and under-skilled, so they stand little chance of finding employment in the current downturn.
"I'm not saying Spain is racist," says Mustafa Assan.
He has worked here for 14 years. He has married and had children in Spain and, even though he has not been able to find work for a year now, he says he cannot even consider going back to Morocco.
Spain is his country and I can hear it in the easy, colloquial way he speaks the language. His every gesture utterly Spanish.
Spain had changed anyway, with the economic liberalisation and investment that came with membership of the EU
"Sufrimos juntos," he says - "We're all suffering together." (Spanish people cannot find work either.)
I met Mustafa in a bar in El Ejido in the south. He was having coffee, waiting for his number to come up in the unemployment queue.
Local hub
Bars play a particular role in Spanish life.
Local bars are the lynchpins of the community, so perhaps they are a useful measure of how much immigration is changing Spain.
The bar is where workmen go for a cognac at 6am.
By 10.55am, coffee cups and saucers line the tables, ready for the white-collar workers who descend from the surrounding office blocks and are back at their desks five minutes later, leaving the bar deserted but for stained cups and cigarette butts.
When my family came to visit me in Barcelona, I had to introduce them to Juan, the owner of my local bar. Not to have done so would have been rude.
It was Juan who fed me for free when I locked myself out of the flat without my wallet. It was Juan who got a ladder and climbed in through the open window to let me back in.
I knew he was struggling during the recession but, when I came back from a work trip and found the bar closed for good, I was not the only one on the street to be horrified.
Juan's bar has been replaced by a clothes shop you find on high streets all over the world.
Shopping habits
The downturn has changed Spain for good, perhaps more than rapid, high rates of immigration.
Spain had changed anyway, with the economic liberalisation and investment that came with membership of the European Union.
A neighbourhood bar is often the centre of local activity
Spanish shoppers have forsaken the open-air markets for the French-owned supermarket chain Carrefour.
And it is sad. You do not tend to talk to people at the supermarket checkout.
You cannot help but get caught up in conversation at the market, though.
There is always an old lady in front of you in the queue, inspecting a cut of meat to cook for her son's visit.
"He's a doctor you know," she'll say, before giving the stall owner and the rest of the queue a full description of his house, job and beautiful children, as well as an aside about the wife who is not quite good enough.
When I first lived here in 1995, everyone went to the market. In the handful of supermarkets there were then in Barcelona, there was not a single brand name I could recognise.
Now the Pakistanis and Bangladeshis who have set up shops all over the city stock PG Tips tea and Heinz baked beans.
Because despite the speed with which the immigrant community has grown, there has also been rapid, deep integration.
And the bar I chose as a replacement for Juan's bar is proof. It is staffed by one Filipino and two Bangladeshis who run the gamut of local greetings as if they had been born here.
"Hola, nena," they say, greeting everyone in Catalan slang.
In another bar, run by Chinese immigrants, the owner's children pester the customers for help with their Catalan homework. The customers do not seem to mind, this is after all their local neighbourhood bar. The centre of goings-on.
"It's the global boom and bust, not the immigrants, threatening the Spanish way of life,"
Eighty per cent of British Muslims identify themselves as Muslims first and British second.
time has not arrived when a German chancellor can talk about immigration and ethnic divides without it arousing anxiety and old fears throughout Europe and beyond.
So when German leader, Angela Merkel, said last weekend that her country's approach to multiculturalism -- known disparagingly as multi-kulti -- has "utterly failed" it caught international attention more firmly than would similar words from other European leaders.
But Germany's failure to either integrate its 16 million immigrants and particularly the four million Turks, or enfold these people in a multicultural embrace is far from unique.
Across Europe multiculturalism and integration of immigrants has failed just as surely as in Germany.
To a large extent this is because no European government has made a serious stab at developing a coherent immigration policy.
For the most part newly arrived communities have been left to work out their own salvations.
In far too many cases this has led to the rise of separate and parallel communities unattached to the mainstream of their new countries.
The situation has been exacerbated, of course, by the development of the European Community, which now includes the free movement of people among the 26 member nations.
This has seen, for example, the recent campaign by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to expel Gypsies, the Roma, who have travelled to France from eastern Europe in search of work and trade.
Even more central has been a rising tide of suspicion aimed at Muslims as terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States by Islamic militants coincide with persistent immigration pressures from the Middle East and North Africa.
As well as in Germany, these pressures are evident in Spain, Italy, Britain, Holland, Sweden and France, where two years ago there were prolonged riots in the grim apartment developments beyond Paris's Peripherique ring road where most of the city's Algerian and other North African immigrants live.
One result in Europe has been an extraordinary shift of voter support to far-right politicians preaching various anti-Muslim creeds in countries like Holland and Sweden, which have reputations for almost excessive tolerance.
Merkel's announcement of the death of multi-kulti and her plans to introduce policies aimed at assisting immigrants to integrate are a response to similar shifts in public opinion.
Polls show that about a third of Germans believe the country is "overrun by foreigners."
The premier of Bavaria, who is politically allied to Merkel's right-of-centre Christian Democratic Union, last week called for an end to immigration from Turkey and Arab countries.
And Thilo Sarrazin, a controversial public servant and member of the left-leaning Social Democratic Party, has been fired from his position as senior official of the Bundesbank after writing a book saying immigrants who fail to integrate are contributing to Germany's decline.
"Turks are conquering Germany in the same way as Kosovars conquered Kosovo -- with a high birthrate," he wrote.
In Holland the anti-Islamic politician Geert Wilders and his Freedom party may well join a conservative coalition government after inconclusive elections in June.
Wilders, who is on trial for allegedly violating hate speech laws, believes the Koran is a book that promotes violence and should be banned, there should be a mass deportation of Muslims, and that a tax should be levied on women wearing Islamic head scarves.
In Sweden in September a party with neo-Nazi roots, Sweden Democrats, won seats in parliament for the first time.
But there are some reports from the Swedish industrial city of Malmo that intense immigration by Muslims from the Middle East has led to persistent attacks on the city's Jewish residents.
Economic uncertainty throughout the EU, high unemployment among immigrants and the generous social services payments that are common throughout Europe have undoubtedly added to suspicions over immigrants who have failed to integrate.
Negative views of Muslim immigrants are common throughout Europe according to recent polls, and are matched by isolationism among the immigrants themselves.
Eighty per cent of British Muslims identify themselves as Muslims first and British second.
In Spain and Germany 70 per cent of Muslims make the same distinction. And 40 per cent of British Muslims think terrorist attacks on fellow Britons and Americans are justified.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/Europe+right+wing+profits+from+failure+integrate+immigrants/3698203/story.html#ixzz12tvZgtzV
So when German leader, Angela Merkel, said last weekend that her country's approach to multiculturalism -- known disparagingly as multi-kulti -- has "utterly failed" it caught international attention more firmly than would similar words from other European leaders.
But Germany's failure to either integrate its 16 million immigrants and particularly the four million Turks, or enfold these people in a multicultural embrace is far from unique.
Across Europe multiculturalism and integration of immigrants has failed just as surely as in Germany.
To a large extent this is because no European government has made a serious stab at developing a coherent immigration policy.
For the most part newly arrived communities have been left to work out their own salvations.
In far too many cases this has led to the rise of separate and parallel communities unattached to the mainstream of their new countries.
The situation has been exacerbated, of course, by the development of the European Community, which now includes the free movement of people among the 26 member nations.
This has seen, for example, the recent campaign by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to expel Gypsies, the Roma, who have travelled to France from eastern Europe in search of work and trade.
Even more central has been a rising tide of suspicion aimed at Muslims as terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States by Islamic militants coincide with persistent immigration pressures from the Middle East and North Africa.
As well as in Germany, these pressures are evident in Spain, Italy, Britain, Holland, Sweden and France, where two years ago there were prolonged riots in the grim apartment developments beyond Paris's Peripherique ring road where most of the city's Algerian and other North African immigrants live.
One result in Europe has been an extraordinary shift of voter support to far-right politicians preaching various anti-Muslim creeds in countries like Holland and Sweden, which have reputations for almost excessive tolerance.
Merkel's announcement of the death of multi-kulti and her plans to introduce policies aimed at assisting immigrants to integrate are a response to similar shifts in public opinion.
Polls show that about a third of Germans believe the country is "overrun by foreigners."
The premier of Bavaria, who is politically allied to Merkel's right-of-centre Christian Democratic Union, last week called for an end to immigration from Turkey and Arab countries.
And Thilo Sarrazin, a controversial public servant and member of the left-leaning Social Democratic Party, has been fired from his position as senior official of the Bundesbank after writing a book saying immigrants who fail to integrate are contributing to Germany's decline.
"Turks are conquering Germany in the same way as Kosovars conquered Kosovo -- with a high birthrate," he wrote.
In Holland the anti-Islamic politician Geert Wilders and his Freedom party may well join a conservative coalition government after inconclusive elections in June.
Wilders, who is on trial for allegedly violating hate speech laws, believes the Koran is a book that promotes violence and should be banned, there should be a mass deportation of Muslims, and that a tax should be levied on women wearing Islamic head scarves.
In Sweden in September a party with neo-Nazi roots, Sweden Democrats, won seats in parliament for the first time.
But there are some reports from the Swedish industrial city of Malmo that intense immigration by Muslims from the Middle East has led to persistent attacks on the city's Jewish residents.
Economic uncertainty throughout the EU, high unemployment among immigrants and the generous social services payments that are common throughout Europe have undoubtedly added to suspicions over immigrants who have failed to integrate.
Negative views of Muslim immigrants are common throughout Europe according to recent polls, and are matched by isolationism among the immigrants themselves.
Eighty per cent of British Muslims identify themselves as Muslims first and British second.
In Spain and Germany 70 per cent of Muslims make the same distinction. And 40 per cent of British Muslims think terrorist attacks on fellow Britons and Americans are justified.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/Europe+right+wing+profits+from+failure+integrate+immigrants/3698203/story.html#ixzz12tvZgtzV
Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen, details Inverbrackie centre plans
Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen, details Inverbrackie centre plans
Federal Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen, joined ABC Adelaide's 891 Mornings program to explain the recent announcement to create a Commonwealth Government immigration centre in the Adelaide Hills.
Facing opposition and concerns from local communities about the lack of consultation with residents over the decision, the Minister quite plainly stated 'it is our responsibility and it is our decision.'
"It is Commonwealth land and all of the costs will be borne by the Commonwealth," Mr Bowen told 891 Mornings.
In an announcement to transform an old Defence housing area in Inverbrackie into a low-security detention centre for immigrants waiting processing, both state and local governments still seem to be scrambling for details.
Local health requirements
With locals fearing the results on local infrastructure of the arrival of 400 extra residents, Mr Bowen said the residents' needs would be met by the Federal Government.
"The Department of Immigration brings in all the necessary medical support.
"We bring in our own doctors, our own psychiatrists, our own nurses," Mr Brown said.
He said if hospitalisation was required for a detainee, they would be taken to a local facility, 'but that is a very, very rare occurrence'.
Schooling
With 400 residents expected to be held in the centre, a large number would be children, requiring educational programs and teachers.
Mr Bowen said the department discusses opportunities with local schools, including the possibility of increasing local staffing, classroom and equipment levels.
"We pay for that, but we do all of that in consultation with the local school."
If the school is unable to cope with the additional requirements, Mr Bowen said the government would organise alternative arrangements.
"We won't send anyone to school that the school won't cope with."
Late notice
Mr Bowen said although communities in future would be given more notice, the Inverbrackie site needed to be developed quickly to be suitable to accept detainees from December.
He said that once the initial shock of the announcement passes, the local communities usually welcome the additional benefits to local economies and funding.
"At the end of the day, when the Federal Government's got land there, [the] Federal Government owns it, the Federal Government's got a responsibility to sort out where these people get housed and the Federal Government is paying for any costs that are involved," Mr Bowen said.
"It is our responsibility to make these decisions."
Site changes
The Federal Government has budgeted $10 million for the transformation of the site from a housing estate to a low-security detention facility.
A containment fence would be constructed around the site, with facilities for doctors and nurses also constructed.
Buildings would also be constructed for educational and general usage.
Food and other resources would be trucked into the site.
Mr Bowen assured that although there was a large amount of vacant land around the site, it would not expand past the allocated 400 person accommodation recently announced.
Federal Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen, joined ABC Adelaide's 891 Mornings program to explain the recent announcement to create a Commonwealth Government immigration centre in the Adelaide Hills.
Facing opposition and concerns from local communities about the lack of consultation with residents over the decision, the Minister quite plainly stated 'it is our responsibility and it is our decision.'
"It is Commonwealth land and all of the costs will be borne by the Commonwealth," Mr Bowen told 891 Mornings.
In an announcement to transform an old Defence housing area in Inverbrackie into a low-security detention centre for immigrants waiting processing, both state and local governments still seem to be scrambling for details.
Local health requirements
With locals fearing the results on local infrastructure of the arrival of 400 extra residents, Mr Bowen said the residents' needs would be met by the Federal Government.
"The Department of Immigration brings in all the necessary medical support.
"We bring in our own doctors, our own psychiatrists, our own nurses," Mr Brown said.
He said if hospitalisation was required for a detainee, they would be taken to a local facility, 'but that is a very, very rare occurrence'.
Schooling
With 400 residents expected to be held in the centre, a large number would be children, requiring educational programs and teachers.
Mr Bowen said the department discusses opportunities with local schools, including the possibility of increasing local staffing, classroom and equipment levels.
"We pay for that, but we do all of that in consultation with the local school."
If the school is unable to cope with the additional requirements, Mr Bowen said the government would organise alternative arrangements.
"We won't send anyone to school that the school won't cope with."
Late notice
Mr Bowen said although communities in future would be given more notice, the Inverbrackie site needed to be developed quickly to be suitable to accept detainees from December.
He said that once the initial shock of the announcement passes, the local communities usually welcome the additional benefits to local economies and funding.
"At the end of the day, when the Federal Government's got land there, [the] Federal Government owns it, the Federal Government's got a responsibility to sort out where these people get housed and the Federal Government is paying for any costs that are involved," Mr Bowen said.
"It is our responsibility to make these decisions."
Site changes
The Federal Government has budgeted $10 million for the transformation of the site from a housing estate to a low-security detention facility.
A containment fence would be constructed around the site, with facilities for doctors and nurses also constructed.
Buildings would also be constructed for educational and general usage.
Food and other resources would be trucked into the site.
Mr Bowen assured that although there was a large amount of vacant land around the site, it would not expand past the allocated 400 person accommodation recently announced.
Canada immigration officials look set to step up efforts to prevent illegal immigration
Canada immigration officials look set to step up efforts to prevent illegal immigration with the introduction of a new bill on Thursday.
The bill is expected to strengthen Canadian immigration enforcement, a measure designed to discourage illegal immigration into the country.
The move is in response to the arrival of 500 Tamils, brought to the country illegally by people smugglers.
“This phenomenon calls into question the most basic obligation of a sovereign country: to control its own borders,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.
“I do worry about the consequences of not acting. Because a failure to act, and act strongly, will inevitably lead to a massive collapse in public support for our immigration system,” he added.
While details of the bill have not yet been announced, it is expected to introduce heavier penalties for people smugglers while still protecting genuine refugees.
The bill is expected to strengthen Canadian immigration enforcement, a measure designed to discourage illegal immigration into the country.
The move is in response to the arrival of 500 Tamils, brought to the country illegally by people smugglers.
“This phenomenon calls into question the most basic obligation of a sovereign country: to control its own borders,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.
“I do worry about the consequences of not acting. Because a failure to act, and act strongly, will inevitably lead to a massive collapse in public support for our immigration system,” he added.
While details of the bill have not yet been announced, it is expected to introduce heavier penalties for people smugglers while still protecting genuine refugees.
China geared up to send a high-powered delegation to India to put the strained ties back on track
As China geared up to send a high-powered delegation to India to put the strained ties back on track, a state-run daily today cautioned that the two countries should to be guarded against efforts by elements from within and outside to derail ties.
Zhou Yongkang, ranked ninth in the hierarchy of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), will be visiting New Delhi towards the end of this month to hold talks with top Indian officials, officials said here.
The visit by Zhou, member the influential Politburo Standing Committee in-charge of political, legal and legislative agenda, has set off speculation that China is making efforts to warm up to India and to repair the damage caused by a host of issues, especially the denial of visa to Lt Gen B S Jaswal on the ground that he headed troops in Jammu and Kashmir, which China regards as disputed.
After the incident, India had put on hold all the defence exchanges between the two countries. Zhou's visit is more or less confirmed but the dates are under finalisation, an official here said.
Zhou Yongkang, ranked ninth in the hierarchy of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), will be visiting New Delhi towards the end of this month to hold talks with top Indian officials, officials said here.
The visit by Zhou, member the influential Politburo Standing Committee in-charge of political, legal and legislative agenda, has set off speculation that China is making efforts to warm up to India and to repair the damage caused by a host of issues, especially the denial of visa to Lt Gen B S Jaswal on the ground that he headed troops in Jammu and Kashmir, which China regards as disputed.
After the incident, India had put on hold all the defence exchanges between the two countries. Zhou's visit is more or less confirmed but the dates are under finalisation, an official here said.
Costa Rica submits a request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to step into the Colombia-Nicaragua maritime border dispute
Costa Rica submits a request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to step into the Colombia-Nicaragua maritime border dispute, saying that it affects the country's interests in the Caribbean Sea.
The ICJ, which will adjudicate the dispute between the two countries, held a hearing Friday to process Costa Rica's request, reports El Espectador.
This action follows a similar request on the part of Honduras to be involved in the conflict, which will be processed next week.
Colombia supports Costa Rica's intervention, while Nicaragua opposes it.
Paul Reichler, a legal expert from the Nicaraguan delegation, said that "Costa Rica has not shown how the verdict [in the dispute with Colombia] will affect their legal interests."
"The legal interest of Costa Rica is already defined in the 1977 treaty" Reichler said, claiming that Costa Rica now has interests beyond that line.
Julio Londoño Paredes, an international relations professor who heads the Colombian delegation, pointed to the 1977 treaty as well, saying that its purpose was to "preserve peace and promote collaboration between countries" and should therefore be respected.
"Costa Rica has met all the requirements" to participate in the dispute, Paredes added.
The dispute began in 2001 when Managua asked Bogota to define their maritime boundary.
In 2007, the ICJ recognized Colombian sovereignty over the islands of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina, and said they would determine the other maritime boundaries which are under dispute.
In July 2010, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega threatened military action if Colombia handed out oil concessions in the disputed territory.
The ICJ, which will adjudicate the dispute between the two countries, held a hearing Friday to process Costa Rica's request, reports El Espectador.
This action follows a similar request on the part of Honduras to be involved in the conflict, which will be processed next week.
Colombia supports Costa Rica's intervention, while Nicaragua opposes it.
Paul Reichler, a legal expert from the Nicaraguan delegation, said that "Costa Rica has not shown how the verdict [in the dispute with Colombia] will affect their legal interests."
"The legal interest of Costa Rica is already defined in the 1977 treaty" Reichler said, claiming that Costa Rica now has interests beyond that line.
Julio Londoño Paredes, an international relations professor who heads the Colombian delegation, pointed to the 1977 treaty as well, saying that its purpose was to "preserve peace and promote collaboration between countries" and should therefore be respected.
"Costa Rica has met all the requirements" to participate in the dispute, Paredes added.
The dispute began in 2001 when Managua asked Bogota to define their maritime boundary.
In 2007, the ICJ recognized Colombian sovereignty over the islands of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina, and said they would determine the other maritime boundaries which are under dispute.
In July 2010, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega threatened military action if Colombia handed out oil concessions in the disputed territory.
More people will have crossed Finland’s border with Russia this year than ever before.
More people will have crossed Finland’s border with Russia this year than ever before. This year is seeing an increase of about ten per cent, breaking the previous record, which was set in 2008. The land border between Finland and Russia is crossed once every four seconds, writes Helsingin Sanomat.
Before the end of the year, it is estimated that about 8 million people will have crossed the Finnish-Russian border, which means an average of one person crossing every four seconds.
Two thirds are Russian citizens. Traffic has increased especially at the Nuijamaa crossing near Lappeenranta, as well as the Imatra crossing, both of which are popular among Russians taking shopping trips to Finland.
Before the end of the year, it is estimated that about 8 million people will have crossed the Finnish-Russian border, which means an average of one person crossing every four seconds.
Two thirds are Russian citizens. Traffic has increased especially at the Nuijamaa crossing near Lappeenranta, as well as the Imatra crossing, both of which are popular among Russians taking shopping trips to Finland.
Russia withdrew its border guards from a land strip disputed between South Ossetia and Georgia
Russia withdrew its border guards from a land strip disputed between South Ossetia and Georgia, Russia's Foreign Ministry's web-site reported on Tuesday.
The border checkpoint has been placed near Perevi village for two years after a brief armed conflict between Georgia and Russia in August 2008. The check point has been moved deeper into South Ossetian territory with no obstruction from Georgian police, the ministry said.
The ministry said that the European Union (EU)'s observation mission has assured Moscow that upon withdrawal of the Russian guards, the land vacated would not be occupied by Georgian forces. The security there will be provided by the EU's mission.
Russian border service guards the borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in accordance with the agreements signed between Russia and those two Georgian breakaway regions in April 2009.
The border checkpoint has been placed near Perevi village for two years after a brief armed conflict between Georgia and Russia in August 2008. The check point has been moved deeper into South Ossetian territory with no obstruction from Georgian police, the ministry said.
The ministry said that the European Union (EU)'s observation mission has assured Moscow that upon withdrawal of the Russian guards, the land vacated would not be occupied by Georgian forces. The security there will be provided by the EU's mission.
Russian border service guards the borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in accordance with the agreements signed between Russia and those two Georgian breakaway regions in April 2009.
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