Oleadas

El video dura 10 minutos y medio. Muestra las consecuencias de la hipocresía europea, tan frívola a la hora de bombardear países de Africa del Norte y Medio Oriente y, al mismo tiempo, tan reacia a hacerse cargo de las oleadas migratorias resultantes. Lo que aparentemente muestra el video es una especie de cuello de botella, posiblemente en un área fronteriza. Hay historias personales que se pueden deducir o adivinar a partir de las imágenes que se nos muestran. Familias desgarradas porque la marea humana separó a varios de sus miembros, hombres y mujeres desesperados y desvalidos gritando a voz en cuello; chicos llorando, o simplemente en silencio, mirando con los ojos bien abiertos el espectáculo dantesco que nunca más habrán de olvidar. Es que esto huele a campo de concentración, amigos; esto no es joda. Acá está el link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Poh3Rke_NkM&feature=youtu.be

Las siguientes cuatro notas, todas relativas a este tema, fueron obtenidas de Zero Hedge:

Título: This Is What The "Invasion Of Europe" Looks Like

Texto: On Monday, we brought you a series of still shots along with a video which depicted the scope of Europe’s migrant crisis via drone footage.

The point in highlighting the imagery was to demonstrate just how futile the EU’s effort to establish a series of refugee “holding camps” along the Balkan route to Germany is likely to be.

As a reminder, Jean-Claude Juncker and Angela Merkel are attempting to convince recalcitrant states to support efforts to place hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, but a mandatory quota system only served to enrage the likes of Hungary which quickly moved to close off its borders with Serbia and Croatia and that, in turn, set off a Balkan border battle.

Now, Brussels is looking to provide shelter for the migrants as they make their way to Germany but as we noted earlier this week, these way stations will swiftly become overcrowded, unsafe refugee internment camps and they’ll likely be easy targets for vociferous anti-migrant protests or worse.

If you needed further evidence of the extent to which any attempt to shelter the flood of asylum seekers with makeshift camps is likely to prove not only futile, but dangerous, consider the following video which vividly demonstrates just how acute the crisis has become:

As you can see, the situation is quickly spiraling out of control and it isn't at all clear that Europe can cope with the people flows even if it wanted to. This is nothing short of an epochal demographic shift and as we've documented on a number of occasions (see here and here for instance), it's not at all clear that Europeans are prepared for it.

Caution: xenophobia ahead.

***

Título: Meanwhile, In An Average German City

Texto: We can only hope that these two German ladies racist discussions do not reflect a growing undercurrent of xenophobia across such a currently open, and multi-cultural society. However, with immigrants "mysteriously disappearing," it may be too late:

“None of us want this. We’re all scared.”“What is this? How will this be in 100 years?”

“This is not my life. It just shows you how many of them are here already.”

“Now there’s another 1.5 million who came this year.”

“Every year 2-3 million arrive.”

“It’s generally about foreign infiltration.”

“Yes, exactly.”

“We won’t dress like we do now.”

“Here, no! They won’t take anything from me!”

“Look, when I walk through the streets of the city, it’s only foreigners!”

“There are walking 50 foreigners and I only see one European face.”

“Look at the women! They’re all veiled!”

“This is our future.”

As we detailed earlier, anger is spilling over to the common people too: "In Freiberg in Saxony on Sunday evening demonstrators tried to stop asylum seekers reaching a refugee centre. The protesters tried to stop a bus with refugees from driving further down the road by staging a sit-in.

Some people threw apples at the bus, while others set off bangers, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.

Around 50 counter-demonstrators also turned up to the anti-refugee sit-in and there were tense verbal stand-offs between the two groups, although police confirmed the situation did not escalate into violence."

Meanwhile in Mecklenberg-Western Pomerania, two local politicans have been threatened by people with presumed far right motives, reports the Hamburg Abendblatt.

Patrick Dahlemann of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) had his car attacked with butyric acid. The foul smelling chemical was poured onto his vehicle.

On his Facebook page Dahlemann said that he would not be intimidated in his efforts to foster a “a real culture of hospitality” in the poor north-eastern state.

And with xenophobia slowly on the rise, the far-right elements are stirring: "Meanwhile in Mecklenberg-Western Pomerania, two local politicans have been threatened by people with presumed far right motives, reports the Hamburg Abendblatt."

Patrick Dahlemann of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) had his car attacked with butyric acid. The foul smelling chemical was poured onto his vehicle.

On his Facebook page Dahlemann said that he would not be intimidated in his efforts to foster a “a real culture of hospitality” in the poor north-eastern state.

Party colleague Susann Wippermann also suffered threats when an unknown person wrote “traitor to the nation” on her car windscreen.

This follows a warning last week from the Federal Office of Investigation (BKA) which warned that politicians who support refugees face increased danger of attack from far right groups. Earlier in October Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker was stabbed while campaigning for election by an assailant with self-declared anti-refugee motives.

Título: Furious Germans Stage Massive Anti-Islam Protest: "The Concentration Camps Are Unfortunately Out Of Action"

Texto: Over the past several months, we’ve warned repeatedly that Europe’s escalating migrant crisis threatens to set off a dangerous bout of scapegoating xenophobia.

Germany’s open door policy to asylum seekers has effectively been forced on other countries by decree, a move which could very well engender intense and possibly dangerous feelings of nationalism among citizens who disagree with Berlin’s approach to the crisis. We’ve already seen Hungary resort to razor wire fences, water cannons, and tear gas to keep migrants out and Budapest’s move to close its border with Croatia and Serbia has set off a Balkan border battle wherein no one can quite figure out the most efficient way to get the refugees to Germany without allowing their countries to be used as migrant superhighways.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is beginning to feel the heat at home. Recall the following from AFP:

Germany's Angela Merkel is used to owning the room when she speaks to her party faithful, but the mood turned hostile when she defended her open-door refugee policy this week.

In a heated atmosphere, some of the 1,000-odd members at the meeting warned of a "national disaster" and demanded shuttering the borders as Germany expects up to one million migrants this year.

"Stop the refugee chaos -- save German culture + values -- dethrone Merkel," read a banner at the congress late Wednesday in the eastern state of Saxony, the home base for the anti-foreigner PEGIDA movement.

As Reuters notes, PEGIDA (which stands for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West,) almost “fizzled out” earlier this year when the group’s leader Lutz Bachmann posted the following picture of himself on Facebook with the caption “He’s Back”:

Now, thanks to the refugee crisis, PEGIDA is apparently “back” as well, as attendance at the group’s Monday night “gatherings” swells amid the influx of Syrian asylum seekers. Here’s Reuters:

The German anti-Islam movement PEGIDA staged its biggest rally in months on Monday, sparked into fresh life on its first anniversary by anger at the government's decision to take in hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East.

But it has swelled again as Germany implements Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to accept a tide of refugees that could exceed a million this year, as she argues that Germany can not only cope but, with its aging population, will benefit in the long term.

Police declined to estimate the number of protesters but media put it at 15-20,000, somewhat below a peak of around 25,000 in January. Around 14,000 counter-demonstrators urged people to welcome refugees rather than whip up opposition.

PEGIDA supporters waved the national flag and carried posters bearing slogans such as "Hell comes with fake refugees" and "Every people should have its country, not every people a piece of Germany".

Gathering outside Dresden's historic opera house, the Semperoper, PEGIDA supporters chanted "Deport! Deport!" and "Merkel must go!".

"We're just normal people who are scared of what's coming," said 37-year-old Patrick, a car mechanic. "As a German citizen who pays taxes, you feel like you're being taken for a ride."

And Bachmann was there on Monday, not dressed as Hitler. Here’s what he had to say to the crowd which reportedly handed him bouquets of flowers:

"Politicians attack and defame us and the lowest tricks are used to keep our mouths shut. We are threatened with death, there are attacks on our vehicles and houses and we are dragged through the mud, but we are still here ... And we will triumph!"

While it's not entirely clear what "triumph" means in this context, you can get a clue or two by simply taking a look at the following homemade sign which showed up at last Monday's rally in Dresden:

More from Deutsche Welle:

The anti-"Islamization" movement PEGIDA marked its first birthday with a significant resurgence - and what many observers saw as a new radicalization. The new influx of refugees over the summer and a significant backlash against Merkel's decision to open the borders to Syrians has apparently given the racist elements in the PEGIDA movement new confidence.

Police put the attendance at Monday's PEGIDA rally at between 15,000 and 20,000 people, with an equal number of counterdemonstrators, making this the largest turnout since the movement's previous high point in February. But there was also a new aggression in the crowds: a Saxony police statement said the two sides threw "objects and fireworks" at one another, and said there were several attacks on officers themselves, who deployed pepper spray.

The media's attention was particularly drawn to a 25-minute speech by the German-Turkish writer Akif Pirincci, otherwise known for a cat-based crime fiction series and a libertarian blog called "The Axis of Good," which has often been accused of racism.

Pirincci's extraordinary and occasionally vulgar ramble, all read from notes, included references to refugees as "invaders," politicians as "gauleiters against their own people," Muslims "who pump infidels with their Muslim juice" and a threat that Germany would become a "Muslim garbage dump."

After the crowd responded with shouts of "resistance, resistance," Pirincci said, "Of course there are other alternatives - but the concentration camps are unfortunately out of action at the moment."

You read that correctly, the man who stood up in front of 10-15,000 people and delivered a 25-minute rant complete with the suggestion that Germany should fire back up the concentration camps writes cat detective novels in his spare time...

In any event, this is precisely what we meant when we said that feelings of intense nationalism could well lead directly to dangerous bouts of scapegoating xenophobia, and don't expect anyone at a PEGIDA rally to be persuaded by the argument that the influx of Syrian refugees may help Germany overcome the economic hurdles it will soon face from challenging demographic shifts.

We'll leave you with a quote from Hungary's Viktor Orban and some visuals from Monday's rally.

“Spiritually, Islam was never part of Europe. It's the rulebook of another world.”

Título: Europe's Next Refugee Crisis: Thousands Of Migrants Freezing To Death

Texto: “It cannot be that in the Europe of 2015 people are left to fend for themselves, sleeping in fields.” That’s a quote from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and he’s referring to the EU’s effort to create makeshift “holding camps” along the Balkan route to Germany designed to house some 100,000 asylum seekers as they make their way north. Eastern Europe is struggling with the influx of refugees from the Mid-East and while Hungary has simply decided to close its borders, other states in the region are attempting to strike some sort of middle ground between relenting and allowing migrants to turn the countryside into a superhighway to Germany and implementing a Viktor Orban-style crackdown that lacks any semblance of humanity (say what you will about a country’s right to protect its borders and cultural heritage, but using tear gas and water cannons in conjunction with an attempt to ignite an ultra-nationalist, religious fervor amongst the populace is dangerous at best and outright irresponsible at worst).

While the effort is admirable - we suppose - it may nonetheless backfire. That is, while it’s certainly not ideal to have hundreds of thousands of people sleeping in the middle of fields and building campfires out of flammable garbage, these ad hoc way stations will almost invariably become overcrowded, unsafe refugee internment camps and they’ll likely be easy targets for vociferous anti-migrant protests or worse.

That said, there really are no viable alternatives which is frightening considering we’re now headed into winter. Put simply, the “Schengen” concept is rapidly falling apart and unless Europe figures something out soon (and by “soon” we mean in the next couple of weeks) migrants could start to freeze to death. Here’s The Telegraph:

Migrants crossing the Balkans will begin freezing to death as winter approaches, the head of European Union has said, as leaders warned the continent was "falling apart" trying to deal with the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said a solution was urgently needed or thousands of refugee families facing winter temperature on the hillsides and freezing river-banks of Eastern Europe, would die.

"Every day counts," he said. "Otherwise we will soon see families in cold rivers in the Balkans perish miserably."

Miro Cerar, the Slovenian prime minister, said the EU was days from collapse as his country buckled under an “unbearable” influx of migrants.

"If we do not deliver some immediate and concrete actions on the ground in the next few days and weeks I believe the EU and Europe as a whole will start falling apart," he said.

Poorly dressed and under-fed, there are mounting fears they will fall victim to rougher seas and the Balkan winter that can reach minus 15C as they attempt to reach Germany and Sweden.

Aid agencies and human rights groups have also weighed in on the crisis. "As winter looms, the sight of thousands of refugees sleeping rough as they make their way through Europe represents a damning indictment of the EU’s failure to offer a coordinated response to the refugee crisis," said John Dalhuisen of Amnesty International.

If you thought the firestorm surrounding the images of drowned toddler Aylan Kurdi was bad, just wait until the pictures of frozen migrant children start to surface on social media.

In many ways, Europe is damned if they do, damned if they don't. If refugee families are left to freeze in the Balkans because a confederacy of supposedly advanced nations couldn't figure out how to cope with the influx of asylum seekers from the war-torn Mid-East, the history books will be replete with references and images to migrant families freezing to death trying to get to Germany. Then again, if the whole of the EU adopts an open door policy and something goes wrong - or even if nothing goes wrong and the people flows simply serve to change the character of European society forever - the bloc will likely be blamed for not taking a more measured approach.

Meanwhile, note the bolded passage from The Telegraph article excerpted above: "...the Balkan winter that can reach minus 15°C as they attempt to reach Germany and Sweden." Well, if you though anti-migrant sentiment was on the rise in Germany (see the latest PEGIDA rally), just have a look at Sweden where as yet unidentified groups are literally torching refugee shelters. Here's The Telegraph again:

Sweden’s migration authorities on Wednesday moved to hide the locations of buildings earmarked for housing refugees, after attackers set more a dozen prospective refugee centres on fire in a matter of months.

Mikael Ribbenvik, chief operative officer at the Swedish Migration Agency, made the decision after the thirteenth centre, a home for unaccompanied refugee children in the city of Lund, was set alight on Monday.

“We have decided today that where asylum centres are located will from now on be classified information,” Johanna Uhr, a spokeswoman for the agency, told The Telegraph. “We will no longer be sending out any lists of locations.”

The populist Sweden Democrat party has been harshly criticised for last week publishing a map listing the addresses of all asylum centres in and around the city of Lund.

“I find it hard to see that this is anything other than an incitement to commit hate crimes,” Veronica Palm, a Social Democrat MP, told Expressen newspaper.

And so sadly, the choice appears to be between bullets, bombs, and sword-wielding jihadists in Syria and freezing to death in the Balkans or else being burned alive in Sweden - and that's assuming you don't die at sea in transit.

The reports from Sweden underscore our point that Europe's plan to establish makeshift "holding camps" is likely a bad idea. Anti-migrant sentiment is running high among Europeans predisposed to nationalistic ideals and while the facilities torched in Sweden were apparently empty, the  migrant camps along the Balkan route won't be. That said, the alternative is to force asylum seekers to sleep out in the cold and risk going down in history as a union of advanced economies that couldn't even manage to cooperate enough to keep tens of thousands of people from freezing to death.

Of course the tragic irony is that whatever fate should befall the legions of refugees seeking asylum in Western Europe, it will all be blamed on brutal Mid-East dictators and while autocratic regimes should unquestionably be held to account for their role in creating disaffection among the citizenry, at some point the West needs to wake up and come to terms with the fact that playing Mid-East kingmaker everywhere and always has tragic consequences. Europe's refugee crisis is just the latest example.