Tag Archives: 2: Unfavorable

Religion + Belief
Three women’s flight from English town to join ISIS prompts renewed soul-searching about radicalization causes in Britain
  • The sisters left the northern town of Bradford with their nine children for a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, but are believed to have traveled to Syria to join the group.
  • Muslims represent around a quarter* of the population in the ethnically diverse working-class town that has encountered a number of economic struggles recently.
  • While PM David Cameron has announced tough crackdowns on those spreading extremist messages–including the closure of mosques–some community advocates find the measures are not combating the root causes of alienation and exclusion from opportunity afflicting the British Muslim community.

“It’s disturbing, because we’ve got young family of our own. We have to keep an eye on them, who they are associating with. At one time we were worried about lads on the street corner selling drugs. Now this is a bigger shock. Where does it end?”

More on this story at Reuters.

(Image Credit: Phil Noble/Reuters)

*Corrected (6/20) to accurately reflect the Muslim population proportion in Bradford.

Nationality + Migration
Chad announces it will begin rounding up panhandlers and some foreigners as a part of security crackdown following Boko Haram suicide attacks
  • The detained individuals will be held in Baga Sola, a town near Lake Chad.
  • The government has not announced which nationalities will be subject to detention or its rationale for the detentions.
  • Monday’s coordinated attacks in Ndjamena, the capital, were the largest seen in the country, leaving 34 dead and dozens injured.

More on this story at Reuters.

(Image Credit: Moumine Ngarmbassa/Reuters)

Nationality + Migration
Hungary’s plan to erect border fence draws international condemnation
  • On Wednesday, the Eastern European country announced a proposal to build a 13-foot-high fence along its 109-mile border with Serbia to deter illegal immigration.
  • Hungary received 7% of all EU asylum applications in 2014, and its prime minister has been outspoken in his anti-immigration line.
  • On a continent with a particular sensitivity to walls due to its history, Hungary’s proposal has caused suspicion of the government’s running afoul of its international obligations and isolating prospective EU member Serbia.

“We have only just torn down walls in Europe; we should not be putting them up.”

More on this story at The New York Times.

(Image Credit: Bernadett Szabo/Reuters, via The New York Times)

Gender, Nationality + Migration
Qatar Airways under fire for gender-discriminatory policies, including pregnancy discrimination and freedom to marry
  • The UN’s International Labor Organization has ruled that the state-funded airliner discriminated against women through contracts statements indicating it could terminate their contract should they become pregnant.
  • Employees also had to seek permission from the company for a change in marital status and could only be accompanied to the airport by a male if he were her father, brother, or husband.
  • Comprising 80% of the airline’s cabin crew (of which 90% are foreign workers), women remain vulnerable to discriminatory employment practices carried out under threat of deportation.

“This decision is a game-changer. …A year ago we put Qatar and Qatar Airways in the dock and today it has been proved that we were right to do so. The changes made to the rules for staff failed to fool the ILO. Now the airline must make them for real. It’s time to make Qatar Airways free from fear.”

More on this story at The Guardian.

(Image Credit: Eric Piermont/AFP/Getty Images, via The Guardian)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

News

Ugandan LGBT activist remains skeptical of the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions against Uganda for its anti-homosexuality laws.
  • The U.S. imposed sanctions ranging from financial divestment to visa restrictions a year ago.
  • Celebrated activist Pepe Onziema shares that conditions on the ground have changed little: fear still permeates his daily life as the threat of violence follows him wherever he goes.
  • Activists have filed suit against Scott Lively, the American pastor widely viewed as having contributed to the creation of Uganda’s anti-gay laws.

“Le gouvernement est devenu encore plus arrogant à notre égard…Cela signifie que le but recherché par les sanctions n’a pas été atteint, surtout pour la communauté LGBT. Cela a peut-être permis un meilleur dialogue entre les gouvernements, mais pour nous sur le terrain, nous en avons subi les conséquences.”

Translation: “The government has become more arrogant with regard to us…That means that the goal sought by sanctions hasn’t been achieved, above all for the LGBT community.  That has perhaps allowed for a better dialogue between the [U.S. and Ugandan] governments, but for us on the ground, we have suffered the consequences of it.”

More on this story at RFI (in French).

(Image Credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for GLAAD/AFP, via RFI)

Religion + Belief

News

Hungarian PM dismisses multicultural society as something from which Hungary must be spared.
  • Viktor Orban denounces “mass-scale” intermingling of different faiths.
  • He has been outspoken in his opposition to the EU’s response to the Mediterranean migration crisis.

“Multiculturalism means the coexistence of Islam, Asian religions and Christianity. We will do everything to spare Hungary from that.”

More on this story at Reuters.

Nationality + Migration
A member of the Federal National Council of the UAE proposes a tax on remittances exported by foreign workers.
  • 80% of the UAE population is non-native, with the country relying heavily on foreign workers for unskilled labor.
  • The rise in costs associated with such a tax could make the Arab world’s second biggest economy less attractive to foreign talent, though the Finance Minister says the socioeconomic impact has yet to be studied and is not currently under consideration.
  • Employees transferred a net Dh45.1 billion ($12.3 billion) out of the country last year, an increase from Dh41.2 the year before.

Read more on this story at Gulf News.