Tag Archives: Europe

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Slovenia News | LGBT

Same-sex marriages commence in Slovenia
  • The first lesbian wedding was scheduled in the country’s second-largest city, Maribor.
  • The law establishing marriage equality in the country was passed in December 2015 after a contentious debate over same-sex adoption, although it was subsequently repealed by referendum.
  • While able to marry, same-sex couples cannot jointly adopt a child or, for lesbian couples, undergo artificial insemination.
Read

“Slovenia allows same-sex marriage, but not adoption” (Reuters | February 2017)
“Slovenia allows same-sex marriage” (POLITICO | February 2017)
“Slovenia will expand civil partnership rights after gay marriage defeated in referendum” (Gay Star News | March 2016)

(Image Credit: Jure Makovec/AFP, via POLITICO)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

France News | Black

Protests erupt in Paris suburb following violent arrest and sodomization of black man
  • A police officer was charged with using his baton to sodomize Théo L., a 22-year-old black man, while arresting him in the northern suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois.
  • Police accused the man, who had no previous criminal record, of resisting during a check of his identity papers, but the brutal force used led to the suspension of all four officers involved.
  • Protests took place across the ethnically diverse northern suburbs, including marches, clashes with police, and arrests as protesters called for justice.
Coverage (English)

“French police brutality in spotlight again after officer charged with rape” (The Guardian | February 2017)
“A French Police Officer Allegedly Raped A Man With A Baton During A Check Of His Papers” (BuzzFeed News | February 2017)
“Protesters target police in Paris suburb unrest” (Reuters | February 2017)

Coverage (French)

“A Bobigny, un rassemblement contre les violences policières tourne mal” (Le Monde | February 2017)
“A Aulnay-sous-Bois, la tension est redescendue d’un cran” (Radio France Internationale | February 2017)

(Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images, via BuzzFeed News)

Gender, Religion + Belief

Germany News | Muslim Women

Chancellor Merkel endorses partial ban on Islamic veils in Germany
  • Merkel’s announcement is the first public show of support for her party’s call for a ban on full-face veils in public spaces, a proposal Muslim women leaders have pointed out as unnecessary and inflammatory in a nation that already creates strong social pressure not to wear religious veils.
  • The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has proposed barring veils including the burqa and the niqab from public spaces including courts and educational institutions and during events such as traffic stops and police checks.
  • Merkel, who recently announced a run for a fourth term, has increasingly stressed “integration” and “law and order” amidst rising anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, and nationalist sentiments in the country.

Read more:
“Angela Merkel endorses party’s call for partial ban on burqa and niqab” (The Guardian)
“Angela Merkel Calls for Ban on Full-Face Veils in Germany” (The New York Times)
“Burqa bans: As Angela Merkel supports prohibition, survey shows how Muslim-majority countries feel about veils” (The Independent)

Related reads:
“What’s That You’re Wearing? A Guide to Muslim Veils” (The New York Times, May 2016)

(Image Credit: Michael Gottschalk/Photothek via Getty Images, via The Guardian)

Gender, Religion + Belief

The Netherlands News | Muslim Women

Partial ban on public dress in Islamic veils clears hurdle in the Netherlands
  • The Dutch lower house approved legislation that would ban the wearing of “face-covering clothing” including the burqa and the niqab, sending the bill to the Senate for final approval.
  • The ban, which would impose a more than €400 fine on offenders, would apply to public spaces including educational institutions, healthcare centers, public transportation, and government buildings.
  • Although data indicates only a few hundred women wear the veils, the legislation comes as a part of a wave of European legislation targeting traditional Islamic wear, including in France and Belgium.

Read more:
“Dutch parliament paves way for approval of partial Islamic veil ban” (AP via The Guardian)
“Burka ban backed by Dutch MPs for public places” (BBC)
“Dutch parliament approves partial burqa ban in public places” (The Independent)

(Image Credit: Getty Images, via BBC)

Nationality + Migration

Indonesia & the Netherlands News | Indonesians

Dutch government announces inquiry into violent twilight of colonialism in Indonesia
  • Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced an investigation into the violent conflict between the Dutch military and Indonesians that took place from 1945 to 1949.
  • The Dutch government has begun to admit to a host of war crimes during the colonial war including mass killings, torture, and summary executions, with the conflict having brought about the death of at least 100,000 Indonesians.
  • Indonesia was a Dutch colony from 1800 to 1949 and is widely recognized as having contributed significantly to the contemporary wealth of the western European nation.

Read more:
“Dutch cabinet agrees to fund research into violence in Indonesia” (DutchNews)
“Dutch government backs new inquiry into colonial Indonesia” (Reuters)

Additional reads:
“Indonesian National Revolution Photos the Dutch Army Didn’t Want You to See” (The Creators Project, January 2016)
“Colonial atrocities explode myth of Dutch tolerance” (The Independent, May 1994)

(Image Credit: NIOD, via The Creators Project)

Religion + Belief

Slovakia News | Muslims

New legislation effectively bars Islam from official status in Slovakia for foreseeable future
  • Legislation from the Slovak National Party (SNS) passed through Parliament increasing the number of adherents required for state recognition from 20,000 to 50,000 in the Catholic-majority country.
  • Official status allows for religious communities to run their own schools and receive subsidies from the state.
  • There are only between 2,000 and 5,000 Muslims currently in the country, but anti-immigrant sentiment in the country has ratcheted fears of a massive overrun by immigrants from Muslim-majority countries.

Read more:
“Slovakia toughens church registration rules to bar Islam” (Reuters)

Related reads:
“PM Fico: Islam has no place in Slovakia” (The Slovak Spectator, May 2016)
“Slovakia’s leader said Islam has ‘no place’ in his country. Now he’s taking a leadership role in the E.U.” (The Washington Post, June 2016)

Religion + Belief, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Hungary News | Muslims & LGBT

Hungarian city council adopts mayor’s proposal to ban Islamic and pro-LGBT expression
  • The ban encompasses the construction of mosques or other places of worship in the town of Ásotthalom that “undermine” the Catholic Church as well as forms of devotional expression including face- and hair-coverings and the call to prayer.
  • The ordinance also bans “public propaganda” depicting marriage as anything but the union of a man and a woman across all media forms.
  • The mayor of the town, site of a fence along the Hungarian-Serbian border, defended the ordinance as protection against the two “pagans” of migration and liberalism, but the Hungarian Islamic Community (MIK) was quick to denounce it as xenophobic.

Read more:
“Burqas, mosques, ‘gay propaganda’ all banned in Hungarian village” (RT)
“Hungarian Muslim group criticises town’s ‘xenophobic’ decree” (The Guardian)
“Hungarian City Bans Mosques, Burqas And Gay Marriage” (NewNowNext)

Additional reading:
“In Hungary’s migrant vote, only the turnout is in doubt” (Reuters, September 2016)

(Image Credit: Facebook, via NewNowNext)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Netherlands News | Black

More than 100 arrested during anti-Black Pete protest in the Netherlands
  • Despite a day-long ban, demonstrators took to a holiday festival in Maassluis to protest the ongoing national reverence for Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), a controversial figure black Dutch and allies say perpetuates racist stereotypes.
  • The figure has been under fire for years as its status as a national holiday tradition has been called into question for its ties to the Netherlands’ racist colonial history, including by the U.N.
  • Adding to the controversy is the frequency with which Black Pete is performed by white people in blackface in parades and other celebratory events.

Read more:
“Dutch police detain 100 Black Pete protesters” (AFP/Deutsche Welle)
“Dutch Santa’s black-faced helper stokes anti-racism protest, police arrest 100” (Africanews)
“Dutch race hate row engulfs presenter Sylvana Simons” (BBC)

(Image Credit: via Africanews)

Nationality + Migration

Austria News | Asylum-Seekers

Asylum center attack the latest in a series in Austria
  • Unidentified assailants threw a molotov cocktail at the center near Vienna, damaging a wall but leaving occupants uninjured.
  • Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime, with anti-immigrant sentiments having ratcheted up ahead of the upcoming presidential election pitting the independent incumbent against a far-right nationalist candidate.
  • The attack follows the arson of a newly built but unoccupied refugee center in Altenfelden earlier in the year.

Read more:
“Austrian asylum center hit by Molotov cocktail” (Reuters)
“Haunted by asylum center fire, divided Austrian town prepares to vote” (Reuters)
“Austria sees 13 attacks on refugee centres in 3 months” (The Local Austria, June 2016)

Nationality + Migration

Bulgaria News | Asylum-Seekers

Riot at refugee camp in southern Bulgaria leads to crackdown and extraditions
  • More than 400 asylum-seekers detained in the camp at Harmanli in southern Bulgaria clashed with police, throwing stones and setting fire to furniture before police shot them with rubber bullets and a water cannon.
  • Local media had accused refugees at the camp, home to 3,000, of carrying infectious skin diseases, leading to their confinement to the camp and stoking outrage among the detained.
  • The Bulgarian government has initiated arrangements to deport those involved as nationalists have called for the closure of all refugee centers.

Read more:
“Bulgarian police fire rubber bullets during migrant camp riot” (The Guardian)
“After riot, Bulgaria to send migrants to closed camps, plans extraditions” (Reuters)
“Migrant crisis: Riot in Bulgaria’s largest refugee centre” (BBC)

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

Nationality + Migration

France News | Migrants & Refugees

Shelterless migrants arrive on streets of Paris, leading to denunciation by French president
  • More than 6,000 migrants and refugees seeking to enter the U.K. from France have been funneled into shelters and streets around France following the forced evacuation of the “Jungle” camp in Calais.
  • Paris security officials estimate an increase in the number of unsheltered asylum-seekers from around 1,500 to 2,000-2,500 in just a few days.
  • Hundreds of tents and cardboard flooring mark attempts by migrants to shelter themselves from the cold as Paris’s shelter supply—fewer than 1,000 beds—has been far outstripped by demand in the French capital.

Read more:
“More migrants pitch tents on Paris streets as Calais camp shuts” (Reuters)
“Migrants: à Paris, le campement de Stalingrad s’agrandit” (Radio France Internationale, in French)
“French President Vows to Clear Paris Streets of Migrant Camp” (The New York Times)

Age, Nationality + Migration

France & U.K. News | Refugees & Migrants

France and U.K. resettle asylum-seekers in preparation for dismantlement of Calais camp
  • The government—with the help of more than 10,000 refugee aid agencies—has begun moving an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 asylum-seekers out of the Calais camp (known as the “Jungle”) and into “reception centers” throughout the country.
  • The UK has committed to accepting unaccompanied children across the border, although local agencies have expressed concern about a lack of planning to facilitate the transfer process.
  • The asylum-seekers are expected to spend an average of two months in the centers under the supervision of social workers before being again relocated while their asylum applications are processed, though some report having languished in limbo for longer.

Read more:
“Migrants begin new life outside France’s ‘Jungle’ camp” (Reuters)
“Calais migrant camp will be razed soon: French minister” (AFP via The Local)
“Children in Calais Jungle to arrive in UK ‘in days’” (BBC)

(Image Credit: Regis Duvignau/Reuters)

 

Gender

Poland News | Women

Plans for near-total abortion ban fail following massive protests in Poland
  • The measure was defeated 352-58 after as many as 100,000 women dressed in black took to the streets across the country for “Black Monday” protests.
  • Pushed by the conservative Law and Justice party (PIS) and the Catholic church, the proposed law would have limited legal abortion to instances where the woman’s life was in danger, with women and doctors both facing imprisonment for conducting abortions.
  • Poland currently has some of the strictest limitations on women’s reproductive rights in Europe, with abortion allowed only in cases of rape, incest, danger to the woman’s health, or identification of serious fetal abnormality.

Read more:
“Poland’s parliament rejects near-total ban on abortion after protests” (The Guardian)
“Black Monday: Polish women strike against abortion ban” (BBC)
“After mass protests, Poland won’t back total abortion ban” (AP via The Washington Post)

(mage Credit: Czarek Sokolowski/Associated Press, via The Washington Post)

Gender, Religion + Belief

France News | Muslim Women

French court overturns ban on burkinis in Villeneuve-Loubet
  • The State Council, the highest administrative court in the country, ruled the ban on the religiously inspired bathing suit constituted a violation of civil liberties, including freedom of movement and religious freedom.
  • The decision opens the door to challenges to similar bans in at least 30 other municipalities.
  • The bans have roiled political tensions in the aftermath of IS-coordinated and -inspired attacks in the country, with government officials and civil liberties advocates clashing over the limits of the national security apparatus.

Read more:
“Court Overturns ‘Burkini’ Ban in French Town” (The New York Times)
“Le Conseil d’Etat met un terme aux arrêtés « anti-burkini »” (Le Monde, in French)
“Burkini ban suspended by top French court” (euronews)

(Image Credit: Hannah Mckay/European Pressphoto Agency, via The New York Times)

Gender, Religion + Belief

France News | Muslim Women

Cannes and Villeneuve-Loubet mayors ban burkinis on public beaches
  • Cannes Mayor David Lisnard said the hooded full-body swimsuits “create risks of disrupting public order,” with another municipal official elaborating that such garments display “allegiance to terrorist movements.”
  • The measure falls in line with the French government’s antagonism of public displays of religious affiliation, which have discriminated against observant Muslims—particularly women—in the country.
  • Following in Cannes’ footsteps, Mayor Lionnel Luca banned burkinis in the coastal town of Villeneuve-Loubet, stating such garments aren’t “hygienic” or in line with the ideological principle of laïcité, or enforced public secularism.

Read more:
“The Mayor Of Cannes Has Banned Burkinis On The Riviera’s Beaches” (BuzzFeed News)
“Cannes, Citing Security Risks, Bans Full-Body ‘Burkinis’ From Its Beaches” (The New York Times)
“Après Cannes, Villeneuve-Loubet interdit le burkini” (Le Monde, in French)

(Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images, via BuzzFeed News)