Turkey to let Syrians work in bid to stem refugee flow into EU

The EU hopes that if refugees have opportunity to work in Turkey, they will be less inclined to seek asylum in Europe

January 11, 2016 4:00PM ET

by Michael Pizzi   @michaelwpizzi

Turkey plans to offer work permits for Syrian refugees, an official said Monday, announcing a step that was praised by advocates for refugees, although the policy is primarily aimed at slowing the flow of refugees into Europe.

“We are trying to reduce the pressure for illegal migration by giving Syrians in Turkey work permits," Volkan Bazkir, Turkey’s minister for European Affairs, told reporters on Monday.

The shift by Turkey, which has become the world’s biggest host of refugees since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, comes after a deal struck between Ankara and the European Union in November over how to manage the surge of Syrian refugees into Europe.

The EU promised to give Turkey $3.3 billion in cash and to renew talks on incorporating Turkish passports into the EU’s Schengen visa-free zone. In return, Turkey, a critical transit point for Syrians seeking asylum in Europe, vowed to tighten border security and improve living conditions for Syrian refugees in Turkey, so they would be less likely to leave.

Until now, all but 6,000 of the 2.2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey have been barred from entering the formal labor market, mainly due to concerns they will displace Turkish nationals in the workforce. Turkey’s unemployment rate is about 10 percent. While camps run by the United Nation provide for their basic needs, the vast majority of Syrian refugees in Turkey choose to live in towns to provide their families a more normal life – and therefore need an income to survive. Many refugees find jobs doing menial labor, daily wage construction work, while others, especially women taking care of families on their own, resort to prostitution, begging, and forcing their children to work — what the U.N. refers to as “negative coping mechanisms.”

Advocates for refugees have long called for host countries to give refugees the right to work legally, which is stipulated under the Geneva Convention but not always observed. While officials have raised concerns in Jordan and other countries in the region about stoking societal tensions if local populations perceive refugees to be “stealing” their jobs, advocates say that allowing refugees to work can be beneficial to the country in the long term.

Barring access to work permits “forces people into informal labor market where their rights are not protected and their situations are precarious, fostering exploitation and in some cases making it impossible for them to work,” said Alexander Aleinikoff, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute and the former U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees. “So it produces a situation of eventual long-term dependency on the international humanitarian system, which is not good for anyone.”

The $3.3 billion in cash the European Union has promised Turkey is meant to offset some of the costs involved in folding Syrians into the workforce and expanding education for Syrian children, which Bozkir also said was a top priority.

The deal is seen as mutually beneficial for Turkey, which hopes to eventually join the EU, as well as for Europe, which faces a rapidly growing refugee crisis of people from Syria and elsewhere. EU officials fear that the 1 million asylum seekers who reached its shores in 2015 may pose a security threat, and that Europe will not be able to properly integrate them. Offering cash to Syria’s neighboring countries, which have already absorbed more than 4 million refugees to date, is a stopgap measure to keep the Syrian crisis at arms-length until the violence starts to abate.

Aleinikoff said many Syrian refugees may prefer this approach. “I think it’s likely that if given opportunities to work in Turkey many will choose to stay there because it’s closer to Syria and the hope is eventual return to their home country," he said. Still, allowing Syrians to work is “not the same as integration,” and does not imply a path to citizenship, he added. "So I don’t think it’s a panacea for their onward movement.”

With Reuters

Failed Paris police station attacker lived in German refugee shelter

German police on Saturday raided an asylum seeker shelter where they said the man who sought to attack a Paris police station on Thursday had lived.

Police found no indications that other attacks had been planned, they said in a statement following the search at the shelter in western Germany's Recklinghausen.

The police statement did not specify that he was an asylum seeker but a source close to the matter told AFP the man was indeed registered as one.

The man was shot dead by police after trying to storm a police station in northern Paris on Thursday, brandishing a meat cleaver and wearing a fake suicide vest. The attempted attack took place exactly one year since the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks that shook Paris.

Investigations are ongoing in close cooperation with French authorities, said police from the state of North Rhine Westphalia, declining to give further information for fear of compromising the probe.

French investigators said Friday the suspect appeared to have been identified by his family and was said to be a Tunisian named Tarek Belgacem.

His link to an asylum seeker shelter in Germany risks further inflaming a debate over the 1.1 millionasylum seekers that the country took in last year.

Tensions were already running high after a spate of sexual assaults and thefts during New Year's Eve festivities in the western city of Cologne, with police saying suspects of the crime spree were mostly asylum seekers and migrants.

Cologne police had said earlier Saturday that they have recorded 379 cases of violence during the rampage that night.

(AFP)

Date created : 2016-01-10

Number of New Year’s Eve cases in Germany rises to over 600

Attacks on women in Cologne and other German cities on New Year’s Eve have prompted more than 600 criminal complaints, with police suspicion resting on asylum seekers, putting pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel and her open door migrant policy.

The attacks, mostly targeting women and ranging from theft to sexual molestation, have prompted a highly-charged debate in Germany about its welcoming stance for refugees and migrants, more than one million of whom arrived last year.

The sudden nature of the violent attacks and the fact that they stretched from Hamburg to Frankfurt prompted Germany’s justice minister Heiko Maas to speculate in a newspaper that they had been planned or coordinated.

The debate on migration will be further fuelled by the acknowledgement by the authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia that a man shot dead as he tried to enter a Paris police station last week was an asylum seeker with seven identities who lived in Germany.

In Cologne, police said on Sunday that 516 criminal complaints had been filed by individuals or groups in relation to assaults on New Year’s Eve, while police in Hamburg said 133 similar charges had been lodged with the north German city.

Frankfurt also registered complaints, although far fewer.

The investigation in Cologne is focused largely on asylum seekers or illegal migrants from North Africa, police said. They arrested one 19-year-old Moroccan man on Saturday evening.

In Cologne, where a 100-strong force of officers continued their investigations, around 40 percent of the complaints included sexual offences, including two rapes.

Dwindling trust

The attacks, which prompted violent far-right protests on Saturday, threatens to further erode confidence in Merkel, and could stoke support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of three key state elections in March.

Merkel’s popularity has dwindled as she refused to place a limit on the influx of refugees.

A survey sponsored by state broadcaster ARD showed that while 75 percent of those asked were very happy with Merkel’s work in April last year, only 58 percent were pleased now.

Almost three quarters of those polled said migration was the most important issue for the government to deal with in 2016.

The Cologne attacks also heated up the debate on immigration in neighbouring Austria.

“What happened in Cologne is unbelievable and unacceptable,” Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner, a member of the conservative People’s Party that is junior coalition partner to the Social Democrats, told newspaper Oesterreich.

There had been a handful of similar incidents in the border city of Salzburg. “Such offenders should be deported,” she said, backing a similar suggestion by Merkel.

Swiss media contained numerous stories about sexual assaults on women by foreigners, fuelling tensions ahead of a referendum next month that would trigger the automatic deportation of foreigners convicted of some crimes.

In Germany, on Monday, a regional parliamentary commission will quiz police and others about the events on New Year’s Eve in Cologne.

The anti-Islam PEGIDA, whose supporters threw bottles and fire crackers at a march in Cologne on Saturday before being dispersed by riot police, will later hold a rally in the eastern German city of Leipzig.

The far-right will likely seize on reports that the Paris attacker, who was shot last week as he wielded a meat cleaver and shouted “Allahu akbar” (God is Greatest), was known to police for drug dealing and harassing women.

He had an apartment in an accommodation centre for asylum seekers in Recklinghausen, north of Cologne, where he had painted the symbol of Islamic state on the wall of two rooms.

(REUTERS)

Date created : 2016-01-10

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World seals historic deal in Paris to stop global warming

 
 
 
 
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© Francois Guillot, AFP | Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (centre), with UN chief Ban Ki Moon and French President François Hollande (right) after the adoption in Paris, on December 12, 2015

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2015-12-12

To rousing cheers and tears of relief, envoys from 195 nations approved Saturday an accord to stop global warming, offering hope that humanity can avert catastrophic climate change and usher in an energy revolution.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius ended nearly a fortnight of gruelling UN negotiations in Pariswith the bang of a gavel, marking consensus among the ministers, who stood for several minutes to clap and shout their joy.

"I see the room, I see the reaction is positive, I hear no objection. The Paris climate accord is adopted," Fabius declared.

Turning to a little green hammer with which he formally gave life to the arduously-crafted pact, he quipped: "It may be a small gavel but it can do big things."

The deal, to take effect from 2020, ends decades-long rows between rich and poor nations over how to carry out what will be a multi-trillion-dollar effort to cap global warming and deal with consequences already occurring.

With 2015 forecast to be the hottest year on record, world leaders and scientists had said the accord was vital for capping rising temperatures and averting the most calamitous impacts from climate change.

Without urgent action, they warned of increasingly severe droughts, floods and storms, as well as rising seas that would engulf islands and coastal areas populated by hundreds of millions of people.

The crux of the fight to limit global warming requires cutting back or eliminating the use of coal, oil and gas for energy, which has largely powered prosperity since the Industrial Revolution began in the 1700s.

The burning of those fossil fuels releases invisible greenhouse gases, which cause the planet to warm and change Earth's delicate climate system.

Ending the vicious circles requires a switch to cleaner sources, such as solar and wind, and improvingenergy efficiency. Some nations are also aggressively pursuing nuclear power, which does not emit greenhouse gases.

Ambitious global warming limit

The Paris accord sets a target of limiting warming of the planet to "well below" 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) compared with the Industrial Revolution, while aiming for an even more ambitious goal of 1.5C.

To do so, the emissions of greenhouse gases will need to peak "as soon as possible", followed by rapid reductions, the agreement states.

The world has already warmed almost 1C, which has caused major problems for many people around the world particularly in developing countries, such as more severe storms, droughts and rising seas, according to scientists.

Environment groups said the Paris agreement was a turning point in history and spelt the demise of the fossil fuel industry, pointing particularly to the significance of the 1.5C goal.

"That single number, and the new goal of net zero emissions by the second half of this century, will cause consternation in the boardrooms of coal companies and the palaces of oil-exporting states," Greenpeace International chief Kumi Naidoo said.

Enduring money battles

Developing nations had insisted rich countries must shoulder the lion's share of responsibility for tackling climate change as they emitted most of the greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution.

The United States and other rich nations countered that emerging giants must also do more, arguing developing countries now account for most of current emissions and thus will be largely responsible for future warming.

On the crucial financing issue, developing countries agreed to muster at least $100 billion (92 billion euros) a year from 2020 to help developing nations.

However, following US objections, it was not included in the legally binding section of the deal.

Ahead of the talks, most nations submitted voluntary plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions from 2020, a process widely hailed as an important platform for success.

But scientists say that, even if the pledges were fully honoured, Earth would be on track for warming far above safe limits.

In an effort to encourage countries to improve their ambitions, the agreement will have five-yearly of their pledges starting from 2023.

Nations most vulnerable to climate change lobbied hard for wording in the Paris pact to limit warming to 1.5C.

Big polluters, such as China, India and oil producing-giant Saudi Arabia, preferred a ceiling of 2C, which would have enabled them to burn fossil fuels for longer.

Nicholas Stern, a former chief economist for the World Bank who has become a prominent global advocate of climate action, also hailed the deal.

"This is a historic moment, not just for us and our world today, but for our children, our grandchildren and future generations," Stern said.

"The Paris Agreement is a turning point in the world's fight against unmanaged climate change, which threatens prosperity and well-being among both rich and poor countries."

COP21: Key points of the Paris climate deal

The Paris climate summit ended with a milestone agreement Saturday when more than 190 countries adopted the first accord in the fight against global warming.

Here are the key points of the deal:

Long-term goal

The long-term objective of the agreement is to make sure global warming stays "well below" 2 degreesCelsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and to "pursue efforts" to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Temperatures have already increased by about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.To achieve that goal, governments pledged to stop the rise in heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions "as soon as possible."

By some point after 2050, the agreement says, man-made emissions should be reduced to a level that forests and oceans can absorb.

Emissions targets

In order to reach the long-term goal, countries agreed to set national targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions every five years. More than 180 countries have already submitted targets for the first cycle beginning in 2020. Only developed countries are expected to slash their emissions in absolute terms; developing nations are "encouraged" to do so as their capabilities evolve over time.

Until then, they are expected only to rein in the growth of emissions as their economies develop.

Reviewing targets

The initial targets will not be enough to put the world on a path to meet the long-term temperature goal. So the agreement asks governments to review their targets in the next four years and see if they can "update" them. That doesn't require governments to deepen their cuts. But the hope is that it will be possible for them to do so if renewable energy sources become more affordable and effective.

Transparency

There is no penalty for countries that miss their emissions targets. But the agreement has transparency rules to help encourage countries to actually do what they say they will do. That was one of the most difficult pieces to agree on, with China asking for softer requirements for developing countries.

The agreement says all countries must report on their emissions and their efforts the reduce them. But it allows for some "flexibility" for developing countries that "need it."

Money

The agreement says wealthy countries should continue to offer financial support to help poor countries reduce their emissions and adapt to climate change. It also encourages other countries to pitch in on a voluntary basis. That paves the way for emerging economies such as China to contribute, even though it doesn't require them to do so.

Actual dollar amounts were kept out of the agreement itself, but wealthy nations had previously pledged to provide $100 billion annually in climate finance by 2020.

Loss and damage

In a victory for small island nations threatened by rising seas, the agreement includes a section recognising "loss and damage" associated with climate-related disasters. The US long objected to addressing the issue in the agreement, worried that it would lead to claims of compensation fordamage caused by extreme weather events.

In the end, the issue was included, but a footnote specifically stated that loss and damage does not involve liability or compensation.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

Date created : 2015-12-13

How will the COP21 accord be enforced?

As the COP21 climate negotiations draw to a close in Paris, complicated questions remain about how the accord will be carried out over the coming years.

Negotiators from 195 countries seem close to hammering out a deal that could limit global warmingto a maximum of 2° Celsius (3.6° Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels. But while theCOP21 talks will produce an international treaty, debate continues about which parts of it will belegally binding.

“A lot of that language is still in brackets,” Naomi Ages, a Greenpeace representative at COP21, told FRANCE 24 on Friday. “The French presidency is in meetings all day today on that issue.”

Without clear legal language to guarantee enforcement of the accord, will COP21 prove any more effective than previous climate agreements?

“The negotiations are in the home stretch, but there are still some key issues to resolve that will be important in determining the effectiveness of the agreement,” Alex Hanafi, a Senior Attorney for theEnvironmental Defense Fund, told FRANCE 24.

Previous climate accords have foundered over issues of enforcement and monitoring. Though participating countries agreed in principle that they needed to cut the CO2 emissions responsible for global warming, talks broke down when it came time for developed and developing countries to agree on a way to enforce those cuts.

A history of missed opportunities

The Kyoto Protocol in 1997 produced an international treaty that was signed by 82 countries. But the Protocol never went into effect in full force. Major polluters like the US and Russia chose not to participate, while countries that didn’t meet their agreed-upon emissions reductions faced no sanctions.

At the 2009 Copenhagen accords, participating countries all agreed for the first time to put limits on their greenhouse gas emissions. But the meeting failed to produce a legally binding treaty.

Six years later, most countries still shy away from language that sounds like a binding promise to cut their CO2 emissions. US Secretary of State John Kerry warned the Financial Times in November that the US would not sign a "Kyoto-style" treaty, since any agreement that required new environmental legislation would be opposed by the Republican-controlled US Senate.

A new approach

To try to cut down on wrangling over legal issues, negotiators decided this time that each country would volunteer its own commitment to cutting emissions. These pledges are known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, or INDCs.

The use of INDCs means that the COP21 agreement will not be a top-down treaty, but a self-determined accord.

In some ways, INDCs seem to be a success. By the start of the COP21 talks 150 countries had made pledges to reduce emissions, compared to just 37 at Kyoto in 1997.

“Countries are willing to step up and use (the INDC) system,” said Greenpeace representative Ages. “It’s the only system that would have worked when you get such a diverse body” of countries, she explained.

‘Naming and shaming’

On the other hand, having a mosaic of emissions commitments will make monitoring complicated. “The sticking point is verification,” Alden Meyer, a representative for the Union of Concerned Scientists, told FRANCE 24. And the Environmental Defense Fund’s Hanafi said negotiators have yet to “lock in a solid legal framework for monitoring and reviewing progress".

In the coming years, countries are expected to submit updates about meeting their emissions pledges to a UN-run committee. However, the members of that committee won’t be chosen until well after COP21 is over.

As with Kyoto, there will not be any sanctions or similar diplomatic punishment if a country falls short of its pledge. Instead, public pressure will have to keep countries on course, explained Alden Meyer. Watchdog groups, the media, and the general public will have to closely monitor whether a government hits its emission commitments.

“If they’re falling short, everyone in the world will know it,” Meyer said. “They’ll have to publicly take whatever embarrassment comes along with that.”

Greenpeace's Ages agreed that “naming and shaming” would need to happen if a country doesn’t meet its INDC.

Negotiators in Paris are optimistic they will deliver a final draft of an accord on Saturday as theystruggle through the final hours of COP21.

But even after negotiators go home, the true work of translating their words into climate-saving action is far from finished.

Date created : 2015-12-11