Mass Migration - a plan, or just a consequence of some other plan

Pierre said:
Soros Is "Investing" $500 Million In Europe's Refugees And Migrants: He Explains Why

In a section titled, “Our Ambitions,” the authors explain: “Our premise for engaging in work related to governance was that, in addition to mitigating the negative effects of enforcement, we should also be supporting actors in the field proactively seeking to change the policies, rules, and regulations that govern migration.”
I wonder if the influx of african people through Mexico is included in this plan, ... no, no wonder, I think is included as well ... I heard this at the news last month, but after searching a bit more, it has been at least for this year if not more back... in short refugees from African continent get to sudamérica or central amercica and travel up, incluiding many from Haiti, and enter to Mexico, adcquiring a vista transit of some sorts, to travel throughout the mexican southborder to mexican norther one, in the hopes to enter to US and get a better life ...

_https://news.vice.com/article/more-african-and-asian-migrants-are-arriving-in-mexico-after-long-latin-american-journeys said:
More African and Asian Migrants Are Arriving in Mexico After Long Latin American Journeys
By Conrad Fox
January 8, 2016 | 11:50 am

Sitting in a small cafe in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, Gorjit recalled the harrowing experiences that led him there as he outlined his hopes and fears for the future.

The young man with chiseled features said he left his home in northern India after political strife took the life of his father and uncle. He sold his house and escaped first to Qatar, then to Brazil and on to Argentina where he worked for six months. Then he headed north with one destination in mind.

"Some guys told me there is a better life in the United States," he said in broken Spanish. "And that's where I'm going."

The cafe where Gorjit sat, that bears a sign in Bengali, lies across the street from the Hotel Palafox which is one of the main places where migrants from Africa and Asia who have made it to Mexico hang out, swapping stories from their odysseys and listening to music on mobile phones.

One of them, a Somali refugee called Ismael, said he was living in South Africa when a wave of xenophobic attacks swept the country last year.

"Every day they threatened us," he recalled. Going back to his war-torn homeland, he added, would have been tantamount to "just go and kill yourself."

Ismael paid a man in Kenya $5,000 dollars for a fake passport, a plane ticket to Brazil and introductions to a spidery network of human smugglers that eventually got him to Tapachula and the Hotel Palafox.

A few blocks away in the city's central plaza George smiled as he made a video on a tablet of a traditional Mexican dance troupe — all brassy music and swirling colors. He said he left his native Cameroon without a passport on board a cargo ship. He traveled from port to port until the ship docked in Colombia.

"I thought: Wow, this is the American continent. I used to think you could get a bus to America."

He slipped ashore and was immediately mugged. With what little he had left he began asking directions to the US. He laughs a little at his own naivete.

Tapachula has long been a temporary resting place for Central American migrants heading through Mexico on an effort to get to the United States. In recent years the small, sleepy and hot city has also become a hub for migrants from further afield, many of whom plan to seek asylum if they reach US soil.

Mexican migration authorities detained 1,300 African and Asian migrants in 2014, three times more than the previous year. The numbers were on track to at least double again in 2015.

Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and Colombia have all reported similarly dramatic increases in migrants from countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, China, India, Pakistan, Tibet, Cameroon, Somalia, Eritrea, Ghana, and Sudan.

The rise of African and Asian migrants in Latin America reflects both the tightening of border restrictions in Europe and their loosening in some Latin American countries, such as Ecuador.

Migrants who would never be granted a visa to fly directly to the US, find Latin America an easier point of entry into the continent. And even where visas are required, corruption has made borders porous. In Tapachula, migrants reported that bribery is almost standard procedure along the route.

The journey is not only long and arduous. At some points it is outright dangerous as well.

In the grimy port town of Turbo, on Colombia's Caribbean coast, migrants mill about the wharves looking for clandestine boat operators to take them to Panama. The port is a bottleneck on the route north, and all migrants pass through here at some point.

"I couldn't sleep that night," George said of his first day in Turbo. The only way the Cameroonian made it out of the town was by handing over about $750 dollars in exchange for a night-long ride in a skiff packed to double capacity through waters controlled by paramilitary groups and the feared Clan Usaga drug trafficking gang.


Related: Best of 2015: 'Those Who Arrive Here Want to Become Ghosts'— Milan's People Smuggling Trade

With no life jackets, dozens of migrants have drowned on this leg of the route every year since 2013. According to locals, the smugglers robbed and then threw the migrants into the water.

"Two weeks ago we found 15 migrants just drifting alone in a boat," Rear Admiral Ricardo Hurtado of the Colombian Navy told VICE News in November. Hurtado's anti-drug patrols also interdict migrant traffic. "When the engine died, the smugglers just swam away and left them there."

Hurtado said that in the first 10 months of 2015 his patrols detained 538 migrants compared to 138 in the same period of the year before. "We're overwhelmed," he said.

For those who can't afford to take a boat all the way to Panama, the cheaper option is to get off on the Colombian coast and then hike through the famously inhospital jungle of the Darien Gap that separates both countries, and through which no road has ever been built.

Some in Tapachula shuddered as they recalled the journey.

"If I had known there was jungle, I would never have left the ship," George, the Cameroonian said. "There are a lot of dead bodies in the jungle, you see their skeletons."

With his own strength waning, and food and water running out, he spent much of the journey assisting a pregnant woman who was traveling with him as they climbed muddy slopes and crossed fetid swampland. It took them two days to get out.

"I was seven days without food," says Gorjit, the young Indian whose feet were so badly damaged he still has difficulty walking. "I thought I was going to die."

Once they get to Panama the Asian and African migrants often turn themselves into the authorities looking for help, and hoping to get a visa that will enable them to travel legally through the country. They are held in military camps while their identity is checked by authorities.

"In the first camp, we sleep like dogs, outside on the stone. The food is the same, two times a day. For twenty-five days, dry rice. That is all they can afford to give us," said Ismael, the Somali. "But we say thank you. If we are still alive until now, we just say thank you to God."

Ismael, like most migrants on this route, was eventually granted a temporary exit visa and released. This is a pattern that becomes routine as the migrants move from country to country through Central America. For most governments in the region, establishing the nationality of undocumented migrants from half the world away — let alone deporting them home — is simply too slow and costly.

And then there are the smuggling rings that help move the migrants through the region in ways that avoid the authorities altogether — at a price.

When Guatemala's recently created human trafficking unit raided a small hotel in downtown Guatemala City in June of 2015, they found a diverse collection of foreign currency, as well as false passports, lists of flights and arrival times, and signs with people's names on them for picking up clients at the airport. They also found a parrot that Asian asylum seekers at the US border had told Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents that their Guatemalan smugglers kept in an office upstairs.

Related: The Year Southeast Asia Faced Its Own Refugee Crisis

"These guys are so organized. They've got contacts in Africa... in South America," said Mynor Pinto, the Guatemalan officer who led the raid triggered by an ICE tip. "We're talking about a kind of confederation of criminal structures all working towards the same goal. Everyone has their fee and no one moves the migrants until they get their cut."

After Guatemala comes Mexico. They typically cross the border over the Suchiate river on the small flotilla of rafts made of inner tubes that are punted leisurely from bank to bank. They carry goods and livestock in a thriving cross border trade, as well as migrants nearing the end of their odyssey.

Wilson, one of the raftsmen at a popular crossing point, said he ferries about ten African and Asian migrants per week.

"Like four days ago there was a big group of them," he recalled. "And when we get to the other side, one of them says, 'Where am I?' I said 'you're in Mexico, man.' He said 'I don't believe it.' He jumped so high and so happy, like a kangaroo."

Tapachula in Mexico's southern border may not be their final destination, but it is the next best thing for many. After the trip throughout South and Central America they can finally easily find facilities for wire transfers and long-distance calls.

'At night sometimes I start crying thinking about my life...All I've got is my life.'
Migrants go relatively unmolested by police and gangs. Transit visas are relatively easy to get and are generous at 21 days. Even the migration detention center — notorious for abuse and extortion of Latin American migrants — is considered relatively cushy.

When migrants are released from the immigration center and with their visa in hand, many hang around waiting for money to be sent by friends and family back home. A thriving business has built up around them here: the Hotel Palafox offers credit in exchange for exit visas.

For some, however, the road ahead is still daunting.

Having crossed the world to get to Mexico from northern India Gorjit had no money for a flight, or even to take the long-haul busses that trundle up to the US border. He said he was planning to continue his journey via the clandestine routes taken by Central American migrants but was worried about Mexico's drug cartels. In 2010, an Indian was found dead among 72 migrants massacred by the Zetas drug gang in Tamaulipas state.

"I'm afraid, really afraid," he said. "At night sometimes I start crying thinking about my life. I have heard there are gangs up ahead that kill. All I've got is my life."

This story was produced in association with Round Earth Media. Manuel Ureste and Francisco Rodríguez contributed to the reporting.

Follow Conrad Fox on Twitter: @willybones

_http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/06/22/483081488/via-cargo-ships-and-jungle-treks-africans-dream-of-reaching-the-u-s said:
Via Cargo Ships and Jungle Treks, Africans Dream Of Reaching The U.S.
June 22, 20165:27 PM ET

Costa Rican officials say more than 800 people claiming to be from Africa have come to their country in just the last two months. Most are believed to be from the two neighboring Congo states in central Africa. But in a visit this week, NPR also found Eritreans, Angolans and Nigerians.

Authorities also suspect that some are from Haiti.

Central America has long been the route north for people fleeing violence or poverty in Latin America. Now it's also a route from Africa.

"We say Africa is here now in Costa Rica," says the Rev. Alberto Barrios Gutierrez, a priest who, along with his parishioners, volunteers to help feed the desperate new arrivals. By the time migrants reach the volunteers, they have usually walked at least a week through dangerous jungle.

Some say the African migrants are appearing in greater numbers because it's become more difficult to reach Europe, a more traditional destination. Others say there has always been a small number of Africans traveling this route, but Nicaragua has tightened its borders, creating a roadblock.

The Africans making the journey describe a harrowing trip. Some don't survive. Many pay smugglers in Africa to get them aboard cargo ships bound for South America. Some arrive in South American countries on the Atlantic Ocean and languish there in joblessness until they look for a better future north.

They may be fleeing violence, like Boko Haram militants in Nigeria, or civil strife in Congo or poverty in Angola.

"I had a business that was completely burned down and destroyed," says Ezimwa Chimezie, a Nigerian at a tent camp set up by the Costa Rican Red Cross.

He had a shoe factory that was set on fire by men who he says also stabbed him. Chimezie says it happened because he was advocating for human rights in Nigeria. NPR couldn't independently confirm his account or the accounts given by others.

Chimezie said he flew to Ecuador and paid smugglers to secure his bus and boat travel to Colombia.

Like most of the other migrants, Chimezie eventually came to the end of the road — literally. It's called the Darien Gap, an expanse of jungle with no roads between Colombia and Panama. It's nearly 100 miles long.

"It's hell. It's hell," Chimezie says. "I ain't got no words to describe the experience."

Barely aware of the geography of Central America, Chimezie had been told to expect a three-hour jungle walk. It took days.

"It's like walking five solid days on an empty stomach," he says.

Others say it took them nine days to get through the jungle. They describe eating grass to survive, being devoured by bugs and seeing bodies left behind under the thick

Chimezie made the trip a couple weeks ago. His feet and legs are still swollen, pus seeping from a toe.

Alfredo Delvas, from Congo, says he also made the jungle journey. He shows us his temporary home in the Costa Rican Red Cross camp, pulling back the black plastic tarp on his tent.

He's with about 15 people, sharing a couple of blankets and a few wooden pallets on the ground.

Resources from the Costa Rican and Panamanian governments are scarce. Costa Rican officials say they can't keep housing the Africans. Nicaragua refuses passage northward. And Panama, to the south, won't give them permission to stay.

"If this migration continues, it will be a very dangerous situation not only for Costa Rica but also for the region," says Costa Rican Communications Minister Mauricio Herrera. His country asks for international aid, but he says it has not received any for the three shelters it runs. It plans to add a fourth next month.

Meanwhile, the church led by Barrios tries to lend a hand. Volunteers dole out mounds of rice, chicken, beans and plantains for the migrants at this camp twice a day.

_http://cmsny.org/reflections-from-the-border-refugee-crisis-in-tijuana/ said:
I always suspected that one day it might happen in Tijuana and then on May 26th at around 12 noon, we received a call from the office of the regional delegate of Mexican Immigration for an emergency meeting at 2 pm. As we made our way through the traffic and headed to the meeting, we wondered what it was all about. None of us were prepared for what we would hear. The delegate told us that refugees from around the world had begun to arrive at the Tijuana border crossing with the hope of petitioning for political asylum, and he needed our help to offer a humanitarian response. The US authorities were not prepared and could not process the people fast enough. By the time we learned about the refugee crisis, there was already a waiting line of over 400 people in US facilities, and they were not letting anyone else in the building. As a result, a line of about 100 men, women and children, who were waiting to seek asylum, had formed along the border crossing. We were asked to offer hospitality to those waiting in line until their names were called.

So, on the evening of May 27th, the mission of the Casa del Migrante expanded from serving immigrants and deportees to include refugees. That evening I went to the border with one of our Haitian seminarians, and together we talked with people in line in an effort to convince them to come out of the cold and potential rain and rest at our house for 24 hours. It was a hard sell at first, as many were afraid of losing their place in line after waiting two or three days. One young Haitian man put it very bluntly when he told us, “I would like to trust you but, at this point, I can only trust God.” After about three hours of negotiating (thank God for Ricket, my Creole-speaking seminarian), we were able to convince about 75 people to accept our offer of hospitality. I felt a bit like Noah as we loaded van after van of people from all over the world. About 50 women and children would go to Casa Madre Assunta (a shelter run by the Scalabrinian sisters) while about 25 came to our house. We thought this was a unique phenomenon that might last a couple of days, but we have come to realize that our mission has just begun a humanitarian service to the world’s refugees.

I must admit that at first it was a bit chaotic as people began to arrive at our house and thought we were taking them to a detention center. However, with the tender Scalabrinian care of our staff and volunteers, we quickly won over the hearts of our new guests. It was also a busy night for deportations, so at the end of the night we had over 155 guests at the house and five or six had to sleep with a mattress on the floor.

At the end of the first night, we began to review the registrations of our new guests and had some startling revelations:

Our first group of 25 refugee guests came from Haiti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Mexico and Honduras.

The largest number was Haitians, and many spoke quite a bit of Portuguese because they had lived in Brazil.

Those from Mexico were from Michoacán and Guerrero and were fleeing for their lives due to the increasing violence.

One family of 11 had run for their lives.

The majority had crossed between 10 and 13 countries to reach Tijuana.

Several said Nicaragua was the most difficult stage of their journey because the smugglers charged $2,000 to cross.

When asked about their mode of transportation, many said walking, bus, boat or car.

Some have been on the road for three to five years and see no reason for hope or cause to return home.

When asked if there were more people coming, the most frequent response was “yes, thousands.”

It is not an exaggeration to say we have a legitimate refugee crisis at the border, but no one seems to realize it: this is one of my main reasons for writing this reflection. While it took only five or six days for local press to begin talking about this issue, the US media does not seem to think it warrants much attention. However, just like the leaky faucet in the kitchen that someday you plan to get around to fixing, the drip, drip, drip of refugees continues to arrive in Tijuana at the pace of about 80 to 100 per day. The good news has been the generous response of so many not-for-profit agencies opening their doors to the refugees, as well as the amount of donations that arrive on a daily basis. The generous people of Tijuana have given us proof that the miracle of the loaves and fishes is still happening on a daily basis.

The disappointment has been the lack of a consistent plan by the US authorities. I would have thought that after over a week of this experience, they would have developed a plan of action to address the acute hemorrhaging of refugees at the border. It is not enough to wish this problem away, the US must respond to all aspects of the challenge. The Mexican government also needs to offer a better response. I do not see a concrete collaborative effort that benefits the people. Perhaps, because elections in Mexico are taking place on June 5th, this has paralyzed many who have the power to make a difference.

It is now a week since the refugee crisis officially began, and I do not see it disappearing any time soon. We continue to receive about 20-30 every other day and after they are accepted for an interview at the border, we receive another group. At present, the largest group arriving at our doors are from Haiti but rumor has it that we should be prepared for people from India, Nepal and African countries. I hope that in time we can organize a more cohesive humanitarian response to the refugees arriving in Tijuana.

No doubt some of you might think: “Why don’t they just stay home and let their government take care of them? Why do people come here?” Let me put their drastic escape from poverty and violence in very concrete terms: When you are lying in bed in the middle of the night and get one of those painful leg cramps, you do not just lay there and think about what you should do. No, you jump out of bed in search of relief in any way possible. Extreme violence and dire poverty are the leg cramps that motivate people to jump up and literally run for their lives. You really do not have time to think about it too much, you just get up and move and seek relief in any way possible.

In the meantime, what can we do? As Pope Francis put it so clearly, in this Jubilee year, we are all being called to be islands of mercy in the world of indifference. Here in Tijuana, we are being offered an opportunity to extend God’s mercy to our refugee brothers and sisters in their great time of need. If you feel called to share God’s mercy in any way, please contact me by e-mail at casadelmigrantetijuana@gmail.com.

_https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/sep/06/mexico-african-asian-migration-us-exit-permit said:
Passage through Mexico: the global migration to the US
Tuesday 6 September 2016

While waiting for travel documents in Tapachula, African and Asian migrants recount the treacherous journeys they took to get one step closer to a new home
by Nina Lakhani in Tapachula, Mexico

The sun has barely risen and already hundreds of migrants are gathered outside the vast white and green immigration detention centre, hoping to get through its gates.

Most have travelled thousands of miles on foot, by boat and bus from South America, but few here speak Spanish. In front of the locked gates near Mexico’s southern border, it’s an eclectic mix of French, English, Creole, Urdu, Lingala and Somali.

This eclectic crowd is part of a huge surge in African and Asian migrants traversing the Americas in hope of a better life in the US. The circuitous passage means paying thousands of dollars to coyotes – or people smugglers – to cross 10 countries, where overcrowded fishing boats, mosquito-infested jungles, armed bandits and immigration agents await.

Despite the dangers, about 7,882 Africans and Asians presented themselves at Mexican immigration in the first seven months of this year – 86% higher than in the whole of 2015 and more than four times the number registered in 2014. At the end of August, Tapachula’s immigration registered 424 Africans in just two days.

Over the past decade, Latin America has become an increasingly popular route of entry to the US for Asian and African migrants, but the current surge in numbers is unprecedented.

The numbers are still tiny compared to the hundreds of thousands of Central Americans fleeing violence and poverty, but the treacherous route crossing Latin America is becoming increasingly popular as people from across the world seek new ways to reach the US.

The vast majority arrive in the city of Tapachula near the Guatemalan border, without a visa or even a passport. But unlike Central Americans, these migrants can obtain a temporary travel document which allows them to continue unimpeded to the US border since Mexico has no deportation agreements with their countries.

‘We saw a dead man without head or hands’
By 8am, it’s already fiercely hot outside the immigration center and there are too few shady trees for the growing crowd. To kill time, people listen to music on their phones or discuss the best ways to travel north. Those with money will fly to the Mexican cities of Tijuana, Matamoros or Mexicali, others will risk several days on buses through states plagued by organised crime, where Central American migrants are routinely targeted by traffickers and kidnappers.

Habte Michael, 28, from Asmara, Eritrea, just arrived – three months after setting off from São Paulo, Brazil. After a punishing journey he’s exhausted, but optimistic he’ll soon be in America where he will seek refuge.

Michael left Uganda for Rio Branco in northern Brazil in September 2015. He spent a few months learning Portuguese and planning his route, before crossing into Peru in May 2016. Next, he travelled overland on buses with the help of “connectors” – an organised network of individuals who help migrants buy bus tickets and find cheap hotels – through Ecuador and Colombia. In Turbo on Colombia’s west coast, he took a boat to Panama where he walked with Africans, Bangladeshis and Haitians for five exhausting days through acres of mountainous jungle with a coyote.


In June, after walking for three days, his group found the washed-up body of a west African man. “The river took him as he was walking in a group without a coyote, so he didn’t know where it was safe to cross. In Panama we saw another dead man, also black, without head or hands.”

Entering Costa Rica is fine, but leaving ithas been much tougher since Nicaragua decided to close its border last year to stop the flow of Cubans migrating to the US. There are about 2,000 migrants from across the world currently trapped in dire conditions on the border with Nicaragua, at a camp in Peñas Blancas. In August, 10 migrants – mostly Haitians – drowned crossing Lake Nicaragua.

Michael was caught three times by Nicaraguan immigration agents and sent back to the camp. Like at least two dozen other migrants interviewed by the Guardian, he was robbed at gunpoint while walking through the Nicaraguan jungle. Desperate, he paid $1,000 to a truck driver to take him to Honduras, but the driver never showed up.

“Each time a coyote takes your money or you get robbed, you must wait for family to send you something to carry on,” Michael said. “It’s the only way – I can’t go back.”

Michael eventually made it to Honduras – six weeks after arriving at the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border. Many migrants described Honduras as the easiest country to cross, as irregular migrants – those not from Central America – are given travel permits.

Each time a coyote take your money or you get robbed, you must wait from family to send you something to carry
Abdua Kareema, 38, from Ghana, was robbed by four gunmen in the jungle near Managua.

“They stripped the women and searched them intimately to see if they were hiding anything,” Kareema said. “One woman had her time of the month, but the robber thought the feminine pad was something hidden, so he slapped her face.”

Similar reports of sexual violence against women are common.

‘We just looked up a route on Google’
By mid-morning, immigration officers have let through about 200 people who will spend a few days or weeks locked in, while their travel permits – which give them 21 days to leave Mexico – are processed. Most are economic migrants and will be given safe passage by Mexico. Meanwhile, busloads of detained Central Americans enter the gates; with most deported home the next day, to face the violence and threats they fled.

The rest, including Michael, are given dates to return later in the week. Disappointed, they sit around eating lychees and cheap biscuits, deciding what to do next.

But still, more people arrive. About 15 young men from the Punjab region of India arrive with their rucksacks, straight from the Guatemalan border which they had crossed by raft.

Some flew from Delhi to Ecuador via Istanbul, others came via Indonesia and Dubai.


“We didn’t pay guides, we just looked up the route on Google,” said Herdeep Ghotra, 26, a truck engineer. “Also my cousin came the same way two years before.”

Ghotra walked six days through the Panama jungle where he saw seven dead migrants – six men and one woman, all black. It’s not clearly how or when they died, or if their bodies have since been recovered. Ghotra was also robbed at gunpoint in Nicaragua: “They took $200 and my love, my HTC phone.”

The Indians talk mostly about wanting to make a better a life for themselves. Some are trying to reunite with family members in the US, while Ghotra says a violent family conflict forced him to leave.

An immigration officer emerges to tell them to come back in two days and prepare to be inside the center for a week. After that, they’ll wait for money to be wired by relatives to fly to Tijuana where thousands of Africans, Asians and Haitians have descended this year.

No one here seems to be aware that US border control agents are now working here amid growing American concerns about security risks following recent terrorist attacks in the west.

‘I welcome them with love’
Tapachula’s main square is jam-packed with people enjoying noisy fair rides and junk food stalls.

On an avenue just off the main square, lie the cheap hotels where most African and Asian migrants choose to stay; where a new curry house – run by a Mexican cook who was taught to make dhal and fish curry by a Bangladeshi migrant – is the most popular food joint.

Just off the main drag is Mama Africa’s – what everyone calls Concepción González, 56, who runs the $3a-night, no-frills Imperial Hotel. Here, there are people from across Africa: Burundi, South Africa, Nigeria, Somalia, Mozambique, Ghana, Congo and many Haitians pretending to be Congolese in order to avoid deportation.

“They tell me how they want to make a better life for their families, I can understand and welcome them with love,” González told the Guardian.

There are 70 beds squeezed into 15 rooms, but tonight it’s packed, so there are couples and mothers with infants resting on wafer-thin mattresses in the internal patio.

Fedolina, 39, from Angola, has a ghostly look of pain and fatigue marked across her face. She fell while running from armed robbers in Nicaragua two weeks ago. Her right arm hangs limp, her shoulder looks dislocated, and there’s a nasty gash on her forehead. She has yet to see a doctor.

González moves her into a quiet room and promises to take her to hospital in the morning.

As the plight of Syrians fleeing war continues to yield untold horrors in Europe, in this region, emerging crises also provoke new routes and new dangers.

Last year, Mama Africa was Mama Cuba as almost 10,000 Cubans entered Mexico amid rumours that the US visa waiver programme could end with the thawing of diplomatic ties. The numbers have plunged amid tighter travel restrictions in Latin America, but those determined to leave Cuba have found new routes.

Pig farmers Ernesto Pérez, 46 and Onel Martín, 44, left their hometown Manzanillo on the Caribbean coast last July on a handmade boat. Powered by a car engine, they sailed with 25 others, including nurses, a mechanic, and an economist. It took seven days and 1,000km to reach the Honduran Bay Island of Guanaja Bay, a risky but increasingly common route used by Cubans.

“Our reason for leaving is purely economic, increased tourism has made no difference to our lives. I sold my few valuable things, my pigs, television and fan, to make this journey. But now what?” said Martin, contemplating his next move outside the Belén migrant hostel.

After a temporary reprieve, immigration raids in Mexico are once again targeting Cubans.

In a surprise visit to Mexico earlier this week, Republican candidate Donald Trump reiterated his intent to build a wall along the US-Mexican border in order to end all migration from the Americas.

But wall or no wall, desperate people do desperate things.

In Tapachula airport Lejma, 21 and husband Ahmed, 22, from Mogadishu, Somalia, comfort their hysterical little girl, who thinks the immigration officers in white uniforms are doctors.

“She was very sick in the boats and got bitten by many mosquitoes when we walked seven days in the jungle,” said Ahmed. “She was then in hospital in Costa Rica for nearly one week and had many injections.”

Somaya, just 22 months, is covered in bite scars.

The family left Somalia to escape a police officer who was harassing Lejma, a waitress, demanding she be his wife. When she refused, the family was threatened by the officer’s colleagues and clan.

Their plan is to fly to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and then claim asylum at the Brownsville border crossing in Texas.

“There is no justice in my country, we had to leave,” Ahmed said. “I hope we can work and one day bring our families to America.”
 
Who Is REALLY Behind the EU Migrant Crisis? - An interesting video where James Corbett, Sibel Edmonds, Spiro Skouras and Professor Filip Kovacevic discuss the 'worst humanitarian crisis' of our time'. - Video length - 50 minutes Source


https://youtu.be/dzPiZSw3FP0
 
This article is back-dated March 2016 but gives a good comprehensive view of some large Corporations that are involved with Humanitarian Aid - on one end but are also part of the War and military effort that creates the humanitarian and refugee crises, in the first place. The bottom line is oil and gas profits.

Profits of death: disaster capitalists fan flames of war in Syria
https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/profits-of-death-disaster-capitalists-fan-flames-of-war-in-syria-ac216bb34776#.uc82a6z04

As a tentative ceasefire continues to hold in Syria, with the next round of peace talks having resumed this week, you’d be forgiven for thinking that there might be an end in sight to a conflict that has raged for nearly five years.

But as with every war in the Middle East, nothing is quite as it seems.

According to Naomi Klein in her book The Shock Doctrine, corporatist (a more pertinent term for what many of us consider “neoliberal”) policymakers — those that are inherently intertwined with both Government and multinational companies — take advantage of catastrophes such as economic collapse, hurricanes, terrorist attacks and even war, to further what she describes as their “policy trinity”: the elimination of the public sphere, total liberation for corporations and skeletal social spending.

In short, disaster capitalism is premised on a simple philosophy: where there’s chaos, there’s money to be made.

From Pinochet’s Chilean coup and subsequent reforms in the 70s, via Thatcher, to the Falklands conflict and the miner’s strike; from 9/11 to the second invasion of Iraq, Klein argues that the economist Milton Friedman was the spiritual leader of this “shock doctrine”: “The falling bombs, the bursts of terror, the pounding winds serve to soften up whole societies much as the blaring music and blows in the torture cells soften up prisoners. Like the terrorized prisoner who gives up the names of his comrades and renounces his faith, shocked societies often give up things they would otherwise fiercely protect.”

For Klein, like a prisoner under torture, societies are moulded in three stages: firstly, being battered down so they no longer put up a fight against their captors and are “blank canvases”; then they are “encouraged” to relinquish control of their country and its commodities; and finally, political fiat decrees that anyone who defies this will be subject to more “shocks” (the nature of which may be metaphorical or physical).

Shock, awe and pipelineistan If Klein were to rewrite The Shock Doctrine now, I hope she’d agree that the situation in Syria is playing out as a textbook example of her terrifying concept — because I believe that’s what we are witnessing.

To understand the actions of each nation involved in Syria, you first have to recognise their motivation. It is, as always, fossil fuels and the dollar — with human life at a lowly position down the pecking order.

The crux of the matter is that Bashar al-Assad put paid to the construction of an oil and gas pipeline, which would have ended Europe’s reliance on Russia for its natural gas, by refusing to sign an agreement with Qatar.

Instead, he opted for a partnership with Iran (after which the civil war in Syria intensified).

While the construction of the pipeline had previously been put on hold, it was quietly announced last July that Iran was forging ahead with a trunkline (“IGAT6”) to supply Iraq with natural gas; in theory, this could be the beginning of an Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline — or one that goes direct to Turkey.

The Iranian pipeline would be unacceptable to both Washington and Brussels, as it would mean energy co-ordination from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Russia (putting pressure on their Sunni-led cohorts in the region), and also because the product from such would be traded in a basket of currencies — not exclusively the petrodollar.

Moreover, with Iran now emerging from sanctions (and forecast to produce 3.1m barrels of oil per day), its gas fields, the second largest reserves on the planet, are up for grabs to exporters.

There is, in Syria and across the spectrum of corporate interests of the countries involved, everything to play for — and the disaster capitalists are piling into the game, full throttle.

Europe’s refugee racket The refugee crisis ostensibly splintering the governments of the EU is set to balloon.

Already this year, 133,549 people have reached Europe by sea — up more than 10 fold from 2015. The demographic has altered drastically as well: whereas last year, the breakdown of migrants/refugees by gender was 62% male, 16% women and 22% children, so far this year it has been 47%, 20% and 34% respectively.

The chaotic propaganda surrounding the refugee crisis continues unabated, each country pointing fingers at the other — for instance, when a NATO general accused Russia and Syria of weaponising the refugee crisis (while simultaneously characterising the people fleeing war as a hotbed of ISIS recruits). Meanwhile, Greece, in the midst of its own economic turmoil, is left to accommodate 122,000 souls under the UNHCR’s warning of an “imminent humanitarian disaster” unless other EU countries begin to take in these refugees.

In effect, the intentional bottleneck in Greece functions as yet another form of “shock” inflicted by the EU and Troika on an already flailing Syriza administration and its embattled leader Tsipras. With its third bailout looking unsteady amidst mutterings of the IMF pulling out of the deal, the Greek administration has no chips to bargain with, and holds minimal leverage within the EU.

In Paris, however, the terrorist attacks have been utilised in a near-textbook “Shock Doctrine” manner, with report, after report, after report in the aftermath wildly speculating as to whether the perpetrators were Syrian, whether they travelled with refugees or whether they were Islamist sleeper cells residing in the country.

The truth of the matter (after the public’s heads had been permanently spun) was that none of them were Syrian. Instead, five of the terrorists were French.

But this hasn’t stopped the French government from exploiting the horrific events of last year, by seeking to write a permanent “State of Emergency” into its constitution (receiving criticism from the likes of Human Rights Watch), and using the terror as leverage to conduct airstrikes on Syria.

Similarly, the UK administration has exploited the situation at every available opportunity: from an intentionally confused flip-flopping stance on the refugee crisis (veering from a “swarm”, to urging us to give charitably, to migrants being cast wholesale as potential women-raping terrorists), to cynically using the Paris atrocities to push through a vote on Syrian airstrikes in Syria.

This has been accompanied by the perpetual erosion of our “civil liberties” on the basis of perceived threats — also seeping shamelessly into the narrative on the EU referendum in the UK, with warnings from the French over a “Calais Jungle” in Kent if the Britain votes to leave.

Oh, and the reason the clearance of the “Calais Jungle” began last month?

It’s due to the construction of the ElecLink project commencing in July this year — a joint Anglo-French operation which will see the connection of the UK and French electricity supplies. The location of one of the refugee camps in Coquelles is also where a substation will be built.

EuroTunnel. Contracts have been awarded to Balfour Beatty and Siemens, and its aim is quite possibly to connect the whole of Europe as one energy supply line.

But it is not just political leverage that is being gained from the humanitarian crisis we are witnessing — it’s financial, as well.

Lord Levene of Portsoken, a UK Conservative Party Peer, said of the “refugee crisis” that the “real solution” is finding a way of persuading others not to join them, of offering them hope, opportunity and security in their homeland. “Most of them don’t want to come to Britain.”

Yet, he appears to have a vested interest in the refugees doing just that.

As Director of Groupe Eurotunnel, Lord Levene oversaw investment of €12m in the whole of 2014, and €13m in the first 6 months of 2015 on additional security.

Mitie, whose CEO is Conservative Peer Baroness McGregor-Smith, operates security for the company, with a £12m contract awarded in March 2014. But Mitie is also the largest contractor for UK immigration detention centres.

Interestingly, neither Group Eurotunnel, nor Mitie’s share prices, have been negatively affected by the ‘refugee crisis’. Far from it — Mitie’s share price spiked when the news of its Eurotunnel contract was announced, and Group Eurotunnel bulled in April (the deadliest month for people drowning in the Mediterranean).

The reasoning for the latter’s share price boom? Probably something to do with the EU’s Frontex budget being tripled in the aftermath by the EU, who also allocated another €50m to Calais later in the year; all money privately-owned Eurotunnel doesn’t have to spend.

Lord Levene is also responsible for the Conservative government’s annual Defence Reform Report.

This report recommends the recognition of the importance of “cyber warfare, international collaboration, intelligence, surveillance” and “fewer but better” “pieces of kit.”

Lord Levene is also Chairman of General Dynamics’ UK Ltd — who were awarded a £135m contract on the 6th March for an upgrade to the British Army’s tactical communications and data services system (the same General Dynamics who provide engineering and development services for Trident.)

And he’s also Vice Chairman of “Starr International”, who provide security and intelligence services to governments.

Moreover, General Dynamics has just been co-awarded a $682m contract by the US Government to supply Turkey with BLU-109 penetrator bomb bodies and components — which will most-likely be used against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), whom the West consider an ally.

Levene may well not want those fleeing war and terror in Syria to stay in Europe, but he also appears happy to profit from the very actions that are forcing them to leave in the first place.

But it’s not just British law-makers and companies who are pitched to benefit directly from the conflict in Syria.

In Greece, 101 fingerprinting machines have been procured to register every migrant on the Eurodac database, the contract being awarded to Group Bull.

Bull’s parent company is Atos, who are the main contractor behind the NATO Air Command Control and Information Services (AirC2IS) in Turkey — a system designed to procure the “efficient and effective employment of joint air capabilities and forces made available to NATO. It consists of a repetitive process for planning, coordination, allocation tasking, monitoring and assessment of joint air missions” — joint air missions of the like currently being undertaken in Syria by the West.

Unisys is another firm awarded an EU border contract to enhance their IT systems. Unisys’ Director is Philippe Germond, also a board member of Qosmos, currently being investigated for supplying the Assad regime with surveillance software.

Simultaneously, Unisys holds a rolling contract with the US Department of Defense to supply services “for the agency’s ClearPath systems that support Air Force logistics.”

So it’s a “double-whammy” for Unisys — it wins with a US contract to support the bombing of Syria, and wins again with an EU contract to control the people fleeing that bombing.

By fuelling war in Syria on the one hand, and herding the desperate people trying to escape into the “Gateways to Europe” of Turkey then Greece on the other, a permanent state of humanitarian crisis has been created — and the shocking effects are being exploited for corporate profits to their full potential.

Russia: a corporatist Frankenstein’s monster Perhaps the most complex role in the Syrian debacle is that of Russia, long-standing ally of Assad and perpetual thorn in the side of the West. Since the conflict began, it has stood by Assad as a long-standing political ally, but also due to the military importance of the relationship (both financially through arms sales, and strategically through its naval base in Tartus).

But last year its position escalated into direct military support to the Assad government.

Since launching its campaign of airstrikes in September, Russian actions have been masticated and spat out by commentators, citing numerous reasons for the intervention, including the perceived threat of 2,000 Russian terrorists returning home, phallic posturing on the world stage and creating a distraction from events in Ukraine — all of which are debatable.

Admittedly, having a renewed strong foothold in the region presents opportunities with newly economically-free Iran and the unstable administration in Iraq — and this is probably a driving factor.

But Russia’s intervention is, in my view, overtly financially-driven — seizing an opportunity missed by the US, and expediting it to maximum effect.

With a domestic economy that contracted by 3.7% last year, the Saudi-engineered collapse in oil price plummeting the value of the Ruble and wages falling in the country by nearly 10% in real terms since 2014, the conflict in Syria presents a two-pronged opportunity: to bolster public morale (and mute any disquiet) at home, and open up economic windows of opportunity abroad.

The Russian ambassador to Syria was quoted in an interview as saying: “I use this opportunity to urge Russian businesses to take more active steps. This is the best time to launch operations in Syria.”

Take the Russian company Stroytransgaz, already active in Syria having been granted a £2bn contract by Assad for a pumping station on the Tigris river, and looking to make further inroads; or Novatek, Russia’s second largest gas producer, which is showing keen interest in Iran’s South Pars gas field (a major source in the proposed Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline).

Gennady Timchenko is the chairman and largest shareholder of Volga Group — the parent investment company of both the firms.

One of Russia’s richest men, Timchenko is a close friend of Vladimir Putin and frequent benefactor of this fact (receiving contracts for the Sochi Olympics, for example). There have long been rumours of Putin being financially embroiled with Timchenko, although these have always been fervently denied — however, to say he hold Putin’s ear would probably be an understatement.

Russia’s Gazprom is another example, being in talks already with the Syrian government. The company’s CEO, Alexey Miller, met with the Syrian ambassador to Russia, Riad Haddad, in February to discuss “bilateral cooperation after the end of hostilities”; this follows more diplomatic “meetings” last year where the potential to exploit oil and gas off the Syrian coastline was discussed between the latter’s Foreign Minister and Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister.

Although severely damaged since the 2008 financial crash (losing over $150bn in value), Gazprom remains the Kremlin’s ultimate disaster capitalist-geopolitical weapon. As the world’s largest gas producer, a perfect example of its use by Putin as a political tool can be noted in Ukraine: gas prices to the country were reduced by a third when former President Yanukovych refused to sign a supply deal with the EU; as soon as he was ousted, Gazprom ramped the price up by a staggering 81%.

The corporatist nature of the relationship between Gazprom and the Kremlin is patently obvious — even more so when you look at its CEO, Miller.

Working under Putin in St. Petersburg in the 1990’s, he was allegedly engineered into the role at Gazprom by the President himself, after being the Deputy Energy Minister of the Russian Federation for just over a year.

The influence the Kremlin holds over the company, being its 50% majority shareholder also, is obvious. But that also means that it has another 50% of its shareholders to keep happy — so it walks a fine tightrope between pleasing two masters.

If you take the potential openings available in a post-war Syria, coupled with the potential opportunities for itself and BRICS more broadly, you see what has led Russia to play America’s traditional role in this conflict — staging its very own “Operation Enduring Freedom”.

In The Shock Doctrine, Klein asserts that after the fall of the USSR the chaos surrounding the rise of Yeltsin was disaster capitalism’s “shock therapy” at work, and describes Putin’s reign as being “seen by many as a similar backlash against the shock therapy era… riling up public sentiment about the events of the early 90’s which are frequently portrayed as a foreign conspiracy to put Russia under ‘external management.’”

This may, in part, be true — and Klein also acknowledges the rise of the “state oligarch” around Putin (Timchenko being one such example); but even she didn’t foresee the ascension of a “Frankenstein’s Monster” of the West’s creation as a corporatist power in its own right — a power which is now adhering to the textbook, three-act “Shock Doctrine”, albeit not against a legitimate Government, but against a people who pose a direct threat to the interests of multinationals.

Washington Has Fallen Since 2011, the role of the United States in the Syrian conflict has evolved haphazardly, giving the appearance of an on-the-hoof foreign policy desperately attempting to match the pace of Russia’s bluff-calling.

After showing a muted interest in Syria for years (ranging from dreams of regime change to courting Assad as a ‘liberal reformer’ just before the 2011 uprising), we began with a fairly bog-standard disaster capitalist response to a faltering Assad and the Arab Spring of 2011: funnel money and arms into the opposition; use accusations of war crimes and the threat of terrorism to coerce the public into backing a campaign of airstrikes; train anti-government fighters in coordination with Middle Eastern allies and run black ops to stoke the sectarian fire —all in the hope of Assad falling amidst a Biblical fog of chaos, making way for the American corporatist “diplomats” to move in.

And of course, US, British, French and Israeli companies are among the mix of giant energy firms with a keen interest in out manoeuvring the Russians, with a view to swoop into the aftermath of the Syrian war to access its untapped offshore oil and gas resources.

It should have run like the second Iraqi war had been hoped to — as Klein describes it:

“… the use of force would be so stunning, so overwhelming, that the Iraqi’s would go into a kind of suspended animation. In that window of opportunity, Iraq’s invaders would slip in another set of shocks — these ones economic — which would create a model free-market democracy on the blank slate that was post-invasion Iraq.”

But there was a problem. Russia’s scaling-up its involvement in support of Assad appeared to catch Washington wholly off-guard, and subsequently the US position has descended into self-induced disarray.

They mistakenly believed they could control an organic opposition which is perpetually shape-shifting; note the marked change in Washington’s public stance — from the original distorted fiction of ‘moderate’ freedom fighters, to Kerry last month blaming them for the failure of peace talks.

Russia’s deployment of the traditional US tactic of a 21st century blitzkrieg to shock the population into submission has also thrown the Americans completely off kilter. Couple that with strained oil relations between the US and Saudi Arabia, while NATO-ally Turkey goes off the rails unpredictably, and you have an administration suffering from shock itself.

In October, the Pentagon reportedly cancelled a $500m “moderate” rebel training scheme after few were actually trained; couple this with the now utterly blurred lines between “moderates” and “Islamists”; countless reports documenting fighters switching sides along with their American weaponry (note the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s bizarre endorsements of al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra) and the CIA’s black ops going ‘awry’, and one wonders if the US administration has been left wishing it had tried to carpet-bomb Assad and Syria into submission in the first place.

Even with the GOP’s feverish admonishing of their nation’s stance, interest in any further military-related intervention in Syria is waning in the Obama administration’s final hours, with US officials effectively admitting that they have no clear idea of their next move. The likelihood is a stalling-action with tentative positive overtures to Russia, until we learn in November who will be installed in the White House.

But the US administration’s faltering policy-stance on Syria by no means shuts the door on corporatists benefiting from the conflict.

On the 13th June 2013, the US government announced the supply of lethal arms to the Syrian Military Council. After flat lining for over a decade, the impact on Lockheed Martin’s share price was spectacular (a bullish spike begins at the end of June, 2013).

Furthermore, after the Ghouta chemical weapons attack (which Obama called a “red line”) on the 21st August 2013, trading in shares of Lockheed Martin increased 4-fold.

Both these instances are, of course, to be expected. Bruce Tanner, Executive VP at Lockheed Marin, was recorded at a conference in the US saying the company would see “indirect benefits” from the Syrian war. His colleague, Raytheon CEO Tom Kennedy, similarly confirmed his company had seen a “significant uptick” in business in the Middle East.

Lockheed manufacture the F-22 bomber, currently flying US sorties over the skies of Syria, while Raytheon made $18.6m last year from a contract to enhance Jordan’s border security with its war-torn neighbor.

But Lockheed’s political interests should also be noted. In 2012, Lockheed Martin donated $25,000 to the Maryland Democratic Party (the largest political donation they have made in the past four years). Congressman Steny Hoyer, the representative for Maryland’s 5th district, is the House Democratic Whip and supported Obama’s course of airstrikes in Syria — so would it seem unsurprising that the President’s call for military intervention was passed?

Dutch Ruppersberger, Maryland’s 2nd district representative, is a US House of Representatives Member (Lockheed also donated to his re-election campaign in 2012).

From 2011 to 2015, Ruppersberger sat on the House Intelligence Committee which is privy to the country’s most secret intelligence activities to maintain proper oversight. His district in Maryland is also home to the National Security Agency (NSA).

He also was responsible for the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), designed to increase intelligence sharing between private cyber security firms and government agencies (which Lockheed Martin lobbied for), so that corporations can pass on information to governments to help prevent threats, even if the data is not connected to any threats at all.

Note that Lockheed Martin seems to lobby every quarter, every year, on defense budgets.

In a situation where America and Russia have appeared to swap corporatist-cosplay roles, and the former left with few options, how to sum up the current US position in Syria? Out manoeuvred, out of ideas and effectively out of time.

Cut bono? While elected governments frantically sing, dance and clap to us, their captive audience, the real organ-grinders are contently watching from afar, safe in the knowledge that whatever the outcome, they will be the real winners.

They are, of course, a small sub-set of multinational corporations, defense contractors, security firms and banks.

As I have previously written with regard to the nuclear arms industry, the biggest multinational financial institutions have vested interests in every side whenever an opportunity is presented to further ‘disaster capitalism.’

For instance, Barclays and HSBC finance has directly filtered down to Almaz-Antey, the manufacturer of the BUK missile that purportedly shot down flight MH17. Similarly, the publicly-owned Royal Bank of Scotland invests in ten companies involved in the UK’s Trident, but is simultaneously a financier of Russia’s Dolgorukiy nuclear deterrent as well.

The conflict in Syria is no different. Take the US BGM-71 TOW anti tank missile, supplied by the US to the rebels (and frequently making its way into the hands of al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra, and even ISIS).

Manufactured by Raytheon, the company has a $1.25bn credit agreement with top Wall Street bank, JP Morgan Chase.

Also in Syria, the Russians are operating the S-400 SAM missile defence system which is produced by Almaz-Antey. Funding for the company generally comes from either the Russian Government directly, or via the state-owned Vnesheconombank (VEB) development bank, and in April 2011 VEB signed an agreement for a syndicated loan worth $2.4bn, from 19 bank.

Somewhat predictably, JP Morgan Chase was one of these financiers. Next?

Take Fidelity Investments — investors in Atos, Lockheed Martin, Mitie and Raytheon. Fidelity have donated £450,000 to the Conservative Party since 2010, and through their holdings directly benefit from the bombing in Syria at one end, and the humanitarian crisis that ensues at the other: their investees create the weapons used in the war, and construct the fingerprint machines used to register the refugees that end up on European shores.

But, once again, Fidelity are also linked to Russia. They are shareholders in numerous Russian companies: Novatek (natural gas), Lukoil and Tafnet (oil companies), and most notably Sberbank — who are the nominated financiers for Uralvagonzavod, whose tanks are being used by the Syrian Government.

Another financial institution benefiting from the Syrian conflict (whatever the outcome) is State Street Corporation. State is a 17% majority shareholder in Lockheed Martin, but simultaneously owns holdings in Gazprom, and like its competitor Fidelity Investments, in Sberbank.

But possibly most worrying is State Street’s relationship with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — or, specifically, the firm’s $6m fee for being custodians of the Foundation’s investment portfolio. The foundation provides money for the relief effort to support those affected by the Syrian conflict —the same conflict which State Street Corporation directly profits from due to its shares in a giant defence contractor like Lockheed Martin.

The interlocking, overlapping relationships between organisations which profess to support some of the poorest and most vulnerable people on the planet and financial institutions with a direct hand in putting these individuals into precarity in the first place, is not unusual. The same relationship occurs at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation with the Bank of New York Mellon, which directly links to Oxfam.

Aside from Oxfam being heavily involved in humanitarian operations in Syria, the charity operates a scheme called the “Inclusive Impact Investment fund” — a mechanism to issue finance to SME start-ups in Africa and Asia.

Funding is provided by private donations and by charitable/philanthropic organisations — one of these beingthe Hewlett Foundation, which has contributed just under $4m since 2007.

The custodian of the Hewlett Foundation's finances and credit provider is the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation — which simultaneously invests in a multitude of arms companies (including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, active in Syria), along with NATO contractor Atos and Russian energy giant Gazprom. Yet they also sponsor the likes of the Boston Foundation’s charitable dinners to help raise funds for, amongst other things, the humanitarian response in Syria.

The public, and specifically those subject to war and its resultant consequences, are merely shockable, expendable pawns in the financial system’s global game of chess. Here, corporatist governments play the disaster capitalist roles of bishops, rooks and knights, while the King and Queen represent the banking institutions themselves.

This is, of course, one game where there will never be a discernible ‘check mate’ (however much propaganda we are fed in an attempt into coercing us to think otherwise) — because that would, of course, be unprofitable.

Perpetual shock? Written in 2007, Klein broadly and tentatively concluded that “the shock” was wearing off; Latin America was broadly rejecting Friedman’s legacy; in Europe battles raged between the “free markets and the free people”, and she also (prophetically) wrote that Eastern European countries, Russia and the US were beginning to see the rise of far-right, racist manifestos in a cynical response to decades of corporatism: “Once the mechanics of the Shock Doctrine are deeply and collectively understood, whole communities become harder to take by surprise, more difficult to confuse — shock resistant.”

This may well be true, but I think Klein underestimated the nefarious resilience of the phenomenon she identified so well. You only have to look at events in Ukraine; China’s forward-march to what it calls (without irony) “internal consumption”; the US-instigated chaos in Venezuela and the Paris attacks in France to realise that the “Shock Doctrine” is alive and ferociously kicking.

But is Syria, in becoming centre-stage for the pinnacle performance of disaster capitalism, its final curtain call? I am highly doubtful.

We are witnessing the first “World War” of the 21st century — but one that is executed by proxy. Every corporatist nation is writhing together in their own greed-driven Friedmanite excrement, all feverishly trying to gain control of the last Middle East outpost as yet untouched by globalized multi-nationalism: Russia, seeking to secure the same gas supply and commodities as the EU; the US, desperately wanting regime change so it can plunge its claws into the one blank corporate canvas left in the Middle East; the Sunni Gulf regimes, frantically suppressing any Shi’a uprising for fear of losing their archaic, totalitarian grip on their kingdoms; and Turkey, under the increasingly despotic Erdogan, attempting to play everyone off against each other.

The outcome of this power struggle will be macabrely fascinating. Will we see a cessation of hostilities between Russia and the West, and a working relationship developed to wheedle out Syria’s resources in two directions? Will Putin’s oligarchs get their way, ushering in a new phase of corporatist-led proxy wars in the region? Or will the US manage to impose Klein’s “holy trinity”?

Whatever the outcome, it will not be the people of Syria who benefit.

Estimates indicate that more than 470,000 Syrians have died since the conflict began, with more than 6.5m being internally displaced, 480,000 effectively besieged (preventing them from receiving supplies of life’s basic necessities) and 13.5m in need of humanitarian aid.

The only beneficiaries will be those furthest from Syria’s ‘Ground Zero’, the corporatists in front of their computer screens — watching their bank balance rise, with every life lost.
 
Found this video with Vladimir Putin, translated and put up by Inessa S commenting on a court case in Austria, I wonder if this case really took place as described, but in any case, I can't disagree with the conclusion:

https://youtu.be/5uMQZnQR1TU
 
Question for German members (or anyone else who knows or who can find out): how many Syrian refugees has Germany actually taken in so far? Exact figures are probably difficult to find, but a range will do fine. Thanks!
 
Some at zerohedge are guessing that Soros is behind a large sceme to bring refugees into Europe.
"Human traffickers contact the Italian coast guard in advance to receive support and to pick up their dubious cargo. NGO ships are directed to the “rescue spot” even as those to be rescued are still in Libya. The 15 ships that we observed are owned or leased by NGOs have regularly been seen to leave their Italian ports, head south, stop short of reaching the Libyan coast, pick up their human cargo, and take course back 260 miles to Italy even though the port of Zarzis in Tunis is just 60 mile away from the rescue spot."
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-04/something-strange-taking-place-mediterranean
There are some links to "gefira", where this article was sourced. Gefira looks serious, but i don't know where it comes from, or where it's going to.
Somebody at "bootvluchteling" who runs a ship between Lybia and Sicily, mentions that often a trafficking ship has fuel on board for only 20 kms(!)
 
Found this clip of Barbara Lerner Spectre about the role she thinks Jewish people will play in Europe with regard to multiculturalism. Below the video is the quote.

https://youtu.be/8ERmOpZrKtw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Lerner_Spectre said:
"Europe has not yet learned how to be multicultural. And I think we are going to be part of the throes of that transformation, which must take place. Europe is not going to be the monolithic societies that they once were in the last century. Jews are going to be at the center of that. It’s a huge transformation for Europe to make. They are now going into a multicultural mode, and Jews will be resented because of our leading role. But without that leading role, and without that transformation, Europe will not survive."
For more context and comment there is a video by a Kyle Rogers: https://www.youtube.com/embed/ROGnoNJc6Nw Basically Kyle Rogers interpretation is that there is evidence of the existence of a segment of the Jewish population who see themselves as being at war with Christians and Western society. That there is a segment of Islamist who see themselves as sharing the opinion of the previously mentioned segment of Jews is already know. What will be the result?
 
You can take this with a grain of salt? Or not?

Officer German special forces: 35 thousands ISIS troops in Europe.
KSK-Offizier sagt Anschläge und IS-Großangriff in Deutschland mit 35.000 Mann voraus

Summary: If somewhat true, it will be like gladio B. Only times 1000x and this time in France, Germany or the Netherlands. Considering they did the same with Libya and Syria. I can't really discard the possibility. He claims that this was the main reason of the migrant crisis, so they can smuggle this army in.
 
bjorn said:
You can take this with a grain of salt? Or not?

Officer German special forces: 35 thousands ISIS troops in Europe.
KSK-Offizier sagt Anschläge und IS-Großangriff in Deutschland mit 35.000 Mann voraus

Summary: If somewhat true, it will be like gladio B. Only times 1000x and this time in France, Germany or the Netherlands. Considering they did the same with Libya and Syria. I can't really discard the possibility. He claims that this was the main reason of the migrant crisis, so they can smuggle this army in.
According to the numbers in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_migrant_crisis#Statistics about 3 million have arrived since the beginning of 2011. 35,000 of these is like a little more than 1 %.
The information about the estimated 35,000 is interesting considering:
_https://www.rt.com/news/380581-merkel-turkey-refugee-deal/ said:
[...] German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte secretly agreed to accept hundreds of thousands of refugees from Turkey each year as part of an EU-Turkey deal but did not inform other EU leaders, a book by a German journalist says.

The two European leaders met with then Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to discuss the details of the EU-Turkey refugee deal in private the night before the EU-Turkey summit in March 2016. The details of the secret trilateral meet where the deal was struck, has been revealed in a new book, 'Driven by Events: Merkel’s Refugee Policy,' by Robin Alexander, a journalist with Die Welt.[...]
In a way it is not Merkel's fault that some of the refugees are weaponized, but she will most likely get the blame. The news is about 35,000 militants, but what if the news was that a huge amount of psychopaths are at large. The 35,000 are a threat, but there are other dangers too.
 
thorbiorn said:
bjorn said:
You can take this with a grain of salt? Or not?

Officer German special forces: 35 thousands ISIS troops in Europe.
KSK-Offizier sagt Anschläge und IS-Großangriff in Deutschland mit 35.000 Mann voraus

Summary: If somewhat true, it will be like gladio B. Only times 1000x and this time in France, Germany or the Netherlands. Considering they did the same with Libya and Syria. I can't really discard the possibility. He claims that this was the main reason of the migrant crisis, so they can smuggle this army in.
According to the numbers in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_migrant_crisis#Statistics about 3 million have arrived since the beginning of 2011. 35,000 of these is like a little more than 1 %.
The information about the estimated 35,000 is interesting considering:
_https://www.rt.com/news/380581-merkel-turkey-refugee-deal/ said:
[...] German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte secretly agreed to accept hundreds of thousands of refugees from Turkey each year as part of an EU-Turkey deal but did not inform other EU leaders, a book by a German journalist says.

The two European leaders met with then Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to discuss the details of the EU-Turkey refugee deal in private the night before the EU-Turkey summit in March 2016. The details of the secret trilateral meet where the deal was struck, has been revealed in a new book, 'Driven by Events: Merkel’s Refugee Policy,' by Robin Alexander, a journalist with Die Welt.[...]
In a way it is not Merkel's fault that some of the refugees are weaponized, but she will most likely get the blame. The news is about 35,000 militants, but what if the news was that a huge amount of psychopaths are at large. The 35,000 are a threat, but there are other dangers too.

Take a look at this: (pictures of the weapons can be found in the link)

TERROR RING SMASHED Spanish cops seize £9million worth of illegal weapons including machine guns that could 'bring down an aircraft' amid summer terror attack fears
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2622179/spanish-cops-seize-9million-illegal-weapons-terror-attack-fears/

Police swooped to smash arms trading ring linked to Brussels Jewish museum attack in 2014, taking up to 12,000 weapons

SPANISH cops have smashed a massive arms trading ring that has been linked to a number of terror attacks in Europe.

Police swooped to seize up to 12,000 weapons – including some that could “bring down an aircraft” – with an estimated value of nearly £9million.

Cops tweeted a video of the haul, saying: “These are the 12,000 weapons, some capable of bringing down aircraft, intercepted from organised crime. Their price: €10million (£8.8million) on the black market.”

The cache included a range of weaponry from pistols to high calibre rifles and anti-aircraft machine guns.

It was feared the weapons could have been used to kill innocent people if they fell into the hands of terrorists.

Four men and one woman were also arrested in a series of raids in the towns of Olot, Liendo, Galdácano and Guecho after a long investigation that began in the wake of a 2014 terror attack in Belgium.

Cops launched a probe into the weapons used by the terrorist who attacked a Jewish museum in Brussels in May 2014.

Undercover agents from the Spanish cities of Bilbao, Barcelona, Girona, Valencia and Santander were involved in the lengthy operation which led them to the gang, according to The Mirror.

Now I know nothing about the illegal arms trade in Europe, perhaps it is a really large Enterprise and busts like that do happen from time to time. But those are an awful lot weapons. If it was truly intented for terroristsgroups. Something incredible evil is brewing. it are enough weapons for a small war or little coup. OSIT.
 
bjorn said:
[...]

Take a look at this: (pictures of the weapons can be found in the link)

TERROR RING SMASHED Spanish cops seize £9million worth of illegal weapons including machine guns that could 'bring down an aircraft' amid summer terror attack fears
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2622179/spanish-cops-seize-9million-illegal-weapons-terror-attack-fears/

Police swooped to smash arms trading ring linked to Brussels Jewish museum attack in 2014, taking up to 12,000 weapons

SPANISH cops have smashed a massive arms trading ring that has been linked to a number of terror attacks in Europe.

Police swooped to seize up to 12,000 weapons – including some that could “bring down an aircraft” – with an estimated value of nearly £9million.

Cops tweeted a video of the haul, saying: “These are the 12,000 weapons, some capable of bringing down aircraft, intercepted from organised crime. Their price: €10million (£8.8million) on the black market.”

The cache included a range of weaponry from pistols to high calibre rifles and anti-aircraft machine guns.

It was feared the weapons could have been used to kill innocent people if they fell into the hands of terrorists.

Four men and one woman were also arrested in a series of raids in the towns of Olot, Liendo, Galdácano and Guecho after a long investigation that began in the wake of a 2014 terror attack in Belgium.

Cops launched a probe into the weapons used by the terrorist who attacked a Jewish museum in Brussels in May 2014.

Undercover agents from the Spanish cities of Bilbao, Barcelona, Girona, Valencia and Santander were involved in the lengthy operation which led them to the gang, according to The Mirror.

Now I know nothing about the illegal arms trade in Europe, perhaps it is a really large Enterprise and busts like that do happen from time to time. But those are an awful lot weapons. If it was truly intented for terroristsgroups. Something incredible evil is brewing. it are enough weapons for a small war or little coup. OSIT.
That is a lot of guns. 9,000,000 £/12,000 weapons=750£ a piece on the average. That is an affordable price, which also tells us something about how difficult/easy and risky criminals consider this trade.

The shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels is mentioned in: https://www.sott.net/article/306461-How-did-Belgium-become-a-terrorism-hotbed-Clue-NATO-is-based-there and https://www.sott.net/article/333963-Belgian-FM-warns-EU-of-larger-influx-of-returning-jihadists-urges-greater-intelligence-cooperation

Possibly the best report is on _https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/huge-firearms-depot-seized-during-operation-portu-now-revealed Apparently it took place in January 12-13th, but was only published now. There is a youtube link explaining and showing what they caught: _https://youtu.be/UQDSYFmGpl8 It is 9 minutes long, most of it is silent, impressive selection, enough to begin some serious action.
 
[quote author= thorbiorn]That is a lot of guns. 9,000,000 £/12,000 weapons=750£ a piece on the average. That is an affordable price, which also tells us something about how difficult/easy and risky criminals consider this trade.

The shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels is mentioned in: https://www.sott.net/article/306461-How-did-Belgium-become-a-terrorism-hotbed-Clue-NATO-is-based-there and https://www.sott.net/article/333963-Belgian-FM-warns-EU-of-larger-influx-of-returning-jihadists-urges-greater-intelligence-cooperation

Possibly the best report is on _https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/huge-firearms-depot-seized-during-operation-portu-now-revealed Apparently it took place in January 12-13th, but was only published now. There is a youtube link explaining and showing what they caught: _https://youtu.be/UQDSYFmGpl8 It is 9 minutes long, most of it is silent, impressive selection, enough to begin some serious action.[/quote]

Thanks for the additional info thorbiorn. and I wonder what organized crime needs with weaponry meant to bring down aircrafts. Sounds more a terrorist wants to have in it's collection. The Belgian link is indeed disturbing, If this was meant for 'gladio B the extreme edition' I am sure we will have some Isreali's dancing again just like on 9/11.
 
bjorn said:
[...]

Thanks for the additional info thorbiorn. and I wonder what organized crime needs with weaponry meant to bring down aircrafts. Sounds more a terrorist wants to have in it's collection. The Belgian link is indeed disturbing, If this was meant for 'gladio B the extreme edition' I am sure we will have some Isreali's dancing again just like on 9/11.
In local mafia gang wars anything goes, as long as it does the job. Actually anti-aircraft guns can also be used on the ground according to _https://www.quora.com/Why-arent-anti-aircraft-guns-used-more-in-ground-warfare which does not exclude the options for use against aircrafts of all kinds as long, as they are at a low altitude.

The Belgian link was disturbing! I just refrained from making the hint more clear; although the guns appear to be around, there is no smoking gun ;)

Besides Belgium, France was mentioned too. In Belgium we have Brussels and in France, Strassburg, the seats of the EU.
 
cope said:
Some at zerohedge are guessing that Soros is behind a large sceme to bring refugees into Europe.
"Human traffickers contact the Italian coast guard in advance to receive support and to pick up their dubious cargo. NGO ships are directed to the “rescue spot” even as those to be rescued are still in Libya. The 15 ships that we observed are owned or leased by NGOs have regularly been seen to leave their Italian ports, head south, stop short of reaching the Libyan coast, pick up their human cargo, and take course back 260 miles to Italy even though the port of Zarzis in Tunis is just 60 mile away from the rescue spot."
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-04/something-strange-taking-place-mediterranean
There are some links to "gefira", where this article was sourced. Gefira looks serious, but i don't know where it comes from, or where it's going to.
Somebody at "bootvluchteling" who runs a ship between Lybia and Sicily, mentions that often a trafficking ship has fuel on board for only 20 kms(!)

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been accused by European politicians of conducting too many search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean. Government's believe that this type of work done by NGOs is simply undermining their own efforts to try and stem the flow of migration.

NGOs Under Fire for Refugee Search and Rescue Missions
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201703301052115459-eu-migrant-crisis-ngos/

The EU's border agency Frontex have accused NGOs of adding further issues to the migration crisis. The government agency issued a statement blaming Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and several other NGOs for colluding with human smugglers and being responsible for more migrants dying at sea.

Frontex executive director Fabrice Leggeri, said that NGO vessels in Libyan waters had contributed to more traffickers forcing migrants onto unseaworthy boats, which have insufficient water and fuel, compared to previous years.

​MSF were forced to speak out after Leggeri made his comments, claiming that the remarks were "extremely serious and damaging" and said its humanitarian action was not "the cause but a response" to the crisis.

However Frontex are not the only group to comment on this — European politicians have shared similar sentiments, according to some sources. Their main intent is to try and distract people away from their own inactivity and escape responsibility for the irregular crossings and deaths across the central Mediterranean route from Libya to Europe.

Some sources say there has been a general shift in how search and rescue operations are carried out, with European governments appearing to be in more of a rush to secure their borders. In addition to this, concern and sympathy for migrants and refugees fleeing war seems to have dwindled since the 2015 death of the Kurdish toddler Aylan Kurdi.

According to many Syrian refugees now residing in Greece, Aylan Kurdi's death may have sparked outrage at the time, but there are still thousands of children dying in the Mediterranean, yet the level of attention and outrage towards the ever-present problem is considerably lower.

Governments have also made an example of those who have risked their lives to help refugees. Volunteers and activists — such as Cedric Herrou, a French farmer, who helped migrants cross the border from Italy and gave them shelter — have been brought to trial.

​According to some governments, curbing migration is the only way to stop the rise in terrorism and ensure the refugees are safe. In January 2017, EU ministers pushed forward with plans to fund refugee camps outside the bloc, specifically in North Africa, to try and save migrants from drowning in the Mediterranean and bring to Europe only those who require immediate protection.

"The idea is to send refugees and migrants to a safe place, without bringing them into Europe. To achieve that, the EU is considering funding special camps outside of Europe where migrants will be screened by NGOs and the UN," German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said in a recent interview.

The question as to whether NGOs and governments will reach a a resolution that works for both sides is still unclear. Whether search and rescue operations will be conducted in the same way also remains to be seen.
 
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