David Walker, bishop of Manchester, says it is unworthy for politicians to label displaced migrants as criminals, and country should take in fair share, urging the leaders to look on migrants with compassion, that Britain has a moral duty to accept refugees from conflicts in which it has participated. The death toll of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean into Europe last week grew to 1,700. He said, he wants his country United Kingdom, to be governed by those who are prepared to look at the faces of the desperate, be it the desperation of the asylum seeker or of the food bank client, and to look at them with compassion. Despite the huge numbers of migrants heading north, only 5,000 resettlement places across Europe have been offered to refugees under an emergency summit crisis package agreed by EU leaders, with the rest sent back as irregular migrants under a new rapid-return programme coordinated by the EU’s border agency, Frontex. Last year 170,000 migrants made it to Italy. As of 17 April this year, Italian authorities had registered 21,191 more. A 2014 report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime estimated that there might be 600,000 migrants on the north African coast who could try to get to Europe by sea.
– In a related news – The Greek Coast Guard reported that since last weekend until yesterday, on the island of Lesbos alone, they picked up again more than 850 migrants or boat refugees. Other migrants also stroke down on the islands of Farmakonisi, Samos, Kos and Chios. Most of the refugees are from Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan. Smugglers bring migrants to Europe via routes through the Aegean Sea. The camps in Greece are now overcrowded.
– Meanwhile, the 12th IMISCOE conference (International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion) will take place in Geneva, Switzerland on 25–27 June 2015. The conference will cover the theme “Rights, Democracy and Migration” and will be organised by the Institute for Demographic and Life Course Studies (University of Geneva), the Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies (University of Neuchâtel) and the NCCR. The conference will be held on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of SFM, a long-standing IMISCOE member institute. The conference committee is chaired by Gianni D’Amato.
– The second Grand Reunion or GR2 of the University of the East Caloocan High School Batch ’78 held this weekend at Ohana Family Resort in Pandi, Bulacan, Philippines was a great success. Batchmates from Australia, Japan, Bahrain and other countries arrived to participate the event. Congratulations to Board of Director members for a job well done.
