UN and its leftwing media friends continue to badger Japan to diversify

We have written previously about the pressure Japan is under to take more refugees and asylees.  So far, apparently wanting to preserve its unique culture, Japan has resisted.  But, last year under stepped up pressure from the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) and its leftwing media lobbyists, Japan did begin a pilot program of refugee resettlement.   I feel sorry for Japan which apperently hasn’t completely bought into the diversity-is-strength-multiculturalism-uber-alles-no-borders-goal of the Left.

So far, it looks like Japan is only taking Asians. 

However, we had a good laugh back in September 2008 about a Japanese blogger hankering to bring Somalis to Japan, here.

This is the article that prompted me to post again on Japan.  From Japan Today:

It’s easy not to notice them: they blend in anonymously with the rest of the foreign faces here. You could be forgiven for not even realizing they exist at all. But refugees and asylum seekers are very much a reality in Japan — and as their numbers increase, the government is coming under fire for its handling of the issue.

Despite being the third largest donor in the world to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Japan admits only a tiny number of asylum seekers compared to other industrialized nations, and often appears reluctant to grant refugee status to those who do come. Damning statistics are bandied about, such as the fact that the country has accepted just 508 refugees from the 7,297 applications made since 1982.

The media doesn’t paint a very flattering picture, either. Many will remember the Dogan and Kazankiran families, Kurdish Turks whose unsuccessful battle to be recognized as refugees in Japan was reported extensively in local English-language press and overseas. When two members of the Kazankiran family were summarily deported in January 2005, the UNHCR denounced the move as “against international law,” and the Japanese government received widespread condemnation.

Both families have since been resettled in other countries, but the memory of their struggle has lingered on. So too have criticisms from organizations such as Amnesty International, which reported in May that Japan “continued to deport failed asylum applicants to countries where they faced a risk of torture or other ill-treatment.” Not exactly the most glowing of report cards. But is the reality as bad as the detractors would have us believe?

Japan has only recently begun to feel the impact of the refugee crisis. It didn’t ratify the 1951 U.N. Convention relating to the Status of Refugees until 1981, bowing to international pressure in the wake of the Vietnam War and the flow of refugees — the so-called “boat people” — that resulted from it. It took three years after the fall of Saigon for Japan to accept just 500 people, and ten years before the quota was raised to 11,500.

Although these were significant numbers for a country that had never previously taken in refugees, the government wasn’t ready to open the floodgates yet. Instead of granting individual refugee status to those it accepted, Japan admitted the refugees as a group based on humanitarian grounds. The number of refugees accepted thereafter slowed to a trickle — during the whole of the 1990s, fewer than 50 asylum seekers were granted refugee status.

Read on.

Alaska gets refugees too

This is the first time I’ve seen anything about refugees being resettled in Alaska.  It appears that there is a stepped up effort going on to be sure Alaska gets to share in the joys of diversity too!   From Catholic News Agency:

Anchorage, Alaska, Jul 18, 2009 / 02:21 pm (CNA).- In Anchorage, Catholic Social Services is committed to living out the Gospel mandate, in which Jesus called his followers to welcome the stranger. This is a blessing for people like the Kafley family, who fled the terrors of ethnic cleansing in their homeland of Bhutan in the Eastern Himalayas.

“The government of Bhutan was trying to rid Bhutan of people of Nepalese origin,” explained Patrick Pillai, who mentors the Kafleys through a CSS program. “People were fleeing the country, but Nepal did not want to accept them all because it would sanction the persecution.”

As the official refugee resettlement agency for Alaska, CSS is commissioned to receive people who can no longer live in their own country due to political or religious persecution, war, famine, ethnic cleansing and a host of other woes. If Alaska has been chosen as their destination from among those sent by the United Nations to the U.S., CSS does the work of acclimating them to their new homeland.

And, check this out Alaskans, you are getting Somalis as well.

Last year, CSS welcomed 85 refugees directly from their countries of origin. They came from the Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Iraq, Georgia, Ukraine and Russia. This year refugees have included those from Bhutan and Cuba.

Statistics for Alaska and your state too can be found here, just follow the links to the ORR databases.   I just looked up the previous few years for Alaska and in 2006 Alaska resettled 4 Cubans, 16 from the former Soviet Union, and 4 Vietnamese, for a total of 24 refugees.   In 2007, 30 former Soviet Union (they don’t break it down, maybe Uzbeks) refugees were resettled in Alaska.   So, the numbers are increasing.

To new readers:  I haven’t kept up the “your state” page at the top of our home page, but you can use our search function for your state to see what we have written previously and then use the link to the databases and you can go all the way back to the early 1980’s to see who has come to your state.

North Carolina: Refugee magnet in sour economy

The headline for this story from the News & Observer from Raleigh, NC, “Despite economy, refugees still flock here” implies that refugees look at a map of the US from some dismal camp half a world away and pick North Carolina.  They don’t, in fact until they get on a plane most have no clue where they will be deposited.   North Carolina is one of the states suffering the most from unemployment, yet volags (supposedly voluntary agencies) such as Church World Service just keep bringing them in.  The volags choose!

One of the main points that attracted my attention in this story is that the volag public relations machine tells reporters that all the refugees come from god-forsaken camps and so any living conditions in America are better than what they had.  Well, it isn’t true.  Yes, the Burmese and Bhutanese were in camps, but the Iraqis (the largest group arriving in the US) were not in camps, nor were the Meshketian Turks (Russian Muslims) that Church World Service ’s subcontractor Virginia Council of Churches was bringing to the county where I live.   We were told some of them had homes to sell before coming to the US.

Refugee agencies say that most refugees find ways to manage, no matter how tight their finances. After months or years of living in refugee camps, sometimes without such basics as running water, they don’t expect luxuries.

Actually that last part is not true.  We have reported about 20 times that Iraqis do “expect luxuries” and maybe that is why they aren’t very popular with the resettlement agencies—-they aren’t grateful enough!

In the opening lines of this News & Observer article, longtime critic of the Refugee Resettlement Program, Don Barnett, had this to say.

Refugees get cash assistance from the government for up to eight months. After that, they are eligible for the same government welfare programs that other U.S. residents may receive. Many also get support from churches and community organizations.

Don Barnett, a former State Department employee, has become a well-known critic of the U.S. refugee program. He says the government has started bringing in refugees who struggle to assimilate. He cites a 2005 report from the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, which surveyed refugees who arrived in the previous five years. It showed that more than half were receiving food stamps and 39 percent were using Medicaid.

Those who find jobs hurt the labor market for native workers, especially now, said Barnett, a software developer who lives in Nashville, Tenn.

“They are taking some pretty lousy jobs,” he said. “It’s allowed corporate America to keep some abusive models, and it’s had a significant impact on keeping wages down.” [See Center for Immigration Studies report here on immigrant labor depressing wages.]

The state report says refugees who found employment recently earn an average of $8.50 an hour.

These North Carolina refugees are now so fortunate, thanks to the employment services of the humanitarians at Church World Service and any other volags operating in North Carolina,  that they get to work in a chicken processing plant.   So what else is new!

Several dozen refugees from Myanmar recently started commuting two hours each way to a Perdue chicken processing plant in Rockingham. Some are paying a transportation service to take them to and from work each day.

I would like to know, but no one ever asks, does Perdue (or Swift & Co. or Tysons Food) give charitable contributions to Church World Service for the employment services it provides?

Endnote:  We have written about North Carolina many times, use our search function at the left to find more posts.  However, please be sure to return to this one in February where I discussed the inter-volag competition for territory in NC.

Around the world countries are dealing with refugee issues in one way or another

Countries around the world are struggling with one issue or another involving refugees—here are 4 stories just this morning.

Canadians are seriously debating to what degree immigrants to Canada should be required to learn either English or French and to become knowledgeable and presumably accepting of Canadian Culture.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has been raising eyebrows with his public musings about rewriting the rules of citizenship, by tweaking the test new citizens take. He asks ethnic audiences whether we are all on the same wavelength, or even speak the same (official) language, when it comes to citizenship.

“We want to make sure that people have a basic knowledge of our political institutions, our democratic traditions, our values, what some people call civic literacy,” Kenney said recently.

Japan and South Korea are continuing to be lobbied by the United Nations to take more refugees and asylees.

TOKYO, Japan, May 18 (UNHCR) – UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Erika Feller has applauded Japan’s expanding hospitality towards refugees and called on South Korea to become a leading asylum country during a visit to the two Asian countries last week.

[....] 

The Assistant High Commissioner said Japan has a refugee protection system in place, but suggested the country consider improving reception and assistance for
asylum seekers, as well as better integration of refugees.

[....] 

Earlier last week, on her first official visit to South Korea for UNHCR, Feller called for more support from both government authorities and the Korean public to become a leading asylum country in the region.

In Denmark, nearly 300 Iraqis who have been ordered deported are staging a protest in a church.

Denmark rejects calls to re-examine the cases of Iraqi asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected and who are staging a sit-in in a Copenhagen church.

Afghan refugees escaped custody in Indonesia after they and some Iraqis were arrested trying to get to Australia.

Head of Malang Immigration Office, Soebroto said on Tuesday (19/5) the refugees were part of the 18 caught early on Sunday (17/5) in Probolinggo on their way to Bali. Eleven among the immigrants were from Afghanistan and the other seven were from Iraq.

[....]

Malang Immigration office said the Afghan refugees entered Indonesia from Malaysia after passing through Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Singapore. No report on where the Iraqi refugees joined the Afghans on their way to Australia through Bali.

And so on and so forth, the list goes on…

Somalis, the terrorist threat, and Hillary Clinton

A useful article came into my inbox yesterday from the Northern Virginia/Richmond/DC Metro chapter of ACT! for America, giving the background of our country’s relationship with Somalia and the threat to America from Somalis. I’m going to quote extensively from this piece by Ruth King — Somalia: Why Isn’t Secretary Clinton Connecting the Dots? – but I recommend you read the whole thing.

She begins by mocking Hillary Clinton for her ignorant and superficial response to the Somali pirates, and to Somalis in general. Clinton

would not want to revisit [Bill Clinton's] disastrous policy in Somalia which contributed mightily to the chaos, instability, terrorism and carnage which prevail there today.

Nor, would she want to explain her present employer’s paralysis in the face of naked Jihadi aggression.

Nor, would she want to tackle the difficult question of why Somali-Americans “disappear” from Minnesota to go train with Somali terrorists. And, she certainly would not want to discuss the implementation of Sharia law in Somalia since we don’t have a “foreign contingency” policy with respect to Somalia a member of the all Muslim Arab League. Furthermore, her recollection of the history of the Barbary Wars…um…a long…time ago is so pathetic…So, it’s just the usual ha-ha-ha.

She goes on to relate Somalia’s “long and virtually uninterrupted history of hating America,” beginning in 1969 with a bloody coup by a major general who allied himself and received training from the Soviets. Another coup in 1991 led to a civil war, followed by a terrible drought.

President George H.W. Bush sent troops, President Clinton withdrew them, and there was more chaos and carnage. In 1993 Clinton sent troops, and this led to what Americans remember of Somalia — the incident in Mogadishu.

U.S. soldiers on the ground were left without armed vehicles or sufficient firepower from the air. The Clinton administration and then Secretary of Defense, the late Les Aspin, repeatedly denied the Special ops teams’ and the Rangers’ requests for more armored vehicles, AC-130 gunships and tanks.

The American public witnessed gruesome televised scenes of rampaging Muslim Somalis dragging and desecrating the bodies of American troops.  Congress demanded a withdrawal and Clinton did a “cut and run” operation leaving Somalia in worse shape than ever and Aidid unbowed. The end result was the perception that America can be defied by any rag tag army of terrorists.

So that is our connection with Somalia, and probably the reason we felt duty-bound to take in refugees from there. The author goes on to give a good summary of their jihadist activities, both overt and stealth.

Since 1983 we have admitted 83,991 Muslim Somali immigrants into the U.S. More then half, 43,682, came since September 11th, and of those, the majority went to Minnesota (Keith Ellison’s state).

…Somali Americans did not assimilate and have grown increasingly militant in cities where they have a significant presence. And they are of concern to law-enforcement agencies.

In March 2006, Fox News reported on the alarming number of Muslims taking truck driving lessons in Kansas City. FBI investigated the school and found that the vast majority of its students were Somalis. Trucks which carry hazardous materials are as dangerous as planes.

This story became more ominous in September 2006 when Debbie Schlussel disclosed how many Muslims (a majority were Somali) got fraudulent certificates to drive 18- wheelers.

From Arizona, August 26, 2008:The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Somali Association of Arizona had pressured Sky Harbor International Airport for the right to wear attire that accommodates their religious needs.

Here is a news item from September 2008 in the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

“In a landmark settlement that could change the way Muslims are treated in the workplace, St. Cloud-based Gold’n Plump Inc. has agreed to allow Somali workers short prayer breaks and the right to refuse handling pork at its poultry processing facilities….. The agreement follows a year-long examination by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and a class-action lawsuit brought in October 2006 on behalf of nine Somali immigrants who worked at Gold’n Plump’s poultry processing plants in Cold Spring, Minn., and Arcadia, Wis.”

In April 2007 Somali taxi drivers in Minneapolis refused to take passengers with dogs or alcohol, including a blind student with a Seeing Eye dog. Roughly three quarters of Minneapolis cab drivers are Somali Muslims and their case was strongly supported by the Muslim American Society of Minnesota.

The demands then escalated for footbaths in schools, airports and malls, culminating with the establishment of the controversial Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center – and the smaller but equally influential Islamic Al Dahwa Center of St. Paul, from which dozens of young Somali men have “disappeared” without a trace, and authorities believe they have joined terrorist groups in Somalia. And, of course the imams of the mosques deny any involvement with terrorism. So do all the hijab mothers.

She goes on to discuss Al-Shabab, the Somali jihadist group, and quotes Robert Spencer connecting the pirates to these terrorists. She concludes that Hillary Clinton needs to connect the dots and take the threat seriously and ”confront the great threat to America which is taking root within our shores. This includes a reevaluation of our “no profiling” immigration and refugee laws and a revamping of Homeland Security and the Patriot Act.” And she is clear that this is unlikely to happen.

Mexicans protesting influx of American immigrants to their country

Yes, you heard that right.  Thanks to reader Ciccio for sending us a story from WFAA-TV  Dallas/Ft. Worth that brought tears (of laughter) to my eyes.   Mexicans are afraid Americans will undermine their culture and refuse to learn their language as they emigrate in increasing numbers to Mexico.

Not everyone is rolling out the welcome mat to Americans. Many Mexicans complain about the rapid growth of the American population in their neighborhoods, the threat they see to Mexican culture and language, and the possible drain on Mexico’s inexpensive health care.

In San Miguel de Allende, the group Basta Ya is protesting the erosion of the language and the rising cost of living generated by the infusion of dollars into the local economy.

“They think Mexico, especially San Miguel de Allende, is an extension of their country,” group member Arturo Morales Tirado said of the Americans who call San Miguel home. “It’s not and won’t be, no way.”

Read the whole story here.

Vermont man charged with hate crime for something the reporter can’t specify

Maybe I’m dense, but what the heck does this story from Vermont TV station WCAX mean?

A Burlington [man] is charged with a hate crime for using racial epithets to insult people of color. It’s the first case involving interracial hatred in Chittenden County since Vermont’s hate crime law took effect.

The suspect is charged with disorderly conduct as a hate crime for allegedly targeting his African-born neighbors– especially a 9-year-old girl– with death threats and racial insults.

But the suspect claims there was no crime at all because his speech is protected by the First Amendment.

Is he charged for the racial epithets? That’s free speech. Or is he charged for death threats? That may or may not be free speech.

Police records show the Somalis had complained for several years that he targeted them with hateful name-calling but no criminal charges were filed until last fall.

That’s when police say Cannon targeted 9-year-old Nahima Sheck Mohammed and her family with an intensified series of death threats and racial slurs. The prosecutor says it’s a hate crime.

WHAT is a hate crime? The death threats or the racial slurs? Does Vermont’s hate crime law include speech? If so, and if this disgusting low-life guy is being prosecuted for his speech, then he’s right to challenge the law and I hope it goes all the way to the Supreme Court. Even convicted felons (this guy is one) are not deprived of their speech rights.

As for the death threats, the law varies from state to state. Some consider death threats protected speech, others a crime under various statutes.

But the whole idea of hate crime laws is wrong. These laws always specify privileged groups, and those who commit a crime against them can be prosecuted on two counts — the crime itself, and the motive of hate. A very bad thing. I’d rather see an upstanding citizen be the one to challenge such a law, but then upstanding citizens rarely issue death threats.

 

 

Somali missing youths, an update

Normally I would just put an updating  link on the original post we did on the  missing Minneapolis Somalis.     However, this Wall Street Journal article yesterday had a few important new nuggets of information I wanted to highlight.

U.S. Somali community leaders estimate that as many as 20 men may have left the U.S. to fight in the past two years.  [We've heard the number 40 mentioned]

The reports have raised concern among counterterrorism officials about immigrant youths being recruited by radical groups. For years, terrorism experts have believed that better assimilation of immigrants in the U.S. than elsewhere makes the threat of radicalization of young Muslims less than it is in Britain and other countries with large immigrant communities beset by high unemployment and less opportunity. The Somali case could cause that view to be reassessed.

Experts on Islam, like Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch, keep hammering away at the point that Islamic terrorism (jihad) is not a result of poverty, unemployment, or no opportunity, it is an imperative of Islam itself, and we agree.   It is good to hear that maybe our so-called “terrorism experts” might be finally catching on!

Then here is the other bit of new information.  We have been wondering if Somali youths were missing from elsewhere in the US and the FBI seems to confirm that they are.

E.K. Wilson, an FBI special agent in the bureau’s Minneapolis office, said he couldn’t confirm the existence of an investigation, but he said the FBI is aware that “a number of young Somali men from throughout the United States have left, potentially to fight with terrorist groups. We’re in the process of working with the local Somali community to get the parents to come to us with concerns about radicalization of youths.”

Holy Cow! Now 40 young Somalis are missing in Minnesota!

Note to new readers:  This post, originally written in November 2008, has now become my archive for all the posts we have done on this topic .   The number of missing men is now generally to believed to be about 20.  If you would like to learn about the missing youths, begin reading at the bottom of this post and work your way to the most recent update below. 

 *I’ve got more updates since July 19th, just haven’t gotten them linked in here—sorry!

Update July 19th:  Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) says US should consider retrieving the Somalis who left the country to join the Jihad, here.

Update July 16th:  Counterterrorism blog:  this is about the international jihad, here.   Youtube clip of American Al-Shabaab telling Obama his charisma won’t work on them, here.

Update July 15th:  Indictments unsealed in this case, here.

Update July 14th:   We hear from Zakaria Maruf’s sister, here.  What do you know, the same thing is happening in Kenya too! 

Update July 13th:  4th Somali-American (Zakaria Maruf) dead in Somalia, the NYT called him the recruiter, here.    See also Judy’s post today about the cultural problems Somalis face in the US, here.

Update July 12th:   New York Times publishes front page story on missing Somali youths, here.   It is all about Allah, here.

Another Somali-American missing boy is found dead in Somalia, here.  Shot in the head.

Update July 11th:  Al-Shabaab leader mocks Obama, here.

Update July 10th:  More on Somalis standing up to CAIR and the Imams, here. 

Update July 9th:  We do it for Allah, here.

Update July 4th:  Another anti-CAIR demonstration scheduled today in Minneapolis, here.

Update July 2nd:  Fox News is reporting that indictments are imminent, here.

Update June 24th:  MN Somali leader confirms criticism of CAIR directly to RRW, here.

Update June 21st:   Somali community activists defend CAIR, here.

Update June 12th:  Unbelievable!  Somalis tell CAIR to butt out!  See also this excellent overview of the whole story of the missing Somali youths.

Update June 9th:   More on the death of that Somali youth at AP, here.

Update June 7th:  One Somali youth found dead in Somalia, believed to have been killed by al Shabaab, here.   Omar Jamal says US must bring the body back to Minnesota, here.

Update April 16th:   Somali youths have been missing from Minneapolis since 2007!

Update April 10th:  CAIR tries to hamstring questioning of students in Minnesota, here.

Update April 8th:  Canadian missing Somali arrested in Somalia, here.

Update April 6th:  Some missing youths hold press conference in Somalia, here.

Update April 5th:  Does an American play a significant role in recruiting the missing Somali youths, here?

Update April 2nd:   Somali terror recruitment film found by FBI here.

Update March 31st:  MPR reports that relatives of the missing youths are working their contacts in Somalia, here.

Update March 30th:  NPR reported that four missing men have returned, but have disappeared from sight again, here.

Update March 27th:  Canadian youths missing too, here.

Update March 23rd:  Jamal says missing youth spotted at the mall, here.

Update March 20th:  Fox News is reporting that the missing youths have been found, here.

Update March 19th:  Osama Bin Laden encourages Al-Shabaab to fight on and capture Somalia, here.   This links our “youths” to international jihad.

Update March 12th:  My view from the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing yesterday on terrorist recruitment here.

Update March 11th:  Grand Jury hears testimony in case of missing Somalis, here.  Senate Homeland Security Committee holds a hearing.

Update March 8th:   Jamal: He could have blown himself up here just as well.

Update March 7th:  Recruitment methods explored at Minnesota Public Radio here.

Update March 6th:   Senate panel to hold hearing March 11th on missing youths.

Update Feb. 28th:   AP tells us more about how the missing Somali men were part of a terror scare on inauguration weekend, here.

Update Feb. 27th:   Minneapolis mosque holds open house to assure community they are good guys.

Update Feb. 24th:  More on FBI director Mueller’s speech about the Somali youths, excellent reporting at the Washington Times .

Update Feb. 23th:   You gotta laugh!  The New York Times finally gets to this story  3 months after it began.

Update Feb. 17th:  Jerusalem Post reporting today that 500 could be missing!

Update Feb. 16th:   UK fears its missing Somali youths are returning, here.

Update Feb. 15th:  CAIR crying about ‘religious profiling’ as FBI steps up questioning of Somalis.

Update Feb. 12th:  More indepth coverage of the press conference from Dinah Lord.  My post here.

Update Feb. 11th:   Mystery deepens about whether jihadists captured in Somaliland are our missing boys.

Update Feb. 10th:  Press conference held and mosque denies role in missing youths case.

Update Feb. 9th:   Another missing youth story with lots of inflamed commentary here.

Update Feb. 5th:  Somali press conference called and cancelled in Minneapolis.

Update Feb. 3rd:  NPR says missing men are victims, here.

Update Jan. 31st:  Somali writer blames FBI for not spotting this terror recruitment sooner.

Update Jan. 28th:  FBI looking for missing Somali refugees in Atlanta, here.

Update Jan. 27th:  Arrest of Somali man trying to get into Canada may be linked to the missing men and the plot against the inauguration.

Update Jan. 26th:  Well what do you know!   American “terrorists” arrested in Somaliland today.  Could they be some of our missing Somali youths?

Update Jan. 25th:   Newsweek joins the crowd today.  Boy these news magazines are slow!  It is almost exactly two months after we first reported the story.

Update Jan. 18th, 2009:  Los Angeles Times fills in more details.

Update Dec. 30th:   Washington Times puts story on front page here.

Update Dec. 29th: The FBI is paying attention to Somalis in U.S.

Update Dec. 26th:  Scrutinize mosques in the US in wake of missing Somalis investigation.

Update Dec. 23rd:  Financial Times of London is reporting this story now.  Hat tip:  Jerry Gordon.

Update Dec. 21st:   UPI reported that the FBI might be taking a harder look at the local mosque, here.

Wall Street Journal reports that Somali youths are missing from other US cities, here.

Update Dec. 12th:  CNN gets on the Somali missing men story bandwagon here. 

Indepth reporting by Patrick Poole here at Frontpage magazine.

Update Dec. 8th:  More on missing men in US and Denmark

Update Dec. 4th:   Somali men missing all over the world tonight.  And, missing Somali American man who became suicide bomber buried in Minnesota.

Update Dec. 1st:   Minneapolis mosque leaders not allowed to leave country, here.

Update Nov. 29th:   News Busters says this is not West Side Story.

Update Nov. 28th:  Somali Jihadists say they are coming to get us!  At Jihad Watch today.

Update Nov. 27th:  AP story has gone everywhere, on FOX News here.

Update a couple hours later:  The story is movin’ on up nationally—to ABC now.

Thanks again to the Baron at Gates of Vienna, who just sent news that 40 (four-0) Somali young men have disappeared from the Twin Cities recently.   Two days ago we reported the number at about 20. From 5 Eyewitness News today:

Forty young Somali men from the Twin Cities are missing and federal investigators believe they may be back in Somalia training as terrorists.

“We have active Al Qaeda cells recruiting these people,” said Omar Jamal with the Somali Justice Advocacy Center.

Unless he has had some sort of conversion, I wouldn’t trust this Omar Jamal as far as I could throw him!  He has proven in the past to be a master news manipulator (see my post linked above).    Don’t ask me what his game would be in directing the blame to Al Qaeda?   AQ just seems a logical target, so what might he be steering authorities away from?  Be sure to watch Jamal in action on the KSTP-TV film clip.

The big question for us is, are the 40 missing men coming back to share their new found knowledge here in the US.  

CIA Director Michael Hayden acknowledges a growing tie between Al Qaeda and Somali terrorist groups. Federal investigators believe these missing men are training for terrorist attacks overseas, but can’t be sure they won’t return the the Twin Cities someday to carry out an attack.

Or, here is another thought, maybe, just maybe they haven’t left the US.  What if they are still here and our spinmeister supreme is leading authorities astray?  Kind of convienent that the Twin Cities ”recruiter” can’t talk (having already been blown to bits).

See yesterday’s post with suggestions for the Homeland Security to check a few other US cities.

Iraqis jobless in Roanoke, VA

Yet another unhappy Iraqi refugee story, this one from Roanoke, VA.  By the way, we have written about Roanoke before because it was the location of an American blacks conflict with Somali refugees.

Anyway, the primary subject of this article in the Roanoke Times, Haidar Khairallah, is not unhappy.  He is an injured interpreter who was resettled here after a long wait and appears to be on his way to fitting in to America.   Obviously, from the story he is a secular Muslim who spent some years as a child in England and speaks English well, and that helps. 

Now he uses his English by helping Roanoke’s Refugee and Immigrant Services (a Catholic resettlement agency) to calm down some unhappy Iraqis—professionals who want jobs other than cleaning.   Same old story just another state.

In the crowded conference room of Roanoke’s Refugee and Immigration Services, Haidar has been asked to broker a sit-down with his fellow refugees. Resettlement coordinator Jasminka Traylor has heard complaints about some of them turning down manual-labor jobs. She’s asked for help from Haidar, now working as a part-time translator for the office while he looks for full-time work.

Unlike most refugees who come to America from harsh refugee-camp conditions, these immigrants were professionals in Iraq — engineers, teachers and the like. They lived in metropolitan cities in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria while awaiting security clearance and refugee status.

The Iraqis will even take a job at non-Union-still-profiting Walmart if they can get out of cleaning!

Unlike Haidar, most of the new Iraqis in Roanoke aren’t yet fluent in English and don’t qualify for white-collar work here — which Traylor explains repeatedly in the meeting.

“We don’t want cleaning job,” one man gripes. “You can’t find job in Wal-Mart instead? How about another mart?”

Growing frustrated, Traylor asks: “Who cleans in Iraq?”

“People from Sudan.”

“No,” Haidar interjects. “Iraqi people clean in Iraq.”

Traylor asks the question again. The men and women whisper among themselves but say nothing.

She throws up her hands. “You have to find something to do here to pay your bills until you’re ready to find something you want to do!”

And, Refugees International is telling do-gooders to write to Obama and push for over 100,000 more Iraqis in this fiscal year?  It’s nuts!

Start at this post to find more unhappy Iraqi refugee stories, or just go to our Iraqi Refugee category.