March 7, 2011 Unprecedented flows of migrants are arriving on the EU’s southern shores following recent political upheaval across North Africa and there is a fear that many more will come. In this commentary, Yves Pascouau and Sheena McLoughlin outline three challenges the EU and its Member States have to cope with: the capacity to…
23 October 2010 In this article, Michael Prüller highlights the inherent problems associated with attempts to ban mosques: not only is reciprocity absurd (the lack of Christian churches in Iran should not have an impact on Indonesian Muslims in the Netherlands), but is goes against the very idea of human rights. However, he draws attention…
Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of Somalia’s independence, but there is little to celebrate. Al-Shabab, which means The Youth, emerged from this bleak chaos in 2006. Human Rights Watch says Somalis living under Al-Shabab control are subjected to grinding repression. The impact of the conflict is felt in Canada, home to between 150,000 and 200,000…
German teachers are to get guidelines on handling the issue of forced marriages with their pupils, the government said Friday following a spate cases in recent months. “Forced marriage is an infringement of human rights,” Maria Böhmer, the government’s commissioner for immigration and integration, said. “Current mechanisms for helping young men and women threatened by…
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has severely condemned the ban on the construction of minarets within a resolution against the defamation of religion. Though Switzerland was not explicitly named, it is the only country in the world to have banned minarets. Consequently, this represents the first acknowledgement by the UN of the adoption of…
