Over the centuries, Italy’s image has fluctuated in northern Europe. Italians have been associated with dancing masters, fencing tutors, glass makers, opera divas and tenors – and the provenance of the pizza and ice cream. In Albania, despite Italy’s wartime invasion of that country, the fondest memory retained was that of Italian ice cream, which Read more
The kidnapper sounded polite, even deferential, when she called on a Tuesday afternoon last May. Melida Lemus and Alfredo Godoy had left their clapboard house in Trenton, New Jersey, to pick up their two daughters from school. Godoy, who works in construction, was late to meet a client for whom he was building a home Read more
Workers at the Warsaw headquarters of Frontex, the European border protection agency, track every single irregular boat crossing and every vessel filled with refugees. Since December 2013, the authority has spent hundreds of millions of euros deploying drones and satellites to surveil the borders. The EU registers everything that happens near its borders. In contrast Read more
Sobbing and shaking, Mohamed Abdallah tries to explain why he still wants to risk crossing the Mediterranean Sea in an inflatable boat. He sits in a migrant detention centre in Zawya, Libya, surrounded by hundreds of fellow asylum seekers who nearly died this week at sea. They survived only after being intercepted, detained and brought Read more
In what may be a world first a religious group representing Christian and Jewish communities has expanded to include Muslims in an effort to foster friendship and dialogue between religions. The group celebrated its relaunch as the Wellington Abrahamic Council of Jews, Christians and Muslims at Parliament on Tuesday night. Council Christian co-chair Reverend Jenny Read more
The Red Cross is calling for the country to consider increasing the quota for refugees. The country has an annual limit of 750 places for refugees on United Nations waiting lists. Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy said New Zealand should resettle more people. Continue reading
An immigration lawyer says a Chilean family seeking sanctuary in a church in Christchurch to avoid deportation is wasting their time and should consider heading back to Chile. The priest at the church where the family sought refuge declined to be interviewed and asked that the name of his church not be reported. The Ravet Read more
Eric Lepionka and Halina Melgies recently celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary. They are two of the 733 Polish children who, 70 years ago, arrived in Wellington Harbour as New Zealand’s first official refugees. While the majority were orphans, 13-month-old Halina, now 71, arrived with her mother, one of the 102 caregivers who joined the children. Read more
The boat sank quickly. One minute Fahad Abdul Kariem was wedged into the hold, legs apart so that another migrant could sit in front of him. The next, the Mediterranean swell was rolling the vessel, the motion aggravated by the scores of African and Indian migrants clinging to the roof canopy. And everyone was in Read more
The full text of the Holy Father’s Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2015 was published on 23 September: Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus is ‘the evangeliser par excellence and the Gospel in person’. His solicitude, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalised, invites all of us to care for the frailest and Read more