@Yutaka Emoticons in English tend to be horizontal rather than vertical (as they are in Japanese). Try looking at it sideways and I think you’ll understand.
“Maybe Japan would like to offer political asylum and new home to these “confused” young men?”
@prinz I know this comment is meant to be sarcastic but Japan and (western) Europe are a good example of two very different responses to the refugee crisis. Many countries in Europe have taken them in by the thousands, with very limited vetting it seems. Japan on the other hand, accepts almost none. (27 out of 7,500 applicants were granted refugee status on 2015)
I wish we could find a middle ground between these two extremes.
“…I want to address those members of the community from where this killer came who knew him and did nothing to raise any alarm bells. Oh, I guess it’s possible he just woke up one day and decided to mass murder children. But let’s work on the far more likely assumption that he became more and more deeply radicalised by Muslim extremists both in Britain and aboard…”
“…He is someone’s son, someone’s friend, possibly someone’s work colleague. Did anything change about his behaviour? Did he suddenly start spouting demented claptrap about Islamic State and their plan for a global caliphate? Did he say or do anything to arouse suspicion? I’ve no idea. But I refuse to believe this disgusting excuse for a human being never gave a single clue to anyone around him that he was becoming radicalized…”
“…On Sunday, in Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump called for Muslims around the world to do more to root out and isolate the extremists among them who think this kind of violence is acceptable. It was a powerful speech, directed at an audience including the leaders of 55 Muslim countries. I wrote yesterday that he was absolutely right, and now I say it again…”
“…It’s not offensive or racist or bigoted or wrong to ask decent, law-abiding Muslims to do more to tackle this growing menace. Not least because Muslims themselves are by far the biggest targets and victims of ISIS. Last night, many Muslims were at Manchester Arena. Some were fans in the audience, others were working in security, hospitality or merchandise stalls at the venue. When the bomb went off, other Muslims in Manchester’s emergency services raced to help: doctors, nurses, fire officers, police officers…”
“…So, many decent, law-abiding Muslims were both targets and heroes last night. They, like the vast majority of Muslims, want these ISIS bastards eliminated as much as the rest of us…”
“…But I’m sorry, there must be more Muslims can do as a community to spot these killers in their midst before they commit carnage…”
It’s a real dilemma. Obviously there’s a huge humanitarian crisis that needs to be addressed as innocent people (including many children) are dying/starving in huge numbers. At the same time, Europe has shown us that taking refugees in en mass is not a solution, as it can be so easily exploited by terrorists. Both of the aforementioned approaches have a terrible human cost.
According to the above article in Japanese, most of the applicants, the number of which is about ten thousand per year, are from the Philippines, India, and Nepal. Only four are applicants from Syria in the Middle East in 2016. I suppose historical and geographical explanations have a certain validity on this matter.
You can see the numbers of foreign residents in Japan in the following graphs.
The historical relationships between countries in the Middle East or North Africa and Japan are not very strong. Korea, China, and the Philippines, etc. are what might be called “our neighbours.”
Yeah, it is hard not to be. This in the end is how terrorism work. When I find myself sitting by an unattended bag or box or something in public, I start to feel a little worried, even though I know that I am more likely to be hit by a van at that moment than to be blown up. The same with flying places. I get worried sitting on the plane that it will crash or something, even though I know that this is in fact the safest part of the journey.
Most of decent Muslims and decent non Muslims don’t know who finance ISIS, we all watch news. These people don’t fight for religious goal or “Calipaht” as they proclaim. What is the"Caliphat"?! From ISIS behaviours you can see that Caliphat means killing anybody you see untill the people say : oh my god, you are the good people and we love your Caliphat (black comedy). I can preach you that Muslims fight each others or live under dictatorships. So I can’t guarantee you that muslims can push back against anything. What I can say that I wish to stop the killing of innocent Jews, Christians, Muslims or whatever, Allah hasn’t given anyone the right to kill incconet people so why he create them.
"The worst terrorist attack on British soil in over a decade was carried out by a British-born son of Libyan immigrants who was born and raised a short drive from the concert hall that he transformed from a scene of youthful celebration into a tableau of horror. "–The Washington Post
“Ottoman rule continued until the Italian occupation of Libya resulted in the temporary Italian Libya colony from 1911 to 1943. During the Second World War Libya was an important area of warfare in the North African Campaign. The Italian population then went into decline. Libya became independent as a kingdom in 1951.”–Wikipedia
The suspect was born in the U.K. He is not an immigrant but a son of Libyan immigrants.
Interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing.
It also would be especially difficult for middle eastern refugees to assimilate to Japanese culture, not to mention finding employment.
Reportedly, the floor of the building shook during the explosion. I feel very sorry for all of the children, teenagers, and grown-ups who were there. Anyone who saw dead bodies or injured people or heard crying and screaming will never be able to completely forget this nightmare. It is now in their bodies and memories.
During the early stages of the investigation, U.K. Intelligence shared information with their U.S. counterparts. Unfortunately, U.S. Officials passed the closely guarded information to the media.
British Home Secretary Amber Rudd said, "The British police have been very clear they want to control the flow of information in order to protect operational integrity, the element of surprise.” So it is irritating if it gets released from other sources and I have been very clear with our friends that that should not happen again.”
I’m for depriving them of their citizenship. Anyone who goes to fight for ISIS should lose the right to return and anyone who are caught mingling with them should be locked up with no questions asked. It’s time to get tough on these scumbags. These people don’t respect soft reactions anyway.
Edit: And yes, even if the person in question is ethnically western it shouldn’t matter. Citizenship should be a privilege, not a right.
Yeah, most people would be amazed if they even fully understood what is going down here: many hundreds of thugs from the UK travelled to Syria to fight for the ISIS filth. They waged illegal war, murdered civilians, raped people, but also learned how to handle modern weapons, build bombs, etc. Then when ISIS started losing they just slipped back into Turkey and bought a ticket back to the UK! No problemo hombre!
You just couldn’t make it up!!!
How are these wicked and dangerous loons just allowed free to walk on the streets??
If we haven’t got the collective balls to liquidate them, they must at the very least be detained in a special Camp X Ray style facility!
“Anyone who goes to fight for ISIS should lose the right to return”
I wouldn’t go that far. If they are citizens of a country, then they should have the right to return. When they do return, they should be arrested and locked up since they are criminals.
“anyone who are caught mingling with them should be locked up with no questions asked”
I don’t think we should start locking people up with no questions asked.