Flanders: Vlaams Belang launches Turk remigration campaign Via Today’s Zaman : The Vlaams Belang party of Belgium, a right-wing political party that aims for an independent Flanders, has started a campaign of remigration in order to convince those immigrants who do not adapt to Flemish society to return home. The Turkish motto of the campaign the Flemish party has been conducting is “t,” (Emirdağ needs you), while the general motto addressing all immigrants is “Return happily to your home country.” Fliers carrying the mottos have been distributed to thousands in Flanders. (…) Johan Deckmyn, who is one of the group members and a member of parliament in Flanders, said at a press conference held in Ankara on Wednesday they are in favor of remigration of immigrants who cannot integrate in society in Flanders

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Sweden: Immigrant kids ‘doing just fine’ Via the Local : Children born in Sweden of immigrants parents, enjoy as good mental health as children with Swedish-born parents, a new study shows. “Our thesis I would say was in line with the common conception in our society that children of immigrated parents would have an extra stress factor in life and be affected negatively by that,” researcher Linda Dekeyser, PhD doctoral candidate at the faculty of health sciences (Hälsouniversitetet) at Linköping University, told The Local. “But we were positively surprised to find that that is not the case.” ( source )

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Sweden: Muslims to get funds from ‘church tax’ Via SVT (Swedish) The Bosnian Islamic Society (BIS) is the first Muslim community to get reimbursements back from the church tax, similarly to the Church of Sweden, following a government decision Thursday. The association, which met certain criteria on finance and stability, will get help from the Tax Authority with managing the funds. BIS was established in the mid-1990s and has 12,000 members.

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Copenhagen: Group calls for Shariah zones “Do you want to take part in establishing Shariah in Denmark, or do you want to stand by? The choice is yours!” (from the group’s Shariah4DK video) Via Politiken : A small group of extremists wants to introduce patrolled Sharia zones in Denmark. A Danish group of Salafists calling themselves “Call to Islam” (Kaldet til Islam) plan to introduce round the clock patrols in Sharia zones they introduce in Copenhagen, and eventually other areas of Denmark, along the lines of a similar group in the United Kingdom.

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Netherlands: ‘Migration enriches our society’, says Immigration Minister Via RNW : Immigration Minister Gerd Leers argues that “Migration enriches our society.” The minister made his statement in an article published in magazine of the Christian democratic CDA’s scientific institute.

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Denmark: Muslims want independent body to supervise halal slaughter Via Kristeligt Dagblad : The Danish Islamic Faith Society and 35 other Muslim associations joined together to stop what they say is non-halal meat sold as halal. They want to create an independent organ to supervise halal slaughter. “Some of the methods used in slaughter are not halal, and the supervision of halal slaughter is too lenient,” says Ben Yones Essabar, head of the Islamic Faith Society’s Halal Committee.

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Moscow: Mufti urges Muslims to actively integrate in Russian society ( Muslims gathered at Sokolniki Park to celebrate Eid ) Via Interfax : The Mufti of Moscow and Russia’s Central Region Albir Krganov has called on Muslims to integrate more in the Russian society.

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Netherlands: Interior minister argues for burka ban Via RNW : “You can’t walk down the street naked either. That is the result of our norms about decent behaviour. The Netherlands also has norms which make it advisable to ban clothing which covers your face.” Interior Minister Piet-Hein Donner was speaking during a debate about his integration bill, which would introduce a ban on burkas

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UK: Bill to ban Islamic courts from dealing with family and criminal law Via the Guardian : Islamic courts would be forced to acknowledge the primacy of English law under a bill being introduced in the House of Lords. The bill, proposed by Lady Cox and backed by women’s rights groups and the National Secular Society, was drawn up because of “deep concerns” that Muslim women are suffering discrimination within closed sharia law councils. The Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill will introduce an offence carrying a five-year jail sentence for anyone falsely claiming or implying that sharia courts or councils have legal jurisdiction over family or criminal law.

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By Khalid Baig In all societies and at all times marriage has been considered an occssion for great joy. The word most used with “wedding” is “celebration.” In fiction, which reflects our inner desires, they “lived happily ever after.” Obviously seeking success in marriage has been a pre-occupation of all societies

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