Τετάρτη 6 Απριλίου 2016

Νίκος Παππάς: Γκαιμπελισμός, άγνοια ή και τα δυο μαζί;


Αυτόν τον πίνακα ανέβασε ο σκιώδης πρωθυπουργός Νίκος Παππάς και κόντεψαν να πέσουν τα μαλλιά μας με το θράσος του. Ανερυθρίαστα κομπάζει για δήθεν επιτυχίες διαστρεβλώνοντας κάθε πτυχή της πραγματικότητας. Διάβασε παρακάτω τα τερατώδη ψέμματα που πόσταρε ο εν λόγω και πως αυτά καταρρίπτονται συντριπτικά.

1. Η ύφεση σχεδόν μηδενίστηκε ενώ κάποιοι την προέβλεπαν ακόμα και στο -7%

Μάλλον ο Νικόλας δεν είχε διαβάσει ο κακομοίρης τις αρχικές προβλέψεις της Κομισιόν για το 2015. όπου προέβλεπε για το 2015 ανάπτυξη +2,9%. Τι κατάφερε η πλέον αποτυχημένη κυβέρνηση της μεταπολίτευσης; Ύφεση -0,2%. Συνολική διαφορά 3,1% σχεδόν 6 δισ € λιγότερο ΑΕΠ. Εύγε!
Το -7% που προέβλεπαν κάποιοι αφορούσε δυσοίωνες προβλέψεις λόγω capital controls που διαψεύστηκαν λόγω ανθεκτικότητας της οικονομίας και όχι λόγω πολιτικών της κυβέρνησης.

Να μην ξεχάσουμε να αναφέρουμε ότι για το 2016 η Κομισιόν προέβλεπε ανάπτυξη +3,7% ενώ έτσι όπως τα έκαναν ο Παππάς και το λοιπό μπουλούκι θα είναι θαύμα αν η ανάπτυξη είναι 0%.

Greece is better off with the IMF than with Germany

Brian Caplen | 5/04/2016 10:20 am

German chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras are happy with a short-term fudge, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde wants a longer term solution. Brian Caplen assesses the dilemma facing the troubled southern European country.

Leaving aside the prospect of the total collapse of the Greek economy there are two directions the Greece bailout programme can now take – the IMF’s way or Germany’s way.

The IMF way would involve much tougher reforms and more substantial debt write downs. As with all IMF programmes, it would be designed to place the economy on a sustainable footing and it would take a dispassionate view about the repayment of creditors (apart from the IMF, of course).

By comparison the approach of the European Commission (although this mainly seems to revolve around Germany’s stance as the major financial contributor) is to 'extend and pretend'. Instead of debt write offs, we get maturity extensions because it is politically difficult to tell German taxpayers the truth – that they have lost even more money in Greece than they think they have.
The Greek government seems to believe that it can fudge unpopular reforms in exchange for German extend and pretend. That’s why Greek government officials reacted angrily to revelations contained in a leaked discussion between IMF officials about their frustrations with the European Commission and Germany over the bailout programme.

Δευτέρα 4 Απριλίου 2016

Ποιός είναι - και ποιός δεν είναι πρόσφυγας

Many people think that anybody who flees a war zone or other calamity automatically becomes a refugee and so is entitled to certain protections. Unfortunately, in the eyes of international law, the reality is often more complicated.

How exactly is one determined to be a refugee? The question is not as simple as it may seem. For better or worse, escaping a war-torn country or other catastrophe doesn’t always make that person an official refugee in the eyes of international law.

A refugee is someone determined to have “a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion” and who therefore cannot return to his or her country of origin.

This definition is governed by the United Nations’ 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees as amended by the 1967 protocol to the convention, the key international law that defines refugee status. Two regional conventions, the 1969 OAU Convention in Africa and the 1984 Cartagena Declaration in Latin America, expand the definition above to grant refugee status “prima facie” to anyone arriving as part of a mass migration fleeing generalized violence, such as civil war.

According to these legal norms, many of the asylum seekers currently arriving in Europe are unlikely to achieve refugee status; they will be considered economic migrants who left their countries to seek work rather than fleeing ill-treatment or generalized violence. However, those who are escaping bloodshed and persecution may well be assessed to be refugees based on their specific cases.

Becoming a refugee begins with requesting asylum while outside one’s own country. It is important to remember that an asylum seeker is not a refugee – and might not become one.

When, Where and How: Becoming a Refugee


A person may enter a country with the intention of claiming asylum, either as an individual or as part of a large group fleeing violence. In other cases, someone may happen to be abroad when circumstances at home change, rendering it unsafe for them to go back, so they decide to request asylum; this is known as “sur place.”

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