French Interior Minister Plans To Deport Foreign Prostitutes
In Paris, France, where prostitution is legal and sex workers pay taxes on their earnings, native prostitutes are complaining about an influx of foreigners working their territory, saying they do not respect the traditional prices and that it amounts to unfair competition.
According to an article in the Washington Post, Paris’s longtime prostitutes have found a champion in President Jacques Chirac’s interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, who recently announced plans to introduce legislation that would allow the immediate deportation of prostitutes who are from outside the European Union.
France has between 15,000 and 20,000 prostitutes, 60 percent of them foreigners, with more than half of them working in Paris.
Canada: Police Probing License Scam For Terrorist Ties
Police in Ontario say they are investigating whether terrorists might have purchased any of the 25,000 genuine Ontario driver’s licenses sold by a criminal ring. Since the launch of the investigation last fall, five employees of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation office in Toronto have been charged in connection with the scheme; three were arrested Wednesday. The primary difficulty for investigators is that the licenses are valid and legal, and officials must uncover other irregularities in order to determine if a license is one of the 25,000 obtained fraudulently.
Majority Of Swedes Say Language Skills Should Be Citizenship Requirement
A poll released Thursday finds that most Swedes believe basic Swedish language skills should be required of immigrants seeking citizenship. Language tests were dropped in the ‘70s, but opposition Liberal Party leader, Lars Leijonborg, recently proposed reintroducing the tests for new citizens.
While dismissed by the governing Social Democratic Party, the proposal has stirred a lively debate in the Swedish media as the country heads into elections on September 15.
Provided they have not been convicted of serious crimes, immigrants in Sweden are eligible for citizenship after four to five years.
Australian Court Orders Release Of Palestinian Refugee
An Australian federal court ordered the release of a Palestinian man whose request for asylum was rejected. The court said Akram Ouda Mohammed al-Masri is being illegally held at a detention center for asylum-seekers. Judge Ronald Merkel also granted an interim stay on the order until later Thursday to give Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock time to submit an appeal.
Australia has been unable to find any country willing to accept Masri, 25, who arrived by boat in Australia in 2001. His bid for asylum was rejected, but Israel, which maintains control over entry into the Gaza Strip, refused him permission to return home; Egypt, Jordan and Syria also refused requests to accept him. In the meantime, Masri was held in limbo at the Woomera detention center, leading to Judge Merkel’s decision that his continued detention is unlawful.
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