The world's tourism map is being redrawn as holiday-makers switch preferences, prompted by terror attacks and migrant crises in some European countries. Euromonitor research said they expect countries such as Greece, Portugal and Spain to benefit considerably from the situation, offering similar weather and security. However, the sudden surge in demand is leading to higher prices in these destinations. ‘Hotel owners tell clients, “Instead of charging 50 euros per double room, I'm going to charge 55. Take it or leave it: if you don't want it, others will”', said Olivier Petit at the ‘In Extenso’ firm. The migrant crisis has also taken a heavy toll on Greek islands, once a very safe bet for operators, but where masses of refugees have landed, scaring tourists. ‘The Greek islands, especially Kos, have been severely damaged, as holiday-makers feel uneasy about the situation,’ according to Euromonitor’s data.
‘Safe Haven’ for Muslim-background believers
12 Feb 2016
Last November, Christian Concern launched an initiative to protect those in the UK wanting to leave Islam but fearing the consequences. ‘Safe Haven’ (SH) was set up in response to the brutal treatment of some who have left Islam and become Christians, offering confidential advice and support and even help for individuals to relocate. This week an advertising campaign to raise support and funding has been launched to create a national network of safehouses for Christians who’ve converted from a Muslim background and are living under threat of violence for freely choosing to follow Jesus. SH does this mainly by connecting victims with those who can provide a safe place to stay - a secure and loving home away from the hostility. It acts as a go-between, bringing together those in need with those offering help. SH needs more individuals who can provide help: it is keenly aware of the need for anonymity in these kinds of situations, and maintains strict confidentiality in all its dealings with both victims and helpers. It also needs more funding to support this growing need. See also:
Pressures on junior doctors
12 Feb 2016
The Rt Revd Peter Forster, Bishop of Chester, said the Government's proposed changes to junior doctors' contracts are a good thing, but the Government has gone about implementing the changes the wrong way, particularly given the amount of stress medics are under. He was speaking as junior doctors walked out for a second time in less than four weeks over the potential changes to pay and conditions. Bishop Peter said, ‘It isn't just the hours. It's the way they oscillate from days to nights to unsocial hours, sometimes ten, twelve hours at a go, maybe with relatively few senior doctors in the hospital overnight. People who work in that sort of way need handling with considerable care and quite frankly kid gloves. I think the Government tried to make well-meaning changes thinking that the argument was on their side, without properly stopping to take people along with them.’ Since he spoke, the Government has decided to impose its proposals on the junior doctors, which is likely to cause even more aggravation.
Last year Christian Concern took a look at the Government’s counter-extremism strategy, and identified a number of worrying implications for Christian freedom. They commented, ‘Although we need to recognise that the government is trying to address a serious problem, the strategy in its current form is not the best way to proceed. This is because the policy threatens the freedom of the innocent, and will not be as effective as it should be in tackling the real problem.’ Christian Concern has begun a campaign to raise more awareness that Christian freedoms are under threat if the strategy isn’t amended, saying, ‘The only way that the guidelines will be amended is if Christians speak out and make the Government aware of the problems.’ See also the article below, about Ofsted as a regulator of religion.
The phasing out of unacceptable long-distance admissions for severely mentally ill patients and quicker access to acute psychiatric care are two key recommendations for improving services in England. The Independent Commission on Acute Adult Psychiatric Care was set up by the Royal College of Psychiatrists last January, in response to growing concern about the provision of acute in-patient psychiatric beds across the country. It found that access to acute care for severely ill mental health patients is ‘inadequate nationally’ and in some cases ‘potentially dangerous’. This is especially because there are ‘major problems’ both in admissions to psychiatric wards and in the provision of alternative care and treatment in the community. Five hundred mentally ill people have been admitted to hospitals over 50km away, largely because of no acute in-patient beds or suitable alternatives in their home area. Pray for an end to inequalities of care, hospital bed-blocking, and inadequate residential provision.
Christians in the UK are concerned that a Government proposal to curb Islamic extremism will affect religious liberty for churches. Prime Minister David Cameron announced a five-year plan last year to weed out growing Islamic extremism among Muslim youth. However, many fear the unclear language in the plan may allow the government to target Christian Sunday schools and youth groups. The proposal comes two years after the British government investigated reports that radical Muslims plotted to overtake and radicalise the Birmingham public school system. The government responded to the threat by mandating that the education curriculum must incorporate the British values of ‘democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.’ According to an article in Christianity Today, the Evangelical Alliance called the plan to monitor education of religious youth a ‘fundamental threat to religious liberty.’ The proposal requires all religious groups and institutions to register their children’s activities and allow government officials to visit for inspection if they meet for six hours or more a week.
Eleven men were convicted of rape and a twelfth of sexual activity in a trial in Bradford. The victim was aged thirteen when she was first raped and abused repeatedly by the men. Mr Justice Thomas QC told them, ‘The attitudes that you demonstrated to these proceedings have been contemptuous, disrespectful and arrogant on a scale I have hardly seen in many years of criminal law practice.’ Some say that the fact that the victim was white and non-Muslim was a factor in her abuse; the ringleader of the rapists saw her as ‘a little white slag.’ That label would probably go some way to buying the Muslim community’s silence regarding the gang’s actions. Rather than risk the wrath of their fellow-Muslims and being reported to the police for abusing a Muslim girl, the victim’s race and religion was of significance in them choosing her.
Fairtrade Easter eggs
12 Feb 2016
Boys as young as ten are trafficked to perform the back-breaking and hazardous job of harvesting cocoa beans in West Africa. These beans are turned into the chocolate that we buy from local supermarkets. As Easter approaches, millions of chocolate Easter eggs will be sold which may have been made with cocoa beans picked by a trafficked child. Supermarkets have enormous buying power and influence, and STOP THE TRAFFIK are asking them to help end the trafficking of children by stocking more certified chocolate eggs - those stamped with the Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, or UTZ Certified mark. This certification shows that the chocolate has been made in monitored conditions that aim to prevent the trafficking of children. STOP THE TRAFFIK are asking us to visit local supermarkets and then report back in an online questionnaire what kind of Fairtrade Easter eggs they have in stock.