The Joys of Diversity & Cultural Enrichment (XXIV)

Which Western country is benefiting most from its immigration policy? Today's contenders are Australia, The Netherlands and Germany.


1) Australia

An elderly lady was attacked by a car thief in Melbourne:

AN ELDERLY woman has been attacked with a laptop wielded by a car-thieving thug in Melbourne's eastern suburbs.

Her attacker had minutes earlier been trying to steal a utility parked in Petty Lane, Doncaster, when he was disturbed by the vehicle's owner at 11am.

The thief ran away and motioned for a 77-year-old woman to pull over before threatening to assault her and drag her from the car.

When she stopped, the man reached through a partly opened window, unlocked the door and dragged her out, hitting her with a laptop computer he was carrying.

The robber then fled in the victim's red Honda sedan, leaving her lying bruised on the ground.

Police are still looking for the Honda, which is registered FLT-312.

The attacker is described as being of Asian appearance, aged in his early to mid-20s with dark hair, a medium build and about 175cm tall.

2) The Netherlands

Police in Amsterdam are blaming provocative, violent rap lyrics for a spate of shootings between rival gangs of Antillean youth in Bijlmer.

There have been fourteen shootings and two deaths over the past few months in the Amsterdam-Zuidoost area.

The police note that the youths shoot each other for trivial reasons such as a wrong look or a scowl, or sometimes without motive at all.

Police chief Worlds blames the rap videos and the world which the youths see on screen. He thinks that as well as violence, the videos and lyrics cause other "unhealthy and immoral behaviour" amongst the Antilleans.


3) Germany

Police in Germany have raided a series of Chinese restaurants whilst searching for illegal or trafficked staff:

Berlin -- German police raided Chinese restaurants across the country on Monday on suspicion that workers are being lured to the West under false pretences and made to toil under inhumane conditions.

More than 1,300 police officers and customs officials took part in the raids on more than 170 Chinese eateries and apartments, Frank Federeau, a spokesman for police in the state of Lower Saxony coordinating the operation, told AFP.

Police believe that criminal gangs have brought around 1,000 Chinese to Germany over the past decade, taking away their passports and forcing them to work 80 to 90 hours per week, according to the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung daily.

The report said that restaurant owners have even been given catalogues from which they can choose workers from China and pay 10,000 euros (14,000 dollars) to the gangs. The employees are then paid around three euros per hour.