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THE NUMBER OF Europeans joining Islamist fighters in Syria and Iraq has surged to about 3,000 from 2,000 only months ago, the EU counter-terrorism chief has said.
In an exclusive interview with AFP, Gilles de Kerchove said the flow of Europeans may have been boosted by the Islamic State militant group’s declaration in June of a caliphate straddling Syria and Iraq.
“My own assessment is that we’re about 3,000,” he said when asked how many European fighters have flocked to the Islamist cause in Syria and Iraq.
De Kerchove added:
The flow has not been dried up and therefore possibly the proclamation of the caliphate has had some impact.
His comments came hours after the United States and its Arab allies unleashed deadly strikes from land and sea on jihadists in Syria, opening a new front in the battle against the Islamic State group.
The European fighters, he said, come mainly from France, Britain, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark but a few come from Spain, Italy, Ireland and now Austria.
“Even a country like Austria I think has now foreign fighters, which I was not aware of before,” he added.
The EU counter-terrorism coordinator nonetheless said he would check his figures with those of European security service chiefs in the next couple of weeks, saying their numbers may be more conservative.
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Fair play to all who took part!!!
Do the Irish cancer society get the one million or is it divided ?
Wow this is amazing. The power of social media and the fact that most of us will be ‘touched’ by cancer in some way, during our lifetime
This is one of the utterly most positive things ever to happen on the internet in Ireland in my opinion.
Well done to all who took part in such a good cause.
Good cause ,but thank god for make up
Yeah you need some from the looks of it
Would love to know who started this. They deserve a pat on the back. Well done.
It was a make up. Makers idea I think
An article in the Irish Examiner in 2011 said that the Irish Cancer Society Chief Executive received €8.28 per €1,000 of charity income. I wonder if this still the case? If it is, would this be payable on the €1m raised through the #nomakeupselfie phenomenon?
I’m a donor myself, and I’m fairly sure that people who have donated did so with the expectation that their donation will go towards research and charitable work and not to fund perks for an already very well paid Chief Executive (€145k per annum according to the same article in 2011).
People’s faith in charities has been seriously undermined over the last few months, and I would hope that the generosity of people who have donated the €1 million raised would be repaid by the Chief Executive not accepting any payments from the funds that have been raised by the #nomakeupselfie campaign.
Yvonne,
you totally misunderstand how they figures are got. and are guilty of spreading misinformation and causing alarm.
what happens is they get the salary for a year say 2012, and they get the total donations and divide them into it.
so if they raised €100 in 2012 and the CEO salary is €10. they say he got 10% (based in 2012 figures)
however if they raised €1000 in 2012 the CEO still gets €10 but they say he got 1% (based in 2012 figures)
Brian, if I do misunderstand then I apologise. You’ve explained it a lot better than the article I read. There was no intention to spread any misinformation on my part. I was concerned based on my understanding of what the article said. Thanks for clearing it up. I’ll request that my comment be removed.
Not to defer on how great a campaign this is, to which I donated myself, I sent a mail to the ICS facebook page last week asking how much of the €4 was actually going to actual research, and not staff or CEO’s. I’m still waiting on a reply, but their page has still been updated to notify me of their daffodil campaign!!! Bit sceptical now being honest!!
Out of all monies raised in 2012 only 11% goes to research into adult cancers and more shocking is childhood cancer research only gets 1 %
So my donation went to aoibheanns pink tie
But I will say fair play to everyone that done this and raised monies for different charities
In fairness, i don’t think the CFO is going to reply to a question like that on facebook.
They need to pay staff – are you that stupid?
Not out of that specific money raised, stupid!! That was my question ya gowl.
Have not done a selfie without makeup as for one thing I mostly only wear lipstick for makeup and secondly I am a 7 year oesophageal cancer survivor that has just turned 40. i have given to the Irish Cancer Society though, I found their helpline great when I was in the early stages of diagnosis, sometimes you need to talk to someone who is caring but not family.
I donated my €4 to Focus Ireland, others I know donated theirs to an animal rescue.
I donated €4 to Irish cancer and €4 ispca after reading an article on here about that abandoned horse
Aren’t you great…
I don’t need to tell people what or to which charity I’ve donated to in the past. But do continue as you wish.
Don’t be a troll all your life!
I’m proud I was part of something on this scale. I’m super proud of every person that donated.
I wasn’t being an ass and looking for praise I was simply stating I had donated after reading a sad article on here.
The power the media have is huge
Go back under your bridge
Brilliant. Well done everyone :)
Wowsers how brave of people to not wear makeup and take a photo of themselves and put it up on Facebook. Well done everyone.
Just like neck nominations, a new craze spreads quicker that a standard post asking for money. Maybe focus on the donation rather than the gimmick aye? (A gimmick which obvioudly has been very successful and deserves nowt but praise)
Ah sure it’s something to make the women feel great about themselves showing their little picture of the huge sum of €4 beside their picture of themselves that only a husband should see.
Far better idea than “like and share if you hate cancer” post. Most positive thing to happen on social media since it’s origins. I know a good few girls would go mad if a photo was taken of them without makeup and posted on Facebook, and then to them actually do go ahead and do it. €4 to €10 is not a lot when you think of it, it could be easily wasted on things you don’t need (alcohol etc.) but it shows every little bit counts when it comes to charity donations, 1 million that’s some amount of money. Simple & effective well done to all that took part & donated
Won’t donate to these scammer charities ever again
Some charities are good some and glorified PLC’s. its not fair to tarnish all charities with the same brush
Always good to be careful of me hard eared cash.
well if that is the case you shouldn’t go around posting potential libelous statements ;)
To those negatively attacking the cancer society. They provide a vast range of services, research is only part of it. The service and counselling they provide for the suffers and families of patients is second to none. And also to those who have lost loved ones. Cancer will affect 1 in 3 people in Ireland directly, which mean we will all be touched by it. Look at the work being done before you start harping about salaries. I,for one, donated and am proud to have done so, and proud of all those who did
Congrats girls. You shared a picture of yourself in your natural form. Line up for your medals
You need to chill out.
The first I heard the idea being put forwarded to actually make money from it rather than people just posting picks of themselves to “spread awareness” was from rubberbandits, I can’t confirm they actually decided to try promote making money from it, but if they did fair play to them!
Are you kidding me??
They had a post up the day I actually posted my selfie saying how stupid people were for doing it how would taking pics cure cancer etc
Someone must have informed them of the donation part which wasn’t widely publicised (I personally didnt tell everyone that I donated even though I did) because the next day when thee dis got hold that we had raises quarter of a million they had red faces and had nothing but praise
When I asked them why the 360 on their earlier statement they deleted my comment
I have a new found appreciation for make up now
I think this is fantastic and don’t get me wrong it’s a great organisation but cancer gets so much between this and relay for life and a lot of other donation campaigns and there is so many other awful diseases out there look at nicky McFadden and motor nueron disease 18 months is their life expectancy…. I know 2 close people who have died from motor nueron disease and that’s just one prime example of other areas that need fundraising….
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