Africa

Mayfair is a new gangster movie focusing on South Africa's Muslim community in a Johannesburg suburb.

The first caravan reached the town of Matías Romero in Oaxaca state yesterday (01/11). The Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs estimates that 4,000 people spent the night there. Photo: Rafael Rodríguez/IOM

By International Organization for Migration
SAN JOSE, Nov 2 2018 (IOM)

The UN Migration Agency, IOM, continues to provide support and assistance to migrants who have joined the migrant caravans crossing Central America and opted to seek asylum in Mexico or return to their countries of origin.

In the Siglo XXI Migratory Station of Tapachula, managed by the National Institute for Migration (INM) of Mexico, IOM and the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SRE) have been supplying food and basic hygiene kits to over 1,500 migrants from the caravans seeking asylum in Mexico.

“IOM maintains its position that the human rights and basic needs of all migrants must be respected, regardless of their migratory status,” says Christopher Gascon, IOM Chief of Mission in Mexico. “In coordination with UNHCR we will continue to monitor the situation of the caravan counting on field staff, the Mexican Office of Assistance for Migrants and Refugees (DAPMyR), and partner NGOs, providing information regarding alternatives for regular and safe migration, as well as options for voluntary returns.”

A second caravan of approximately 1,800 Central American migrants admitted on Monday (29/10) by Mexican migration authorities arrived last Wednesday (31/10) in Huixtla, Chiapas state, and plan to move today, according to local authorities. This group initially started the regularization process in Mexico but later opted to continue the trek north without seeking asylum.

A third caravan of around 500 migrants departed from El Salvador last Sunday and crossed Tuesday (30/10) into Mexico, where most of them requested asylum. A fourth group of migrants left on Wednesday (31/10) from San Salvador with some 1,700 individuals, according to an IOM monitoring team. The final group spent last night in the Guatemalan town of Tecún Umán, on the border with Mexico.

Meanwhile, the bulk of the first caravan reached the town of Matías Romero in Oaxaca state yesterday (01/11). An SRE press release estimates that about 4,000 people spent the night there.

After walking some 850 kilometres from San Pedro Sula in Honduras, fatigue is evident in many of the migrants who spent last night in Matías Romero.

Exhaustion and the challenges ahead have caused many migrants to opt for voluntary return, offered by Mexican authorities and Honduran consular officials. Counting on its Mesoamerica Program funded by the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), IOM is now also able to provide voluntary return assistance to migrants.

At the Honduran border control points of Agua Caliente and Santa Rosa de Copan, between 19 and 24 October, IOM provided 2,141 hygiene kits and basic food supplies to returnees. Migrants are returning to Honduras on buses that keep arriving at a rate of four to six per day while other migrants have returned by planes provided by the Mexican government.

“The caravan phenomenon in Central America is another expression of a migration process that the region has been facing for quite some time,” explains Marcelo Pisani, IOM Regional Director for Central America, North America, and the Caribbean. “It is a mixed migration flow, driven by economic factors, family reunification, violence and the search for international protection, among others.

“Nevertheless,” adds Pisani, “we are concerned about the stress and demands that caravans place on the humanitarian community and the asylum systems of receiving countries, which ultimately have limited resources to face this challenge or to properly care for and protect migrants.

“The effective protection of human rights for all is based on the respect of processes conveyed in international treaties and national laws, which must be the frame of reference for any action that may be implemented in this situation,” concluded the IOM Regional Director.

For more information please contact Jorge Gallo at the IOM Regional Office for Central America, North America and the Caribbean, Tel: +506 2212 5352, Email: jgallo@iom.int

Watch the video here.

The post IOM Monitors Caravans of Central American Migrants, Supports Voluntary Returns appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Sudanese journalists at a press conference in Khartoum in this picture dated 2012. Credit: Albert González Farran - UNAMID

By Zeinab Mohammed Salih
KHARTOUM, Nov 2 2018 (IPS)

The day before Amnesty International released a statement calling on the government of Sudan to end harassment, intimidation and censorship of journalists following the arrests of at least 15 journalists since the beginning of the year, the head of the National Intelligence Security Services (NISS) Salah Goush accused Sudanese journalists, who recently met with western diplomats, of being spies.

Goush made the statement before parliament where he signed the code of conduct for journalists.

“They were called and interrogated to let them know that this [meeting with Western diplomats] is a project of spying,” said Goush to Sudan’s parliamentarians on Thursday Nov. 1. He then announced that the NISS was dropping all complaints against the journalists.

But Amnesty International said in its statement issued today, Nov. 2, that “the Sudanese government have this year been unrelenting in their quest to silence independent media by arresting and harassing journalists and censoring both print and broadcast media.”

“This just shows that Sudanese officials have not changed their ways- they still accuse journalists and activists of being spies and other trumped up accusations,” Jehanne Henry, a researcher on Sudan and South Sudan at Human Rights Watch, told IPS about Goush’s comments to parliament.

On Tuesday, a Reuters stringer in Khartoum and two other local journalists were questioned by the state security prosecutor about their earlier meetings with European Union diplomats and the United States’ ambassador to Sudan.

At the time they were told that they might face charges when the investigation is completed. Prior to Tuesday, five other journalists were also interrogated for meeting the same diplomats and the NISS stated that two more journalists were to be questioned on the same matter.

“What the NISS is doing to us is a form of extortion and it’s a terror act to stop freedom of the press. Journalists have the right to meet diplomats, government officials and opposition and anyone else and they can talk to about freedom of speech or anything else. Journalists are not spies,” Bahram Abdolmonim, one of the three journalists interrogated by the NISS on Tuesday, told IPS. He added “journalism is a message”.

Prior to Abdolmonim’s questioning three female and two male journalists were summoned to the NISS prosecutor’s office and where questioned for meeting with western diplomats and discussing freedom of speech.

These are not the only incidents of clampdown against journalists. On Oct. 16 five journalists were arrested in front of the Sudanese parliament for protesting against the barring of one of their colleagues from parliament.

“Since the beginning of 2018 the government of Sudan, through its security machinery, has been unrelenting in its crackdown on press freedom by attacking journalists and media organisations,” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty international Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

Amnesty International also said that there was an increase in print censorship and that editors receive daily calls from NISS agents to question them about their editorial content. The editors have to then justify their storylines. NISS agents also show up at printing presses and either order editors to drop certain stories or confiscate entire print runs.

“Between May and October, the Al Jareeda newspaper was confiscated at least 13 times, Al Tayar was confiscated five times and Al Sayha four times. A host of other newspapers including Masadir, Al Ray Al Aam, Akhirlahza, Akhbar Al Watan, Al Midan, Al Garar and Al Mustuglia were each confiscated once or twice,” the statement said.

Broadcast media have also been subjected to censorship. Earlier last month, NISS suspended a talk show on Sudania24 TV after it hosted Mohamed Hamdan, the leader of the Rapid Support Forces, formerly the Janjaweed troops, who are accused of committing atrocities in Darfur.

Across the country reporting is tightly restricted. Conflict zones like Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan states, are especially difficult to report from.

“The Sudanese authorities must stop this shameful assault on freedom of expression and let journalists do their jobs in peace. Journalism is not a crime,” said Jackson.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Sudan 174th out of 180 countries on its 2018 World Press Freedom Index, charging that the NISS “hounds journalists and censors the print media.”

Journalists in Sudan are often arrested and taken to court where they face complaints that range from lying to defamation.

Amnesty International called on the Sudanese government to revise the Press and Printed Materials Act of 2009.

“We work in fear in here, when I write something I’m not sure if I will end up going to jail or be interrogated by the NISS,” one journalist who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of their safety told IPS.

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The post Sudan’s Journalists Face Continued Extortion and Censorship by National Security Agency appeared first on Inter Press Service.

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Tents set up at Alsabeen hospital in Sana'a Yemen for screening suspected cholera cases.

By Anna Kucirkova
TEXAS, USA, Nov 2 2018 (IPS)

Cholera outbreaks across history regularly killed a hundred thousand or more. It isn’t well known today because it was essentially eliminated in the Western world.

It last erupted in the U.S. in the 1800s, eradicated by water and sewage treatment systems that prevented it from spreading via contaminated water. However, cholera is making a comeback around the globe, and it could again become a major killer.

Cholera is caused by eating or drinking something contaminated with the Vibrio cholera bacteria. Because it is waterborne, Western cases tend to occur when someone eats contaminated sea food.

In the developing world, people drinking water from rivers where others bathe and defecate contribute to its spread. That is why the World Health Organization (WHO) records around 150,000 cholera cases per year.

Cholera remains common in places with poor sanitation systems or where they do not yet exist. That is why cholera is considered epidemic in places like Africa, Latin America and South Asia.

Tropical climates that don’t get cold enough to kill the bacteria, wet soil that breeds it, and unsanitary groundwater that mixes with drinking water can cause one patient’s effluent to spread to an entire community.

The literal environment prevents the bacteria from being truly eradicated, resulting in it being found in overcrowded slums. Storms and flooding can interfere with local water supplies, bringing in contaminated water that people then drink.

It periodically erupts in active war zones and overcrowded refugee camps that cannot maintain a clean water supply. The lack of proper hygiene in these places certainly contributes to its spread. Yemen and Syria, both in the midst of civil wars, are the worst examples of this.

The cholera outbreak in Haiti has shown that cholera can come roaring back after other natural disasters that disrupt clean water delivery. Globalism contributes to cholera’s spread, as well.

For example, the Haiti outbreak was likely precipitated by U.N. peacekeepers that picked up cholera in Nepal, arrived in Haiti and then infected the local water supply through poor hygiene. The outbreak killed over ten thousand and infected hundreds of thousands more.

Now a country already struggling to deal with critically damaged infrastructure has to manage cholera, too. This is a tragic blow, since Haiti worked for years to eradicate the disease.

The infection and death rates were made worse by the under-developed medical system that the disaster rendered inoperable. In nations with underdeveloped medical systems, they can’t keep up with the load of the epidemic, spreading faster and killing many more than it would in a better equipped region.

Bangladesh struggles with endemic cholera. One of their solutions was vaccination against the disease. Vietnam, too, has set up a vaccination program to prevent humans from becoming a transmission vector. Both countries have set up programs to curtail their devastating effects, as well.

Globalization can take cholera to countries that have lived without it so long that doctors don’t know what they’re dealing with. This can lead to the disease spreading beyond what can easily be contained.

Within a few hours of symptoms appearing, patients can lose so much fluid that they’re rendered bedridden. This dramatically increases the risk of transmission to others. These few hours are also the ideal time to give someone a mix of fluids and antibiotics to prevent them from becoming dangerously dehydrated. If a patient is misdiagnosed, they could die of dehydration within two or three days.

In tropical countries lacking fully developed water and sanitation infrastructure, the soil and untreated groundwater hosts cholera bacteria that can contaminate public water supplies.

The outbreak is made worse by patients spreading it through bodily fluids to those who may have safe drinking water. And because patients can readily travel, the disease can spread rapidly through new vectors.

The ebola outbreak in Dallas, Texas was caused by a man, who knew he was exposed, booking a flight to Texas to visit family he hadn’t seen in more than a decade. He arrived knowing he might carry the disease and with the hope he’d be treated in the more advanced American hospitals.

Cholera periodically spreads to new areas for the very same reason; people who are sick board buses and planes to get help elsewhere. The less dramatic example is someone carrying cholera traveling by car to an urban hospital, spreading the disease as they travel.

This is the downside of globalization and has long been the basis of strong immigration controls – to make certain that immigrants didn’t bring diseases with them. Tuberculosis was routinely screened for in the 1800s and 1900s, but buses, trains and aircraft make it possible for cholera to go global despite its rapidity.

Overcrowded cities have always provided a place for cholera to claim many victims. One major difference today is scale. A cholera epidemic in London two centuries ago would claim tens of thousands in a city of perhaps a million.

Third world cities that are home to five to fifteen million, many of whom live in slums, could see a million or more deaths in a bad cholera epidemic. And the constant flow of people from the countryside to the city in the developing world creates a constant risk of an epidemic.

Thanks to our understanding of disease transmission, sanitation and treatment, cholera (https://connectforwater.org/cholera-is-becoming-a-serious-problem-heres-why/) outbreaks are rarely as catastrophic as the past. But we need to recognize that modern medicine is still in a war with this ancient foe that will continue to threaten humanity for the foreseeable future.

The post Cholera Threatens a Comeback Worldwide appeared first on Inter Press Service.

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Cumhuriyet's headquarters dressed up for Victory Day, which commemorates Turkish victory against Greek forces at the Battle of Dumlupınar (August 26-30, 1922). Credit: Christopher Shand

By Christopher Shand
Nov 1 2018 (IPS)

Censorship, controversial judicial proceedings and imprisonment: such is the current risk run by independently-thinking journalists in Turkey.

Reporters Without Borders ranks Turkey 157th out of 180 countries in its World Press Freedom Index, describing the country as the ‘biggest jail for journalists in the world’. The authorities have raided and closed many media outlets, censored social networks and the internet, even ignoring decisions of the Constitutional Court after a state of emergency was established post the failed military coup in July 2016.

Cumhuriyet has been Turkey’s oldest and much trusted newspaper for almost a century. This editorial change may lead to a shift in the reporting of issues such as human rights, gender equality, secularism and protection of the environment.

One of the latest changes believed to be part of this transition happens to be the change in leadership of the independent newspaper Cumhuriyet. On September 7, 2018, following the meeting of the new board, former editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu resigned along with several other journalists who questioned its impartiality.

Several sources confirmed that the new administration was elected with the help of public authorities and that they started turning a blind eye on events critical of current government. They have already been scrutinized for underreporting on issues related to the Kurdish people or past prison massacres.

Cumhuriyet has been Turkey’s oldest and much trusted newspaper for almost a century. This editorial change may lead to a shift in the reporting of issues such as human rights, gender equality, secularism and protection of the environment.

These issues have been fearlessly reported by Murat Sabuncu and his editorial board during recent times. In 2015 Cumhuriyet was awarded the Freedom of the Press Prize by Reporters Without Borders in recognition of its defence of liberal values in the face of Turkish Government pressure. The year after, the newspaper received the Right Livelihood Award for its ‘commitment to freedom of expression in the face of oppression, censorship, imprisonment and death threats’.

In October 2016, four months after the coup and following a denunciation from members of the current board, Mr Sabuncu, along with other colleagues, was detained and imprisoned without charges. He was then convicted of collusion with terrorists and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. Mr Sabuncu and colleagues were released in March this year, pending the result of their appeal to the Turkish Supreme Court.

This is the last interview of Mr Sabuncu as editor-in-chief.

Murat Sabuncu in Cumhuriyet’s headquarters, in front of Atatürk’s portrait. The newspaper defends the secularism and democracy Turkey first president stood for.

Murat Sabuncu in Cumhuriyet’s headquarters, in front of Atatürk’s portrait. The newspaper defends the secularism and democracy Turkey’s first president stood for. Credit: Christopher Shand

Interviewer

As a part of the government’s reaction to the 2016 ’coup d’état’ the media in Turkey have suffered from shut-downs and the arrest of journalists. What exactly are the accusations that the government has made against the media? And what is the nature of the evidence to support those accusations?

Each and every time its democracy was interrupted, Turkish intellectuals have paid the price, with journalists taking first place. This process was at work during past military coups, and it is now taking place under the current AKP government, which has increased its pressure in recent years. Lately, several journalists have been arrested, charged and convicted for being members of a terrorist organization or of helping organizations associated with terror. Evidence varies from case to case, but they all have in common their involvement in the communication of “news stories, articles or social media posts”. As a journalist, I am appalled and saddened that accurate reporting of “news” should be considered as constituting a “crime”.

Furthermore, the charges were shown to be unfounded. As a whole, our newspaper was incriminated for having “supported every terrorist organization in Turkey”. Everything private, our belongings, our houses, our bank accounts (our own but also those of our partners or ex-partners over the previous 30 years) were controlled. Of course, the authorities found nothing that was incriminating.

To give you an example, one of the charges levelled against our columnist Hakan Kara and cartoonist Musa Kart was that of having telephoned the ETS Tour agency to book holidays. It turned out that this company was under investigation for links with the Gülenist organization, former allies of the government and now held responsible for the coup attempt. As a consequence, the telephone call was used to incriminate the two journalists.

Are there any aspects of the process that distinguish the case of Cumhuriyet from that of other press outlets?

When I appeared for the first time in court after nine months of imprisonment, I began my plea as follows: « What an interesting and tragic coincidence it is that today is Press Freedom Day in my country. As the editor-in-chief of a century-old newspaper, I am pained to have to be defending journalism and newscasting on such a day, but not for my personal imprisonment. »

After that plea, I remained imprisoned for another nine months. In April of this year, I was sentenced to 7½ years in prison. If the Supreme Court approves the sentence, I will spend three more years in prison. However, there are many journalists who were tortured, imprisoned or assassinated at different periods in Cumhuriyet’s history.

Perhaps what distinguishes Cumhuriyet from other news outlets in Turkey is our determination to tell only the truth, no matter how difficult the circumstances.  Now we are paying the price for doing that, just as we have in each previous, non-democratic era.

Do the authorities want to make an example of you in order to intimidate any independent investigation media?

Without false modesty, Cumhuriyet is potentially Turkey’s most influential newspaper. Foreign and domestic ambassadors, politicians or journalists regard it as the most neutral and enlightened medium outlet here. They read it to be informed on what is really happening. As it always defends democracy and freedom, it is de facto perceived as an opponent to any party violating these values.

Consequently, it is logical that an anti-democratic and illiberal authority will want to stifle such a journal.  As happened for example with Hürriyet, another newspaper which was financially sanctioned for a while, then bought by a mogul close to the president such that its reporting is now aligned with that of government opinion.

However, there are still many independent media in Turkey. Although less influent, some like Evrensel and Birgun remain important. But with the current economic crisis, Cumhuriyet ends up by being the only one able to cover certain stories, like the 700th gathering of the ‘Saturday mothers’, families of people who forcibly disappeared after the military coup in 1980.

Some would say that Cumhuriyet keeps strong links with political parties, threatening its neutrality?

Ahmet Şık, with whom I shared my prison cell, one of our main investigative journalists, has just joined the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which is left-wing and pro-minority. As long as he worked for Cumhuriyet, he did so as a journalist, and exclusively as a journalist. As soon as he announced his decision to engage himself politically, we immediately stopped his collaboration with us just as we had done with another of our correspondents in Ankara right after he joined the CHP, Turkey’s main opposition party.

No doubt they won’t be the only journalists to engage themselves politically in Cumhuriyet’s history, as can happen with any other media organisations. But I refute the accusation of Cumhuriyet as possessing any political affiliation.

Going back to the trials that lasted from July 2017 to April 2018, on what basis have you lodged your appeal?

We describe what news reports we conveyed. We argue the case that journalism should not be considered as a criminal activity. We state that the charges are an attempt to intimidate journalism through us.

Is there any distinction between the basis of your appeal and that of your colleagues?

I have not read the appeals of others. But I have always said the same thing since the first day. We do not want freedom and the delivery of rights just for ourselves. We demand that everyone be judged independently, on a level where the principles are dominant, not the people. There are still journalists, lawyers, deputies, and rights advocates in prisons. We were lucky to be from Cumhuriyet newspaper. But many people, unknown and unmentioned, are still in prison only for their opinions. We want everyone to benefit from our country’s laws.

What elements do you consider might influence the outcome of your appeal(s)?

On September 9th, it is six months since I left prison. Since then, I have been working at the newspaper every day, weekends included. Neither the sentence I was given nor the court’s upcoming decision crosses my mind. I do my job. I do it with love. The appeal is not my problem. It is the problem of my country. I will bow to the will of my readers and of democracy, not to that of a few powerful men. I won’t leave the country out of fear but will remain among my fellow citizens.

Are we to be a country that believes in the rule of law, or are we going to create traitors in each era, to exploit them for political ends? Those who sentenced us know very well that we are only newsmen, people engaged in journalism for 30 to 60 years in this land. In any case, History will make its own judgement.

What do you see as being the key points that describe the current state of your journal/the media in general within Turkey?

Ninety-five per cent of the media in Turkey is under government control. There are 2-3 newspapers, including Cumhuriyet, 4-5 news websites and a few TV channels that continue to resist. The price of resistance is to either lose one’s freedom or go bankrupt because advertisers fear the government. But news is a necessity. True and accurate news is indispensable for any real democracy. So, the media will sooner or later create a model in which it can breathe more easily.

I needed to cross a strong security barrier to enter your building. Is that related?

It is. Defying the authorities can create many enemies. But we especially had to adopt strict security precautions after we published the Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons in 2015.

What are your hopes and fears for the future of the Press within Turkey over the immediate future?

I have no fears, but I do have a great amount of hope, because there is a majority of young people believing in democracy for my country. There can be no room for fear if my country is to see happier days, when no one is alienated and the rule of law is respected. Hope and struggle are needed.

How do you consider that the current economic difficulties in Turkey might influence the situation of the press?

The Turkish press must buy its paper from abroad. Now both paper prices have increased, and the lira has lost value. An already difficult economic sustainability has become even more difficult. The news websites and TV channels lose commercial support if they are not close to the government. The economic crisis will make conditions even more challenging.

Beyond the current economic crisis, Cumhuriyet itself is suffering from an advertisers’ embargo for fear of potential government retaliation. We have almost no advertising revenue right now and our sales have dropped to approximately 40,000 copies/day, although 1.3 million persons still check-out our web pages every day.

Do you consider that the current situation of the Press will change now that the ‘state of emergency’ is being terminated?

Turkey is in a perpetual state of emergency. Nothing has changed in terms of freedom. But this is not limited to my country. The whole world is going through a crisis because of the actions of autocratic leaders such as Trump, Putin, Orban… But are others so innocent? What about the European leaders negotiating over the lot of immigrants, each of whom is a human life? Only the people and those who strive to uphold freedom will change the world for better. Don’t expect this to come through the politicians.

Do you see the current situation as being a systemic illness in the state of Turkey or the result of individual political decisions?

Both are true. Democracy has never functioned fully in Turkey. Every political period and government conducted its own witch-hunt. Now we’re going through such a time. But it is also a fact that the most recent years are among the most oppressive that Turkish democracy has had to withstand.

What factors do you think influenced most the outcome of the recent elections within Turkey, resulting in the confirmation of the current government?

It resulted from several weaknesses within the opposition. Another point was a lack of strategy from the opposition CHP, the social-democratic party’s most brilliant candidate trying unsuccessfully to imitate Erdogan’s style and populism. Why would Turkish people have chosen another party with similar rhetoric and style?

Do you believe that the current government could improve the position of the press within Turkey and even the country as a whole within the current political set-up? 

I have enough experience to know that it is wrong to expect change from the government alone. The public must embrace freedom by engaging in civil society organizations, by entering politics, and expressing more of their democratic demands. The situation of the opposition parties is taking the country to an even more difficult stage. We will see new political entities and leaders in the upcoming period.

What do you consider that the Right Livelihood Award might have/has done to change the situation of yourself and press colleagues in your predicament?

When we found out that we’d received the award, we were still at liberty. We felt so proud. We set up a delegation, which included me, to receive the award. Then we were arrested and unable to travel. Orhan Erinc, the president of the Cumhuriyet foundation, was also under a travel ban and so he couldn’t make it either. While in prison, I read the message he sent through Zeynep Oral in the newspaper. Somewhere he said:

The editorial principles, set out by our founder and first lead author Yunus Nadi in Cumhuriyet’s first issue published on May 7, 1924, are found in the preamble to the Official Deed of the Foundation: “Cumhuriyet is an independent newspaper; it is the defender of nothing but the Republic, of democracy in the scientific and broad sense. It will fight every force that tries to overthrow the Republic and the notion and principles of democracy. It will endeavour for the embracing by society of the principle of secularism along the path of ‘Enlightenment’ ushered in by Ataturk’s revolution and principles. Cumhuriyet, which adopts the “Declaration of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms” as the universal constitution of democracy, deems by way of basic principle that its goals may only be attained within the independence and integrity of the Republic of Turkey established by Atatürk.” 

We will continue our struggle to keep those principles alive. The award gave us strength to do so.

The post Editorial Changes at Cumhuriyet: the Loss of a Major Independent Voice in Turkey? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

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Mohammed and Marwah married on September 27, along with four other couples living in Haj Ali camp. Photo: IOM/ Sarah Ali

By International Organization for Migration
Mosul, Nov 1 2018 (IOM)

Marwah always dreamed of a big wedding party in a fancy venue and a luxurious white wedding dress with hundreds of family and friends in attendance. But this dream was shattered when ISIL took over the city of Mosul in June 2014, where she was living at the time.

Marwah and her family chose to stay in the ISIL-controlled city. She felt trapped and hopeless, and her wedding plans became an impossible dream. Traditional wedding ceremonies that included music, dancing and mingling between men and women were strictly forbidden by ISIL.

Returnees cross a temporary floating bridge over the Tigris River, which splits Mosul city into East and West banks, after the city was retaken from ISIL. Photo: IOM/Raber Aziz

In mid-2016, when military operations to retake Mosul started, Marwah’s family fled to Hammam Al Alil, southeast of the city — an area under control of the Iraqi forces. The family subsequently moved to Haj Ali camp, farther south, where they were reunited with other family and friends, including Mohammed.

Mohammed and Marwah fell in love. A year later, they got engaged. In stark contrast to the wedding that Marwah had dreamed of, they married in the camp two years after their engagement.

Marwah fell in love with Mohammed while displaced in Haj Ali camp. Photo: IOM/ Sarah Ali

Mohammed in his decorated tent, prepared for the wedding. Beneficiaries of IOM-sponsored carpentry course in Haj Ali Camp built the chest of drawers. Photo: IOM/ Sarah Ali

“I don’t care if we are in a tent. We love each other and that’s all that matters. We agreed to stay together forever and I told him that I would be with him in any situation,” said Marwah.

Mohammed added: “When you live in a camp, it is only logical that marriage is the last thing on your mind, because of the many difficulties of daily life here, such as the lack of job opportunities, limited space, the harsh weather conditions… and not being able to make your dream wedding come true,” he said, “but life must go on.”

Haj Ali camp, built by IOM in 2016 as an emergency site to house people fleeing Mosul, still hosts 15,600 internally displaced Iraqis. Photo: IOM/Raber Aziz

Marwah and Mohammed married on September 27, along with four other couples living in the camp, in a group wedding ceremony in Haj Ali camp, organized by IOM with support from Germany.

Beneficiaries who had participated in a variety of trainings through IOM psychosocial support (PSS) programme contributed to the couples’ big day. Beneficiaries of hairdressing and makeup training courses did the brides’ hairstyle and makeup. Beneficiaries of carpentry courses made chests of drawers, and those who followed the baking courses baked wedding cakes. IOM’s PSS courses were funded by the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA)

Beneficiaries of IOM courses in Haj Ali camp baked wedding cakes, helped the brides with hair and makeup and built furniture for the couples. Photo: IOM/Sarah Ali

“Marwah told me that whatever happens, we will still be together, and this means the world to me. It is hard to get married in a camp but she wanted to go ahead, I really appreciate and respect this,” said Mohammed.

The group wedding was attended by many residents of the Haj Ali camp and local community leaders. Photo: IOM/Sarah Ali

Mohammed was in his last year of high school when ISIL took over Mosul in June 2014. Because he is the oldest of seven siblings, he dropped out to support his family. He hopes to go back to Mosul soon to start a new life with his bride, and finish school to become an English teacher.

“We are preparing ourselves to go back home. We need to go back. It’s true that there are not many work opportunities in Mosul and this is a major challenge, but with my wife by my side, I am ready to start a new life and contribute to rebuilding our city,” he concluded.

A scene of destruction from West Mosul. Photo: IOM/Raber Aziz

This article was written by Raber Y. Aziz, Media and Communications Officer for IOM Iraq with contributions from Sarah Ali.

The post Love in the Time of Displacement appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The president said it was an exciting development for the country, which is suffering economically.

By Thalif Deen
OTTAWA, Canada, Nov 1 2018 (IPS)

When the International Parliamentarians’ Conference (ICPI) on population and development concluded its two-day forum in the Canadian capital last week, more than 150 legislators from around the world approved a seven page Declaration reaffirming their opposition to some of the culturally sensitive issues, including female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriages.

The legislators pledged to take measures to prevent adolescent pregnancies and unsafe abortions; guarantee access to safe and modern methods of contraception; adopt legislation to eliminate FGM and child and forced marriages; raise the minimum legal age of marriage to 18 years; and enact laws to end discrimination on the basis of gender and sexuality.

Ousman Sillah, national assembly member from Gambia and chairperson of the Select Committee on Health, Women and Children, urged legislators to ensure implementation of the proposals “even if we are to lose our seats—and commit political suicide.”

But one sensitive issue failed to get off the ground: the rights of gays, lesbians and transgender people.

The contentious issue proved divisive– as some of the Muslim and African nations expressed reservations about including LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex) in the text of the final Declaration.

“There are certain words – like LGBTI – that are not acceptable in our country,” said a parliamentarian from the Middle East.

The reservations were not surprising considering the fact that 71 countries have either banned or criminalized homosexuals, including lesbians and transgender people.

But this number, according to the annual report of the LGBTI Association, titled “State Sponsored Homophobia”, is really down: from 92 countries back in 2006.

The controversial non-paragraph in the Declaration should have read: …many “who are marginalized or in vulnerable situations face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, including LGBTI, who are still subject to discriminatory laws, policies and harmful practices…”

After a long drawn out discussion, the legislators agreed on a compromise, and adopted the Declaration by consensus, so that the final text would read “including sexual minorities”, instead of “LGBTI”.

Still, some of the other vulnerable groups, like indigenous peoples, have remained marginalized in relation to reproductive health and education.

In an interview with IPS, Rep. Teddy Jr. Baguilat, member of the Philippine House of Representatives from Ifugao’s Lone District, said Indigenous Peoples (IP) of the Philippines, particularly in Central Luzon, the small islands and Mindanao, remain the poorest of the poor with limited access to public health and education.

“While the situation has improved a bit as government strives to conceptualise more social protection programs to the marginalised, including the IPs, a large number of them remain economically dependent on subsistence farming and government dole outs.”

He pointed out that there are still instances of displacement of indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands due to extractive industries, civil war, climactic changes and development projects.

“Some tribal leaders have also been killed because of their defense of their ancestral lands,” said Baguilat, a strong advocate of indigenous rights.

“The law to protect IPs are in place and only its honest-to-goodness implementation and adequate funding can IPs fulfill many of their goals as mandated by our Constitution and the Indigenous People’s Rights Act,” he declared.

Meanwhile, the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic Asian country, has one of the fastest growing populations in the region with the highest total fertility rate among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—the other nine being Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

The country’s current population stands at over 107 million with over half of Filipinos 24 years of age or below.

“For this youthful country to reap a demographic dividend, there is an imminent need to invest more in health, education and employability of young people and on gender equality,” says Iori Kato, UNFPA Country Representative in the Philippines.

In the Philippines, 49 per cent of unmarried, sexually active women and 17 per cent of married women have an unmet need for family planning, as the 2017 National Demographic and Health survey revealed, according to UNFPA.

The report found there is no country that can claim that all of its citizens enjoy reproductive rights at all times. Most couples cannot have the number of children that they want because they either lack economic and social support to achieve their preferred family size, or the means to control their fertility. The unmet need for modern contraception prevents hundreds of millions of women in the world from choosing smaller families, according to the report.

Asked how much of progress Philippines has made on the 1994 Program of Action (PoA)– including gains in reproductive health (RH), gender empowerment and reduction in maternal and infant mortality—Baguilat said: “Unfortunately, despite some relevant legislation passed like the Reproductive Health (RH) and Responsible Parenthood Law and the Magna Carta for Women, we have failed to curb maternal mortality and while fertility rates have gone down, it’s still relatively very high in the region.”

He pointed out that budgetary allocations have been insufficient. For RH alone, it is estimated that at least P4Billion is needed yearly to provide the unmet RH needs of the poor and yet our recently passed annual budget only allotted P200Million

“Being a predominantly Catholic country, resistance to contraceptive use and very conservative religious values have led to big families in many poor communities”.

The Philippine legislator also said that HIV AIDS infections, among the highest in the world in terms of increase, and rising teenage pregnancy are among the country’s serious reproductive health problems.

A new HIV AIDS law and an anti-teenage pregnancy bill will hopefully provide stronger legislative mechanism to combat this problem.

“The historic transition to lower fertility has emerged through people claiming their right to make choices about their reproductive lives, and to have as few, or as many, children as they want, when they want,” according to The State of World Population 2018, published last month by UNFPA.

Excerpts from the interview:

IPS: What role have parliamentarians played in helping achieve the ICPD goals since the 1994 Cairo conference?

Rep. Baguilat: Many parliamentarians are unaware of the ICPD goals. The presidential form of government has led to a disconnect, sometimes between government’s commitment to international agreements and Congress’ obligations to actualise these agreements such as the ICPD through budgetary allocations and legislation.

There’s a need for more information dissemination on the ICPD goals for us Parliamentarians to fulfill our duties as legislators

IPS: On average, how much of development funding, including official development assistance (ODA), has the Philippines received from Western donors? What is the gap between needs and deliveries?

Rep. Baguilat: The Philippines has already graduated from a low income country to a middle income country and thus receives less ODA from donor countries despite emerging public health problems.

IPS: On a more wider question, how is Southeast Asia faring in terms of achieving the goals of the ICPD’s Program of Action? Any thoughts?

Rep. Baguilat: Religion and cultural beliefs remain a strong barrier for the region to achieve ICPD targets. Generally, indicators have improved but there are still marginalised sectors which remain poor and under serviced.

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