The United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, welcomes a contribution of € 600,000 from the European Union (EU) for essential humanitarian assistance to Sahrawi refugees in the five refugee camps in Tindouf province, in south-western Algeria. “It is a priority for the EU to ensure all Sahrawi refugees have access to safe water for domestic use. Sufficient water to maintain minimum levels of hygiene, allowing for frequent handwashing, is more than ever needed with the threat of coronavirus still looming. EU is fully committed to continue supporting Sahrawi refugees,” said Patrick Barbier, Head of EU Humanitarian Aid Operations in Algeria.
The EU is a long-standing and active humanitarian donor in the camps. It supports the lifesaving humanitarian activities of many UN and partner organizations in various domains, from food assistance and health to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). “UNHCR would like to thank the EU for their ongoing support to the Sahrawi refugee population, particularly in the supply of potable water for the Sahrawi community,” said UNHCR Representative Agostino Mulas. “This significant contribution, in the water sector, is so crucial as water is essential for a people living in the desert, especially in the summer months, when water is harder to get and needed in greater amounts.”
WASH services and infrastructure are being improved in the Tindouf camps. UNHCR provides about 700,000 m3 of safe water per year by continuously operating and maintaining existing water facilities, installing new ones, and monitoring the water quality.
UNHCR is still striving to reach the target of 20 litres per person per day.
UNHCR’s five-year WASH strategy, developed with Oxfam, includes a study for the development of the water pipeline network to reduce the need for water trucking. In order to be able to fully implement the WASH strategy UNHCR is searching for additional funding as for a number of years the works on the new infrastructure will have to go in parallel with the existing water trucking.
For its 2020 programme, UNHCR Algeria is currently 44% funded, with approximately US$ 16.6 M received out of a total US$ 37.4 M required.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Russell Fraser Tindouf, Algeria [email protected]
France has a serious problem with radical Islam, but the draft law against “separatism” announced by President Macron may create more problems than it claims to solve. This is the conclusion of a “White Paper” co-authored or endorsed by well-known scholars of new religious movements Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist and managing director of CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) and Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, from the University of Bordeaux, French lecturer in law Frédéric-Jérôme Pansier, human rights activists Willy Fautré, of Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers, and Alessandro Amicarelli, human rights attorney in London and chairperson of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB).
“Eradicating the social roots of terrorism is a laudable purpose“, say the members of the task force who is launching the White Paper, “and some provisions of the draft law make sense, but there are also serious problems.”
The White Paper can be downloaded as a FREE pdf at the website of CESNUR.ORG
First, the law is being proposed and publicized by some politicians and media with disturbing accents implying that only an “Islam des Lumières,” an Enlightenment-style Islam, is accepted in France, where all conservative Muslims, i.e, the majority of Muslims in France and Europe, are suspected of extremism if not terrorism. “This“, the report says, “risks to fuel extremism rather than containing it.”
Second, the total ban on homeschooling punishes thousands of French parents who are not Muslim, and in most cases do not even decide to educate their children at home for religious reasons. Several sociological studies have concluded that homeschooling is a legitimate form of education and may give good results. “Islamic ultra-fundamentalism“, the authors state, “appears in homeschooling in a tiny minority of cases, and may be controlled or eliminated through adequate controls rather than by banning the practice altogether.”
Third, there is a speedy procedure for dissolving religious organizations deemed to operate against “human dignity” or use not only physical but also “psychological pressures.” This, the White Paper says, is standard jargon used against the so-called “cults” and in fact some French politicians have already announced that the law will be used to “dissolve hundreds of cults” (called in France sectes).
Rather than relying on the pseudo-scientific notions of “brainwashing” or “psychological control,” the White Paper suggests, the law should focus on the “criminal religious movements” (a label several scholars prefer to the elusive “cults” or sectes) that use physical violence or commit common crimes. And, the report adds, the defense of “human dignity” may not lead to violate the corporate freedom of religious bodies, for example when they decide whom to admit or to expel, or suggests that their current members do not associate with those who have been expelled. The White Paper quotes several court decisions stating that excommunication and “ostracism” are part of religious liberty, as religions have the right to take decisions about their own organizations.
Fourth, the reference to places of worship unduly used to spread “hostility to the laws of the Republic” should not mean that sermons should not be free to criticize laws they regard as unjust. Religion has always had the prophetic function of criticizing laws deemed as unfair, which is different from inciting to violence.
“We understand“, the authors explain, “that France has its own tradition and history of laïcité, and our purpose is not to suggest that France should adopt the American model of religious liberty, or the Italian model of cooperation between religion and the state. On the contrary, our aim is to find ways to address, within rather than outside the French legal tradition, legitimate concerns about radicalization and terrorism, without infringing on the rights of religious minorities or breaching France’s international human rights obligations.”
Turkey has intensified tensions with France in recent months over the fighting in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh
Pakistan is running from pillar to post crying all the way against Islamophobia. The PTI government, propped up by Pakistani Army, prolongs its life along borrowed times, garnering alibi from Islamophobia, to India’s alleged ‘interference’ in Afghanistan to French action on Islamists. To the fear-widened eyes of Pakistan, India looks much bigger than what its hair-brained PM can ever conceptualise.
Recently, an Islamic terrorist slit the throat of teacher, Samuel Paty, in France when he was teaching religious tolerance in school. The French society is totally shaken and agitated over the incident. Responding to people’s angst against the gruesome killing, French President Emmanuel Macron came out with a slew of measures against Islamic terror, highlighting the problems created by radical Muslims in France who practice Islamist separatism.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the new self-declared Caliph of the Islamic Caliphate, jumped into the fray. He questioned the mental state of Macron stating he has lost his way and needed his head examined. Continuing on the offensive, he called on Muslim nations to come to the assistance of Muslims in France. Erdogan accused the European leaders of conducting anti-Islam policies, and branded them as fascists who are the link in the Nazi chain. Erdogan also railed against France for condoning caricatures of the Prophet. Turkey has intensified tensions with France in recent months over the fighting in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh.
When Erdogan joined the melee, how could Imran, widely known as the Taliban Khan for supporting terror, and third-fiddle to China and Turkey, stay away? Imran accused Macron of fanning Islamophobia. Later on, Pakistani Parliament passed a resolution condemning French action.
This diversion came as the God-sent opportunity to Imran as he is getting meticulously roasted by political agitation at home. He could not have found a better time to arouse Islamic jihad to distract public opinion.
France announced recalling its ambassador from Turkey for consultations. The French Presidential Office noted that the Turkish called for a boycott of French products. The move adds a further layer of economic ramifications to the deepening diplomatic tussle.
The development raised tensions between the European Union and Turkey. The EU Foreign Policy Chief, Josep Borrell, slammed Erdogan’s comments as unacceptable and urged Turkey to stop this dangerous spiral of confrontation. Several EU officials also harshly criticised Erdogan’s comments.
The bloc’s executive arm, the European Commission, asked the Turkish leader to change his approach unless he wants to derail the bloc’s attempts at renewed dialogue with Turkey.
European Council President Charles Michel blamed Turkey for resorting to provocations, unilateral actions in the Mediterranean and now insults. At early October Summit, the EU Member States agreed to review Turkey’s behaviour in December. If Erdogan continues with provocations, the EU could slap sanctions. EU Spokesman Peter Stano indicated that there could be an urgent meeting of the EU Ministers at the earliest in view of Erdogan’s latest comments. The EU expects a clear change in action and declarations from the Turkish side. There would be many discussions to decide whether to wait or take action. Turkey still remains a very important partner for the 27-nation bloc and confrontation benefits none.
Several EU Member States leaders rallied around France in Macron’s spat with Erdogan. Dutch Prime Minister Rutte stood with France for the freedom of speech and against extremism and radicalism. Germany reiterated its solidarity with France in the fight against Islamic extremists. German Foreign Minister described Erdogan’s insults of Macron as a new low point.
Pakistan and Turkey are befooling Islamic world by falsely projecting themselves as champion of Muslim nations especially when they maintain absolute silence on persecution of Uyghur Muslims in Chinese concentration camps.
Islam is yet to learn how to co-exist peacefully with other religions, hence taking cudgels and causing troubles to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Shias and Ahmadiyya. Events unfolding in Xinjiang, Rakhine, and Sri Lanka prove that only Buddhists have cracked the code of tackling the Islamists. If Chinese way is the only way to handle Islamists, that will be unfortunate. A country like India with cultural pedigree of tolerance for thousands of years can’t cough up requisite levels of violence to tackle the menace.
Hidden from public view, China has unleashed untold sufferings on Uyghur Muslims. They are barred from performing Namaz or keeping Muhammad as name! Nobody opens the mouth, least of all the self-proclaimed Islamists like Erdogan and Imran who are wrongly fixated on denial of mobile network to Kashmiri Muslims! Strange protagonists. Funny narratives!
“DEADLY WORK OR DECENT WORK?” BOOK AUTHOR, H.E. REV. DR. OCANSEY, PRESENTS ROADMAP FOR AFRICA TO MAKE A SHIFT FROM DEADLY TO DECENT WORK AT UN75 CELEBRATION
#UN75: HUMAN RIGHTS, GENDER ISSUES, DECENT WORK AND YOUTH ENGAGEMENT ACCORDING TO UN RESOLUTION 2250 MUST FIND ITS SECURE PLACE AT THE CENTER OF MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY IN THIS COVID19 ERA AND BEYOND.”— H.E. REV DR. OCANSEY
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA, November 1, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ — At the just ended UN75 celebration in Accra, the UNYA-Ghana, #Enddeadlywork Coalition and the Nekotech Center for Labour Migration Diplomacy jointly made a seven point petition to Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, read by the world renowned Rev. Dr. Lawrence Tetteh and the African Union Migration Expert and international best selling authour of “Deadly Work or Decent Work?”, H.E. Rev. Dr. Ocansey.
The petition singled out and prioritised an ECOWAS-Middle East Labour Migration Multilateral Dialogue inorder to make a shift from deadly to decent work for African women domestic workers. For those working in the Middle Eastern globally criticised slave-like employment system, Kafala – Covid19, coupled with the explosion in Lebanon has exacerbated the issue, making a bad situation, more deadly than ever before!
Over two thousand young women were recently rescued from Lebanon by the Government of Ghana. Thousands of African Women are currently stranded in Lebanon and other Middle Eastern kafala practicing nations from countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and others – are all faced with domestic workers who are now stranded, sick and suffering in Lebanon and other countries like Oman.
The “Deadly Work or Decent Work?” book, which was presented at the UN75 event, gave a shocking revelation of this kafala system, but also pointed to other Middle Eastern decent work employment systems plus a ten key roadmap African Governments can pursue to make the shift from deadly to decent work.
Dr. Ocansey indicated that the Bilateral agreements signed with kafala practicing receiving countries do not provide adequate protection once the domestic workers enter into the homes of their employers in the Middle East. Rape, sexual harrassment and abuse, may still happen under kafala Bilateral agreements. It is best to abolish Kafala like the UAE and Qatar have done, with Saudi Arabia being next, after announcing their plans to abolish kafala.
“Covid19 has taught us that our challenges are interconnected and can be best addressed through effective multilateralism,” said Dr. Ocansey.
“At the UN 75 meeting this year, Member States all agreed that multilateralism is not an option but a necessity, to build back better for a more equal, more resilient, and more sustainable world. We therefore petition H.E. President Nana Akufo-Addo, as Chair of ECOWAS, to initiate this long overdue ECOWAS/AFRICA-Middle East Multilateral Labour Migration Dialogue Platform, much like the Abu Dhabi Dialogue and the Colombo Process, which are doing well to help Asians have much better outcomes with the Gulf States/Middle East Labour Migration,” she concluded.
The highlights of the UN75 celebration was a UN Flag ceremony by the youth of the UNYA-Ghana and some of the returnees from Lebanon, as well as a highly spirited and emotionally charged Presidential and Diplomatic Award Ceremony. President Akufo-Addo was honoured with “Champion of Migrant Women’s Decent Work Award”, which was was received by Honourable Cynthia M. Morrison, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection on behalf of the President. The award was presented by H.E. Rev. Dr. A.K. Ocansey and Rev. Dr. Lawrence Tetteh.
The other awardee was H.E. Ambassador Dr. Winfred Nii Okai Hammond, Ghana’s Ambassador to Egypt, with concurrent assignment to Lebanon, Sudan and Palestine. Ambassador Hammond was awarded the “Distinguished Diplomatic Service Award” for his outstanding rescue mission which saved the lives of over two thousand women from Lebanon. The award was presented by H.E. Lillian Addo, UNYA Country Head and Bishop Peter Kojo Sackey, UNYA-Ghana, founder.
Sheila, one of the domestic workers rescued from Lebanon, was among the women who were screaming uncontrollably, when Ambassador Hammond was given his award. Sheila said: “I may not be alive, if it had not been for this Ambassador,” she said with tears of joy in her eyes.
“My friend Patience, worked for nearly two years without any pay. The Lebanese family sent her to prison for three months when she asked for the rest of the salary owed her which amounted to three thousand US dollars. Now she is back in Ghana penniless. After being sexually harrassed and abused, many have nothing to show for it. This is a great injustice! We are so grateful to the UNYA-GHANA, Enddeadlywork Coalition and NEKOTECH for this petition! If it works we will be able to have a good life in Ghana and we will never dream of going overseas again! For now, we will be on our knees praying!” she said smiling.
Africa has multilateral migration platforms with Europe, and the Middle East has Multilateral platforms with Asia, but Africa and the Middle East are yet to have a multilateral labour migration platform. With the excellent leadership of President Nana Akufo-Addo, the ECOWAS region is uniquely positioned to lead Africa in this much needed Multilateral platform with the Middle East.
The UNYA-Ghana is a not for profit member based association of over 10,000 youth. The UNYA-Ghana was founded by Bishop Peter Kojo Sackey. H.E. Lillian Addo is the Country Head with Evangelist Safo as the head of operations.
The Nekotech Center is a not for profit NGO founded by the late USA mega star, Mr. Isaac Hayes and H.E. Rev Dr Ocansey. Nekotech Center is a Center of Excellence for Labour Migration and provides advisory services and workshops to African Governments.
The #Enddeadlywork Coalition is made up of over 25,000 high level activists and institutions globally, headed by USA seasoned human rights activist, Mr. Joel Seagal with Rev. Rod Sadler heading up the Inter-faith movement.
Today was our monthly book club and it could not have been a more beautiful day to sit outside and discuss our book.
The book this month was The Library Book by Susan Orlean.
It is not a book any of us would have chosen to read on our own, and at least one was not sure she could get through it, but she persevered. The majority were glad they read it and learned a lot about the inner workings of a library. The book focuses on the history of the main library in Los Angeles. In April 1986 the library had a fire which destroyed thousands of books but damaged many more. Once books caught fire, it was hard to contain, taking over 7 hours to put out. By that time, a lot of damage was done. Cindy bought Inferno wine to keep with our fire theme!
The story moved back and forth from the fire, to cleaning out the library, restoring the books, and an arson investigation, to a story line recounting the history of the Los Angeles public library dating back to its inception. Parts of the story were fascinating; some were a bit detracting. When I first started reading, I thought it was going to be a hard book to read, but once I got into it, it moved at a quick pace. The arson investigation and the main suspect story line were the least interesting to me. The author had a lot of animosity towards the suspect, and had nothing nice to say about him or any of his family or associates. She paints a bleak picture and you are pretty certain this guy is guilty. Then almost at the end, she totally recounts and says she doesn’t think it was arson after all. Pretty confusing. One member thought she used the story line of arson to keep readers interested to read to the end to see who did it. I hadn’t thought of that. Many of us thought this part of the book was the weakest.
As a huge library fan myself, I enjoyed reading about the history of libraries across the country and even the world. Would I say this is a must read, no, but if you like non-fiction and libraries, you may want to read it.
My other book club met via zoom earlier in the month
and we discussed the Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. While the book is fiction, it was based on many true stories, which she embellished a bit. It is a World War II book focusing on three women with very different lives. One is a socialist in NY, Caroline Ferraday who was a real person who worked tirelessly both during and after the war. At first her efforts were to help send supplies to orphanages in France to help the children torn from their families. After the war, she works to help reunite families, and then helps a group of Polish women who were victims of the Ravensbrook Concentration Camp. This story line really happened. Another character is Herta Oberheuser a real-life German doctor who ended up working in the concentration camp, doing atrocious things. The third character was a young Polish woman named Kasia Kuzmerick. This character was a composite of several of the women who ended up in Ravensbrook undergoing experimental surgeries which left many of them maimed for life. The group of Polish women who were operated on were collectively called “the Rabbits” because many of them had to hop on one leg after surgery, and because they were human guinea pigs. It was a hard book to read because of the horrid conditions they had to endure. The book covers their lives before the war, during the war, and then after the war. The one thing most of us agreed on was that the lead character Caroline Ferraday was marginalized in her story line. Instead of focusing on her heroic acts, the story line centers more on her romantic entanglement with a married Frenchman. In reading about Caroline after I read the book, there is no mention of any romance. I think it took away from the story. Also the title was totally misleading, along with the cover of the book.
I thought it was going to be a story of how three women were brought together with some connection of lilacs. While they are interconnected in some ways, Caroline and the doctor never meet, and the lilacs from Caroline’s home were important to her but really not the story. I had never heard about the rabbits, and I did learn some things, but I would not recommend the book to anyone else. One member liked it, the others all learned something but found it hard to read in parts.
We had great discussions on both books. Now on to more books. For my online book club we are reading Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig. My in person book club is off until January when we will discuss Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard.
MUMBAI: The 129-year-old sea-facing Islam Gymkhana near Marine Drive, a popular sports hub and centre for socio-cultural activities, is in the eye of a storm after its president Yusuf Abrahni banned rummy and other card games on its premises. Claiming that some members indulged in gambling while playing rummy, Abrahni closed the card room on Friday, which was Eid-e-Milad. The members have alleged that “a very religious” Abrahni is changing the Gymkhana’s “liberal” character and turning it into a “madrassa”. “If Abrahni knew that some members gambled at the Gymkhana, why didn’t he lodge a complaint?” asked Ishtiaq Ali, a member. “It is a club not a madrassa. He should not play the religion card.” Abrahni, a former Congress MLA, said: “We encourage all games and sports, but some members, in the name of playing rummy or cards, gambled. Our records show that there were five guests for one member at the cards room.” “We have added over a dozen games, including tennis, badminton, volleyball, a women’s recreation section, a state-of-the-art gym, jacuzzi, steam bath, sauna bath and spa. Those who say I have turned it into a madrassa should explain which madrassa has spa and steam bath facilities,” he said. But Asif Farooqui, another member, said: “If they want to stop gambling, they should do it. But preventing members, especially sen-ior citizens, from playing cards is wrong.”
The discussions were part of the Forum on the implementation of the new architecture for EU information systems for borders, migration and security, convened by the European Commission.
FRA attended as a member of the Commission’s High Level expert Group on Information systems and Interoperability.
FRA spoke alongside the Agency’s National Liaison Officer for Italy and a representative of the Italian FRANET partner, Fondazione Brodolini.
FRA’s presentation highlighted some of the main ways that the pandemic and measures to contain it have affected fundamental rights in the EU, drawing on the results of the Agency’s COVID-19 bulletins.
FRA’s data are the basis for a newly developed portfolio of indicators. The indicators are the baseline for the EU-level targets on minimum progress to be reached by 2030 in the new EU Roma strategic framework for Roma equality, inclusion and participation 2020-2030.
