Refugees and asylum seekers face hunger in Greece - NGOs

 

Athens, NOV 26: Twenty-seven prominent NGOs in Greece warned Thursday that refugees and asylum seekers face hunger following the government’s decision in October to halt services to those whose asylum applications have been accepted.

Around 34,000 asylum seekers have gone nearly two months without cash assistance which previously allowed them to buy food, clothing and essential items, the International Rescue Committee said in a statement.

The prominent global humanitarian aid, relief and developmental NGO stressed that problems began when the government took over the EU-funded cash assistance program on Oct. 1 that was previously managed by the UN Refugee agency.

The government made public assurances that distributions would resume by the end of October but one month later, the problem that exerts a devastating effect on asylum seekers remains unsolved, according to the committee.

The halt of cash assistance is stripping asylum seekers‘ of their dignity and depriving them of the lifeline many depend on. “Refugees and asylum seekers, who were already economically marginalized, are resorting to begging and other negative coping mechanisms to survive,” said the committee.

Emily Wilson, a humanitarian aid worker with Project Elea, drew attention to the dire situation of refugee women and children.

“The women in Eleonas camp keep telling us that their children are crying at night with hunger. Mothers now don’t have money for baby milk so they mush up biscuits in water instead,” she said.

Martha Roussou of the International Rescue Committee said the government’s decision pushed already vulnerable and marginalized refugees to the edge.

Accusing the Greek government of creating a hunger crisis among refugees and asylum seekers, Anita Bay, director of Save the Children Europe, said: “It is unlawful, unnecessary, and totally unacceptable for this to be happening in the EU.”

Accordingly, the NGOs, including Greek, European and global organizations, urged the Greek government to address the problem by restarting cash distributions, distributing adequate food to those dwelling in refugee camps and providing emergency assistance in the form of basic goods and vouchers.

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Courtesy Anews

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Putin, Pashinyan discuss Karabakh

 

MOSCOW, NOV 21: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan have discussed the situation in Karabakh and measures to stabilize it.

“The sides continued the discussion of the situation in the region and measures taken to stabilize it in the context of the implementation of the trilateral agreements on Karabakh dated November 9, 2020, and January 11, 2021.

Nikol Pashinyan expressed gratitude for the active mediation efforts of Russia,” the Kremlin said.

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Courtesy report.az

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Indonesia sets $50 billion e-commerce trade target by 2025: Envoy

 

ISLAMABAD, Nov 21: Ambassador of Indonesia to Pakistan, Adam Mulawarman Tugio on Sunday has said that Indonesia has set US$50 billion e-commerce trade target by 2025 to connect with the biggest sector of global trade.

 

There are vast opportunities in e-commerce trade between Pakistan and Indonesia, which will increase bilateral trade and investment opportunities on both sides, Ambassador of Indonesia to Pakistan, Adam Mulawarman Tugio said.

 

The Ambassador said that Pakistan and Indonesia are countries with large youth populations that can make their mark in the global e-commerce trade and create vast employment opportunities in both the countries.

 

He said that global retail e-commerce sales in 2020 stood at US$ 4.28 trillion, which is expected to reach US$ 5.4 trillion by 2022. He said that there is an era of Information Technology (IT) and online connectivity in the world and now the big global brands are connected to small and big markets and are continuing their business activities.

 

The Ambassador said that Pakistan and Indonesia can be linked with e-commerce trade to increase bilateral trade as well as connect both sides’ youth in connection of business and trade. With such connections, young people from both the countries and people can benefit from each other’s experiences and skills to promote economic and cultural integration.

 

He said that e-commerce integration in both the countries could also help in promoting tourism in both of countries and strengthen the ties between the people of both countries.

 

Tugio said that Pakistan and Indonesia are among the most beautiful countries in the world and with the promotion of tourism in both countries mutual economic activities would reach its peak. He said that the two countries have similarities in many areas, including religion, culture, architecture, landscape, and cuisine which must be familiar to the people of both countries.

 

Replying to the question, he said Indonesia had made investments in Palm oil in Karachi which would enhance economic cooperation between the two countries, adding that in the near future while taking interest in investing in Faisalabad, steps would be taken for this in the near future.

 

Responding to another question about Indonesia’s rapid economic growth and economic reforms, he said Indonesia was the first to work on Ease of Doing Business (EODB) and business facilitation, which encouraged foreign investors.

 

The Ambassador said a number of achievements had been achieved following the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) targets and then there was the devolution of power in Indonesia for strengthening of the local body system, which led to a strong federation.

 

The Ambassador said that Pakistan and Indonesia had strong prospects for the proposed bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which would help strengthen economic and trade ties between the two countries. The Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) already existed in both the countries which opened up the possibility of increasing bilateral trade, he said.

 

The Ambassador said Indonesia had recently reduced trade tariffs for facilitating to Pakistan in 20 trade items in the bilateral PTA review. The Ambassador said Indonesia had a strong role to play, adding, progress was being made to enhance economic and trade integration between Pakistan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

 

Discussing the cultural and educational ties between the two countries, he said 11 percent of scholarships were awarded to Pakistani students this year, which was 52 percent of developing countries. He said this year 60 Pakistani students went to Indonesian universities to study.

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Palestine's Abbas slams Israel for undermining two-state solution

 

Ramallah, NOV 18: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said Wednesday that Israeli policies continue to undermine a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, local media reported.

Abbas met with US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield in the West Bank after her two-day visit to Israel.

According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, he said during the meeting that the Israeli practices of establishing illegal settlements, killing, confiscation of land, house demolitions and attempting to expel Palestinians from their homes in neighborhoods of Jerusalem all lead to dangerously undermining the two-state solution for which the US administration has announced its full support.

"We do not accept in any way the classification of six Palestinian civil society organizations as terrorist by the occupation authorities, and we do not accept the continued abuse of prisoners and the holding of the bodies of martyrs," he said.

"In the event that the Israeli occupation authorities insist on denial of the signed agreements and moving away from the path of peace, we have options, and we will take measures that preserve the rights of our people and their national interests," Abbas added.

"Today I met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. We discussed rebuilding the U.S.-Palestinian relationship, ensuring UNRWA lives up to its commitments, the importance of respecting human rights, and our shared commitment to a two-state solution," Thomas-Greenfield said on Twitter.

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Courtesy Anews

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Taliban hold military parade with US-made weapons in Kabul in show of strength

 

KABUL, NOV 14: Taliban forces held a military parade in Kabul on Sunday using captured American-made armoured vehicles and Russian helicopters in a display that showed their ongoing transformation from an insurgent force to a regular standing army.

The Taliban operated as insurgent fighters for two decades but have used the large stock of weapons and equipment left behind when the former Western-backed government collapsed in August to overhaul their forces.

The parade was linked to the graduation of 250 freshly trained soldiers, defence ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarazmi said.

The exercise involved dozens of US-made M117 armoured security vehicles driving slowly up and down a major Kabul road with MI-17 helicopters patrolling overhead. Many soldiers carried American made-M4 assault rifles.

Most of the weapons and equipment the Taliban forces are now using are those supplied by Washington to the American-backed government in Kabul in a bid to construct an Afghan national force capable of fighting the Taliban.

Those forces melted away with the fleeing of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani from Afghanistan — leaving the Taliban to take over major military assets.

Taliban officials have said that pilots, mechanics and other specialists from the former Afghan National Army would be integrated into a new force, which has also started wearing conventional military uniforms in place of the traditional Afghan clothing normally worn by their fighters.

According to a report late last year by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar), the US government transferred to the Afghan government more than $28 billion worth of defence articles and services, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, night-vision devices, aircraft, and surveillance systems, from 2002 to 2017.

Some of the aircraft were flown into neighbouring Central Asian Countries by fleeing Afghan forces, but the Taliban have inherited other aircraft. It remains unclear how many are operational.

As the US troops departed, they destroyed more than 70 aircraft, dozens of armoured vehicles and disabled air defences before flying out of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport following a chaotic evacuation operation.

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Courtesy Dawn News

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