Forcing indigenous peoples off ancestral lands to create so-called Gardens of Eden, pasture for grazing, or massive dams, is nothing new. It forms the basis of many colonial and neo-colonial projects.
Recall the clearance of hundreds of thousands of small Irish farmers friom the1840s. Or the formation of the national parks of America, led by John Muir, considered the Daddy of wilderness projects, who openly stated that his nature parks would NOT include people, particularly not the indigenous people whom he regarded as ‘unclean’ blots on his perfect ‘wilderness’.
Thanks to Muir, thousands of First Nation American Indians were driven off lands they had lived on for hundreds of years, to make way for National Parks; places where they would never be welcome.
In more recent days Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been ramping up his rhetoric, encouraging the rape and pillage of the Amazon, forcing thousands of indigenous Indian tribes from their lands.
That a similar atrocity is now being visited on the Maasai people who have lived on, and with, their lands in northern Tanzania for hundreds of years, long before Tanzanian independence, to create killing fields for the super-rich Royal family of the UAE is deeply shocking.
Since the 1980’s a luxury safari company – the Otterlo Business Company (OBC) – has been trying to complete a deal with the Tanzanian government whereby hundreds of thousands of Maasai will be driven from their ancestral lands. 1,700 acres is to be stolen from them to create a private shooting park for the UAE Royal family and their super rich mates.
Acting for the Royal family, the OBC, a hugely wealthy private safari set up, have had their eyes on privatising thousands of acres of Ngorongoro, and Loliondo, key parts of the Maasai homeland in Northern Tanzania for decades.
Ironically, part of these lands were actually set aside for royalty under British colonial rule – in the ‘good old days’. These days, thanks to OBC, ‘hundreds of members of Arab royalty and high-flying businessmen spend weeks each year hunting antelope, lion, leopard and other wild animals’.
The area is leased (under the Otterlo name) by a member of an Emirati royal family who is a senior officer in the UAE defence ministry ministry.
The OBC is no newcomer to the ‘big game’ slaughter scene. They have been busy in Tanzania’s wildlife parks for decades. Under a deal brokered with the Tanzanian government in 1992, involving the transfer of millions of dollars to Tanzania’s Armed Forces, Maasai homes were burnt down, their cattle stolen or killed, leaving villagers ‘homeless and without food, clothing, land, water or basic medical needs’. Now they want this deal cemented – and all Maasai removed. Their villages, schools, fields and medical stations destroyed.
As the leader of the Maasai, Julius Petei Olekitaika, says, ‘Imagine your home being burned in front of you to clear your land for foreigners to hunt. Imagine not being able to graze our cows because the government wants to protect a foreign investor whose only interest is hunting the wildlife.’
The Tanzanian government, which gets 17% of its GDP from tourism, has made vague gestures towards the Maasai in the past, assuring them they will be protected, but recently pressure has been upped with the government saying the Maasai population is ‘detrimental to wildlife’.
This is of course nonsense. Hugely wealthy game hunters, with massively powerful rifles, and virtually no government oversight, have been a good deal more ‘detrimental to wildlife’ than the Maasai.
Neighbouring Kenya, which banned big game hunting in 1978, says 80% of wildlife which should be funnelling through the corridor between the game parks of Tanzania and Kenya has been affected. Samwel Nangria, a Maasai organiser, says these guys ‘shoot anything they come across’.
The Maasai on the other hand, famous for their nomadic and pastoral lifestyle that actually depends on maintaining the balance between people, ecology and animals remaining stable, are the ones being demonised, hunted, shot at, and driven from their homes.
Already impacted by years of racism and bullying to try and get them out, recently the Maasai have had their livelihoods further damaged by a blanket ban on planting crops, and by climate change. With a ban on planting, food shortages are now common. In 2022 the Red Cross reported 60,000 of their cattle died.
In June 2022 the Tanzanian government sent armed soldiers to evict Maasai. Thousands fled. Hundreds were injured as troops opened fire.
Not that the big game hunters give a damn. All they want is an abundance of animals they can slaughter and to hell with the Maasai. To hell also with climate change.
For all of us sharing this beautiful planet, and facing our greatest existential crisis – will we actually survive climate breakdown? How can anyone, or any government, justify allowing extraordinarily wealthy men to jet in, with guns, to take the lands, the livelihood and even the lives of a centuries old people so that they the rich ones can kill some of the most beautiful, and some of the most endangered, animals on earth? And probably take photos of themselves doing it.
‘For us’ says Samwel Nangiria, ‘the land is a source of knowledge, a source of life, a source of identity’.
For the hunters one imagines the land is meaningless. Just somewhere to go and kill stuff.
A few men enriched by this deal may think they’re the smart ones, but wouldn’t Tanzania’s freedom fighting, Socialist, first president, Julius Nyerere, be turning in his grave if he knew?
A phone surveillance scandal targeting journalists and a prominent politician has been simmering for some time now in Greece.
Friday, August 5 marked a serious escalation, leading to the possibility of early elections. Two resounding resignations within the space of an hour have altered the political landscape, but while most international media initially focused on the resignation of the National Intelligence Service (EYP) Chief, Panagiotis Kontoleon, the other is of greater significance.
Grigoris Dimitriadis, the General Secretary to the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (and also his nephew) has been forced to resign under the weight of the scandal. Since then, and over the following seventy-two hours, his name has consistently been among the top ten trending topics on Greek Twitter.
Apart from Dimitriadis being a close blood relation of Mitsotakis, he was also one of his very closest associates. His right hand man many would say, which might even be an understatement. The former General Secretary was widely regarded as the éminence grise of the government apparatus, and the ruling right-wing party Nea Dimokratia
His resignation was widely seen as an admission of guilt, an interpretation certainly voiced by the leader of Syriza (the main Opposition party), Alexis Tsipras, who seized the opportunity to blame Mitsotakis himself.
Οι ηχηρές παραιτήσεις υπό το βάρος του σκανδάλου των παρακολουθήσεων αποτελούν ομολογία ενοχής και επιβεβαιώνουν τις ευθύνες του ίδιου του Πρωθυπουργού. Ο κ. Μητσοτάκης οφείλει να δώσει εξηγήσεις στον ελληνικό λαό για το δικό του «watergate». Είναι ζήτημα Δημοκρατίας.
— Αλέξης Τσίπρας – Alexis Tsipras (@atsipras) August 5, 2022
It is another political leader, however, who is at the epicenter of this crisis. Nikos Androulakis is the president of the third largest political party in the Greek parliament PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist Movement). He caused consternation on July 26, when he filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of Greece, over an attempt by unknown actors to hack his mobile phone, using illegal Predator spyware.
The attempt was originally uncovered by chance, through a routine security check at the European Parliament, as Androulakis is also an MEP. This revelation made front page news, and brought prime time TV mainstream coverage, to an affair that had been brewing for some time before Androulakis filed his complaint.
There had been extensive reporting away from mainstream media, which was easily dismissed by government spokespeople, on electronic surveillance targeting two journalists, Stavros Malichoudis and Thanasis Koukakis.
What is also at stake here is no less than the freedom and independence of the press. The aforementioned Stavros Malichoudis is a member of Reporters United, an independent network of journalists, integral to the investigative reporting that led to the Dimitriadis and Kontoleon resignations. Their most impactful articles, which put General Secretary Dimitriadis into the frame of the scandal, were also published in the popular left-wing daily newspaper Efimerida ton Syntakton.
Another small media outlet which was involved in the series of revelations is the subscription-based Inside Story, which was the first to publish the findings of Citizen Lab, which broke the story about the hacking of Thanasis Koukakis’s phone with Predator spyware. Koukakis is an internationally published Greek journalist, who was investigating matters of financial corruption.
In November 2019, he published an article in the Financial Times revealing that the Mitsotakis administration had amended legislation in a way that created a more favorable environment for money laundering.
Shortly after stepping down from his position as General Secretary, Grigoris Dimitriadis filed a law suit against Reporters United, Efimerida ton Syntakton and Thanasis Koukakis. This kind of prosecution is the epitome of a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation).
The five worst countries in the EU for media freedom are:
Greece was recently ranked 108th out of 180 countries in the annual World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) at the end of last April, having dropped a staggering 38 places from last year, thereby becoming the lowest ranked EU member state.
The degree of freedom available to journalists in 180 countries and regions is determined by pooling the responses of experts to a questionnaire devised by RSF. This qualitative analysis is combined with quantitative data on abuses and acts of violence against journalists during the period evaluated. The criteria used in the questionnaire are pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information.
Reporters Without Borders identified many problematic areas and important violations in regard to media freedom and independence in Greece, with the most shocking being the unresolved murder of the influential journalist Giorgos Karaivaz, who was gunned down in broad daylight outside his home on April 9, 2021, after more than a dozen bullets were shot at him, with ten landing on his body.
The French newspaper Liberationdescribed how he “was investigating a number of cases that concerned members of the ruling party and rings of the criminal underworld.” His most recent investigations right before the assassination “were touching closely upon the function of the State in Greece, such as with the case of Dimitris Lignadis.”
Lignadis, a famous Greek theatre actor/director known for his right-wing leanings “was appointed without transparency [head of the Greek National Theatre], six weeks after the electoral victory of N.D.”
Lignadis was accused and has since been convicted on two counts of raping minors. This scandal had captivated public attention and “for several weeks had undermined the ruling party of Nea Dimokratia, many of whose members were alleged to maintain close personal ties with this man of the theatre”.
The same Liberation article recalls that “according to many observers, Lignadis had political protection, while one day before he was murdered, Giorgos Karaivaz had gone even further, claiming on television that Dimitris Lignadis was given time to destroy critical evidence”.
To this day, the case of his murder remains unsolved and there is a lingering suspicion that it will remain as such.
The case of the Giorgos Karaivaz assassination is merely the tip of an iceberg of an increasingly dangerous environment for the practice of journalism in Greece.
The government of Nea Dimokratia has been repeatedly criticized, within Greece and abroad, for establishing unprecedented control over the vast majority of mainstream media. This is common knowledge to most people living in the country, and a recurring subject on social media platforms where State control is much more limited.
Part of the explanation is merely structural. It has long been this case that the major part of the mainstream media in Greece, especially television channels and legacy newspapers, are owned or controlled indirectly by shipping magnates, whose tentacles reach into various other areas of the economy. These interests naturally align with the ruling party’s neoliberal, deregulating agenda.
🗨️Continued efforts to keep criteria for #PetsaList a secret only increase concerns of #pressfreedom orgs about Greece’s problematic system for financing of media & apparent efforts to disproportionately funnel money to media supportive of the government during #COVID19 crisis. pic.twitter.com/UGOVgQNFRl
— IPI – The Global Network for Independent Media (@globalfreemedia) June 21, 2022
Petsas list
What has been exceptional, however, under the current administration is the extent of the corruption, typified by what became known in Greece as the “Petsas list”, which takes its name from Stelios Petsas, the current Alternate Minister of Interior and former Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and government spokesman.
This was a list of media outlets – some of which were tiny and insignificant until that point – which, during the pandemic received significant state funding under the pretext of informing the public about Covid-19
The list favored outlets that were already, or were set up to be, staunch supporters of the government. This has been regarded by political opposition and most of civil society as a blatant – and largely successful – attempt to consolidate control over the narrative of public discourse.
At the same time, SLAPPs have become more and more commonplace, with a wide array of targets, ranging from the few remaining antagonistic media, to even individuals on Twitter and other social media platforms.
During demonstrations, photojournalists are increasingly physically assaulted by the police and obstructed as much as possible from recording their brutality, which is more prevalent than ever.
Overall, any reporter scrutinising authority is likely to be treated as an enemy of the State. It is often the case that independent Greek journalists have to quote reputable foreign media to highlight relevant Greek news and analyses that is otherwise buried by the mainstream domestically, or dismissed as fake news and politically motivated defamation.
This wiretapping scandal is a shady and convoluted affair, involving many different actors. Politicians, journalists, businessmen and corporations have all been involved in a sprawling and perplexing web of relations and antagonisms.
The initial coverage from international media has been mostly superficial. This article will endeavour to fill in some gaps. Importantly, there are two different kinds of wiretapping that have been taking place: technically legal ones and those that are entirely illegal.
The legal ones have to be authorized by a District Attorney and are conducted under the authority of the National Intelligence Service (known as EYP). A critical characteristic of these is that they are bound to function in an “old school” way of surveillance that cannot penetrate end-to-end encryption apps such as Signal, Viber, Telegram etc.
Which brings us to the illegal ones. Advanced spyware like Pegasus and Predator have a different penetration capacity, one that completely takes over the device and can monitor any action, including any known kind of encrypted communication, as well as the function of the microphone and camera. Any use of such spyware remains a criminal offence under Greek law.
To lay out the relevant information, we have to go back to the beginning of the current government’s tenure in July 2019. The very first piece of legislation the newly elected government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis passed through the Greek Parliament brought the National Intelligence Service (EYP) and the State Media under direct control of his own office.
This in itself raised some eyebrows, but the nomination of Panagiotis Kontoleon as Chief of EYP generated widespread bafflement and even suspicion. Kontoleon is a man without any higher education degree, prior experience in politics or the law, or any other relevant skills or qualifications for such an office. He is a former private security guard, who ascended the hierarchy of the company he was working for, while always remaining under the patronage of his boss and owner of the company, Andreas Paterakis.
According to sources on the peripheries of mainstream Greek media he was characterised as a “Yes Man” and a “backstabber”. The justification given for his appointment was simply that he was “a person with connections to the American Embassy and a choice of the Mitsotakis environment”.
On August 12, 2020, Thanasis Koukakis filed a complaint to the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE). He cited reasonable suspicions of having been the target of wiretapping on his phone. He did not receive any response from the Authority until almost a year later.
On March 31, 2021, the government passed legislation, under an emergency procedure which it claimed was in response to the pandemic. Amendment 826/145 changed the rules in regard to legal wiretappings.
ADAE is no longer allowed to inform citizens upon their request as to whether their communications having been monitored by EYP, after the completion of the surveillance period. A crucial detail is that the new law is retroactive, covering complaints filed before its enactment.
On July 29 2021, ADAE finally responded to Thanasis Koukakis’s complaint stating that “no event was found which would constitute a breach of the legislation on the confidentiality of communications.”
Predator
In December 2021 the thread concerning the Predator part of this story begins, when two different researches, one from Toronto University’s Citizen Lab and one from Meta exposed the expansion in the use of Predator spyware in various countries including Greece. The news attracted next to zero attention in mainstream Greek media, even after Inside Story started covering the issue in January 2022.
On April 11, the same outlet uncovered the first verified instance of phone hacking of an EU citizen, as proven by the examination of Citizen Lab. It was Thanasis Koukakis.
A few days later, on April 15, Reporters United published an article on how Thanasis Koukakis was legally wiretapped by the National Intelligence Service before being hacked with Predator. It is also uncovered that this legal surveillance stopped abruptly on August 12, 2020, the exact same day that the journalist had filed his complaint to ADAE.
On May 25, Inside Story struck again with a thorough report, demonstrating the points of connection, though an intricate web of various shady individuals and dubious legal entities, between the Greek State and the Israeli company Intellexa, which is selling the Predator spyware and is established in Greece. Another Greek company called Krikel, founded in Athens in 2017, is also entangled in this web as a connection point to Intellexa.
On June 3, the plot thickened further after Reporters United released another article, which was simultaneously published in Efimerida ton Sintakton. This was the first time that the journalistic investigation placed Grigoris Dimitriadis decisively in the frame of the scandal, highlighting how his business dealings put him in close contact with people directly or indirectly connected to companies which are merchandizing Predator and other spyware; namely the aforementioned Intellexa and Krikel.
On July 26, the issue gained massive traction with all mainstream media and entered the forefront of the political agenda, after Nikos Androulakis officially filed his complaint to the Supreme Court.
On August 4, Reporters United delivered a critical blow to Grigoris Dimitriadis with a new article, in which more evidence surfaced indicating links between the former General Secretary to the Prime Minister and the merchants of the illegal spyware that was used against Androulakis and Koukakis. The key figure in this investigation is the entrepreneur Felix Bizios, who has held managerial and consultant positions in both Intellexa and Krikel. His brother, Panagiotis Bizios appears to have had direct business dealings with Grigoris Dimitriadis.
On August 5, Grigoris Dimitradis stepped down from his office and minutes afterwards, Panagiotis Kontoleon followed suit. At the same time, the government admitted that Androulakis was also legally wiretapped by EYP, while he was campaigning for the presidency of PASOK and until two days after becoming its leader. According to reporting in mainstream Greek media, EYP was under the direct responsibility of Dimitriadis.
Grigoris Dimitriadis has vehemently denied any involvement with the use of the illegal spyware, and the government of Nea Dimokratia has asserted repeatedly that the two cases – of legal and illegal wiretappings – are entirely separate. They have also claimed that both resignations have nothing to do with the Predator affair. The whole spectrum of the opposition, however, remains unconvinced.
Right after stepping down from his position, the former General Secretary took legal action against Efimerida ton Syntakton, Reporters United and Thanasis Koukakis, claiming a total of over half a million euro on the grounds of defamation. International journalist organizations responded with statements of solidarity.
— IPI – The Global Network for Independent Media (@globalfreemedia) August 5, 2022
⚡️#Greece 🇬🇷: RSF is alarmed by the abusive lawsuits initiated by Grigoris Dimitriadis, the nephew of PM @kmitsotakis against journalists who have established a link between him and a company selling #Predator spy software.👇https://t.co/K9pZMenAPn
On the same day, Sophie in ‘t Veld, who is the rapporteur of the PEGA commission, which was formed by the European Parliament to investigate the use of advanced spyware in Europe, gave an interview to Inside Story, where she mentions among other things that there is widespread abuse in several countries, including Greece and that it wouldn’t make sense to assume that the Greek government is not involved, as there is no other serious alternative scenario.
Over the following weekend events took a grim and rather farcical turn as a game of deliberate, yet ultimately clumsy, strategic leaks to government friendly media unfolded, while the Prime Minister Mitsotakis, who had stayed entirely silent throughout the whole affair, was reported (and photographed) while on holiday in Crete.
A rumour had been circulating for some days that Androulakis was spied on by EYP upon the request of foreign intelligence services. It was then leaked that those counties were Ukraine and Armenia and the concern was that as an MEP, Androulakis had had some suspicious contacts with people that represent Chinese interests. Over the weekend, however, both the embassies of Armenia and Ukraine vehemently denied any such request.
1/2 Bizarre times! International organization accuses the victim of war of violating the laws of war. Foreign intelligence accuses Ukraine of tapping on its citizens
Let me point this out – 🇺🇦 has never requested that from Greek counterpart.These claims are divorced from reality
As this awkward diplomatic embarrassment was taking place, another thread of hearsay was unfolding with notable political actors involved.
It primarily revolved around Nikos Romanos, the head of the press bureau of Nea Dimokratia, who made a very dubious statement on the radio, urging Nikos Androulakis to have the courage to reveal the information he would receive at the briefing from EYP in regard to his surveillance; “as some of it is sensitive”, he declared suggestively.
This statement caused further outrage, as it created the strong impression that Romanos himself was aware of some of the content of the surveillance, and it was widely perceived as a thinly veiled attempt at blackmail.
The Press Bureau chief later denied the allegations, claimed that his words were distorted, and that he was a victim of fake news and threatened legal action.
While it is true, that some news outlets added the word “personal” (which he had not used) on top of “sensitive”, his statement still raises serious questions. Moreover, it coincided with another series of events, suggesting a coordinated action.
Thus, Failos Kranidiotis, a far-right politician and former member of Nea Dimokratia, posted a tweet on Saturday that was undoubtedly referring to Nikos Androulakis, implying that he is an abuser of women and had been involved in sexual scandals.
Θεωρητικό κουίζ: Όταν σαπίζεις στο ξύλο τις συντρόφους σου,τις φωτογραφίζεις δαρμένες, η μία σε πήγε δικαστικά, έβαλες την ουρά στα σκέλια να το πνίξεις και άλλη μία σε έχει κάνει ρόμπα και τρέμεις πότε θα σκάσει στα ΜΜΕ, έχεις θέση στην δημόσια ζωή, μούτρα να κάνεις τον τιμητή;
The tweet was retweeted by Omada Alitheias (Truth Group) which is widely regarded as a crucial component of Nea Dimokratia’s propaganda machine on social media, only to be deleted after the backlash it caused. Many lesser right-wing social media accounts were also disseminating the same rumour.
Beyond social media, however, there was also an actual publication. A well-known gossip tabloid called Espresso, published a front page report about a sex scandal involving a “prominent politician” who had had various extramarital affairs, some of which involved physical abuse.
Nikos Androulakis gave an angry response to all the veiled allegations, using very strong language condemning the government.
Τρεις μέρες μετά την αποκάλυψη ότι η ΕΥΠ παρακολουθούσε το κινητό μου τηλέφωνο,την ίδια περίοδο μάλιστα που έγινε απόπειρα παγίδευσης του και με το #Predator, που έχει τη δυνατότητα να σε βιντεοσκοπεί 24 ώρες το 24ωρο,η κυβέρνηση κατακλύζει με χυδαίες διαρροές τον δημόσιο διάλογο
Just a quarter of an hour later, Alexis Tsipras followed suit.
Οι στοχευμένες «διαρροές» του προπαγανδιστικού μηχανισμού της ΝΔ για τον Νίκο Ανδρουλάκη, επιβεβαιώνουν τους χειρότερους φόβους μας: Οι αυτουργοί των παρακολουθήσεων συνδέονται με πρακτικές μαφίας. Ο κ. Μητσοτάκης να κλείσει τη βάνα του οχετού, πριν πνιγεί μέσα του ο ίδιος.
— Αλέξης Τσίπρας – Alexis Tsipras (@atsipras) August 7, 2022
August 9 was the day when the Prime Minister was finally expected to address the issue. At 14.00 hours, Kyriakos Mitsotakis addressed the nation in a short video. He reiterated what had already been asserted by his associates, namely that he knew nothing about the surveillance of Nikos Androulakis, or else he wouldn’t have allowed it and promised to make changes in the way the wiretapping protocol works, as well as in regard to the accountability of EYP.
He also praised EYP’s importance despite what he described as a “slip”, and ominously stated that “there are many enemies of the nation that would prefer a weak National Intelligence Service. And if some dark forces outside of Greece are plotting any scheme to destabilize the country, they should know that Greece is powerful and institutionally ironclad.”
His speech was received very critically, not just by the political opposition, but also by domestic and foreign media, while social media had a field day deconstructing it. He was accused of equivocation and evasiveness, leaving most questions unanswered. We still don’t know why and by whose orders Nikos Androulakis was surveilled – or the two journalists for that matter, which he didn’t refer to.
There is still a lot that remains to be proven in this case. Expect further revelations. What is clear is that something is rotten in the higher echelons of Greece politics.
The government has been eager to divert, as much as possible, any attention from the Predator aspect of this sordid affair and address only the official wiretappings of EYP, which were technically legal, as they assert at every opportunity.
They have repeatedly denied any government involvement in the use of Predator, leaving it to be treated as a criminal affair between private citizens. This explanation seems completely implausible.
It is important that we do not allow the use of such illegal spyware to be ignored. Not only in Greece, but in Hungary, Spain, Poland or anywhere else. The freedom and independence of the press must be upheld. Indeed, these revelations would not have been possible without the perseverance of a handful of investigative journalists.
The bravest ones are now facing the threat of being unable to carry on with their work, through the vindictive use of SLAPPs coming from an offspring of Greek political aristocracy.
The Greek government has grown accustomed to very limited scrutiny and to dominating media discourse. It could be a game changer if they are to receive more critical attention from international media.
It has not been proven (yet) that Grigoris Dimitriadis is guilty of the crimes that he is suspected of. Nor is it the case that all the reporters involved in the coverage of this story are equally independent and true to the mission, especially those that jumped into it only in the last weeks. But what is certain enough, is that there is an encroaching authoritarian corruption attempting to silence, illegally if necessaary, opposition voices.
Dimitriadis’s SLAPP against Reporters United, Efimerida ton Syntakton and Thanasis Koukakis is just such an attempt, and it should be called out for what it is. This is a story is that should be of concern to every reporter in Europe and beyond.
On the last day of February, the first Ukrainian refugees arrived in Serbia. Radoš Đurović, the director of the Center for the Protection and Assistance of Asylum Seekers in Serbia believes that approximately 600,000 Ukrainian refugees will come to Hungary and will be expecting them to come to Serbia, once Hungary has reached capacity.
Despite the Russian National anthem being played at train stations in Serbia and pro-Russian protests happening in Belgrade. Nonetheless, Radoš Đurović states that ‘Ukrainians think of Serbia as a friendly country.’ The question is where is this friendliness to other nationalities?
Medical Volunteers International have been providing medical care along the EU borders in the Balkans and have witnessed the abuse that is being carried out at the hands of the EU, as well as those whose job is to protect the people.
A press release by UNHCR just last month states: ‘What is happening at European borders is legally and morally unacceptable and must stop. Protecting human life, human rights and dignity must remain our shared priority.’
But after the influx of refugees over six years ago, shouldn’t this be something we should have improved on greatly? With the current EU policy, razor-wired fences, brutal pushbacks and the prevention of the right to claim asylum, sadly things are getting worse, not better.
Frontex states that they have seen a148% increaseon the western Balkan route in January 2022 alone. Serbia is known as an important transit country for people on the move (POMs). It is estimated that 60,000 people moved through there in 2021, heading to the EU to seek safety from war, persecution, poverty and many other human rights violations.
Yet the Višegrad Four, an alliance that has been set up between the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, have on the one hand deployed more police to the Serbian/Hungary border to assist with the violation of EU laws in pushing back refugees from Afghanistan, but, on the other hand, has declared how they will be accepting refugees from Ukraine, along with Serbia and Romania. All of these countries are involved in the mistreatment of refugees from countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.
In 2015, Hungary built a four-metre high razor wire-topped fence along its borders to Serbia and Croatia. This spans the 109 miles (175 km) length of northern Serbia and all the locations this report mentions are within this area. With first-hand documentation of wounds caused at the hands of the Serbian police and those involved with the pushbacks from Hungary and Romania, the human rights violations at our borders seems to be going unnoticed, or perhaps uncared about by our governments.
Many POMs have spoken about how they have made it across Hungary but have been caught at the Austrian border, then pushed back without the opportunity to claim asylum or any type of documentation to Serbia. This is due to the pushbacks in Hungary being made legal. A report found here gives in a lot more details however in short, due to a state of emergency declared in Hungary in March 2016, pushbacks have been allowed. Many people are returned through special gates built in the border fence however reports of robbing, beatings, and humiliations by the police are regularly being reported to the team. This has been criticised by the EU and violates international treaties such as the Geneva Convention which Hungary has signedyet Hungary has now been getting away with this for 6 years.
During 2020/2021, 22,204 people were pushed back from Hungary. Most of these people are from Syria and Afghanistan. There were also increased reports towards the latter end of last year of people being pushed back from Austria to Hungary, then Hungary to Serbia. This report talks about the places along the Serbian/Hungary borders, and what exactly is happenings to the people who are seeking safety in the EU.
A young man uses his phone to contact family after using Collective Aids generator to charge his phone.
A registered organisation called Collective Aid also works along the northern Serbian border giving showers, non-food items and uses a generator to help POMs to charge their phones and even offers the basic requirement of a shaver for a haircut to maintain people’s dignity.
Evictions by the police are common in these locations which are mostly squats within abandoned buildings. Mass raids happen every couple of months and are mostly linked to protests from the local fascist group.
Recently a mass eviction happened where police hit each place along the Northern border one after the other. A few hundred people were taken but many also managed to escape.
People messaged stating that the police smashed open the doors and some people escaped out the window. They beat the people, robbed them of their money and phones then they were loaded onto buses and driven to a camp in the south of Serbia. They even hit the hotels where sick and vulnerable POMs stay. The injuries from these evictions are evident for weeks following this, and also the psychological effects on already scared and vulnerable people are massive.
Horgoš
Horgoš is a small town next to the border of Hungary in North Serbia. There are two main locations where POMs live. One squat is against the border fence and near a road checkpoint for crossing the border which can be easily viewed from the watchtower.
Here there are mostly Arabic-speaking people from Morocco and Tunisia but some from Syria, Iraq, and Palestine. In recent months there have been approximately seventy people living here, but this is set to increase again in the warmer weather. The people living here, like all locations spoken about, are very transitional.
The second location is at an old farm. Here there are many squatted buildings and it is more spread out over the area. There are normally 90-110 people here. Here there are mostly Farsi, Urdu, etc. speakers from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. It is very rare to find Arabic Speakers staying here however in the past week a Kurdish-Turkish group have been staying there as well as a young family from Syria.
One of several abandoned buildings that people on the move are living in, Horgoš Farm, North Serbia.
As with the border area, living conditions are very poor here. With the abandoned buildings being used as squats, with leaking roofs, many tired and weary people sleep off their exhaustion after spending the night on “game”, the name given by many to the act of crossing the border and arriving at a destination where there is no risk of being pushed back from.
It becomes a game when night after night is spent trying to achieve this. There are many reports of phones being smashed and money being stolen during pushbacks by Hungarian and Romanian authorities.
As with most of the squats, due to such a high transition of people, there is a major outbreak of scabies, particularly with people coming from the refugee camps which are commonly referred to by POMs as a place that is highly infested with scabies mites. With open sores caused by the reaction to the mite, many of the people living here are in dire need of treatment.
Abandoned farm near Horgoš
Taxis are regularly driving to this location bringing people back from the “game”, bringing people food/supplies, and also delivering live sheep to be killed. There are many fleeces around the property from slaughtered sheep that the POM’s have purchased from local people.
One of the many stray puppies sitting on slaughtered sheep to stay warm.
At the farms, the crossing of the border is very well organised where groups hit the fence at the same time with ladders. We see many injuries to hands from the razor wire on the top of the fence as well as injuries to knees and ankles from jumping down the opposite side.
You see many people going on “game” with thick gloves to protect their hands. Building barriers is not going to deter people who are fleeing their homeland but makes the lives of the POMs trying to make it to a safe country to ask for protection much more difficult, forcing them to take dangerous routes across Europe or into the hands of smugglers.
Giving wound care to a young man who has frostbite to his feet from walking in the snow in inadequate shoes.
There are many pushback stories from this location. One man from India tries every single night to go across the border. If he makes it into Hungary, he is typically gone for a few days before being returned through gates in the fence by police. If he makes it and is gone for a few days then pushed back, he has one night of rest before attempting again.
When I spoke to him, he had been in Serbia for 80 days and his only focus is getting through Hungary to prevent a pushback. He told me that if the border police know you speak English then they will beat you more to try and get information from you such as your route, how you crossed the border etc. After experiencing this a few times, he now pretends he cannot speak English.
He is trying to reach Spain as he has family there. He isn’t safe at home and he describes how his life is in danger if he returns home. He entered Serbia legally with his passport. He said that there is now an increase of advertised travel packages offered by travel agencies in India also to Belarus. As his passport was stamped and he would soon become illegal by overstaying his days, he then posted his passport to his family in Spain so that he is undocumented.
Turkish-Kurds huddled around a fire to keep warm whilst boiling two eggs.
We see many people who have been subjected to police brutality. One Moroccan man at the border was caught by the Hungarian police who saw our bandages on his feet, therefore, beat his toes. He has a major wound there caused by frostbite.
Police brutality cases are referred to Collective Aid who takes Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) Reports from every case that they have time to do so to document the police brutality situation.
Subotica Train Tracks
The train tracks run through the city. Many people from Afghanistan and Pakistan live in abandoned buildings along the train tracks. There are many minors living here but we never come across families here as the conditions are too poor. There are approximately one hundred and fifty people living along the railway.
Minor warming himself in the sun. The kettle was boiled at the electric box that has been tampered with to get electricity.
As this area is in the city, they are regularly targeted by the police. The police often raid the places in the early hours of the morning and beat and rob the people. They seem to do this for a few nights and then leave them alone for a week or so. Perhaps it is to do with when they get paid as they only rob the people of money rather than belongings. With no way of making a complaint, these POM have no option but to accept that this will happen.
Recently these raids and cases of police brutality are becoming more and more frequent. During the day on the 1st of March, police raided the train tracks and took the people to the police station and told them they should either pay a fine or they would be taken to the camp in the south. Over one-third of the POMS that the team saw that day had signs of police brutality. Many people arrived back from being transported to camp three hours away in taxis with many injuries which the medical team assisted with.
18-year-old boy from Afghanistan’s injuries following Serbian police brutality on 3rd March 2022. Photo taken on 10th March 2022
One had what he thought was a receipt for the money he had paid at the police station however it was a Decision on Return. Unbeknown to him, this is a declaration that he entered Serbia without legal grounds and therefore legally has to leave Serbia within thirty days. If he does not leave then he can be forcibly removed and in addition following this decision, he cannot apply for asylum in Serbia.
A lone refugee from Afghanistan sat on the train tracks trying to stay warm in the afternoon sun.
Two days later, evictions were carried out in this same location. The police openly in broad daylight beat the POMs as they put them in their vans. One of these locations was very public outside a supermarket with many local people around. The POMs were forced into the vans. There were approximately three police vans, six police cars, and around fifteen police personnel, so ample opportunity for one of the law enforcers to speak out about the brutality used against the POMs.
A young man from Afghanistan sleeping on a disused area of the train tracks after spending the night on the “game” and being pushed back.
Then again on the 8th March, the police had been and targeted the young men living here. They beat and robbed them. One man has a bandage wrapped around his head and a large bruise under his eye. No one wants to stay here, but again these people have no choice after being pushed back night after night.
Distributions of much-needed bags of food outside a squat.
We find many people in this area who are without warm clothing, sleeping bags, and even shoes. Additionally, at the end of last year, a POM was killed on the train tracks. It’s a dangerous place to live. Not only due to the trains but also due to the extremely poor living conditions but also due to the frequent police and fascist attacks. They sleep with their shoes on ready to run from the police. Not having any shoes is a big problem as the train tracks are littered with broken glass, nails and oil from trains.
Two Afghan minors cook over a fire whilst other members from the squat await their turn to cook.
One story from a minor from Afghanistan is a young man aged fifteen years who we met on the train tracks. His English was perfect and he helped with much-needed translation for the team. His family invested everything they have in him so he could make the dangerous trip to the EU in the hope that his asylum claim is accepted and that family reunification would allow them to be together again in a safe place. He has been stuck here for nearly a month now and has been subjected to many beatings from the police.
Srpski Krstur
In Srpski Krstur, there is an informal camp where many people live in tents in a wooded area along the river. Here the river is used as part of the Serbia/Hungary border therefore there is no fence. Many people live in tents in this area so over winter, many people left for official camp or hotels that accept POMs but also a number remained. The numbers are now increasing here. They are all Arabic speakers here and a good mix of Syrians, Iraqis, Tunisians, Moroccans, and Palestinian.
Currently, about seventy people are living here. It is a long walk to the local village here so access to drinking water is not readily available. Many people drink from the river here and we see many gastrointestinal illnesses. During January, the temperature was always below zero during the day. You would see people walking along the riverbank with bags of food that they had bought in inadequate clothing. Tissue damage due to the cold in this area is a problem.
We have started seeing an increase in families in this location and will no doubt see many more in the warmer weather. They generally cross the river here in inflatable boats provided by someone that works for a smuggler. The river here is deep and fast flowing so is very dangerous.
Djala
Last year, the number of families living in Srspski Krstur decreased due to mounting repression by the police. Many relocated to an abandoned house on the outskirts of the village. This squat is where Arabic families stay, mostly from Syria but a few people from Iraq. There are normally ten to twenty adults here with children and young babies at any one time. It is very close to Srpski Krstur so they use the same way to cross the border in boats. This is better for families with young children who cannot climb the fence but also very dangerous in terms of the fast-flowing river.
Here there was a malnourished baby called Yousef. Yousef was just twenty days old when he was found to be very low in weight. With education to the mother about increasing feed and close monitoring of the weight, Yousef became a lot stronger.
It took a lot of coordinating to see Yousef in this time due to his mother desperately going on “game” very regularly. At one point they were gone for several days and made it to the Austrian border to be caught and pushed back to Serbia. During this time they were held outside in freezing conditions by the Hungarian authorities despite the mothers pleading for the month-old baby to be taken inside out the elements.
Yousef, unfortunately, developed a respiratory condition and conjunctivitis following this experience which was successfully treated by the medical team. Recently it was heard that she has made it with her two children to Austria.
It is in the area of Djala and Srpski Krstur that there is a very angry Commissariat. The Commissariat is here to protect the needs of the refugees but this female officer is very difficult. She aggressively speaks to organisations who are there to help and sets them time limits for how long they can be in an area despite the needs of the people.
Sombor
Sombor is on the Serbian/Croatia/Hungary border and is known for its fascist area involvement. People have been photographed who help the POMs here and posted on a Facebook page and death threats have been issued.
Old train carriages on Sombor train tracks where people on the move live.
There is a group of people living in abandoned train carriages most of which are from Afghanistan but some from Pakistan. At the moment about forty people are living here but it has been very few over winter as it is extremely cold to live here. Numbers can raise to between 100 -150 during the spring and summer months.
A tent in one of the many abandoned train carriages at Sombor where people on the move live.
There are a group of minors aged just thirteen years old here. They have been here for some time and are completely alone. You see them playing in amongst the carriages and on the tracks as well as cooking boiled eggs for themselves. The eggs are provided by Collective Aid during their once-weekly food distribution here. This is a horrendous place for these children to be.
Rough hands of a 13-year-old child as he peels an egg he has boiled for himself.
This area is targeted a lot by the police. During raids, they smash the sides of the old train carriages so that in winter it is impossible to stay out of the elements. There are areas along the train tracks where people have wired plugs into the electric boxes so they can charge their phones.
This is common in a lot of squats but is exceedingly dangerous as its mains electricity. There is a squat in the middle of Sombor next to Lidl and a bus station. Here there are a lot of Indians, Pakistani, and Afghans. Numbers are around thirty people in recent weeks and set to rise in spring. It is not a very nice place at all and everyone has respiratory problems due to the cooking being done inside without ventilation. Also. there is a massive scabies problem here.
The cat that lives with the minors in the train carriage with the youn boys, all from Afghanistan in the background.
An old factory outside of town has many people living around. It is mostly Arabic speakers. There can be over one hundred people here but over winter there is on average of about 40-60 people. There is a large amount of rubbish here and a massive rat problem. A few weeks ago, part of the factory where people lived fell down, luckily no one was hurt.
Old abandoned buildings at the factory where many people on the move live, North Serbia
Here a group of young men from Syria who were attempting to cross the border at Kladusa, Bosnia spoke at length about how they had been pushed back and beaten so many times by the Croatian police that they decided to come to try at this border instead. They also experienced this same brutality from the Hungarian police. Here, a young man shows his bruises on his shins following the Hungary authorities catching him, then beating them with batons before pushing them back to Serbia.
Bruises on the shins of a young man from Syria who was beaten by the Hungarian authorities, North Serbia.
Majdan
Majdan is a village on the Serbian/Romanian/ Hungary border which has become an increasingly set route in the winter of 2019/2020. During this time, pushbacks were mostly unheard of so POM’s didn’t ever collect at the border in squats attempting the game, as the passage into Romania was accessible. It was during the summer of 2020 that reports of Pushback materialised and POMS started staying in abandoned houses and a milk factory in this area to attempt the game.
We see a lot of police brutality wounds here mostly due to the Romanian police. People try and get around the fence on the Hungary border by crossing into Romania and then moving upwards. There seem to be more broken bones due to police brutality here than in any of the other places. It is also very poor living conditions with no access to running water and with the nearest official camp fifty kilometres away.
People on the move collecting outside the milk factory as a distribution happens, Majdan North Serbia.
Arabic speakers live in an abandoned milk factory in poor conditions in tents within the building. There are normally approximately fifty people here but this will continue to rise as it gets warmer. There are so many reports of violence from the Romanian police during pushbacks where they use tricks of humiliation as well as violence to try and deter POMs from crossing the border here into Romania.
Additionally, Romania, during pushbacks are denying the people fleeing persecution in Syria and Iraq, the right of claiming asylum. Instead, they were taken to the bordered and told “no asylum here” and whilst being beaten, robbed, their personal belongings destroyed and in some cases attacked by dogs.
This is another place, where if POMs are handed over to the Serbian police by the Romanian authorities after they are denied the right to claim international protection, they receive a Decision on Return, giving them thirty days before they can legally be removed from Serbia.
During some mass evictions in February, a POM managed to conceal his phone. He was on the bus heading south to a camp and messaged to see if it was known where he was going and if there was any assistance for him. He reported a raid at the milk factory by Serbian police. All the POMS were beaten, robbed, hands cable-tied behind their backs and loaded onto buses. They were humiliated and beaten throughout the seven-hour trip south. They were put in a camp and the very next day he left and got the bus back to the north. The polices had slashed all their tents and destroyed his belongs including his asthma inhaler.
A group walking back to Rabe with their food supply given to them at Majdan, North Serbia.
Hotels
Several hotels across the north of Serbia open up their doors to POMs giving them a safe and warm place to stay but obviously like all hotels, at a cost. Many of these places are criticised by local people and may have to pay money to the Serbian mafia to continue providing accommodation to these people in need. The medical teams visit a couple of these hotels, providing much needed medical care to these at-risk people.
Many people with serious frostbite wounds were seen over the cold winter months after being forced into paying for a room as they are unable to live in the cold, poor conditions of the squats due to extreme tissue damage. Many people share a room to reduce the cost but the hotels that accept the medical team do genuinely tend to care greatly about the human suffering they are seeing.
First photo of frost bite injuries to refugee from Syrias hands in North Serbia. The follow up images are too severe to show.
A lot of patients were seen this past month with frostbite due to exposure to the cold. A Syrian man has been seen for the past four weeks after having severe frostbite on all his fingers. He is likely to lose the end of two of his fingers to one of his hands and will need support to access the hospital when the time comes to operate.
The police do come and raid these hotels and like all places they mistreat the POMs, rob them and transport them to camps in the south of the country. Many people return from their trip on the game with injuries caused by brutality from the Hungarian authorities. Again resting their bodies from the beatings before attempting the game again.
Recently a young man from Syria showed us a dog bite. He spoke about the beating he received from the Hungarian police after he was caught. He thought the torture was over and he was free to go but as he walked away, they released the border dog on him and he received a dog bite to his upper arm.
Two men from Syria were assessed who had jumped from the fence between Serbia and Hungary and damaged their ankles. As they couldn’t mobilise during their pushback, they had an x-ray whilst in Hungary, and their ankles were found not to be broken. However, as they could not walk at all, they were given blood thinning injections to prevent blood clots before them being returned to Serbia through the gate and left out in the cold on the other side.
As the refugees from Ukraine are welcomed into the EU borders, these forgotten people stuck at the EU external border of Serbia continue to be the forgotten ones. Left bruised, robbed and traumatised time and time again, frustration amongst humanitarian workers grow as they watch limited but much need funding moved from here to the borders of Ukraine. Our hearts break for the people trapped here, whose only crime is in the eyes of some, is their lack of white European features. I ask myself regularly where is the compassion?
Frank Armstrong recalls two overland trips into Ukraine in 2015. The first was through the former Czechoslovak territory around Uzhhorod, as well as the former Polish city of Lviv or Lviv. Later that year he travelled by bus as far as Kiev and then east as far as Dniperpetrovsk.
Part 1 Summer, 2015
Crossing from Slovakia into Trans-Carpathian Ukraine at the Çop junction, trains from the West halt in deference to the different rail gauges used on the other side. Stalin contrived this to prevent easy entry for invading armies; or escape. Crossing the frontier into the former Soviet Union might instil a little trepidation even into a seasoned traveller.
Çop train station.
An illuminating mural in the cavernous train station depicts heroic scenes of a triumphant Socialism. Beyond at the platforms, trains retain wooden benches that recall another age. I knew I had left a rapidly converging Europe when the conductor smilingly declined payment after I presented too large a denomination.
I was among three other visitors to Ukraine arriving by train from Slovakia, although a border guard told me frequent car trips are made to avail of cheap petrol. The frustration of waiting inside a stationary carriage – akin to a panelled sardine tin – during a heatwave was offset by the friendliness of customs officials who simply checked for contraband medicines. No visa is required for EU visitors but the continued low-level warfare in the faraway east is deterring visitors despite a favourable Euro to Hryvnia exchange rate.
The River Uzh in Uhherod.
Borders are often a legacy of ancient battles or coincide with impassable mountain ranges or rivers that deterred conquest and absorption. A change in topography often gives rise to socio-economic boundaries; shifts from upland, semi-nomadic pastoralism to settled arable land bringing larger settlements: different political regimes and ethnic compositions may arise.
On the road between Uzhhorod and Lviv.
But twentieth-century Europe brought more artificial borders imposed by distant remote peace treaties or later omnipotent Superpowers, and saw the decline of multi-ethnic empires. Thus, Hungary was reduced from one part of a dual Austro-Hungarian Empire to a disgruntled rump that ruefully surveys its over two million ethnic brethren in neighbouring countries. The hated Treaty of Trianon after World War I was reflected in that country’s alignment with Nazi Germany during World War II. Revanchist Hungary remains a potential source of instability.
Traditional hay stacks between Lviv and Uzhhorod.
There is no obvious difference in terrain between Trans-Carpathian Ukraine and eastern Slovakia, and the region contains a sizeable Hungarian minority. Yet as one travels into the surrounding countryside a different agriculture becomes apparent: a shift from the ubiquitous cash crop of maize on the Slovak side to traditional hay stacks in Ukraine, seemingly gathered in traditional manner with scythe and pitch fork. Since the twentieth century, political frontiers have acted like natural boundaries accentuating patterns of development.
On the road between Uzhhorod and Lviv.
In Eastern Europe north of the Balkans, the legacy of Soviet victory in World War II remains largely intact. Apart from the relatively amicable separation of Czech Republic from Slovakia in 1993 the frontiers are unchanged. The recent land grab by Russia of Crimea and incursion of irregular troops into Donetsk may herald a more turbulent phase in European history. Borders rarely shift without an accompanying tide of blood, even more perilous in an era of mutually assured destruction.
Lviv
The most dramatic territorial legacy of World War II was Poland’s westward shift, forcibly ceding significant territory to the Soviet Union in return for large swathes of eastern Germany. Millions of Poles were removed from their ancestral homes and re-located in the west. Among the territory lost was the historic city of Lviv (Lvov to Poles) to Ukraine.
Prior to World War II, it contained a population two-thirds Polish. It is now almost entirely Ukrainian although reminders of the Polish period include a statue to their national poet Adam Mickiewicz, who was actually born in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.
Lviv.
Lvov was annexed by the Austrian Hapsburg Empire (and re-named Lemberg) in 1772, in the first Partition of Poland, becoming capital of Galicia which was the poorest province of the Empire. But this period left a remarkable architectural legacy that prompted UNESCO to designate the historic centre as ‘World Heritage’.
Today Lviv as it is now called is relatively prosperous, drawing a large number of tourists from neighbouring Poland. Predictably the old city is fringed by a swathe of functionalist Soviet-era apartment blocks, but it retains an abundance of old world charm and the hum of cafés that spill onto carless streets.
Lviv.
There are nonetheless signs of a country at war with stands erected by the extreme nationalist Svoboda Party supporting the war effort and offensive toilet roll featuring a picture of Vladimir Putin available in souvenir shops. I spoke to one women of student age who railed against a terrorist, separatist threat to the integrity of the state. She could have been mistaken for someone referring to the existential threat posed by ‘enemies of the people’ in Soviet times. The uncompromising language of extremism is unmistakable.
Lviv.
The demise of the archaic, multinational Hapsburg Empire after World War I might be seen as the death knell for so-called Mitteleuropa. Most successor states that emerged in the Versailles settlement were inspired by a nationalist vision promoting a singular cultural identity, and hostile to diversity within the confines of the state. In contrast during the imperial era cities at least were a mosaic of religious and linguistic groups.
Market stall, Lviv.
The population of ethnically variegated Mitteleuropa was particularly unsuited to the identification of a nation with a single state that reached a violent apotheosis with the Nazi ideology of the master race.
Lviv.
Transnational Jewry were the most obvious victims, but anti-Semitism was not limited to the Nazis, continuing into the Cold War-era: as late as the 1960s thousands of Jews fled Poland in the wake of a number of purges.
Jews had flocked to Poland in great numbers at the end of the Middle Ages due to the tolerance shown there compared with in the rest of Europe. It became known as paradisus Iudaeorum (paradise for the Jews) and contained two thirds of the continent’s Jewish population. Great centres of learning were establish in cities including Lviv, and agrarian settlements known as shtetl that contained many layers of Jewish life dotted the countryside. There Yiddish, a Germanic language written in Hebrew script, found its highest expression.
Lviv.
The writings of Joseph Roth (1894-1939) recall the extraordinary cultural diversity of the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg Empire. Born a Jew in the city of Brody near Lviv in the province of Galicia, The Radetzky March is a paean to the fallibility of that Empire; his journalistic account of Eastern European Jews, The Wandering Jews, remains a valuable insight into the remarkable diversity of the Jewish populace.
Roth despised the numerous frontiers erected in his lifetime, that impeded his passage and that of many others throughout Europe. He wrote
a human life nowadays hangs from a passport as it once used to hang by the fabled thread. The scissors once wielded by the Fates have come into the possession of consulates, embassies and plain clothes men.
The possession of a particular passport at that time was indeed a matter of life or death.
A melancholic alcoholic, Roth committed suicide in Paris in 1939 just before the Europe he knew was consumed by the fires of hatred.
The Versailles settlement also created what now seems the curious state of Czechoslovakia, stretching almost a thousand miles from east to west, as a homeland for Czechs, Slovaks and Ukrainians (or Rusyns as they were then known), but also containing large and disgruntled German and Hungarian minorities.
In the aftermath of the Munich Agreement of 1938 which dismembered that country, the far eastern province of Ruthenia containing most of that Ukrainian population was annexed by Hungary, but was transferred to Ukraine itself after the arrival of the Red Army in 1945.
The First Czechoslovak Republic was a microcosm of the Hapsburg Empire with republican institutions. Although clearly dominated by its Czech constituent, many of its first leaders such as Thomas Masaryk were socially progressive, and eschewed narrow-minded nationalism.
It is perhaps Europe’s tragedy that his vision of a multi-ethnic democratic state did not endure.
The Europe of Joseph Roth and Thomas Masarky was torn asunder by the twin hydras of Nazism and Stalinism. Ironically one of the groups that suffered most was the German populations who were forced out of their ancestral lands across Eastern Europe, many thousands perishing in the process.
Europe is the poorer for the homogeneity of many states.
Perhaps the arrival of the idea of a political and cultural Europe might generate a more accommodating reaction to minorities, but unfortunately attitudes in Ukraine suggest the idea of Europe itself can be exclusionary, as if humans feel the need to find an oppositional Other.
Lviv.
This exclusionary idea of Europe is not limited to Ukraine as vociferous Hungary and several nearby states also identify enemies within. The Romany people remain a pitiable underclass in most places they live.
Latterly migrants fleeing political turmoil in the Middle East have been greeted by barbed wire fences on the Hungarian border.
We have yet to reach an epoch when cultural diversity is seen as a boon. It would be tragic if the political idea of a Europe, a response to the conflagrations of the early twentieth century could become the case of further conflict.
Part II, Autumn, 2015
Ukrainians like to say they live in the largest fully European country. That scale is enhanced by a transport infrastructure relying on unwieldy, Soviet-era rail and roads that are mostly potholed outside of a few stretches of motorway, as I discovered to my discomfort on a recent trip into eastern Ukraine. Moreover, with average salaries less than €200 per month travel is a rare luxury for most in this profoundly unequal society. In a country of great diversity and relative youth, national identity is fragile.
Kyiv.
The depredations of the Soviet era when Ukraine was theoretically an autonomous republic but really an integral part of a vast imperium are apparent in the unforgiving architecture of its cities. In the outskirts of Kiev, as elsewhere, tower blocks loom at heights unknown in Western Europe, and inside the capital concrete monoliths sully the splendour of a pre-Revolutionary heritage that includes the UNESCO medieval site of Santa Sophia Cathedral.
Kyiv.
The deadening weight of the Communist aesthetic recalls the advice of Marxist theorist George Lukács:
What is crucial is that reality as it seems to be should be thought of as something man cannot change and its unchangeability should have the force of a moral imperative.
In the long shadow of imposing structures and heroic monuments people would accept the inevitability of the triumph of Communism. Alas, since independence in 1991 the trend has been to replace this with the brash sheen of American capitalism, an implicit genuflection to the Cold War victor and its consumerism.
Kyiv.
Obviously architecture was the least of the excesses of Communism in Ukraine. That mantle is reserved for their great famine known as Holodomor when Stalin’s policy of de-kulakization (1929-1932) killed something between two and seven million Ukrainians and annihilated the social fabric of village life: either you took a job in a collective or went to a city elsewhere in the Soviet Union.
Kyiv.
Simultaneously, entire nations, including the Tartars who once occupied Crimea, were forcibly relocated to different parts of the empire. This destruction was compounded by the German invasion in World War II, although Ukrainians had an ambivalent, and in some cases collaborative, relationship with the Nazis during over two years of occupation.
Kyiv.
Today in Ukraine most cities in the south and east are Russian-speaking. Parentage is often, unsurprisingly, mixed: a group of young professionals I met in the city of Dniperpetrovsk revealed ancestry Ukrainian, Russian and even Tartar. All spoke Russian as their first language but considered themselves Ukrainian. Even religion, historically, did not separate Ukrainians from Russians as both followed the Greek Orthodox rite. It evoked the question: what does it mean to be Ukrainian beyond living within the borders of that state?
Kyiv
A civic nationalism divorced from the kind of destructive ethnic identification that bedevilled the break-up of Yugoslavia would minimise lethal divides. But the current taste for symbols of Ukrainian identity, such as the surge in popularity for traditional dress, suggests this is not on the agenda. Pride in cultural inheritance can easily be skewed towards atavistic violence.
Kyiv.
I discovered an increasing despondency among my new-found friends at the capacity of Ukraine’s politicians to bring meaningful improvement to the country. Each revolution, including the latest Euromaidan against the staggering corruption of former President Victor Yanukovych has brought disappointment. The oligarchs remain dominant, led from the front by billionaire President Petro Poroshenko, the richest man in the country.
According to a recent report from the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group a desultory one in five cases against high-ranking officials ends with conviction and imprisonment.
River Dniper, Dniperpetrovsk.
The aspirations of the young and dynamic quivering at the possibility of joining the European mainstream remain frustrated. Inevitably in some quarters there is nostalgia for a more authoritarian era proximately represented by Vladimir Putin’s Russia. According to my friends in Dniperpetrovsk the divisions in Ukraine are often generational.
Dniperpetrovsk.
Nearby Donetsk is still controlled by Russian-led insurgents. An unsteady ceasefire has held there since September. There have even been attempts, as in Russia, to rehabilitate Stalin. The city was previously called Stalino. Nostalgia for the Soviet Empire is being incubated.
Russian aggression feeds extreme Ukrainian nationalism. Military build-ups have pernicious effects wherever they are found. In Kiev an array of tanks is parked outside the foreign ministry and the distinctive grey camouflage of the Ukrainian army now seems a fashion accessory, most of all for supporters of the far-right Svoboda (Truth) party.
Kyiv.
An encounter I had with one character in a Kiev hostel was revealing. When I said I was Irish he proclaimed his admiration for the IRA, and was a little put out to hear that I was not a supporter of what he perceived as another underdog fighting an imperial foe. The fighters against the Russian-led rebels in Donetsk were his heroes.
Ukraine offers huge rewards for Russia. It is an agricultural powerhouse, once the bread basket of the Soviet Union, and today is the world’s fifth largest corn producer and the largest producer of sunflower oil. Further, although corruption even extends to the awarding of degrees, its educated population especially in technical disciplines are an important asset.
Kyiv.
All nations have their myths that bind disparate groups together inside one state. The complication for Ukraine is that its history is deeply entwined with that of Russia’s. Even the name ‘Rus’ originates in the medieval kingdom with its capital Kiev established by Viking colonists before it was gradually Slavicised. Ukrainian identity was forged through contact with neighbouring empires: first the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that once stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea, and afterwards the partitions of Poland beginning in the eighteenth century, under the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg Empire which served as a hothouse for numerous nationalist identities, including Zionism and Nazism.
Memorial to victims of the Holocaust, Dniperpetrovsk.
As their language crystallised in a form and with a script different to that of Russian, and poets especially Taras Shevchenko illuminated a national character, nineteenth century nationalists turned to the Cossacks as a distinguishing source of identity.
Historical Museum, Dniperpetrovsk.
Translated as ‘free man’, Cossacks were bands of escaped serfs that resisted the Catholicism of their Polish landlords and established military settlements along the Dniper and elsewhere, in the late Middle Ages. Their indomitable spirit strikes a chord with modern Ukrainians and is resurrected in re-creating of their settlements in Dniperpetrovsk’s impressive historical museum. The tragedy for the Cossacks was that after throwing off the shackles of the Polish nobility they succumbed to the Russian Empire. This has an obvious contemporary resonance.
Passing through the interior, where vast fields stretch beyond the horizon, one sees the great possibilities for this country. Encountering the wide-eyed interest of people in world affairs, their knowledge generally beyond that of their Western European counterparts, fosters a visitor’s optimism; witnessing small kindnesses from those with few possessions is touching. But the current system is failing people and the longer that endures the further the already pronounced wealth inequalities will grow, and with that the entrenchment of petty tyrannies.
Russian Dolls, Kyiv.
Membership of the European Union is not a panacea for Ukraine. Ensuing emigration could lead to a crippling brain drain, and a free market could be problematic in some sectors. But equally Europe cannot allow a new Iron Curtain to develop. In the end Ukraine needs to find an accommodation with its Russian neighbour to whose fate it is bound.
Young Ukrainians need reassurance that their country can be reformed. Countering Lukács: reality as it seems to be ought to be thought of as something we can change.
Versions of these articles were originally published in Village Magazine.
A hundred years on from the blood-stained birth of a partitioned island of Ireland, another European country faces the prospect of settlement or war. If any people should understand the Ukrainian Question it is surely the Irish, who also confront a larger and far more powerful neighbour, a shared history and religion, and a population divided along ethnic lines.
It is important to understand that a significant minority of Ukraine‘s population consider themselves Russian. Indeed, there are striking parallels with the conflict on the island of Ireland.
In the North of Ireland a majority consider themselves British first and Irish second, just as in eastern Ukraine and the Crimea a majority consider Russian their primary identity. The roots of these ethnic divisions are also similar: Northern Protestants in Ireland arrived as planters in the wake of invasion in the seventeenth century; just as ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine and the Crimea arrived during the conflicts of the early twentieth century.
Both modern Russia and Ukraine trace their origins to the establishment of the Kievan Rus Federation, a loose federation of east Slavic, Baltic and Finnic people from the late ninth to the mid-thirteenth century. This is how Russia acquired its name, and Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, too. Shared claims of ancestry endure to the present through the personage of the eleventh century Prince Yaroslav the Wise. Thus, Ukraine awards the order of Prince Yaroslav for services to the state, while a Russian frigate patrolling the Baltic also carries his name. Yaroslav’s image also appears on bank notes in both countries.
The most probable (live) picture of the Yaroslav the Wise is his seal.
Collapse of the Soviet Union
More recently, in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 a slew of post-Soviet Republics declared independence, and began a perilous journey towards sovereignty and democracy.
The Soviet Union, particularly under the rule of Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) had modernised and terrorised Russia and its subordinate states in equal measure. And, just as the Catholic minority in seventeenth century Ulster suffered at the hands of state-sponsored pogroms and appropriation of land, the Ukraine did not escape the brutality of the Soviet Union’s inhumane policies of state-sponsored murder, cultural oppression and famine.
It is always easy to retreat behind a flag or portrait when facing down an enemy, or to take refuge in language, culture and identity politics when justifying belligerence. It is more difficult to engage with geopolitical and cultural realities and mediate conflicts between states.
Crucially, Russia’s most important ally, China, will back them economically should Russia be targeted with further sanctions. Russia with its continental landmass, seemingly infinite resources, nuclear arsenal and modern professional military is a force to be reckoned with. In terms of resolving the conflict over Ukraine, Western strategists should recognise Russia’s regional interests, and the balance of power.
A mutually acceptable settlement is urgently required to avoid military conflict, the repercussions of which are likely to include an unprecedented energy crisis in Europe, another wave of refugees and, potentially, a global economic recession.
Ethnic Divisions
Ukraine is a country divided, essentially, along ethnic lines; an industrialised east and Crimea with its strategic ports and access to the Black Sea being almost entirely Russian speaking, with strong cultural, political and indeed financial connections to Russia.
The most recent Ukrainian government assessment of the scale of the ethnic Russian population puts this at approximately 17.5% of the total, a figure not dissimilar to the proportion of Protestant Unionists living on the island of Ireland.
It is simplistic to cast Russia as a deviant nation hellbent on suppressing and oppressing its neighbours, particularly those previously a part of the Soviet Union. The truth is far more complex.
The idea of the Soviet Union continues to exert an influence over populations in Russia’s ‘Near Abroad’. There are also tens of millions of ethnic Russians living in former Soviet Republics, including in Ukraine where a person could identify simultaneously as Ukrainian and Russian, as in the North of Ireland where dual identities are common.
Inevitably, the current Russian government under Vladimir Putin also has regard to a long history of foreign incursions from Napoleon to Hitler, through Ukraine, and that this area was the bread basket of the Soviet Union. Despite war in the east of Ukraine since 2014 strong economic ties remain, which could be stimulated further in the event of détente.
The recurring insistence we hear from Western commentators that Russia harbours secret desires to dominate these post-Soviet territories simplifies a complex scenario. Many would argue that NATO should have been disbanded at the end of the Cold War, rather than expanding into former satellite states of the Soviet Union.
Russia has suffered significant deprivations since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It has prosecuted several wars, most notably in Chechnya on two occasions and also against Georgia. Most recently it has supported ethnic Russian separatist in the east of Ukraine that perceived a threat to their identity. Recently, ethnic Russians unable to speak Ukrainian were excluded from civil service positions by an Act of the Ukrainian parliament.
A simplistic Western view of Russia as an aggressor ignores the Russian government’s perceived obligation to protect its people, who by an accident of history find themselves beyond the protection of its borders.
The idea that an increasingly resurgent Russia would simply abandon ethnic Russians to an increasingly nationalist Ukraine is naive.
Imbalanced Reporting
While giving ample space to Russian military involvement in the east of Ukraine and alleged war crimes involving ethnic Russian militias, Western media is more reticent on the infiltration of the Ukrainian armed forces by far right groups, nor has it highlighted attacks on ethnic Russians by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Moreover, NATO‘s past performances during catastrophic, and illegal, interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq do not instil confidence regarding their benign intentions, certainly from a Russian perspective. NATO’s membership includes Turkey under Erdogan, Hungary under Orban, an increasingly regressive Poland, and post-Brexit U.K..
Political Scientist John Joseph Mearsheimer has pointed to Western interference, ill-advised foreign policy and a lack of understanding of regional geopolitics as the origin of the current situation in Ukraine. He also refers to a lack of trust existing between NATO and Russia, particularly in the light of alleged promises to the latter at the end of the Cold War.
To understand the dynamics currently playing out between Ukraine and Russia we should examine Ukraine’s Maidan Revolt in 2014. Depending on your perspective or ethnic identity it was either a cynical coup backed by Western intelligence agencies or a moment of national re-awakening, asserting Ukraine’s ‘Western’ identity.
What is indisputable is that the democratically elected government – whatever its faults – under a pro-Russian President, Viktor Yanukovych, was ousted over a period of four months. It began peacefully, but descended into violence perpetrated by both sides. The outcome is a polarisation of Ukrainian society, with NATO and the E.U. overtly supporting Ukrainian nationalists and Russia supporting ethnic Russian separatists.
Map of the Russo-Georgian War.
Parallels
There are parallels between the current brinksmanship in Ukraine and the Russian conflict with Georgia in 2008. From a Russian outlook, Georgia had been led by the nose into the disputed Russian-speaking territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia after a promise of NATO support. When battle was joined, however, no such support materialised, and the Russian military easily defeated the Georgian incursion, pursuing its forces into Georgia proper.
Today some Ukrainian commentators are cautioning against reliance on a NATO that foments conflict, seemingly without being willing to enter the fray.
British and American officials claim they will stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, but are refusing to put troops on the ground; although they are willing to send lethal weaponry to Ukraine, no doubt to the satisfaction of an arms industry that President Eisenhower once described as the Military Industrial Complex.
It now behoves a non-aligned State such as Ireland with an intimate understanding of ethnic conflict, and now a full U.N. Security Council member, to recognise the interests of both sides in what is in many respects a civil war arising out of the legacy of the Soviet Union. Rather than echoing the bellicose statements of one side, Ireland should be attempting to mediate a solution to avoid a proxy conflict between nuclear powers.
Featured Image: Pro-Russian protesters in Donetsk, 9 March 2014
“Nuances”is a work in progress by South American documentary maker Fellipe Lopes. Since May 2021, Lopes has been on the ground in some of the most notorious refugee camps in Europe, on the Greek island of Lesvos (Lesbos), just off the coast of Turkey.
“Nuances” seeks to understand the ‘refugee crisis’ from the perspective of asylum seekers and refugees, and their relationship with humanitarian workers and volunteers living and working on the island. Lopes is soon to finish the interviews and the recording of the documentary. Until now, Lopes has been working voluntarily, at his own expense. He has now started a Kickstarter to crowdsource €7,000 for the next stage of the project, including post production and distribution.
Daniele Idini (DI): How long have you been in Lesvos now and what’s the situation like?
Fellipe Lopes (FL): So I have been in Lesvos for the last six months and working on this documentary since I arrived. This documentary is a collection of interviews with asylum seekers, refugees, migrants explaining the challenges they are facing. It seems like they basically have only one option when it comes to work, which is basically to work as an interpreter. And this is not something that makes all the migrants and refugees happy because they are revisiting all the trauma through other people’s experience.
DI: So basically, you are saying this work is, in a way, necessary for the camp’s operation, but is, in a way, preventing migrants from escaping the camp’s system,.
FL: Exactly. These migrants are well suited to this kind of work, because they often speak the necessary languages – it might be Farsi, or Arabic, Lingala or French. They also can understand the struggles other refugees have been through, having experienced similar things themselves. On the other hand, however, they have ended up working in the humanitarian sector when they actually need humanitarian support.
This is one of the topics covered in the documentary. Another issue, is the kind of social and legal challenges humanitarian workers are facing here. It’s about the authorities. The role of the police force and the army in regards to upholding the right of media coverage.
The documentary is set with the island of Lesvos, and its capital Myteline, in the background. But the documentary centres on the stories that happen inside the camp, stories that happens outside of the camp, and the reasons and motivations for those asylum seekers coming to Greece. And as well, we have a really interesting part of the documentary that examines the pushback happening here in the Aegean Sea, which divides Turkey and Greece.
We have a lawyer who’s been working around issues related to pushbacks for the last five years. We also have a German journalist who’s been covering all the pushbacks as well for the last three years. Obviously, the situation in Lesbos is so dynamic and things are changing rapidly. It’s been really challenging for me to keep up with this story. Things have moved so fast, and that’s maybe the reason I’m still here, and will stay a little bit longer, because these are stories that are developing.
The dynamics in the camps are changing, which is new. They call this the new camp, which is where they’re trying to reduce the number of asylum seekers. Since the fire that happened last year, the government promised to build a new camp. But this never happened, basically because the local community are against new camps in the area. As a result, the temporary camps have become the de facto new camp.
DI: So your documentary also tackles the relationship between the refugee camps and the local community?
FL: Yes. I spoke with locals. Some are understanding of the necessity for a new camp. With that said, whether there is a new one or not, there are still 3,000 migrants on the island awaiting resolution of their cases. – building a new camp won’t solve the problem. they need to be processed
Obviously, the freedom of these people is highly restricted.
In the end, everything goes back to the camp. It isn’t a liveable reality. There are no schools in the camp and there’s only precarious legal and medical support.
Last week, a woman passed away inside of the camp, for example. This is the reality that is happening in Lesvos. And everybody expects another massive wave of asylum seekers coming to Greece due to the situation in Afghanistan. Less and less will reach the Greek shore, however, because of the increased activity of the Greek coastguard and the European Frontex.
Demonstration in support to Afghanistan.
DI: Why should the general public support the making of this documentary?
FL: It’s an overview of a situation that’s happening in Europe; it’s happening in Greece, through Greek laws, through the Greek system. But there are comparable problems in terms of the pushback between Bosnia and Croatia. The same thing is happening between Belarus and Poland. The same thing is happening in the Mediterranean Sea, between Libya and Italy, in Libya itself, and in Spain.
This documentary shows that there is still a massive flood of refugees coming to Europe and obviously the policies in place are not facilitating those asylum seekers to claim asylum in Greece. This documentary is set in Lesvos, but it records something that is happening throughout Europe’s borders.
People keep using this term a ‘refugee crisis’. This is a mistake. More than a refugee crisis, there is a policy crisis.
What we’re witnessing is a series of legal decisions that are impacting the lives of those who are exercising a right to apply for asylum in Europe. These people are not criminals. The Geneva Convention guarantees them a right to apply for asylum. But this right is not being upheld properly. People are waiting one, two, three, or even over five years to have their claims processed.
Interview edited for brevity and clarity by Ben Pantrey.
So where do we go from here? Better still how do we even begin to unravel the pain, sorrow and hardship, Afghans have endured over decades?
Do we start with the American invasion twenty years ago? Its objective was to end terrorism as part of the ‘War on Terror’ after the September 11 attacks.
"The US government is the guardian of the wealth and material comfort to which we have become accustomed, and most of us, including myself, are, in the final analysis, unwilling to countenance the alternative. That is what was scary about September 11."https://t.co/mK2fn8nZXE
Can we usefully employ a time line of American and NATO interference in the internal affairs of the Afghan people, and a prelude to the invasion of Iraq? Or should we look to events before 2001?
If we cannot ignore the transgressions of the Taliban while in power, surely we cannot ignore how they came to power in the first place? So let us assess the period prior to the rise of the Taliban.
Bloodless Coup
After three Anglo-Afghan Wars between 1839 and 1919, a monarchy continued to rule Afghanistan, until a bloodless coup was led by General and former Prime minister Mohammed Daoud Khan on July 17, 1973.
Daoud Khan, c. 1974.
Born into the Royal family, he deposed the King and inaugurated a one-party political system, with himself as supreme leader and President of the Republic of Afghanistan.
Economic reforms were promised but failed to materialise as events on the ground became unstable. As President, Khan purged the Soviet-aligned Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan. One of its leaders was assassinated and several of its officials arrested.
Many went into hiding before a military coup on April 28, 1978 deposed Daoud Khan. He and his family were killed and a secular Communist government was established.
Cold War
With Afghanistan now led by a secular, pro-Soviet government at the height of a Cold War between U.S. capitalism and Soviet communist ideologies, the stage was set for a proxy war, financed by the United States to destabilise the country and trapping Soviet troops in a Vietnam-type quagmire of military entanglement.
U.S. President Reagan meeting with Afghan mujahideen at the White House in 1983.
Historians have claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency set out to recruit, arm, finance and train Islamic fundamentalists. These jihadists were adherents to the Wahabbi strain of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia. This radicalised the indigenous population providing the impetus for an armed opposition against the government of Afghanistan. While opposition to the Communist government was already established, it was about to be financed by America, Saudi Arabia, and others. Pakistan was already a haven for the Afghan opposition.
Under Operation Cyclone the Central Intelligence Agency of America financed and armed the Afghan opposition between 1979 and 1989
The civil war that erupted was between the secular government of Afghanistan who had invited the Soviet Army into Afghanistan to help store order, and the so-called mujihadeen, led by among others, Ahmad Shah Massoud, and considered by Rober D. Kaplan to be one of the greatest guerrilla leaders of the twentieth century; joined later by Saudi Arabian, Osama Bin Laden, the so-called Arab-Afghanis what went on to form Al-Qaeda (the base).
Ahmad Shah Massoud
The protagonists were ready, the stage was set, and the actors employed, armed and financed, before the war began in earnest, culminating in the collapse of Mohammad NajiBullah’s Soviet-aligned regime in April 1992
The mujahideen trained and financed by the American government had succeeded in destroying the secular government, before a government led by the Taliban (meaning ‘students’ or ‘truth seekers’) eventually seized Kabul in 1996.
The Taliban emerged in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar around September 1994.
From that point on human rights were repressed and women especially were forced to conform to a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
America had won the proxy war. But their surrogate army repressed women and arguably de-evolved human rights by a hundred years. Yet the American administration remained full of self-congratulatory smugness in the wake of victory against a Cold War foe.
Then began the systemic misrule of Afghanistan by the reactionary forces of Islam, the Taliban, supported by Pakistan.
Within the mujahideen an internal struggle began between the so-called Northern Alliance forces and the Taliban. This struggle ended with the American-led invasion of 2001.
Pakistan and its Inter-Services Intelligence agency ISI played a major role on behalf of America during the mujahideen revolt and harbored its leaders. Many of those who fought with the mujahideen were not Afghans but Islamic extremists, mostly from other Arab countries.
In the wake of September 11th, amidst claims of Al-Qaeda Islamic militants training in Afghanistan, and the country a hotbed for fundamentalist Islamists, America blamed Bin Laden and others for the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers.
Although nearly all those accused of perpetrating the atrocity were Saudi Arabian, and the only planes allowed to leave America in the immediate aftermath of the attacks contained Osama bin Laden’s wealthy family, America duly attacked Afghanistan. This occurred despite claims the Taliban had offered to help America hold those responsible to account.
The Taliban had been part of the mujahideen front which took control of Afghanistan. The Taliban now controlled 90% of the country, while various warlords and drugs gangs involved in the Northern Alliance controlled the countries northeast corner.
The former puppets of American imperialism the mujahideen, now the Taliban, went from Washington’s brave fighters for freedom to the terrorists who needed to be rooted out and destroyed, when America and its allies bombed parts of Afghanistan back to the stone age.
A twenty-year invasion and occupation, costing an estimated two trillion dollars alongside countless Allied and Afghan deaths has finally ended. Thus American troops withdrew in a humiliating retreat on August 31st, 2021.
What next?
I asked at the beginning of this piece, What next for Afghanistan? Well, I fear more violence destabilisation death, and destruction?=.
The Taliban now claim they want to pursue national reconciliation with the Northern Alliance, but who would benefit from the disruption of this initiative?
The new Sino-Soviet cooperation in rebuilding an economic supply line through a revitalised economic Eurasia – the Belt and Road Initiative – may become the real target of American, and European, sanctions.
There may be no U.S. or NATO boots on the ground any longer but the economic cooperation policies pursued by China and Russia to include vast investment in infrastructure projects throughout Eurasia, including Afghanistan, may yet give rise to a new proxy war aimed at destabilising the Taliban government. In reality it will be yet another war against Russian, and now Chinese economic cooperation in the region. A continuation of the age old Great Game.
Afghan tribesmen (in British service) in 1841
The War on Terror is nothing more than a capitalist-imperialist attack on democracy and the freedom of sovereign nations, led by those who claim to cherish democracy and freedom yet continually bomb, invade, sanction, murder, displace and maim millions in the name of humanitarian intervention.
I fear Afghanistan will not see peace and stability any time soon, and expect the Northern Alliance and even Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan (or ISIS-K) to be used and directed by America to disrupt China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
On March 11th, 2020 the first case of Covid-19 was diagnosed in Turkey, followed by the first mortality on March 15th. Then on April 1st Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that cases had spread all over Turkey. So how has the pandemic been managed since? And how have measures affected people.
A total of 5.34 million cases have been diagnosed by May 2021, with 48,795 people losing their lives. Various measures have been implemented in Turkey, with opinions divided on whether they have been too harsh or too lenient.
The first restriction was placed on air travel, with the installation of thermal cameras on airlines. As of March 11th, 2020 flights from China to Turkey were put on hold. Also, an attempts were made to allow Turkish citizens to return to Turkey from Iran, but with an obligatory 14-day quarantine period in a government facility.
Afterwards, passengers returning from Umrah for religious purposes were allowed to quarantine at home. This brought opposition amidst fears the disease would spread. In response student dormitories were used for those returning from Umrah. There was, however, a reaction to this from both students and those placed in quarantine, especially as the students were suddenly removed from their dormitories.
Restrictions were also imposed on overland travel. The borders with neighbouring Iran were closed. After the initial period, restrictions continued to be imposed on various flights and areas within a framework of broader rules. In addition to the use of masks and similar precautions, the Ministry of Health in Turkey launched a mobile health app that was supposed to be used by everyone, called HES (Hayat EveSığar – Life Fits Into Home). This made access to airlines and similar places easier. However, question marks lingered around how well the system worked.
Specific precautions were also taken in public areas as well. Schools, sports competitions and cultural and artistic events were suspended. Online education modules were offered to students. Restaurants, cafes and bars were also forced to close, and asked to switch to takeaway.
Offices were recommended to work remotely. However, many workplaces unable to do so at that time attempted to protect themselves through their own initiatives.
Restrictions were also imposed on working hours as a precautions for employees, although, measures were not followed strictly by many employers. The situation caused financial difficulties for many companies, especially restaurants and cafes. Many claimed that that the government support packages were insufficient.
Alongside this, citizens aged sixty-five and over were asked to ‘cocoon’ from March 22nd, 2020. Those under the age of twenty were also subsequently required to quarantine. Later, a 48-hour lockdown was declared in thirty-one provinces. This was announced by the Minister of the Interior Süleyman Soylu just two hours before it applied, which caused a certain degree of panic.
People rushed to markets and shops in surprise, and the crowds of people were unable to maintain social distance as crowding ensued in many markets and bazaars, which led to the resignation of the Minister. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan refused to accept his resignment however. So the Minister kept his job.
On May 10th, 2020, the transition period to a controlled social life began. However, in reality for many the transition period had already been happening, as many, old and young had refused to obey the prohibitions in the first place. Retail stores in most shopping malls across Turkey were allowed to open from May 11th.
On July 1st, 2020, venues such as cinemas, theatres, and cultural and artistic centres opened in accordance with various rules. Later, on July 21, 2020, restrictions on the hours of businesses such as cafes and restaurants were also lifted.
By mid-July, however, case numbers has doubled, but this did not translate into an increase in the number of patients in hospitals. For this reason, the public began to question the authenticity of the number of cases.
At the same time, the Minister of Health’s statement that only those who show symptoms should be considered sick created a question mark in people’s minds.
On January 1st, 2021, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca stated that fifteen people had been detected with the so-called U.K. variant. As a result, the Minister of Health temporarily halted all arrivals from the U.K. By January 2nd, 2021, variants of the Covid-19 virus first detected in the U.K., South Africa and Brazil were discovered for the first time in Turkey. This has heightened anxiety in many people.
From the beginning of 2020 vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, SinoVac, Moderna, Sputnik V and AstraZeneca became available around the world. Two vaccines were offered in Turkey, first SinoVac and then Pfizer/BioNTech.
This led to questioning as to which one was more effective, and what were the side effects. Especially on social media, many articles and appeared about the side effects. Many worried about being vaccinated, while others wanted to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
The government set up a priority list for who should be vaccinated. President Erdoğan himself received a first dose when the social vaccination process began on January 14th.
Then, more than 250,000 health workers received their first dose. The vaccination process continued in line with the groups determined after health workers: people aged 65 and over started to be vaccinated according to their wishes.
With the vaccination process being carried out through family doctors, some complained about over-crowding and disorder. Many just wanted to get their vaccinations and return home as soon as possible.
Over time, teachers, soldiers and policemen were offered the jab. Afterwards, the vaccination process continued with the determined priority groups.
A total of over 34.8 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Turkey. The number of fully vaccinated people stands at 13.8 million out of a population of over eighty million.
However, the public has been worried about this vaccination process, and continues to be, amid rumours the vaccines don’t work, and worries around side effects.
As in many countries, the pandemic has witnessed a shift towards online work in Turkey. Businesses and individuals have developed remote working methods. Transactions such as online meeting, e-commerce, onlinebanking and digital payment have increased.
In short, we can say that Turkish people have moved more and more online. Also, in this period, with longer periods spent at home, many have also developed an increased interest in cookery, sharing recipes online for bread, yogurt and other dishes.
Moreover, various hobbies such as sports moved online, as people got used to innovating. Despite social distancing and the use of masks, people have continued to live their lives. But normal activities are still missed. Everyone is certainly looking forward to the end of this process and full normalization!
Most Irish people could not imagine what links their country with Colombia, or even the extent to which their electricity is still comes from coal into the 21st century. But the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), and therefore Ireland as a whole, is complicit in human rights violations, as well as ongoing air and water pollution occurring in a Colombian region.
Cerrejón
To understand better what I am talking about we need to go to the north east of Colombia, to La Guajira region, just before the border with Venezuela. Here we find the largest coal mine in South America – and one of the largest in the world – in operation since 1985, which produces, on average, approximately thirty-two million tonnes of coal a year.
All of this coal is exported, principally to Europe thanks to a Free Trade agreement highly beneficial to multinational corporations, under a neoliberal global economic model where developing countries in the Global South provide cheap natural resources for the Global North’s energy production, through mining and extractive industries.
In most cases this model is highly destructive. The company and the mine, both called Cerrejón, have changed owners throughout its thirty-six years of operation and are now owned in equal parts by the multinational companies Glencore, BHP Billiton and Anglo-American, which run many other mega-mining projects all over the world.
Many local and international activists and organizations, including a UN Human Rights expert in September 2020[i], have been demanding a halt to mining on the grounds of human rights violations.
Over thirty indigenous, Afro-Colombian and campesino communities were displaced due to the coal mining project. Of these communities only a few have been resettled in urban areas, where they do not belong, and promised a series of measures – services, financial aid, school bursaries – which are mostly inadequate.
If the company justifies resettlement as a measure of protection of the local communities’ health and safety, no other choice is given to them: they have to leave the land that they have been occupying for thousands of years, since before the arrival of the European settlers.
In most cases their economy was based on agriculture and livestock, so without access to the land and without the possibility of employment in cities, the subsistence of these people, and of their cattle, is at immense risk.
In fact, drought is another big issue in this semi-arid to arid region. The main source of water, which the local communities rely directly upon, is the Ranchería river and its tributaries: the mine has been accused of drying seventeen of these waterways throughout the years. For instance, in 2017, Cerrejón proceeded with the diversion works of the Bruno stream even though the Colombian constitutional court ruled that the company had to consult all twelve of the communities affected before starting the works.
Wayuu
The Wayuu, or Guajiros, are an Amerindian ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula, including the northernmost part of Colombia and northwest of Venezuela. A study reported by Human Rights Watch in 2017[ii] that one Wayuu child dies every week on average because of malnutrition; 5000 Wayuu children died of hunger between 2010 and 2018.[iii]
Children and youth are certainly the most vulnerable[iv], but are not the only ones suffering respiratory problems due to their proximity to pollution from the mine.
In particular, the high concentration of substances such as Sulphur, Chromium, Copper, Bromine, Nickel, Manganese and Zinc in the air, as stated in the Colombian Constitutional Court Ruling T-614/19,[v] and the contamination of rivers and bodies of water in the area.
High concentration of metals has also been found in the blood of people from the communities surrounding the mine: this can lead to DNA damage, skin lesions, lung cancer, respiratory and heart diseases.
Furthermore, the Wayuu people and organisations have suffered harassment and death threats as a result of dissent and resistance to the coal extraction practices. For example, the local organisation Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu (Wayuu Women’s Force) has been reporting death threats against them from the far-right paramilitary group Aguilas Negras since 2019.
a reflection of the best of Colombia: a world-class operation committed to the sustainable development of La Guajira […] in areas such as education, health, culture, sports, productive projects, the environment, infrastructure enhancement, training, employment and basic sanitation for our neighbouring communities, including the native Wayuu people.
Ireland
Moneypoint Power Station By GavinZac – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7582681
Moneypoint, located on the River Shannon in County Clare, near Kilrush, is Ireland’s largest electricity generation station. The power station is run by the ESB, the semi-state electricity company – 95% owned by the Irish government – and it is the only coal-fired power station in Ireland, and the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the country.
It has relied entirely on imported coal since 2011, 90% of which has been imported from Colombia, mostly from the Cerrejón mine, and it has been polluting Ireland too. Coal represents 14% of the country’s total energy mix.
The ESB claims that it has been purchasing only a small percentage of the Cerrejón mine’s total output and that senior managers personally visited the site and met workers, community leaders and trade union officials; while the company committed to remain vigilant on the issues.
In 2018 the Irish Department of Climate, Environment and Communications announced that Moneypoint would phase out coal burning by 2025[vi] and in 2019 the Irish government launched its Climate Action Plan,[vii] including a commitment to stop burning coal, so far no concrete details have been provided on what technologies will be used to replace coal, or alternatives for Moneypoint employees.
In 2018 the Irish government acknowledged the impact of coal mining on human lives in La Guajira and the human rights abuses connected to the supply chain, but no formal action has been taken still on the situation by the government,[viii] nor by the ESB.
In the last few years, on the one hand, Ireland, like other European countries, has contributed aid towards developing countries to tackle climate change and to the Colombian peace process; yet on the other hand, it hasn’t stopped importing environmentally destructive coal that involves human rights violations.
But Ireland is responsible also for another reason: CMC, the exclusive marketer of Cerrejón coal, which coordinates the sale and delivery of this coal globally, has its headquarters in Dublin, thanks to the well-known corporate tax regime that has made Ireland such a popular destination for multinational corporations.
Recent Developments
In January 2021, GLAN (Global Legal Action Network), supported by a coalition of Colombian, International and Irish human rights and environmental groups, including Christian Aid Ireland, lodged a formal complaint to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) through their national contact point in Ireland.[ix]
They claimed that Cerrejón and the ESB were in breach of their human rights responsibilities by continuing to import coal and failing to take necessary actions to identify and prevent the harms caused by the operations, i.e. human rights abuses; air and water pollution and displacement of local communities.
Simultaneous complaints have also been filed to OECD representatives in Australia, the UK and Switzerland against the three corporations involved and against ESB and CMC. The OECD will now have to investigate if the multinational companies are in compliance with with the OECD’s Guidelines, and take action accordingly.
For the same reasons Irish organisations such as Stop Blood Coal Ireland and Terra Justa – based in Bolivia but with staff members in Ireland and the UK – have been calling on the Irish government to stop purchasing Cerrejón coal on human rights grounds. Compensation to communities affected for more than three decades, as well as support for basic rights and resources in La Guajira, including transition measures to support mine workers, are also demanded.
Furthermore, very recently, in March 2021 Still Burning, a ‘network fighting against the global hard coal industry’, also launched the book Coal, Colonialism & Resistance, which centralises the voices of affected communities and warns of ‘false green solutions’, highlighting the colonial entanglements of coal.
The Irish organisation, Latin American Solidarity Centre, based in Dublin, is now hosting two webinars on land defenders along with the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies of the University College Cork (UCC).
On the 13th and 20th of May the Irish organisation, Latin American Solidarity Centre, based in Dublin, hosted two webinars on land defenders along with the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies of the University College Cork (UCC).
The second session, ‘Law, threats and criminalization’, analysed the threats that land defenders face. The two panellists, Jakeline Romero, from the Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu in La Guajira, and Isabel Matzir, from the Resistencia de Cahabón in Alta Verapaz (Guatemala), explained the state and corporate strategies and practices used to criminalize them and delegitimize their struggle. Within Colombian distorted system, threats and violence from the state and corporations against indigenous people are still taking place with total impunity. And the reason is simple, as claimed by Jakeline Romero, “they have interests; economic and political power are in their hands,” so they can still declare nothing of what has been denounced is real.
She claims also that the recent repression against peaceful protesters has a lot in common with the emblematic violence against the indigenous, Afro-descendent and campesino communities in Colombia. The is the same military response from the state. The government does not recognise either their rights or their cultural difference, but local organisations like Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu keep on defending the land and denouncing the systematic human rights violations. As it is not always possible to denounce these injustices nationally – people in the territories often fear for their lives – and local communities cannot do everything on their own, international exposure and support are essential.
“People have to know that the coal arriving in Europe is bloodstained, it’s against human life,” says Jakeline. She adds that the pandemic has been used by the government to legislate against the indigenous people, and in general against the people in Colombia. To repress more than ever on the street of the Colombian cities, as well as in the indigenous areas.
There is a strong impression of the same old story of the Troubles in Belfast, all over again. The new element is the pandemic affecting teenage lives. Words and images by Fellipe Lopes in collaboration with Daniele Idini.
It is hard to see a purpose behind the recent violent protests in Belfast that have fleetingly come to global prominence. On the ground, community leaders identify continuities, as recreational rioting is all too familiar, ever since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
There is, however, a perception that the intensity of this year’s disturbances are a product of uncertainties around the new Irish Sea border and Northern Ireland’s position in the post-Brexit context.
Brexit has clearly increased insecurity in the Unionist or Loyalist community, many of whom voted against withdrawal from the EU. Now the establishment of a commercial border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, through the Northern Ireland Protocol, designed to protect the Good Friday Agreement, has created a sense of betrayal. This has hardened the rhetoric of struggle and conflict.
The Unionist side of the argument is that this creates further distance from the rest of the U.K. amidst a sense that they are the ones being sacrificed in the divorce from the E.U.. Moreover, talk of a possible United Ireland in the Southand persistent grievances over the failure to prosecute senior Sinn Féin politicians for a perceived failure to abide by social distancing rules at the Bobby Storey funeral fans the flame.
Added to all this, Northern Ireland’s lockdown has affected the lives of young people in particular: directly through extended school closures, and loss of job opportunities, but also by creating a despondency that leaves many feeling they have little to lose.
Finally, the long-standing educational segregation between Catholic and Protestant communities perpetuates a sense of “us” and “them.”
So, how to explain these violent outbursts? What is different now from the usual activities? And what role has the pandemic played, especially on the youth involved? We spoke to a politician John Kyle, an activist Eileen Weir and an academic Dr Katy Hayward to find out more.
According to John Kyle, a Councillor on Belfast City Council, and former interim leader of the centre-left ‘Loyalist’ Progressive Unionist Party in Northern Ireland:
“There are different factors involved. The first is that young people have been restricted. They have been unable to go to school, unable to meet with their friends, unable to go to the movies, unable to do, you know, stuff like that. If then there’s an opportunity to go out and get a bit of excitement, they will take that opportunity. Secondly, here in Northern Ireland, there is a tradition of what we call recreational rioting. In other words, if there were kids at an interface between two communities in the summer nights, sometimes, they arrange on Facebook to meet up for a fight. And so you might get 100 kids, sometimes 30, sometimes 50 kids. They meet up, start shouting at each other and throwing stones and bottles. And that’s what we call recreational rioting.”
But Dr Katy Hayward, an academic and writer based at Queen’s University in Belfast says:
“Something different has happened in the past few weeks, and that is that you’ve had a change in the political situation whereby the rhetoric in particular, from Unionist communities, and leaders has been one in which people have begun to really, doubt the process of basically the core elements of the Peace Process, for a long time. And amongst Loyalist communities, there has been a sense of frustration and anger about the Good Friday Agreement and compromises there. This is now beginning to get into the wider mainstream political field. And that’s primarily as a result of the conditions of Brexit, also you’ve had a new dimension, which is the criticism of the police service”
On the other hand, Eileen Weir, Peacemaker and Community relations worker at Shankill Women’s Centre speaks of persistent social problems:
“yeah, I think it is partly down to boredom. The things that people are not picking up on is that we have interface violence all year round. Right? This is not the first. They are usually not to that extreme where things are being burned or anything, but the two communities come together for a fight all year round and every year. We have a big, big drug problem in our communities and a lot of our young people are addicted to some type of drug, whether it’s illegal or prescribed. So we have a big mental health problem in our communities. It’s like they put a plaster on a thing that actually needs an operation. Our rate of suicide, and not just with young people with adults as well, is through the roof.”
Walking around the predominantly Protestant areas of Shankill and Lanark Way, as well as in the Catholic Springfield Road and Falls, reveals a tranquil environment with bustling local shops, active community centres and friendly characters, more than willing to share their views on the current situation.
These are among the areas of Belfast most affected by the long period of the Troubles and the scars are apparent. Chatting to locals from both communities living alongside the so-called the Cupar Way Peace-Wall the general impression is of a desire to leave behind a troubled past.
“we do have peaceful communities, OK? I mean, the woman that I work with, you know, we’re from North and West Belfast and we have a fantastic relationship. I don’t like to label anybody. But within that group I have Republicans, I have Nationalist, I have Loyalists, but building relationships is not enough. And we can all build relationships. But that relationship doesn’t happen overnight.”
By Monday April 19th the moratorium on Loyalist protests in the wake of Prince Philip’s death had lapsed. That morning, in front of the Irish Secretariat, a two man protest against the Northern Irish Protocol, organised by the Loyalist Communities Council’s Chair David Campbell and former politician and co-founder of the group David McNarry, was in full swing.
Before long, however, it was interrupted by David McCord, whose brother Raymond was allegedly killed by members of the UVF in 1997. With a picture of his late brother in hand, he confronted the two men who were holding a banner that had appeared in different locations across Northern Ireland the previous night, addressed to the large media presence before them.
There is a big gap between the government and these communities that reflects uncertainties over the decisions being made, especially the government’s failure to recognise the serious impact of their policies. Our conversations in the neighborhoods reveal a lack of understanding of the practical implications of Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol. This incoherence is reflected in the seemingly pointless violence.
Now there is particular concern around the escalating misbehaviour of teenagers, leading shop owners in the affected areas to coordinate closures.
Meanwhile on social media, calls to resume Anti-Northern Ireland Protocol protests across the region started to circulate. This included tweets about one to be held that evening at Lanark Way, where in previous weeks the violent riots had taken place.
In the hours leading up to the anticipated protests on Monday April 19th in the Springfield Road area, rumours circulated about community efforts to prevent local teenagers from taking part.
But by that evening approximately thirty teenagers were blocking Lanark Way on the Shankill Road side, setting fire to furniture and rubbish in the middle of the street.
The protest soon descended into stones and pieces of iron being thrown at police cars. Over the course of the disturbances we saw no visible expression of what was motivating the protesters; no posters criticizing the governments, or otherwise communicating reasons for the violence.
After a couple of hours, the PSNI asked journalists to leave the area and move to Springfield Road, as they closed the gate. This raises an important question as to what happens in the fight between teenagers and the police when media outlets are absent. A lack of media coverage fuels growing resentment towards the PSNI.
Katy points to this new antipathy towards the PSNI:
“you’ve had this new dimension, which is the criticism of the police service. That’s something very new. So for some time, Loyalists have been feeling that the police service no longer backs them … what changed in the past week was that the First Minister of Northern Ireland called on the chief constable to resign, and we had all the political leaders of Unionism calling for the same thing.”
@ Fellipe Lopes
Katy adds:
“They don’t trust political representatives or institutions to manage Northern Ireland’s interests. So you can see here all these factors exacerbating the sense of insecurity and that it only takes a few individuals. We know those individuals who have been present for a long time, presenting the Peace Process, presenting the compromise, thinking that violence pays. There’s a new narrative in Loyalism now that looks at what happens with the Protocol … They say the threat of Republican violence led to the Irish Sea border. So that’s another element.”
Another important dimension is the difficulty faced by women in particular during the pandemic, as Eileen puts it:
“the reason why this impacts on women more so is that there is homeschooling – working from home and often caring for an elderly relative. A lot of women’s jobs are low paid … zero hours contracts. We get very little recognition for the work of women. In the present situation, if it wasn’t for community workers being on the ground, you’d be seeing a hell of a lot more problems. And really, that’s not what community workers are for. That’s what our political representatives are for.“
We also raised the question of a United Ireland and whether it is healthy to talk about this now. Katy said:
“the more you talk about it, the more unnerving it is for Unionism. And that’s perfectly understandable because, of course, it’s anathema to the Unionist identity and certainly that is a factor. Because Brexit has taken Northern Ireland outside of the European Union, that’s a bereavement for some people and particularly for Nationalists. Northern Ireland is on the wrong side of that European external border, but that’s kind of overlooked because that leads to, certainly amongst Nationalists, a growing desire for Irish unity. They wish to see that happen and happen soon. But that has increased the uncertainty and insecurity for Unionists and we have both communities feeling more insecure in their position, thinking that the other is secure because basically they got what they wanted. ”
Unsurprisingly, John holds a different view:
“I personally think that the best outcome is a Northern Ireland that is part of the United Kingdom, but that has a close relationship with the Republic of Ireland. People here who identify as Irish have got free movement between the North and the South. They can work anywhere in Ireland and celebrate their Irishness and vice versa. There is good things in the British system and good things in the Irish system.”
Right now there is considerable focus on the decisions that the governments are making. The other part is about the lives and futures of these teenagers. Several communities in Belfast have paid a high price for the lack of access to education and job opportunities. Teenagers are now paying this bill. With their futures appearing bleak many have been drawn into unsuitable activities.
Discussion of the protest should look beyond the intricacies of the Brexit deal and the Northern Ireland Protocol. Society and government should be forming a long-term plan for the social and cultural integration.
On the streets you see violence involving teenagers and a decisive response from the police. What we did not discover is whether external forces are guiding and supporting these teenagers. Perhaps the real question is who stands to gain from the disorder?
These communities are experiencing challenges very similar to what happened from the 1960s to the 1990s. The Good Friday Agreement created peace, but the record player is still playing the same scratched tune, with an extraordinary new phenomenon at play, which is the pandemic.
The response of these adolescents represents another side to the impact of the pandemic. Mental health problems present as an issue in the lives of many families. The social projects around the Shankill and Falls Road do their best, but at this point the government has a responsibility to intervene, not only through policing, but also with social supports, inclusion programmes, enhanced access to education, job opportunities, improved living conditions and greater support for social workers, and psychologists.
The pandemic is leaving a distinct legacy in Belfast: the ashes from the street bonfires; the stones hurled at police and journalists, and a new generation of teenagers accustomed to fighting the police. But the locals we spoke to all want peace and integration. They don’t want this generation to experience the same story as their parents.
The fear is reborn of a new chapter to the Troubles. What happened over the last few weeks in Belfast has reawakened fears in these communities. No doubt this is a political issue, but the psychological scars are borne by individuals, families and communities.
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People rushed to markets and shops in surprise, and the crowds of people were unable to maintain social distance as crowding ensued in many markets and bazaars, which led to the resignation of the Minister. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan refused to accept his resignment however. So the Minister kept his job.
