COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's debt-laden economy has “collapsed” after months of shortages of food, fuel and electricity, the prime minister told lawmakers Wednesday in comments that underscored the country's dire situation as it seeks help from international lenders.

Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament the South Asian nation faces “a far more serious situation" than the shortages alone, and he warned of "a possible fall to rock bottom.”

"Our economy has completely collapsed,” he said.

The crisis on the island of 22 million is considered its worst in recent memory, but Wickremesinghe did not cite any specific new developments. His comments appeared intended to emphasize to critics and opposition lawmakers that he has inherited a difficult task that cannot be fixed quickly.

“He’s setting expectations really, really low,” said Anit Mukherjee, a policy fellow and economist at the Center for Global Development in Washington.

Wickremesinghe's remarks also sent a message to potential lenders: “You can’t let a country of such strategic importance collapse," said Mukherjee, who noted that Sri Lanka sits in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

The Sri Lankan economy is foundering under the weight of heavy debts, lost tourism revenue and other effects of the pandemic, as well as surging costs for commodities. The result is a country hurtling towards bankruptcy, with hardly any money to import gasoline, milk, cooking gas and toilet paper.

Lawmakers from the two main opposition parties are boycotting Parliament this week to protest Wickremesinghe, who became prime minister just over a month ago and is also finance minister, for failing to deliver on his pledges to turn the economy around.

Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka is unable to purchase imported fuel due to heavy debt owed by its petroleum corporation.

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation is $700 million in debt, he told lawmakers. “As a result, no country or organization in the world is willing to provide fuel to us. They are even reluctant to provide fuel for cash.”

The crisis has started to hurt Sri Lanka’s middle class, which is estimated to be 15% to 20% of the country’s urban population. The middle class began to swell in the 1970s after the economy opened up to more trade and investment. It has grown steadily since.

Until recently, middle-class families generally enjoyed economic security. Now those that never had to think twice about fuel or food are struggling to manage three meals a day.

“They have really been jolted like no other time in the last three decades,” said Bhavani Fonseka, a senior researcher at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital.

“If the middle class is struggling like this, imagine how hard hit the more vulnerable are,” Fonseka added.

The situation has derailed years of progress toward relatively comfortable lifestyles aspired to across South Asia.

Government officials have been given every Friday off for three months to save on fuel and grow their own fruits and vegetables. The inflation rate for food is 57%, according to official data.

Wickremesinghe took office after days of violent protests over the country’s economic crisis forced his predecessor to step down. On Wednesday, he blamed the previous government for failing to act in time as Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves dwindled.

The foreign currency crisis has crimped imports, creating the severe shortages that also include medicine and forcing people to stand in long lines to obtain basic needs.

“If steps had at least been taken to slow down the collapse of the economy at the beginning, we would not be facing this difficult situation today. But we lost out on this opportunity. We are now seeing signs of a possible fall to rock bottom,” he said.

So far, Sri Lanka has been muddling through, mainly supported by $4 billion in credit lines from neighboring India. But Wickremesinghe said India would not be able to keep Sri Lanka afloat for long.

It also has received pledges of $300 million to $600 million from the World Bank to buy medicine and other essential items.

Sri Lanka has already announced that it is suspending repayment of $7 billion in foreign debt due this year, pending the outcome of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on a rescue package. It must pay $5 billion on average annually until 2026.

Wickremesinghe said IMF assistance seems to be the country's only option now. Officials from the agency are visiting Sri Lanka to discuss the idea. A staff-level agreement is likely to be reached by the end of July.

“We have concluded the initial discussions, and we have exchanged ideas on various sectors," Wickremesighe said.

Representatives of financial and legal advisers to the government on debt restructuring are also visiting the island, and a team from the U.S. Treasury will arrive next week, he said.

Greece not only inhumanly treats migrants but also human rights activists, particularly those documenting the treatment of migrants and refugees. The human rights defenders face smear campaigns and are treated like criminals, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor said on Wednesday.

Lawlor was presenting her preliminary findings at the end of a 10-day visit to Greece where she met ministers in Athens and also visited the islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos, which were on the frontline of Europe's migration crisis in 2015 and 2016.

"I am concerned about the increasing criminalization of humanitarian assistance in Greece. Solidarity should never be punished and compassion should never be put on trial," Lawlor said.

"At the tip of the spear are prosecutions, where acts of solidarity are reinterpreted as criminal activity, specifically the crime of people smuggling," she added.

Lawlor said human rights defenders had found it increasingly difficult to carry out their work since 2019, especially in fields that might be considered "controversial or geopolitically complicated or sensitive."

"The negative impact of such cases is multiplied by smear campaigns perpetuating this false image of defenders," Lawlor said.

This policy created a "climate of fear and insecurity" that was reinforced by elements of the legal framework as well as statements from high-ranking government representatives attacking the work of NGOs, she added.

Responding to Lawlor, the migration ministry said Greece "fully respects the action of organized or individual human rights defenders active in the field of migration and asylum."

Greece has also repeatedly denied accusations of so-called pushbacks of asylum-seekers, saying it intercepts boats at sea to protect its borders./Reuters

Extended drought conditions in several Mediterranean countries, a heat wave last week that reached northern Germany and high fuel costs for aircraft needed to fight wildfires have heightened concerns across Europe this summer.

And it's only June.

"Much of the continent is in drought,” said Cathelijne Stoof, an environmental science professor at the Netherlands’ Wageningen University, who called the wildfire outlook "very challenging across Europe.”

Fires last summer blackened more than 11,000 square kilometers (4,250 square miles) of land - an area more than four times the size of Luxembourg. About half of the damage was in the European Union.

And, experts say, Europe’s wildfires aren't just a problem for the southern, hotter countries.

"What scientists are warning us is that (fires) are obviously going north and in countries such as the U.K., in countries such as Germany as well as in Scandinavian countries, in the future, we need to expect wildfires to happen more often,” said Catherine Gamper, a climate change adaptation specialist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Wildfires across Spain have destroyed tens of thousands of acres of wooded land, though a recent sharp drop in temperatures is helping firefighters contain them.

Spain’s problems began with the arrival in spring of the earliest heat wave in two decades. Temperatures as high as those normally recorded in August rose above 40 C (104 F) in many Spanish cities.

Neighboring Portugal also saw its warmest May in nine decades, and in France the month was the hottest on record.

"As a result of climate change, heat waves are starting earlier and are becoming more frequent and more severe because of record concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases,” the World Meteorological Organization said last week.

"What we are witnessing today is a foretaste of the future.”

Despite the extensive planning, early-warning surveillance, and prediction models, preparing for wildfires remains a huge challenge. The EU is expanding a shared pool of planes and helicopters on standby this summer to provide cross-border support and is expected to partner with more nations outside the bloc.

"It’s very difficult to predict wildfires,” said Marta Arbinolo, an OECD policy analyst and climate adaptation and resilience specialist.

"We do know that summer (of) 2022 is predicted by weather forecasts to be particularly warm and dry, possibly even more than 2020 or ’21, which was the driest and warmest summer in Europe," she said. "We can expect that the risk of wildfires in Europe for the summer might be very high.”

In Greece, which suffered some of Europe’s most devastating fires last August, authorities say higher fuel costs have added to challenges facing the fire service, which relies heavily on water-dropping planes to battle blazes in the mountainous country.

Greece will begin using fire retardant chemicals in water drops this year, while the EU is sending more than 200 firefighters and equipment from France, Germany and four other countries to Greece to remain throughout the summer.

Wildfire seasons are also getting longer.

"The concept of a fire season is losing its meaning right now. We have the fire season all year-round,” said Victor Resco de Dios, professor of forest engineering at Lleida University, in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region, which has been hit hard by summer fires.

"The main changes we are seeing with climate change is a longer duration of fire seasons.”

Laura Vilagra, a senior Catalonia government official, told a regional conference that fire prevention measures this season could include park closures.

"The weather every year is more adverse, and the drought is very evident this year,” she said. "We’re expecting a very complicated summer.”

Resco foresees a bleak future in Spain, arguing that areas currently affected by fires "probably will not experience many fires by the turn of the century. Why? Because forests would be very scarce. There would be nothing left to burn.”

Other experts aren't as grim.

The OECD’s Gamper and Arbinolo point out that some of the worst fires have actually brought positive developments such as the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism that facilitates rapid cooperation between countries in emergencies. European countries, they argue, are also opening up to incorporate risk reduction in their planning, rather than simply boosting their firefighting resources.

"The core is the need for integrated fire management, attention to fires all year round rather than just when it is dry, and investment in landscape management,” Stoof said.

Gamper appealed for two things she said would have a major impact. First, reconsider urban planning by not building near forests of extreme risk.

"I think our first sort of appeal to countries is really to think about where you continue to settle,” Gamper said.

"Second of all, enforce your regulations. Countries know what to do.”/agencies

Greece's pushbacks of migrants are "shameful," the president of the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey (TİHEK) said Monday.

Speaking at a press briefing, Muharrem Kılıç announced the release of a report evaluating the pushback actions against asylum-seekers and irregular migrants from a human rights perspective.

Kılıç said migrants who crossed to Greece were sent back to waters and land borders without being registered.

Noting that this stance of Greece led to "the usurpation of rights," Kılıç said: "I have to express that all these actions, which we can describe as human rights violations, are a shameful picture for humanity."

He said they conveyed their recommendations on the matter to Greece.

Kılıç said Greece violated its obligations through pushbacks, adding the European Parliament demanded that Greece be condemned in a letter submitted to the European Commission.

He said that besides giving little to no food or water to irregular migrants, Greece took their clothes and money, violating their basic rights, especially the right to life.

The Turkish Coast Guard Command said Monday they have rescued 33,964 irregular migrants in 1,295 pushback incidents carried out by the Greek coast guard since 2020, calling out Greece and the European Union to act in accordance with international law and human rights in order to end the pushbacks.

Turkey’s Ombudsman Institution report also mentioned that Greece has pushed back nearly 42,000 asylum seekers since 2020. Noting that 98% of the pushbacks involved torture and ill-treatment, the report said 88% of the 8,000 asylum seekers who came to the Greek border were beaten. It added that 97% of them suffered theft, 5% sexual assault and 8% electric shock, while 49% were forced to undress and 16% drowned. Of the children among them, 68% were exposed to or witnessed violence and abuse, stressed the report.

Turkey and human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece's illegal practice of pushing back irregular migrants, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children.

In recent years, hundreds of thousands have made short but perilous journeys across the Aegean to reach northern and western Europe in search of a better life. Hundreds of people have died at sea as many boats carrying refugees sank or capsized. The Turkish Coast Guard Command has rescued thousands of others.

Turkey and Greece have been key transit points for migrants looking to cross into Europe, fleeing war and persecution to start new lives. Turkey has accused Greece of large-scale pushbacks, summary deportations and denying migrants access to asylum procedures, violating international law. Ankara also accuses the EU of turning a blind eye to this blatant human rights abuse.

Pushbacks are contrary to international refugee protection agreements, which dictate that people should not be expelled or returned to a country where their life and safety might be in danger due to their race, religion, nationality, or membership in a social or political group.

Kılıç pointed out that there are 26.4 million refugees in the world, according to the latest report of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

"The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees states that the number of people who have to leave their homes in the world has reached 100 million, and unfortunately, we see that this figure has reached the highest level since World War II."

He said countries adopt immigration policies by externalizing the immigration issue and criminalizing people.

Noting that billions of dollars are spent by countries to establish border security, Kılıç said: "We cannot say that this perspective is structured on a humanitarian basis, on the basis of human rights."

He said developing countries host 85% of the world's refugees, adding that developed countries are uninterested in taking on this burden.

In a similar tone, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday that countries neighboring crisis regions shoulder the real burden of migration and refugees, calling out countries that host a "few hundred refugees" and use them for "advertising" but do not take any responsibility in the face of the deepening humanitarian crisis./DS

Soaring food prices pushed British consumer price inflation to a new 40-year high of 9.1% in May, the highest rate out of the Group of Seven (G-7) countries, shedding light on the severity of the cost-of-living crunch.

Records from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show May's inflation was the highest since March 1982 – and worse is likely to come.

The sterling, one of the weakest currencies against the U.S. dollar this year, fell below $1.22, down 0.6% on the day, before later recovering.

ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said, “Continued steep food price rises and record high petrol (gasoline) prices were offset by clothing costs rising by less than this time last year, and a drop in often fluctuating computer games prices.”

The increase was in line with analysts’ expectations and signals no quick end to the cost-of-living squeeze facing millions in Britain.

Some investors judge Britain to be at risk of both persistently high inflation and recession, reflecting its large imported energy bill and ongoing Brexit-related friction which could further hurt trade ties with the European Union.

“With the economic outlook so unclear, no one knows how high inflation could go, and how long it will continue for – making fiscal and monetary policy judgments particularly tough,” said Jack Leslie, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation think tank.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Resolution Foundation said the cost-of-living hit for households was being compounded by Brexit, with damaging long-term implications for productivity and wages.

Average pay is not keeping up with inflation and trade unions have warned of widespread strikes in the coming months. Railway staff have already staged mass walkouts this week.

Britain’s headline inflation rate in May was higher than in the United States, France, Germany and Italy. While Japan and Canada have yet to report consumer price data for May, neither is likely to come close.

“The further increase in Consumer Prices Index inflation to 9.1% underscores the severe pressure that businesses and households are under,” said David Bharier, head of research at the British Chambers of Commerce.

“This inflationary surge sits alongside a poor economic outlook and unless the government acts with urgency to encourage businesses to invest, the chances of a recession will only increase.”

The Bank of England (BoE) said last week that inflation was likely to remain above 9% over the coming months before peaking at slightly above 11% in October, when regulated household energy bills are due to rise again.

Financial markets show interest rates in Britain are on course to rise above 3% around the turn of the year from 1.25% now, although most economists think waning economic growth means the BoE will raise rates by less than that.

BoE to ‘act forcefully’

Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said after the data that the British government was doing all it could to combat a surge in prices and the central bank would act “forcefully” to contain inflation.

Britain has “all the tools we need” to bring down inflation, Sunak told reporters.

“Firstly, the Bank of England will act forcefully to combat inflation,” he said. “Secondly, the government will be responsible with borrowing and debt so we don’t make the situation worse and drive up people’s mortgage rates any more than they’re going to go up,” he noted.

“And lastly, we’re improving the productivity of our economy, improving the supplies of energy we have and moving people off welfare into work.”

Sunak echoed language used by the BoE last week after it raised interest rates – although the central bank’s line was more conditional, saying it would “if necessary act forcefully.”

He defended a planned pension increase in line with inflation, amid criticism that the government was at the same time urging below-inflation increases for workers.

“The slight difference with pensions is pensions are not an input cost into the cost of producing goods and services we all consume so they don't add to inflation in the same way,” he said.

He said public sector worker pay increases needed to be proportionate and balanced, in line with the need not to make inflation worse and remain affordable to the taxpayer.

Core issue

Prices for food and nonalcoholic drinks rose by 8.7% in annual terms in May – the biggest jump since March 2009 and making this category the biggest driver of annual inflation last month.

Annual core inflation – which strips out food and energy prices to give an idea of domestically generated cost pressure – fell for the first time since September to 5.9% from 6.2%, a lower-than-expected reading.

“The Bank of England may indeed gain some hope from the fact that core price pressures are subsiding (but) we doubt this ... will be enough to avert further rate rises in the coming months,” said Sandra Horsfield, an economist from Investec.

Overall consumer prices rose by 0.7% in monthly terms in May, the ONS said, a little more than the 0.6% consensus.

Costs paid by British factories for materials and energy – a key determinant of prices later paid by consumers in shops – were 22.1% higher in May than a year earlier, the biggest increase since these records began in 1985, the ONS said./agencies

BY HURIYE YILDIRIM ÇINAR 

The Ukraine-Russia war has had shocking effects across the African continent and all over the world. Many African states, which are currently struggling with political, economic and sociocultural problems, are exposed to the effects of this war when they have yet to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

First, it is possible to say that the war caused a political difference of opinion among African states. Countries like Eritrea, Mali and the Central African Republic voted in favor of Russia within the United Nations in March and April in the voting on Russia's violations. Many African countries either did not participate in the vote or abstained. On the other hand, many states took a stance condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, there were also more radical responses to the war on the continent. Soldiers in the Central African Republic pledged allegiance to Russia and declared that they were ready for a war against Ukraine. It can be understood from this that Russia's efforts to increase its presence in Africa have started to bear fruit in recent years.

As it is known, the Central African Republic is one of the countries where Russia is most influential in Africa. The country has been struggling with problems such as political crises, poverty and terrorism for decades. The Central African Republic, which could not solve these problems with the support given by Western actors, particularly the U.N., France and the U.S., increased its interaction with Russia, which was on the rise in Africa. Undoubtedly, the U.N. Security Council's decision to impose an arms embargo on the country was also influential in its decision-making. Faustin-Archange Touadera, the president of the Central African Republic, has been a key ally of Russia on the continent since 2017. He enjoys great political and military support from the Kremlin. Today, there are many Russian advisers in the government and in the army, as well as Wagner Group mercenaries, who number around 2,000. While providing the African country this support in the political and security field, Russia aims to be a concessionaire for important mineral and energy resources in the country such as uranium, oil, diamonds and cobalt. Such that, in the mining law prepared in the country, Russian political consultants try to guarantee Russian interests.

In response to these developments, Senegal’s President Macky Sall wrote in a tweet that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wanted to appeal to the African Union (AU) to get the support of African states. Many experts point out that these discourses and contacts within the framework of the Ukraine war will harm the peace and stability of the continent.

On the other hand, due to the war, the expectation that Russia will shift active Russian mercenaries in Africa and Syria to the Ukrainian front has come to the fore. There has been no concrete development in this regard yet. However, if it happens, there is a possibility that the balances may change in many African countries that receive support from the Russian mercenaries in their fight against terrorism and internal turmoil. For example, in the Central African Republic, where a large number of Russian mercenaries are deployed, there is a concern that the withdrawal of the Wagner Group might strengthen the rebels.

The Ukraine-Russia war had negative effects on the African continent economically as well. It is known that these effects will increase over time. Many Russian companies are inactive due to international sanctions. Moscow is expected to suspend its activities in many African countries where it has a presence. This will cause great damage not only to Russia but also to the economies of the African countries. For example, the Russian energy company Lukoil withdrew from a gas project in Equatorial Guinea due to these sanctions. It is also likely that the company will put investment decisions in countries such as Ghana and Cameroon on hold.

The deepest impact of the Ukraine-Russia war in Africa has begun to be felt in the food crisis, which is already a grave situation. The war jeopardizes a very large segment of Africa's access to food. As it is known, Ukraine and Russia are among the top five international exporters of barley, sunflower and corn. In addition, these two states have a one-third share of world wheat exports. In 2020 alone, African states imported $4 billion of agricultural products from Russia and $2.9 billion from Ukraine. For example, in order to meet the food needs of its population of 206 million, Nigeria, which is the fourth largest wheat importer in the world, buys 25% of its imports from Ukraine and Russia. Countries such as Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania meet almost half of their wheat imports from these two states. However, as a result of this ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, the prices of food products imported from these two countries increased. As a result, the African people, who have not been able to heal from the wounds of the pandemic yet, face a more dire picture amid rising food prices.

International cooperation is essential in resolving this food crisis individuals in Africa are facing since the economies of many states on the continent are struggling with major problems and some of them have difficulty paying their debts. For this reason, states struggle to provide adequate public services and social aid programs for their citizens. The representatives of international organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have recently called on the international community to support agricultural activities to stop this food crisis. On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that these organizations have put pressure on many African states for many years and ensured that they do not reduce or completely stop subsidizing fuel and food to the public. After all, the neoliberal policies of these international organizations that have lasted for several decades form the basis of many problems that Africans are facing today.

Many Western and international donors who contributed to the development of African countries have shifted their focus to stopping this war and meeting the needs of refugees fleeing it. Some countries are also expected to increase their defense spending in their budgets and reduce development aid to African countries. This will cause new crises for many African people who are in need of these aid donations.

As a result, although this war takes place between Russia and Ukraine, its effects are felt globally. Meanwhile, African states with fragile political, security and economic structures are taking great blows from this war. For this reason, African leaders should make decisions by taking into account the damage to their country and the African continent in their reactions to this war./DS