ANKARA

The head of Diyanet, Turkey's directorate of religious affairs, on Sunday slammed the Greek archbishop’s insulting remarks against Islam and Muslims, calling on Christians to oppose this “sick mentality."

Ali Erbas strongly condemned Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and Greece, who, in a televised speech on Saturday, said Islam is not a religion but a political party and pursuit, and its followers are people of war.

“The most important duty of the clergy, who should strive for peace and tranquility, should be to contribute to the culture of coexistence,” Erbas said in a statement.

"The Christian world must oppose this sick mentality. This kind of discourse aiming to marginalize Muslims feeds the racist perspective against them, and leads to attacks on their lives and places of worship," he added.

He said that the archbishop's statements provoked the society, and could lead to rise in hatred, hostility and violence against Islam.

Erbas said Islam is a religion of peace, and the Islamic civilization has always enabled people to live together for centuries, irrespective of their beliefs, religion and culture./aa

(Bloomberg) - Libya’s oil output has dropped by about 200,000 barrels a day after the closure of a leaking pipeline, underscoring how difficult it is for the country to maintain its production following almost a decade of civil war.

The OPEC member’s output has fallen to around 1 million barrels daily in the wake of Waha Oil Co.’s decision to shut the pipeline taking crude to the eastern oil port of Es Sider, the country’s biggest. The state-owned National Oil Corp., which controls Waha and made the announcement late Saturday on Facebook, said the repairs could take two weeks, though it hopes they can be completed in half that time.

The pipeline “could no longer continue to operate due to the large number of leaks, and it’s worn out,” the NOC said. “What happened with Waha today happens daily with other companies that suffer from a budget shortage. They are also under the threat of having to reduce their production and to even halt it completely.”

Libya’s daily production surged to 1.25 million barrels this month from almost nothing in September after a truce between rival military forces. That caused problems for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, which are restricting supply to bolster oil prices following their coronavirus-triggered collapse last year. Due to its strife, Libya is exempt from the curbs.

The country’s been at war for much of the period since former leader Moammar Al Qaddafi was toppled in 2011. The Tripoli-based government, which is recognized by the United Nations, and the self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Khalifa Haftar, stopped fighting around June.

Yet their forces are still encamped near the central city of Sirte and thousands of foreign mercenaries are present throughout the country. The two sides are trying to form a unity government to run Libya until elections scheduled for December.

While Libya has Africa’s largest crude reserves, the NOC is struggling to fix oil fields, storage tanks, pumping stations, pipelines and ports. Some have been damaged, while others are corroding because of neglect. The NOC said it lacks the money to carry out the repairs.

Bangladesh is going to host an important tripartite meeting on the Rohingya repatriation issue, which has been frozen for a year, bringing China and Myanmar to the table on Jan. 19. 

The last tripartite meeting was held on Jan. 20 last year in New York, and since then Myanmar has been allegedly postponing the bilateral talks despite repeated attempts by Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said it will be a secretary-level tripartite meeting and hopefully it will be productive. However, he averred that “repatriation is the only solution to end the Rohingya crisis, and there will be no alternative.”

The meeting was supposed to take place this week, but Momen said it has been postponed due to a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Myanmar.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has handed over fresh details of an additional 230,000 refugees to Myanmar with their biometric identifications, Md Delwar Hossain, the head of Myanmar wing in the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry, told Anadolu Agency.

Bangladesh has so far given complete details of nearly 840,000 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, but out of them only 42,000 have been verified by the authorities in Yangon and this slow process is causing a delay in the repatriation, he said.

- China’s role

A human rights group activist has accused China of helping Myanmar avoid sanctions proposed by international organizations, including the UN, on the Rohingya issue.

China and Myanmar have been very close allies for a long time. They got closer when Western countries sanctioned Myanmar, Ro Nay San Lwin, the co-founder of the UK-based Free Rohingya Coalition, told Anadolu Agency via phone.

Lwin alleged that China along with Russia blocked a UN Security Council resolution against Myanmar on the issue of worst human rights violations of minorities particularly against Rohingya. He accused both the countries of selling arms and weapons to Myanmar’s army “that used them to kill ethnic minorities.”

He said: “We will closely observe repatriation, as Rohingya’s survivors are skeptical about China’s involvement in the process."

However, China can press Myanmar to repatriate Rohingya, he said, adding: “But the most important issue is to ensure full citizenship, ethnic rights, protection and the right to settle [Rohingya] back in their original places.”

Nonetheless, Rohingya survivors must be consulted before any repatriation agreement, he opined.

- Bangladesh asked to strengthen diplomatic mechanisms

Tareque Shamsur Rahman, a geopolitical expert who teaches international relations at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, told Anadolu Agency that only Bangladesh’s tough stance would put an end to this crisis.

Appreciating the decision of Dhaka to hold a tripartite meeting on the Rohingya issue, he said China is an important country and Bangladesh partner in various projects, and Beijing can play its role in the repatriation of Rohingya refugees.

But he was skeptical that Myanmar could misuse its good economic relations with China and adopt delaying tactics and put hurdles in the repatriation process.

However, the government of US President-elect Joe Biden can help bring an amicable solution to the crisis if Bangladesh strengthens its diplomatic mechanisms, he suggested./aa

In 2015, the government of Bangladesh proposed a relocation of the displaced Rohingyas to Bhasan Char island, in the Bay of Bengal, under its Ashrayan Initiative (Bangladesh 2016). The plan emerged again in 2017 (Rahman 2017) after the exodus of more than 700,000 refugees forcedly displaced from Myanmar. This massive flow of refugees marked the turning point for the government of Bangladesh to announce its intention to move Rohingyas to the island. According to governmental officials, this relocation is due to the fact that Rohingyas are currently facing a lack of basic needs at Cox’s Bazar District (Deputy Commissioner 2019) such as access to education, security, movement restrictions or denial of citizenship and related rights and protections (OCHA 2018).

The final aim of the Ashrayan Project is to alleviate poverty of the Rohingya refugees by providing shelter and human resource development activities, thereby improving the standard of living of the people, ensuring basic education, health care and skill development on income generating activities (Bangladesh, 2016). However, even if a priori the plan can also be justified by the camps’ congestion, reality has proven to be quite different as what has been stated by Bangladesh authorities (Banerjee 2020).

After the failed attempt to repatriate Rohingyas to Myanmar in August 2019 (Banerjee 2019), in September Bangladesh imposed widespread restrictions on the conditions of life of the Rohingyas in the refugee camps, such as high-speed mobile internet ban, closure of markets or hinders to humanitarian aid (Marsh & Ahmed 2019). These constraints appear to be aimed at indirectly forcing the refugees to either return to Myanmar or move to Bhasan Char, living them with little margin of choice (Banerjee 2020). However positive governmental prognostics are, Rohingyas are unwilling to move to the island since they fear death by starvation, floods and lack of humanitarian aid (HRW 2018).

Is Bhasan Char Island an adequate destination for relocation?

Emerged from the sea in 2006, Bhasan Char is an unstable island extremely vulnerable to monsoons that does not provide the suitable environment for the development of a stable, self-sufficient community in the long term (UNHCR 2020). Considering the fact that Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable States to sea level rises, this recently-emerged island in the Ganges Delta is even more likely to suffer from environmental catastrophes. Additionally, Bhasan Char’s isolation in the event of cyclones or other natural disasters is a matter of great concern (HRW 2020).

Investigation about the habitability of the island has not yet occurred, thus one has to rely on two opposite views. On the one hand, authorities from Bangladesh affirm that those refugees who choose to be relocated in Bhasan Char would have access to the same basic rights as those in Cox’ Bazar (Bangladesh 2016). On the other hand, several NGOs (AI 2019) as well the UNHCR have expressed the need for further discussion with the authorities on fundamental protection matters crucial to understand relocation plans, including viability of the site to offer dignified living conditions, safety and security considerations, access to food and water, voluntariness (HRW 2018) and other factors regarding freedom of movement, right to work or humanitarian access and presence (UNHCR 2020).

After the former UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, visited the island, she questioned whether it was ‘truly habitable’ (UHCHR 2019). Despite the acknowledgment of the commitment to identify alternative durable solutions for Rohingya refugees, HRW claimed that governmental authorities are believed to be including individual’s names on the relocation lists without their knowledge and consent and declared any relocations must be proceeding ‘on a voluntary basis’ (HRW 2019). Refugees International also recognises that questions about safety and voluntariness of the intended relocation ‘remain unanswered’ and reiterated the need for Bangladesh to conduct independent technical and protection assessments by the UNHCR and other international actors to determine the feasibility and safety of the move (RI 2019).

Requirements for the lawful relocation of refugees

Assessment of the protection of Rohingya in Bhasan Char is crucial for the determination of the legality of the intended relocation. The UN Special Rapporteur has insisted that the intended relocation must comply with international standards of safety, voluntariness, dignity and sustainability and that the government of Bangladesh should share feasibility studies and allow the UN to carry out a full technical and humanitarian assessment before making any further pans for the move of people to the island (OHCHR 2019).

These relocation plans must fully entail the engagement and participation of refugees, including through consultation and on-site visits since without individual fully informed consent, such plans cannot move forwards. All in all, relevant information on the project to the affected refugees must be provided at all times, prior and after the intended relocation that should, indeed, be aimed at improving refugees’ conditions of life instead of creating a new crisis (UHCHR 2019).

Are these relocation plans lawful under International Law?

In light of Article 12(1) ICCPR, Rohingya refugees should enjoy the right to freely move and choose their residence and be protected against all forms of forced internal displacement. Restrictions set by Bangladesh are not within the constraints laid down in Article 12(3) ICCPR. In fact, The Human Rights Committee recognised its concerns about their relocation to the island due to its proneness to floods, the lack of necessary infrastructure to ensure respect for basic human rights and the moving ‘without the full and free consent of the affected individuals’ (UNHCR 2018).

Moreover, neither the principle of proportionality, being the relocation the appropriate and least intrusive instrument for the desired result proportionated to the interest to be protected, nor clarity or preciseness in determining the criteria have been taken into account for the development of the relocation plan to Bhasan Char. Relocation of refugees in an isolated island which is a geographically limited area, also constitutes an unlawful restriction of freedom of movement (Zieck 2018).

Consequently, this considerable degree of restriction on Rohingyas’ internal freedom of movement supposes a constraint in the conditions of life (Fine & Ypi 2016). Therefore, not only Article 12 ICCPR is affected, but also Articles 7 (Prohibition of Torture, or Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment), 9 (Liberty and security of person), 17 (Right to Privacy) of the ICCPR and Articles 11 (Right to an Adequate Standard of Living) and 12 (Right to Health) ICESC.

The amount of uncertainty about the adequacy of the island, and the nature and purpose of the treatment of refugees, is putting Rohingya at unnecessary further risk and the relocation plans to move Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char are unacceptable. Therefore, the intended relocation plans from Bangladeshi authorities are in contravention to international human rights law and must thereby be considered as unlawful. If the purpose were to find a durable solution, Bhasan Char is definitely neither durable nor a solution.

SOURCE: ifair

Two female judges were killed and three court officials injured in Afghanistan when unknown assailants sprayed bullets on a Supreme Court vehicle on Sunday morning in the capital Kabul, officials confirmed in the midst of a string of targeted assassinations in the war-ravaged country.

They were traveling in the official vehicle when intercepted by the two assailants riding a motorcycle, who opened indiscriminate fire in the morning rush hour in the downtown Qala Fatehullah area of the city before fleeing the scene, Supreme Court Spokesman Fahem Qoyem told the Anadolu Agency.

Two judges were killed on the spot, while the two court officials and their driver suffered bullet wounds, Qoyem said, adding that the injured were shifted to the Kabul Emergency Hospital.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Last week, two female soldiers of the Afghan army were killed in northern Balkh province by unknown attackers in the ongoing targeted assassination spree./aa