International WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2020 EU citizens in the UK face two-tier system

India farmers block railway tracks, roads in protest Page 7 Page 6

GEDAREF, Sudan: In this photo taken on Dec 1, 2020, an Ethiopian man watches the rising Moon on top of a hill at Um Raquba refugee camp. — AFP Tainted legacy of Nobel Peace laureates Drones, wars, genocide - Abiy’s aura tarnished OSLO: A “champion of peace” doesn’t normally president - according to his recent autobiography ed to US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and things, order the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 threaten to show no mercy before carrying out an even he was asking: “For what?” North Vietnamese leader Le Duc Tho for negotiat- and the (siege) of Beirut, and that indirectly led to attack that sparks a humanitarian crisis. Yet ing an armistice. the massacre of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is not the first Three bombs an hour The peace did not hold and Le Duc Tho, who refugee camps,” Sveen says. Nobel Peace Prize laureate to go to war. Officially, Days before accepting his award in Oslo, Obama orchestrated the final offensive against South Vietnam A number of other Peace Prize laureates have the guns in Tigray have been silenced: On decided to send 30,000 more troops to two years later, declined his half of the prize. also seen their aura fade over time, without neces- November 28, Abiy, who won the 2019 Peace Prize, Afghanistan. In his acceptance speech, he defended Kissinger also offered to return his half, in vain, and sarily having been particularly belligerent. Aung declared victory after three weeks of fighting in the the right to go to war, a word he uttered 35 times - his legacy is one of a cynic guided by US foreign pol- San Suu Kyi stands out in that category. Her passiv- northern region. The exact death toll is not known compared with 29 times for the word peace. “To say icy aims rather than respect for rights. “Not only did ity as the military cracked down on Myanmar’s but the International Crisis Group (ICG) has esti- that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to he continue the war in Vietnam but he gave the green Muslim Rohingya - termed a genocide by UN mated several thousand were killed. Civilians have cynicism - it is a recognition of history; the imper- light to Indonesia for the invasion of East Timor,” investigators - has led to numerous calls for her fled the country in droves and the UN has warned fections of man and the limits of reason,” he said. recalls Norwegian historian and Nobel expert Asle 1991 award to be revoked. of a large-scale humanitarian crisis. Not only did Obama fail to put an end to the Sveen, referring to the 1975-76 invasion and annexa- The Nobel statutes do not allow for that and the Abiy’s aura has been tarnished. “Whatever the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan during his two tion of the former Portuguese colony. Kissinger is also prize committee normally refrains from commenting rights and wrongs of the current confrontation, it is mandates, but he also stepped up controversial known for bolstering the power of South American on developments regarding a country or person that certain that his reputation as peacemaker will be drone strikes. In 2016, US forces hit seven countries dictators who were friendly to the US. has won the prize. And yet, that’s exactly what it did severely damaged,” the Financial Times wrote in an with more than 26,000 bombs - or three bombs an in a rare move on November 16, when it said it was editorial on November 11. “For the Nobel committee hour - according to the Council on Foreign Nobel and ‘genocide’ “deeply concerned” about developments in Ethiopia there is a lesson here. When in doubt: wait.” Such Relations think tank. Former Nobel Committee sec- Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin shared and appealed for an end to the fighting - though it patience would also have been a good idea on sev- retary Geir Lundestad once told AFP the expecta- the 1978 Nobel with Egyptian President Anwar still defended its choice of 2019 laureate. This year, eral other occasions, historians note. Ten years tions placed on Obama were “totally unrealistic”. “It Sadat for their Camp David peace deal signed that the committee seems to have gone with a safer and before Abiy, Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace was impossible for anyone to meet (the) expecta- year. But Begin’s hands are also tainted with blood, more consensual pick: the World Food Program, Prize just nine months after taking office as US tions,” he said. In 1973, the Peace Prize was award- according to Sveen. “Begin went on to, among other which will accept its prize on Thursday. — AFP Forgotten Syrians Athens accuses Turkey need winter help: of facilitating Somali IS jihadists built Author Gaiman migration to Greece up arsenal after ‘red flags’ ignored PARIS: The world can’t forget the plight of Syrian ATHENS: The Greek government yesterday refugees this winter despite the global upheaval accused Turkey of encouraging Somali migration PARIS: Islamic State jihadists were able to build caused by COVID-19, fantasy author Neil Gaiman through promotion campaigns and visa offers, and up a major arsenal of explosives, weapons and said yesterday as he helped launch the UN refugee then allowing the migrants to continue on to drones through a sophisticated procurement program’s cold weather appeal. The award-winning Greece. Athens has long accused Ankara of process that saw “red flags” ignored by govern- writer said the pandemic had exposed weaknesses weaponising migration to pile pressure on the ments and suppliers, a monitoring group said yes- in governments’ ability to respond to crises, and European Union. Turkey counters that the EU is terday. The Conflict Armament Research group should serve as a reminder that refugees are ordi- AZAZ, Syria: Syrian schoolchildren sit in a makeshift providing insufficient support to enable it to said in a study that IS was able to build up a store nary people dealing with upheaval. school set up by locals in the village of Maarin in the accommodate around four million migrants, many of of material for a weapons production program in Iraq and Syria from 2015-2019 via individuals and “The thing that if anything 2020 has intensified, rebel-controlled northern countryside of Aleppo whom want to travel to Europe. companies in southern Turkey and also elsewhere. is that we are all one step away from being province yesterday. — AFP In February and March, there were days of skir- IS was ousted last year from its former strong- refugees,” Gaiman, Goodwill Ambassador for mishes between migrants and police at the Greek- holds in Iraq and Syria - where it had wanted to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency said. “We all struggling to survive freezing temperatures and Turkish border after a surge the Greek government build an extremist so-called caliphate - but had plans for 2020. And God has laughed at all of torrential rain in makeshift shelters. “Life is made says was orchestrated by Turkey. “In Somalia, we our plans and given us a completely different even tougher by the devastating impact of COVID- experts warned that the knowhow and connec- understand that the Turkish authorities, the ministry tions in its supply network have not gone away. IS 2020 instead. “For most refugees, that’s their plot 19,” she said. of education and other ministries, are promoting too. They had plans for their life, they were trying “procured key commodities through groups of immigration to Turkey,” Migration Minister Notis linked, family-owned companies and individuals to be where they were because most people like ‘Right to be here’ Mitarachi told a news conference. Citing alleged being where they are, and then everything went To help raise awareness, Gaiman asked his fol- located near key border crossings into IS-held testimony from Somali migrants, Mitarachi said territory,” CAR said, adding these groups were wrong,” he said. lowers on Twitter to share their memories of being applicants were being “facilitated” by a Turkish liai- Gaiman, famed for his surreal novels such as warm. He received more than 25,000 words in centered around the towns of Siverek and son office in Mogadishu to obtain visas based on Akcakale in southern Turkey. The CAR empha- “American Gods” and “The Sandman” comic series, response, using them as inspiration for the poem, certificates and documents provided by Turkish- collaborated with hundreds of fans and artists to which has now been turned in to an animated short sized there was no evidence that these companies funded institutions in Somalia. were “witting accomplices” to IS procurement release a new animated version of his crowd- drawing on artworks from artists and refugees. These include a hospital and a university in sourced poem, “What You Need to Be Warm”. “Twitter can be a cesspit,” he said. “It can be the efforts or guilty of any wrongdoing. Mogadishu, the minister said. “We understand that “They nonetheless acted as key junction points “People are incredibly resilient, people are imagina- worst place in the world and yet, sometimes, you as many as 300 people have flown to Turkey in this tive, people are creative,” he said. “But for a lot of can go out and say ‘what does it mean to be warm?’ within the supply chains that provisioned IS way,” Mitarachi said. “These people are essentially forces,” it said. They are based around two people, and for a lot of refugees, 2020 may have and get 25,000 words of replies from people and all arriving legally in Turkey, for the express purpose of been the final aftershock of the earthquake that extended family groups in the area, it said. It said of them evoke memory, childhood, the joy of coming illegal trafficking into Europe.” “When Somalis finally brings down the house.” that purchases of bulk explosive precursors and from a cold place to a warm place.” Gaiman, who arrive in Istanbul, they are transferred in vans, to UNHCR has warned that winter 2020 - for some explained how many of his family members perished electronic items through this network had unusual specific areas of the city where they stay until their their ninth away from home - is likely to be the in the Holocaust, ends the poem: “You have the right features that should have raised “red flags”. relocation to the western Turkish coast can be harshest yet for the more than six million Syrian to be here.” Companies made large purchases of products arranged,” he said. refugees who fled their country during the near- He said 2020 had shown the fragility of even that were “incongruent” with their business activ- “It is obvious that these people are not at risk in decade long civil war. Annual challenges such as democratic governments and modern health care ities, it said, pointing to how a small mobile phone Turkey and therefore should be given asylum there, snow and freezing temperatures will be harder to systems, just as the 2015 refugee crisis in Europe shop purchased six tons of aluminum paste from manage as COVID-19 has drastically affected relief laid bare the extent of human suffering in those if appropriate. “It is worrying that Turkey appears a large chemical distributor. campaigns. “It’s very easy to forget the refugee cri- fleeing conflict. “If COVID had got worse, if govern- to be facilitating the arrival of these migrants by Mike Lewis, co-author of the report, said the sis, it’s very easy to forget that there are nearly 80 mental handling of it got worse, I can absolutely see willingly providing visas for travel,” Mitarachi said. findings show how “surprisingly fragile” the pro- million people forcibly displaced right now in the a world in which people are trying to figure out how He added that Somali asylum seekers were also curement network was, relying on a small number world,” said Gaiman. “And we can’t forget them. to get out of the United Kingdom and to go some- allegedly using “subsidized tickets and visas paid of key individuals and businesses. “With stronger “It’s getting really cold out there; it’s even colder where else that’s safer,” said Gaiman. “It’s good to for by NGOs”. There was no immediate comment due diligence, much of this trade might have been if you’re living in a tent.” Lisa Abou Khaled, welcome people in because one day you may want from Ankara to the allegations. A Greek migration disrupted,” he said. Namir Shabibi, CAR’s Head of UNHCR’s spokesperson in Beirut, told AFP 2020 to be welcomed.” The animated film and donation ministry source said relevant testimony had been Iraq Operations, warned that although IS forces had been the “hardest year yet” for the one million instructions for UNHCR’s Winter Appeal can be drawn from Somali survivors of a migrant sinking on may no longer hold territory, remaining cells have Syrians exiled in Lebanon. She said many were found at: www.unhcr.org/neilgaiman — AFP December 2 in which two women died. — AFP become increasingly active in the past year. — AFP