Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Conflict and climate disasters combine to create record rise in displaced people

Posted on by

War in Ukraine and Pakistan’s ‘monsoon on steroids’ among events driving surge on ‘scale never seen before’ as 71m people displaced

The number of people around the world who were forced to flee their homes leapt by a fifth last year, as a “perfect storm” of Russia’s assault on Ukraine and climate disasters brought displacement on an unprecedented scale.

By the end of 2022 the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) – those forced from their homes but remaining within their country of residence – reached 71 million, according to figures published by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), up from 59.1 million in 2021.

Continue reading...

Shireen Abu Akleh: friends and family call for justice on anniversary of killing

Posted on by

Israeli forces admit ‘high possibility’ Al Jazeera reporter was shot by sniper at West Bank refugee camp

Family members, friends and colleagues of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was almost certainly fatally shot by an Israeli sniper, have renewed calls for justice on the first anniversary of her killing, during a week of memorials and events celebrating her life.

Abu Akleh, a household name in the Arab world who worked for Qatar-based Al Jazeera, was shot in the head in the slumlike refugee camp on the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on 11 May last year while covering an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) raid. International outrage at the reporter’s death was fuelled by scenes of violence at her funeral in Jerusalem, when Israeli police attacked pallbearers, almost causing them to drop the coffin.

Continue reading...

Gaza: fighting continues in defiance of reported ceasefire

Posted on by

Tit-for-tat rocket fire follows claims that Egyptian officials brokered pause in conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants

Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the blockaded Gaza Strip have continued fighting despite reports of ceasefire negotiations, in a bloody episode of violence that has left 21 people in Gaza dead and brought daily life in Tel Aviv to a standstill.

An Egyptian state-run station with close ties to the security agencies said on Wednesday evening that Egyptian officials – who frequently mediate in the conflict – had successfully brokered a pause in the fighting. But the tit-for-tat fire continued late into the night, suggesting the truce had not held.

Continue reading...

Tunisia police officer kills five in shooting near Africa’s oldest synagogue

Posted on by

Attacker reportedly first shot dead colleague and stole ammunition before heading towards synagogue

A police officer killed three other police and two visitors near Africa’s oldest synagogue, the Tunisian government has said, amid an annual pilgrimage to the island of Djerba that draws hundreds of Jews from Europe and Israel.

The officer at a naval installation in Djerba shot a colleague and seized his ammunition on Tuesday and headed towards the Ghriba synagogue, the Tunisian interior ministry said.

Continue reading...

Sudan’s doctors turn to social media as health infrastructure crumbles

Posted on by

With hospitals struggling amid the violence, medics are using helplines on messaging platforms to reach those in need

Sudanese doctors are turning to social media to reach patients as hospitals and heath facilities struggle to function or close completely in the violence. Volunteers have set up 24-hour helplines on messaging platforms including WhatsApp, staffed by hundreds of doctors and specialists.

Only 16% of hospitals in the capital, Khartoum, are operating at full capacity, according to the World Health Organization. Last week at least four people, including a child, were killed in an airstrike outside East Nile hospital in north Khartoum, while Médecins Sans Frontières reported that El Geneina teaching hospital, in west Darfur, was looted on 28 April. Doctors in the country are reporting death threats and on Monday two volunteers who were working to reopen a hospital in Bahri were released after being held for days by the army.

Continue reading...

Saudi oil group Aramco to pay more to state despite profits drop

Posted on by

World’s largest energy company’s first-quarter profits fall by 19% to $32bn after dip in oil prices

The Saudi government looks likely to reap greater revenues from the state-backed oil group Saudi Aramco despite the company posting a near-20% fall in quarterly profits.

The world’s largest oil and gas company said on Tuesday its profits had fallen by 19% in its first quarter compared with a year earlier, to nearly $32bn (£25bn), caused by a drop in oil prices.

Continue reading...

Israel bombs Gaza Strip, killing three Islamic Jihad leaders and nine civilians

Posted on by

Hamas and Islamic Jihad vow to retaliate after Israeli launches overnight strikes despite ceasefire

Israeli airstrikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip targeting the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad have killed three senior operatives and at least nine civilians, including three children, according to the Israeli army and Palestinian officials.

A total of 40 jets took part in Operation Shield and Arrow, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said, conducting strikes that lasted about two hours starting at 2am (12am BST) on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Sudan medical volunteers detained after being seized from ambulance

Posted on by

Mohamed Ahmed and Mohamed Jamal went missing last week while working to reopen a hospital in Bahri

Activists in Sudan have expressed outrage after two medical volunteers were seized from the ambulance they were driving in northern Khartoum and detained for days by army intelligence officers, as airstrikes and clashes continued across the capital.

Mohamed Ahmed and Mohamed Jamal went missing last week while working with other volunteers to reopen the Haj al-Safi hospital in Bahri, which had been forced to close amid heavy fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Continue reading...

Iran hangs two men for blasphemy as executions rise amid unrest

Posted on by

Deaths take number of prisoners executed to at least 203 since start of this year, says human rights group

Iran has hanged two men convicted of blasphemy, according to authorities, carrying out rare death sentences for the crime as the number of executions soars across the Islamic Republic after months of unrest.

The country remains one of the world’s top executioners, having put to death at least 203 prisoners so far this year, according to the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights. But executions for blasphemy remain rare, as in previous cases the sentences have been reduced by authorities.

Continue reading...

Saudi-Iranian detente is fragile but potential for the Middle East is huge

Posted on by

Should rapprochement solidify it could augur well for Yemen, Lebanon and Syria – and spell disaster for Israel

Tehran’s embassy in Riyadh has reopened for the first time since 2016, the Iranian foreign ministry quietly confirmed in April, in the latest of a series of gestures showing that the two Middle East powers are determined to dial down a rivalry that has disfigured the region for 40 years.

All kinds of signs, trivial and large, suggest the rapprochement is genuine: civilian flights between the two countries are to resume; an Iranian won an $800,000 Saudi Qur’an-reading competition; Iranian steel is making its way to Saudi markets; officials from the two countries were seen embracing after the Saudi navy rescued 60 Iranians trapped in Sudan; and Ibrahim Raisi is expected to announce a visit to Riyadh soon, the first by an Iranian president since 2007.

Continue reading...

Arab League readmits Syria as relations with Assad normalise

Posted on by

Syria’s membership of Arab League suspended in 2011 after bloody crackdown on street protests

Arab League foreign ministers have adopted a decision to readmit Syria after more than a decade of suspension, consolidating a regional push to normalise ties with President Bashar al-Assad.

The decision, which means Syria can resume its participation in Arab League meetings immediately, also calls for a resolution of the crisis resulting from the country’s civil war, including the flight of refugees to neighbouring countries and drug smuggling across the region.

Continue reading...

Eritrea accused of forcibly repatriating civilians caught up in Sudan fighting

Posted on by

More than 3,500 refugees are said to have been forcibly deported over the border in recent weeks

When fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group in Khartoum in mid-April, Eritrean brothers Abdel and Dahlak* said goodbye to each other in the Sudanese capital.

Dahlak, the younger of the two, had some savings, so could afford to flee the city on a bus with other Eritreans. He headed east towards refugee camps in the vicinity of Kassala, a town near the Eritrean border that is home to a large Eritrean community.

Continue reading...

Home Office accused of being ‘unashamedly racist’ towards Sudanese

Posted on by

Experts believe the UK has adopted a segregated immigration policy which favours those fleeing Ukraine

The Home Office has been accused of operating an “unashamedly racist” refugee system after refusing to offer people fleeing fighting in Sudan a safe and legal route to the UK, in stark contrast to the schemes offered to those escaping the war in Ukraine.

With the final evacuation flight from Khartoum to the UK having left last week, a lack of options from the UK government has crystallised concern that it has adopted a segregated immigration policy. No safe and legal routes have been made available to help Sudanese refugees flee and there is no sign of an announcement outlining a new scheme to deal with the fallout of the conflict.

Continue reading...

Iran executes Swedish-Iranian for alleged terrorism

Posted on by

Habib Farajollah Chaab allegedly behind attack that killed dozens of people in southern province of Khuzistan in 2018

Iran has executed a man who was allegedly behind an attack that killed dozens of people at a military parade in the southern province of Khuzistan in 2018, state media have reported.

Habib Farajollah Chaab had been sentenced to death for being “corrupt on Earth”, a capital offence under Iran’s strict Islamic laws.

Continue reading...

Sudan’s warring sides arrive in Saudi Arabia for talks as fighting rages on

Posted on by

US and Riyadh confirm talks amid reports of more airstrikes and gun battles in Khartoum despite threat of sanctions

Sudan’s rival factions have arrived in Saudi Arabia for direct talks, after three weeks of clashes in the capital, Khartoum, and the south-western region of Darfur that have killed at least hundreds and wounded many more.

Representatives of the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were in Jeddah on Saturday for “pre-negotiation talks” aimed at establishing a durable ceasefire that would allow aid to reach millions of desperate civilians trapped by the fighting.

Continue reading...

Sudan’s neighbours have little to offer refugees, warns UN

Posted on by

Thousands of Sudanese are crossing borders into countries already severely stressed by drought, conflicts and food insecurity, say UN officials

The UN is in a race against time to get food supplies to Sudanese refugees crossing the border into Chad before the rainy season begins, as neighbouring countries struggle to cope with the numbers of people fleeing the civil war.

More than 110,000 people are now estimated to have crossed into other countries as patchy ceasefires fail to stop deadly clashes between Sudanese army troops and a paramilitary rival that have killed hundreds and forced more than 330,000 from their homes.

Continue reading...

‘Not safe for us’: Sudanese in north Africa warn fleeing relatives of danger

Posted on by

People who sought route to Europe before fighting erupted in Khartoum speak of police brutality, torture and homelessness

Ever since fighting erupted in his home town of Nyala, the state capital of South Darfur in Sudan, in mid-April, Khaled’s mobile phone has not stopped ringing. Family members, friends and acquaintances want to know how to reach north Africa and which country is best for departing for Europe.

The 17-year-old, currently living in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, wishes he could tell them that the journey is simple and that countries like Tunisia and Libya are welcoming and safe.

Continue reading...

Fighting intensifies in Sudan’s capital as US warns of new sanctions

Posted on by

Clashes continue around presidential palace in Khartoum despite international calls to end hostilities

Fighting in Sudan has intensified as warring factions seek to secure strategic locations, as pressure grows from international powers to end hostilities and allow humanitarian assistance to reach millions of desperate civilians.

Fierce battles on Thursday between the Sudanese army and its paramilitary opponents, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), reminded residents in Khartoum, the capital, of the fierce combat that marked the first days of the war almost three weeks ago.

Continue reading...

‘I’m in intense pain’: Vahid Beheshti passes 70 days on UK hunger strike

Posted on by

Camped outside Foreign Office, Beheshti is demanding Iran’s Revolutionary Guards be proscribed

Vahid Beheshti’s hunger strike outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office took a surreal turn on Wednesday – its 70th day – when he attended a royal coronation tea party at Buckingham Palace, arriving by wheelchair and wearing a suit and red tie.

He has lost more than 17kg (37lb), or a quarter of his body weight, and he told the Guardian that “my body and joints are now racked in intense pain”. As he left his tent, draped in the Iranian flag and surrounded by flowers, he clutched an envelope containing a letter for the king. After carefully smartening himself up, he was wheeled to a taxi by his wife, Mattie Heaven, a Conservative councillor.

Continue reading...

Israeli raid kills three men accused of killing UK-Israeli woman and daughters

Posted on by

Two alleged Hamas operatives and alleged accomplice shot dead in operation in occupied West Bank

Israel said its security forces shot dead three Palestinians blamed for killing a British-Israeli woman and her two daughters last month, in a raid on Thursday in the occupied West Bank.

Two suspects in the killings, members of the militant group Hamas, and a third man accused of helping them were killed in an operation in Nablus by the army, police and the security service Shin Bet, a statement said.

Continue reading...