India’s Modi government uses “anti-terror” laws to persecute NewsClick editor and manager

Kranti Kumara

In a move befitting a fascist regime, India’s Narendra Modi-led government is wantonly trampling on basic democratic rights to intimidate and silence the left-wing news website NewsClick. Following police raids Tuesday on its offices and the homes of scores of people associated with the website, police have arrested NewsClick’s founder and Editor-in-Chief, Prabir Purkayastha, and Human Resources head Amit Chakraborty on frame-up terrorism charges.

The now jailed Purkayastha and Chakraborty stand accused of offences under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), which allows the government to lock away persons for years on spurious charges without a court hearing and/or providing any sort of meaningful evidence against them.

Since coming to power in 2014, Modi’s Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has repeatedly used the UAPA, which allows the state to circumvent constitutionally protected due process, and India’s sweeping sedition laws to persecute government opponents.

Unsurprisingly, India’s courts, which have repeatedly given their imprimatur to the Modi government’s ever more brazen evisceration of democratic rights, has sanctioned the UAPA charges against Purkayastha and Chakraborty and ordered them held in police custody for at least seven days.

The authorities have alleged that NewsClick is being funded “from China,” a deliberately provocative claim as the Indian government has identified China as its principal strategic threat and has formed a de facto military alliance with US imperialism to encircle China. Since 2020, Beijing and New Delhi have been locked in a stand-off over their disputed border with each country forward deploying tens of thousands of troops, tanks, and warplanes.

The government—through the Delhi police, which are directly under the control of India’s Home Ministry, and the Finance Ministry’s Enforcement Directorate—has accused the website of peddling “Chinese propaganda” and “plot[ting] to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.”

NewsClick is in the crosshairs of the far-right Modi government because it is one of the few prominent news websites that is stridently critical of its actions, including its relentless promotion of communalism. NewsClick has also sought to expose the corrupt nexus between Modi and his close friend, the billionaire businessman Gautam Adani.

In the early morning hours of Tuesday, October 3, hundreds of police mounted a dragnet-style operation across India, raiding offices and residences in order to interrogate scores of journalists, historians and researchers. These individuals were targeted either because they had written articles for NewsClick or were otherwise associated with it.

According to the Press Trust of India, 88 locations in Delhi and seven in other states were raided.

The raids in New Delhi were mounted by the Delhi Police (DP) special cell on economic offences and the Indian government’s Enforcement Directorate (ED), a police agency set up to investigate financial crimes such as money laundering.

The police reportedly interrogated the targeted individuals for an average of eight hours and seized their laptops, cell phones and other devices, including disk storage.

In a flagrant demonstration of the raids’ true political motivations, the police demanded to know of those they interrogated whether they had covered the farmers’ revolt of 2020-21, the anti-Muslim attacks fomented by the BJP in Delhi in February 2020, or the government’s ruinous response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among those interrogated was the journalist and social activist Teesta Setalvad. At the instigation of India’s highest court, Setalvad is already facing grave criminal charges of “fabricating evidence” for her dogged efforts to reveal the role the then Modi-led Gujarat state government and senior police officials played in the 2002 Gujarat anti-Muslim pogrom.

The authorities have sealed the offices of NewsClick. The website, which continues to post material, issued a statement following Tuesday’s raid which pointed to the police’s brazen violations of due process. “We have not been provided with a copy of the FIR (preliminary police report), or informed about the exact particulars of the offences with which we have been charged. Electronic devices were seized from the NewsClick premises and homes of employees, without any adherence to due process such as the provision of seizure memos, hash values of the seized data, or even copies of the data. NewsClick’s office has also been sealed in a blatant attempt at preventing us from continuing our reporting.”

NewsClick has been hounded since 2021 on “money laundering” charges, purportedly for receiving foreign funds. Even after two years of so-called investigation, during which the authorities have scrutinized Newsclick’s records, neither the DP nor ED have been able to file an official complaint against it in the courts.

Demonstration by activists and journalists in front of New York Times building denouncing persecution of NewsClick. [Photo: Radio Free Amanda/Twitter or X]

The charge of NewsClick carrying “Chinese propaganda” comes after the New York Times (NYT) published a particularly foul anti-China, hit-piece article on August 5 that purported to unravel “financial networks [that] push Chinese talking points.” From the Times’ standpoint, such “talking points” include any criticism of US imperialism’s all-sided strategic offensive and war preparations against China.

The Times article singled out an American IT specialist and businessman, Neville Roy Singham, who it claimed “is known as a socialist benefactor of far-left causes and works closely with the Chinese government.” According to the article, Singham has “financed” NewsClick which has “sprinkled its coverage with Chinese government talking points.”

This nasty, US intelligence agency-scripted “exposé” from America’s so-called “newspaper of record” has provided the grist for the Modi government to intensify its persecution of NewsClick and bring charges against two of its most senior personnel under the UAPA.

The police are also trying to connect their case against the NewsClick editor-in-chief Purkayastha with another notorious UAPA frame-up case—known as the Bhima Koregaon case—in which a group of anti-government writers and social activists, labelled “urban Naxhalites” by the police and BJP, have been accused of inciting communal violence and colluding with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). In court documents police have reportedly pointed to the friendship between NewsClick’s editor-in-chief and one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon (or Elgar Parishad) case, civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha. It also has claimed Navlakha is a NewsClick shareholder and that “Chinese” funds were dispersed to him via NewsClick.  

There has been widespread condemnation of the Modi government for its recourse to police-state tactics and against the NYT for its filthy role in facilitating Modi’s assault on the press. Protesters picketed the Times’ Manhattan office on Tuesday to draw attention to the witch-hunt against NewsClick and the Times’ role in it.

There have also been protests involving hundreds of journalists and activists in New Delhi and Hyderabad in south India.

Fifteen Indian press organisations, including the Press Club of India, Digipub News India Foundation and the Indian Women’s Press Corps, have written to the Chief Justice of India’s Supreme Court urging him to intervene to protect constitutionally guaranteed press freedoms. “Subjecting journalists,” they wrote, “to a concentrated criminal process because the government disapproves of their coverage of national and international affairs is an attempt to chill the press by the threat of reprisal—the very ingredient you identified as a threat to freedom.”

Throughout its nine-year rule, the Modi government has used repressive methods to muzzle journalists, political activists, and even foreign news organisations that have criticized its conduct.

One of the most prominent instances was the massive raid by Income Tax officials on the British broadcaster, the BBC, in February of this year. The BBC was targeted after it aired documentaries pointing to the central role Modi played, when Chief Minister of Gujarat, in instigating and facilitating the February 2002 massacre of at least 2,000 innocent Muslims.

Similarly, in July 2021, the same Indian tax authorities raided the offices of TV channel Bharat Samachar and Hindi-newspaper Dainik Bhaskar for “tax evasion.” These organisations came under the government’s scanner after they exposed some of the horrors that resulted from the government’s criminal indifference to the COVID-19 pandemic, and drew attention to the government’s routine spying on journalists, politicians and activists using the Israeli-origin Pegasus spy software.

Even the mainstream newsmagazine and website Outlook was forced to concede this week: “Over the last decade, countless Indian journalists have been targeted by probe agencies and many have been put behind bars. While the charges framed against them have been over alleged terror links or illegal funding and anti-national activities, these journalists are usually renowned for their detailed reportage, usually not much in favour of the government.” 

The Modi government’s assault on the press has been especially egregious in Kashmir. There journalists are routinely arrested and charged with criminal offences for reporting anything inimical to the narrative of the Modi government. In October 2020, police sealed the Srinagar offices of the long-established Kashmir Times. At least five Kashmiri journalists are currently indefinitely detained under the UAPA— Asif Sultan, Fahad Shah, Sajad Gul, Manan Gulzar Dar, and Irfan Mehraj.

Pro-China candidate wins Maldives presidential election

Rohantha De Silva

In the Maldives presidential elections held last Saturday, the pro-Chinese opposition candidate was elected in a second-round runoff. Mohamed Muizzu, 45, a member of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and currently the mayor of Male, will replace the pro-Indian incumbent President Ibrahim Solih of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

President-elect of the Maldives Mohamed Muizzu, (centre in white shirt), attends a victory celebration in Male, Maldives, Monday, Oct. 2, 2023. Muiz says he will remove Indian military personnel stationed in the archipelago state, promising he would initiate the process. [AP Photo/Mohamed Sharuhaan]

Muizzu was able to exploit the growing discontent over deteriorating economic and social conditions to secure the majority. He won 54 percent of the vote from the 282,000 eligible voters, while Sohil received only 46 percent. Solih will serve as acting president until his successor is sworn in on November 17.

Maldives comprises 1,196 low-lying islands in the Indian Ocean with a population of under 521,000 people. It is strategically located near vital shipping lanes providing most of the energy and other supplies to Asia, including China, Japan and India. Roughly 30 percent of the world’s oil trade and 90 percent of China’s oil passes through this area.

Access to Maldives therefore confers a vital strategic advantage for projecting naval power in the Indian Ocean. The tiny archipelago has become a hotspot for geo-political rivalry between the US and India on one side and China on the other, with tensions now accelerating as Washington prepares for war against Beijing.

Following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's four-day official visit to the US in June, Washington and New Delhi expanded their military-strategic partnership against China. It is now known that the Indian military is studying how it could support US and its allies in a war against China over Taiwan.

In this context, the election of a pro-China president will lead to intensification of the geo-political rivalry over influence in the Maldives. India has long treated the Indian Ocean as its exclusive sphere of influence and will not tolerate what it regards as China’s intrusion.

After winning the election, Muizzu told reporters in Male: “Today, the people made a firm decision to reclaim Maldives independence.” This was directed very clearly against India. He later stated, without naming any country, that foreign military detachments stationed in Maldives will be removed. India alone has a military presence.

As a minister under pro-Beijing president Abdulla Yameen before 2018, Muizzu oversaw several Chinese-funded infrastructure projects, including a $US200 million causeway between the capital Male and the country’s main airport. During an online meeting with Chinese Communist Party officials last year, he pledged he would expand the “strong ties between our two countries” if he came to power.

President Solih, who was a strong advocate for an “India First” strategy during his presidency, came to office in late 2018 following a US-led regime-change operation to oust his predecessor Yameen. Under Yameen, the Maldives joined Beijing's Maritime Silk Road infrastructure program, aimed at countering Washington’s efforts to encircle China. China invested billions of dollars in the Maldives for bridges, airports, ports, and other projects.

After Yameen’s ouster, India rapidly expanded its influence in the Maldives through defence treaties and investment. It became heavily involved in disaster management, infrastructure development, capacity building, marine security and humanitarian relief in accordance with India’s “Neighborhood First” and “Security and Growth for All in the Region” (SAGAR) policies.

Solih, however, quickly lost popular support as the country plunged into economic and social crisis. The COVID-19 epidemic severely impacted the tourism industry, the backbone of its economy.

In 2020, Yameen launched an anti-Indian political movement, the ‘India Out’ campaign, which was spearheaded by the opposition coalition—consisting of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People’s National Congress (PNC), both of which he led. He accused the Solih government of expanding India’s military presence and influence, which the government denied. The campaign opposed Indian investments and initiatives and attempted to channel popular opposition over deteriorating social and economic conditions into anti-Indian chauvinism.

The deteriorating economic conditions opened up a split within the government. Former president Mohamed Nasheed broke away from the ruling MDP and ran his own candidate in the first round of presidential elections. He also chose to remain impartial in last Saturday’s run-off. According to Ahmed Shaheed, a former foreign minister, “Nasheed’s departure took the motherboard away from the MDP.”

Concerned over the split in the pro-Indian MDP, Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh made a three-day visit to the Maldives from May 1, in an attempt to reconcile the two factions, but failed.

Following Solih’s defeat, India congratulated Muizzu. Indian Prime Minister Modi tweeted: “India remains committed to strengthening the time-tested India-Maldives bilateral relationship and enhancing our overall cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region.”

However, there are clearly deep concerns in India. The Times of India declared that India had suffered a setback in the Maldives. An editorial in the Indian Express complained that “the somewhat surprising victory of Mohamed Muizzu” was widely seen as to China’s benefit.

There is no doubt that as in the past, intrigues are already being hatched in Washington and New Delhi to try to undermine Muizzu and ultimatedly replace him with a pliable client. As the US intensifies its war preparations against China throughout the Indo-Pacific, it cannot tolerate any expansion of Chinese influence.

US shoots down Turkish drone as Turkey bombs Kurdish forces in Syria, Iraq

Ulaş Ateşçi

On Thursday, the Pentagon announced that it had shot down a Turkish armed drone with an F-16 fighter jet because it posed a “threat” to US troops in Syria. It was the first such incident between the two NATO allies.

On Thursday morning, Turkish drones carried out strikes near the Syrian city of Hasakah, about 1 kilometer from US troops, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said. A few hours later, a Turkish drone that came within 500 meters of US troops was deemed a “threat” and shot down by an F-16, according to the statement.

The escalation of tensions in Syria came amid the possible deployment of British troops in the NATO war against Russia in Ukraine and the resurgence of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus. It points to the danger that the imperialist-backed war for regime change against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which has been underway since 2011, could be reignited and escalate into a regional conflict.

Around 900 US troops maintain an illegal presence in northeastern Syria, in an area controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by Washington’s main proxy force in the region, the Kurdish nationalist People’s Protection Units (YPG). Allied with the SDF, US forces control Syria’s oil resources in the region. Ankara treats the YPG and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as “terrorist groups.”

Ryder said, “We have no indication that the Turkey was intentionally targeting US forces. It’s a regrettable incident,” before adding: “The secretary has talked to his [Turkish] counterpart. They had the opportunity to have a fruitful conversation…. Turkey does remain a very important and valuable NATO ally and partner to the United States.”

Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler made a statement on the X platform, stating he told his American counterpart that “Turkey is ready for a joint fight with the USA against Daesh [ISIS].”

Speaking to Reuters, a Turkish defense ministry official denied that the drone belonged to Turkey. However, Al-Monitor, citing two US officials, suggested that it belonged to Turkish intelligence (MİT). An unnamed US official also said Turkish military officials had been warned a dozen times before the incident.

Ankara’s air campaign in Syria has continued despite the dangerous escalation between the US and Turkey. On Thursday evening, the Defense Ministry announced that 30 targets controlled by the YPG in northern Syria had been destroyed and many Kurdish militias were killed. The statement said the targets included oil wells and storage facilities. Local sources claimed that civilians were also harmed, an allegation denied by Ankara.

Turkey’s air strikes against Kurdish forces in Syria began after an armed attack on the Turkish National Police headquarters in Ankara last Sunday, in during which two attackers were killed and two policemen were wounded. The stolen car used in the incident belonged to a civilian named Mikail Bozlağan from Kayseri, who was killed before the attack, according to the official statements.

The PKK claimed responsibility for the attack, stating it was intended to “send the necessary message to the relevant places and give them a serious warning.” In reality, the attack only served to provide justification for Ankara’s police-state repression at home and new military operations in Iraq and Syria, contributing to the possibility of a broader conflict in the region.

The legal Kurdish nationalist Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and Green Left Party (YSP) condemned the Ankara attack as “unacceptable.” However, at least 75 people have been detained so far in police operations mainly targeting the HDP-YSP.

The Turkish Defense Ministry has announced that air strikes have been carried out against PKK positions in northern Iraq since Sunday. On Wednesday, a “security summit” was held in Ankara with the participation of interior and foreign ministers, the head of the intelligence agency and the chief of the general staff.

On the same day, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan alleged that the perpetrators of the Ankara attack were YPG-PKK members coming from Syria. “All infrastructure, superstructure and energy facilities belonging to the PKK/YPG, especially in Iraq and Syria, are from now on the legitimate targets of our security forces, armed forces and intelligence elements,” he declared in a statement, warning the United States: “I recommend that third parties stay away from PKK/YPG facilities and individuals.

SDF General Commander Mazlum Kobani rejected Ankara’s claim and called on the United States and other NATO allies to protect them. He said, “The perpetrators of the attack in Ankara did not travel there from our region, as the Turkish authorities claim... We expect the guarantor countries and the international community to stand up to these frequent threats and take a stand to ensure stability and peace in the region.”

On Thursday, the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TSK) Dabık base in the Azaz district of northwestern Syria was attacked. The Turkish Doğan News Agency (DHA) reported that 5 Turkish police officers and 3 soldiers were wounded in the attack. The Turkish Defense Ministry claimed that 26 PKK-YPG militants were killed in retaliatory airstrikes. The Syrian government has demanded for years that not only the US but also Turkish forces end their illegal occupation and leave the country.

The increased military operations in the area signals a possible a large-scale Turkish ground operation. After the terrorist attack that killed six civilians in Istanbul on November 13, 2022, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that a ground operation in Syria would be launched “at the most appropriate time.” However, he backed down after sharp opposition from both Iran and Russia, which back the Damascus regime, and the United States.

On Wednesday, however, a Turkish Defense Ministry spokesman implied that the Turkish government does not rule out a ground invasion into Iraq and Syria, targeting Kurdish forces.

Fearing the possible emergence of a Kurdish state in its southern border, Ankara has long demanded that the US end its support for the YPG. Erdoğan, who had been trying to reach an agreement with Washington, proved that his government essentially stands by the US in the war against Russia by lifting his veto on Finland’s NATO membership in March. He also approved Sweden’s NATO membership; the Turkish parliament is expected to vote on this soon.

Amid a military escalation in Syria between the United States and its Kurdish proxy YPG and Turkey, at least 89 were killed on Thursday in a drone strike on a graduation ceremony at a military academy in the Homs region, about 150 kilometers north of Damascus.

Syria’s state-owned news agency SANA reported that 31 of them were women, 5 were children, and that 277 were wounded. Reuters reported that it was “one of the bloodiest strikes against the military” in the 12-year war. While no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, the Syrian government, which blamed unnamed “terrorists,” launched artillery strikes on US- and Turkey-backed Islamist forces in Idlib and Aleppo.

Meanwhile, the SANA reported on Tuesday that Israel bombed Syrian forces in Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria, wounding two soldiers. Israel has long carried out air strikes against government soldiers and Iranian-backed militias in Syria.

Governments prepare to slash benefits for Ukrainian refugees

Andrea Peters

Ukrainian refugees across Europe and elsewhere in the world are facing increasingly dire prospects as NATO countries prepare to further slash humanitarian aid for those who have fled the war zone. While the EU just announced that it is extending the temporary protected status granted Ukrainians so that they can live and work legally in the EU until March 2025, governments are making it increasingly impossible for them to do so. There are tens of billions of dollars available to ensure that Ukrainian workers continue to kill their Russian brethren and die themselves in the process, but not so much to ensure that they live.

On Thursday, Poland, where around 1 to 1.2 million Ukrainian refugees currently reside, announced that it would end publicly-funded benefits for that population in the first quarter of 2024. Speaking to the press, government representative Piotr Müller declared, “The term of decisions on providing assistance is gradually coming to an end; this is stated in the law and the payments will not continue.”

In late August, Warsaw, which cut support for refugees in half earlier this year, canceled childcare benefits for Ukrainian refugees who leave the country for more than 30 days. Even if a person returns within that time frame, if their entry is not properly documented by a border guard, they are permanently ineligible for the family allowance.

This threatens the livelihood of thousands of Ukrainian families, many of whom have begun to travel back and forth to their home country to the extent that conditions on the ground make it possible. Because men between 18 and 65 years old are prohibited from leaving Ukraine, wives and children who fled are indefinitely separated from their husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers unless they make a return visit. Should an error be made at the Polish border or a train be delayed on its way back from Kiev, these Ukrainian female-headed refugee households in Poland will be stripped of essential means, jeopardizing their ability to survive. Mothers of young children who cannot pay for childcare also cannot work.

Making clear that it has no intention of accommodating any future waves of refugees, Poland recently closed its largest shelter for fleeing Ukrainians, kicking out three hundred people still living at the facility in Nadzaryn. “They gave them some food in bags and that was it,” one aid worker told FT. With the center’s doors having been closed at 5pm and all denied admittance, some did not even have time to pack their belongings. 

A recent study by HelpAge on older Ukrainian refugees in Poland, of which there are approximately 73,000, found that just 8 percent can pay their medical bills. Medicines, doctors’ visits, and specialist appointments—in other words, pretty much everything—are unaffordable. Fully 80 percent of elderly Ukrainian refugees report suffering chronic depression and anxiety, which is magnified by social isolation. Unable to work, the population is highly dependent on various forms of public assistance.  

Germany, whose chancellor, Olaf Scholz, just declared that the number of asylum seekers in the country is “too high at the moment,” is leading the way in the assault on refugees. In late September, the government announced that it will cut spending on refugee aid sent to states by nearly 50 percent and, according to Reuters, entirely “halt its contribution to the costs of caring for and integrating the 1.08 million Ukrainian refugees.”

In total, federal refugee expenditures will be reduced from 3.75 billion euros in 2023 to 1.25 billion in 2024 and subsequent years. Even with current funding levels, local authorities are reporting that the system for asylum seekers is in crisis.

In June of this year, Engelhard Mazanke, the head of Berlin’s immigration office, told the press, “We are on the verge of dysfunctionality.” Nonetheless, a spokesperson from Germany’s finance ministry explained that going forward finding money for municipal administrations to provide for refugees will be the problem of the states.

According to the website of the German federal government, over the course of just 2023, Berlin has provided Kiev 5.4 billion euros worth of military aid and pledged another 10.5 billion worth.

In Britain, which in 2022 gave $2.8 billion to support Ukraine’s war machine, at least 7300 Ukrainian households, including 4740 with children, are now homeless. These data, published by the government on August 15, are a significant undercount, however, as they apply exclusively to England and do not include other parts of the United Kingdom. In addition, only about two-thirds of local authorities responded to the request for information.

The country’s “Homes for Ukraine” program, launched with much fanfare in the spring of 2022, has turned into a debacle. While tens of thousands of British families, for the derisory sum of 350 pounds a month, have volunteered to host Ukrainian refugees for a six-month period, the government has done nothing to find permanent housing for the population. Of those families who opened their doors to fleeing Ukrainians, just 12 percent indicate they have gotten any assistance in finding long-term accommodations for their guests. The refugees are hard-pressed to help themselves, as many landlords require proof of financial means and long-term employment—neither of which they have—before they will rent out an apartment.

In both Britain and elsewhere, unemployment, underemployment and low-wage employment are an ongoing problem. With foreign degrees that governments do not recognize, language barriers, and other vulnerabilities, the experience of Ukrainian refugees is no exception to the near-universal reality that confronts all asylum seekers. They have been unable to find work that matches their skill levels or been taken advantage of by employers.

In July, Byline Times reported the case of a Ukrainian immigrant in Britain. The woman was offered “trial shifts” with various restaurants whereby she would work in the kitchen or clean and not be paid for her time, only to then be told several months later that, after “trialing” many others, the job was given to someone else. “I spent four hours peeling kilos and kilos of broccoli and sweet potatoes,” she explained, resulting in bleeding hands and no paycheck.

In Germany, the Institute for Employment Research found that 41 percent of refugees are underemployed, a number that rises to over 50 percent for Ukrainians.

Unfolding in the midst of a hysterical anti-immigrant atmosphere, there is a clear intention to drive Ukraine’s refugees out of the European Union.

After having already made large cuts to assistance for Ukrainian refugees earlier this year, the Czech Republic is now further “encouraging” them to go by providing them one-time financial assistance to return home. However, if these refugees later seek a long-term Czech visa, they will have to repay half of the repatriation aid they receive and be barred from ever receiving a visa should they not do so. In short, in the event of a dramatic worsening of war-time conditions, Czech borders will effectively be closed to thousands of people.

Meanwhile, the tiny country is doing its part to escalate the violence in Ukraine. According to RFE/RL, as of February, Prague has given Kiev “38 tanks, 55 armored vehicles, four aircraft, and 13 self-propelled howitzers from its army reserves alongside larger shipments from the private sector.” In mid-September, the government came to a deal with Denmark and the Netherlands to finance the delivery of Czech arms to Ukraine.

Outside of Europe, the same prevails.

In late August, the Israeli government pulled medical care from 14,000 Ukrainian refugees. The move, which caused an uproar, was later reversed. However, authorities have only extended healthcare benefits until the end of 2023 and indicate they intend to cancel them again in the new year. Furthermore, the interior, social, and health service ministries are refusing to foot the bill for the extension and demanding that the state treasury pick up the tab.

For its part, Australia ended its humanitarian visa program for Ukrainians in July 2022. While some have been able to remain in the country by switching to other visa types, they have lost housing, income, and other forms of government aid, such as free English lessons. Canberra has committed several hundred million dollars worth of lethal aid to Kiev.

The United States, which now has reportedly accepted about 270,000 Ukrainian refugees, requires that these asylum seekers prove that they have a financial backer in the US before they are granted entry. Meanwhile, according to the Kiel Institute, Washington has thus far given Ukraine $46.6 billion in military aid. Its humanitarian funding for the country has amounted to under $4 billion.

UK Conservative government lurches to far-right on agenda of war and austerity

Steve James

The annual conference of the Conservative Party, held in Manchester this week, marked a sharp shift to the right. Contributions from the leading figures in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's cabinet centred on British imperialism's preparations for war against Russia and China and escalating attacks on the working class to be imposed through brutal attacks on democratic rights.

The Tories' main pitch is that they are better able to fight these battles on behalf of the financial oligarchy than Sir Keir Starmer's rightward careening Labour Party.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivers his speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, October 4, 2023 [Photo by Picture by Dominic Lipinski CCHQ / Parsons Media / CC BY 2.0]

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps set the tone in a speech hailing the British government's criminal and escalatory role in Ukraine. This included N-LAW anti-tank missiles “wisely sent in advance”. Just “as N-LAWs struck fear into the hearts of invading Russian tank crews at the beginning, so our long-range cruise missiles do the same for Russian commanders today.” He boasted that Britain will have trained 50,000 Ukrainian recruits by the end of this year in a programme began in the aftermath of the 2014 fascist-led coup in Kiev that ousted Russian supporting president Viktor Yanukovych.

Shapps pointed to British military spending exceeding £50 billion for the first time in history, with the intention of exceeding 2.5 percent of GDP and as soon as possible to 3 percent. As well as a new class of Dreadnought submarines to carry the British nuclear arsenal under construction, Shapps announced £4 billion contracts towards developing “the most powerful attack submarine ever operated by the Royal Navy.” Part of the militarist AUKUS pact with Australia and the US, the submarines will be directed against “emerging navies anywhere in the world,” i.e., China.

The defense secretary announced the deployment of RAF Typhoon aircraft to “NATO ally” Poland for use specifically against Russia and 400 troops to bolster the NATO operation in Kosovo.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly listed UK achievements post-Brexit including the anti-China AUKUS war agenda; the anti-China security, technological and critical materials Hiroshima Accord concluded with Japan; and the Atlantic Declaration with the US agreeing co-operation over critical minerals and nuclear material aimed at securing British supply chains.

Cleverly hailed Sunak as “the first world leader to supply Ukraine with NATO tanks. The first leader to train fast jet fighter pilots. The first leader to supply long range missiles to support those fighting on the frontlines.”

Suella Braverman, the Tory’s sociopathic home secretary returned to the theme of her fascistic speech made at the Atlantic Enterprise Institute in Washington last week and the necessity for a war against “unprecedented mass migration”. “The wind of change that carried my own parents across the globe in the 20th century was a mere gust compared to the hurricane that is coming,” she intoned. The “future could bring millions more migrants to these shores… unless the government they elect next year acts decisively to stop that happening.”

Braverman predictably made no mention of war, global social crisis and environmental collapse rooted in the capitalist mode of production forcing millions to leave their ruined homelands. She outlined the vicious and punitive actions already taken by the government, promising more brutal measures. Braverman complained “we struggle to remove foreign criminals. The problem was a “dense net of international rules that were designed for another era” in other words the human rights legislation, including the universal right to asylum enacted by the United Nations after World War Two.

As striking doctors protested outside the conference, Braverman set out her intention to further clamp down on strikes and protests, attack homeless people and further strengthen the police. This was just days after she declared—following the announcement of the trial of a police officer for the murder of a young man, Chris Kaba, that we “depend on our brave firearms officers to protect us from the most dangerous and violent in society”, advocating a license to kill.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt set out a direct assault on the working class. He signaled his intention to fund future tax reductions with measures, including productivity hikes, targeting public sector workers such as teachers, doctors and nurses. 66,000 additional civil servants taken on during the pandemic are to be removed in a recruitment freeze to save £1 billion to give to the rich.

Hunt set out a vicious agenda targeting the most impoverished and oppressed workers. There were 100,000 people leaving the labour market every year “for a life on benefits”, he declared. Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) minister “Mel Stride gets this 100 percent which is why he’s replacing the [already harsh] Work Capability Assessment.” Hunt promised to examine the sanctions regime under which benefit claimants are deprived of a portion of their weekly pittance for petty breaches of DWP rules.

Sunak's keynote speech was given bloodthirsty warm-ups by Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt and Veterans Minister, Johnny Mercer. Mordaunt, a former naval reserve officer and defence minister hailed the 1982 Falklands War, Winston Churchill and incited the audience to “Stand up and Fight” no less than 19 times. Mercer, a former captain in the British Army's Special Forces in Afghanistan, thanked Sunak for the Northern Ireland Legacy Act which ended the “hounding of these special people who stood against terror and violence in Northern Ireland on our behalf was appalling and a stain on our Nation.” The act put an end to numerous legal investigations into crimes carried out by British forces in during the decades long “dirty war” in Northern Ireland.

Sunak was then introduced in a saccharine and tone-deaf touch by his billionaire spouse, Akshata Murthy. He hailed the armed forces and intelligence services, AUKUS, NATO and the UK's leading role in the war against Russia. “I say this to our allies, if we give President Zelensky the tools, the Ukrainians will finish the job.”

Days after the Canadian parliament applauded Ukrainian Waffen SS member, Yaroslav Hunka, Sunak solidarised himself with Hunka by repeating the fascist slogan, “Slava Ukraini!”

In a move columnist Allister Heath of the Telegraph approved as a landmark for the onset of “Austerity Mark II”, Sunak announced the cancellation of the HS2 high speed train project to the north of Birmingham in favour of a number of smaller infrastructure projects.

Response in ruling circles to the conference was mixed. The Financial Times commented, “After 13 years in power, the Conservatives seem desperate to find ways of clinging on for another five-year term. The new, radically pragmatic Sunak has yet to make a convincing case for what they would do with it.”

The Labour supporting Guardian commented, “many Tories were obsessed not with losing power but rather with the ferocious fight for the leadership that they think will follow an inevitable defeat.”

Such is the lurch to the right in the ruling party that Liz Truss, who was deposed as prime minister by Sunak for putting forward unfunded tax cuts, was feted at the conference with her newly established Growth Group embraced by 60 of the party’s MPs.

Another political figure once derided in Tory central office who now bestrode the conference was Nigel Farage, the Donald Trump-supporting Brexiteer. Farage leads the Reform UK movement, the successor to his Brexit Party, which performs the role of helping push the Tories ever further to the right. Sunak refused to rule out Farage joining the Tories at a future date and standing as an MP, 30 years after he left the party. Asked by BBC’s Newsnight if he would rejoin the party, Farage said, “Let's see what happens. They are going to lose the next election. There will then be the most enormous battle for ideas. If it became a real Conservative Party I might think about it”.

Ex-Prime Minister Robert Fico wins parliamentary election in Slovakia

Markus Salzmann

Contrary to most predictions, former Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Smer (Direction) party won Slovakia’s parliamentary election last weekend. With almost 23 percent of the vote, or 42 of the 150 seats in parliament, Smer became by far the strongest party, but will have to establish a coalition. Fico was entrusted with forming a government by President Zuzana Čaputová on Monday.

Robert Fico [Photo by Annika Haas (EU2017EE) / CC BY 2.0]

The election in the country of only 5.4 million inhabitants was followed internationally with some apprehension. Fico’s position on the war in Ukraine was a focus of attention. Fico called for an end to arms deliveries to Ukraine and the lifting of sanctions against Russia. In the election campaign, he announced that he would not supply Ukraine with “any more shells” and advocated early peace negotiations.

Fico’s election victory is due to widespread opposition to the war in Ukraine. Back in March, a Globsec poll found that 51 percent of Slovaks blamed the West and Ukraine first and foremost for the war. Further polls showed that 69 percent thought arms deliveries led to an even wider war. Correspondingly, within the last year, support for the country’s NATO membership dropped from 72 to 58 percent and support for European Union (EU) membership from 77 to 64 percent.

The consequences of the war have significantly aggravated the social situation in Slovakia, where almost 500,000 pensioners now live below the poverty line. In 2022 alone, this number increased by 200,000. The minimum pension is around €330 [$US348], with a cost of living that is only slightly below the European average. At the same time, inflation for food and other goods, for example, rose even more than in Poland or the Czech Republic.

The 59-year-old Fico headed the Slovak government from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. In 2018, he had to resign after mass protests against the brutal murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée. Kuciak had been researching a criminal gang that siphoned off EU funds on a grand scale and was said to have close ties to the ruling party. The suspicion of having commissioned the murder reached into the highest government circles.

The liberal forces strengthened by the outrage over the Kuciak murder, including Čaputová, who was elected president in 2019, quickly discredited themselves by their support for the Ukraine war, the European Union and market-oriented social policies.

The Progressive Slovakia (PS) party of European Parliament Vice President Michal Simecka, to which Čaputová also belonged before her election as president, came second with 18 percent. She was strongly supported by European media and governments. The PS stands for a decidedly neoliberal economic policy and for a hard line towards Russia, as advocated by the leading EU members.

The Olano party of ex-premier Igor Matovič, which won the parliamentary election in 2020 under the banner of the “fight against corruption,” received only 9 percent in an alliance with two right-wing micro parties.

The entrepreneur Matovič formed a four-party coalition in 2020 that followed a right-wing course, rejected effective protective measures for the population at the height of the pandemic and at the same time pursued social cuts. It unreservedly supported the war against Russia and was one of the first in the EU to supply arms to Kiev.

The coalition lost support in the population and engaged in endless attrition until it finally broke apart in the spring of this year. Matovič was not helped by a plagiarism scandal. Subsequently, President Čaputová appointed a cabinet of experts under the interim prime minister Ľudovít Ódor.

The former governing parties received the payback for their policies on Saturday, winning only 600,000 votes, less than half as much as in 2020. With the exception of the capital Bratislava, the opposition Smer won in all regions.

Peter Pellegrini’s Hlas (Voice) party, a split from Fico’s Smer, came in third with 14.7 percent. Observers believe that cooperation between the two parties is likely after the election. Pellegrini said he could act as a “stabilising element” in a future coalition.

Another possible government partner is the Slovak National Party (SNS) with 5.6 percent. The right-wing extremists under Andrej Danko have openly declared themselves in favour of forming a “bloc.” On immigration and issues regarding foreigners, the ultra-right SNS and Smer advocate the same policies.

The arch-conservative Christian Democrats (KDH) also made it into parliament. So did the neoliberal party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), which won 6.3 percent.

Fico’s election victory caused considerable consternation in Brussels and Berlin. It is feared that after Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, another EU member will oppose supporting Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia, which is not yet a member of the EU, also has close ties with Moscow.

Fico, like Orbán, will not push his opposition to Brussels too far, however. Economically, Slovakia, home to numerous international car companies, is desperately dependent on the EU.

Fico’s anti-war rhetoric disguises an extreme right-wing policy that has so far been largely noted with favour in the EU. He is a typical Stalinist turncoat, combining his pro-capitalist policies with populist rhetoric.

Fico had started his political career in the Czechoslovak Communist Party, embraced the market economy after the fall of Stalinism and supported the sell-off of public property that plunged many workers into poverty. When the successor to the CP, the SDL, was increasingly discredited as a result of its anti-working-class policies, he founded the Smer-SD in 1999, which has since moved steadily further to the right.

From 2006 to 2010 Fico made pacts with two far-right parties, supported the EU’s disastrous austerity dictates in Greece and passed on the consequences of the economic crisis to his own people. In his second term in government, he also mixed populist rhetoric with a right-wing, EU-friendly foreign policy. Especially on the refugee issue, Fico is fully in line with the EU and wants to close the so-called Balkan refugee route, if necessary, with the help of the military.

Fico has shown no fear of contact with right-wing extremist forces in the past, and there are many indications that a future government will lean even more heavily on them.

Ľuboš Blaha, deputy leader of the Smer, courted favour with the extreme right during the recent election campaign. At an election rally, he declared that they wanted to free the country from “the Euro-American occupation” and a “fascism in rainbow colours.”

Fico’s disengagement from the Ukraine war, while popular, has few practical consequences, as Slovakia has already handed over its main weapons systems and no further deliveries were planned anyway. In addition, Pellegrini, a potential coalition partner, is explicitly in favour of military aid to Ukraine. The head of Hlas maintains close relations with the German Social Democrats (SPD), who advocate an escalation of the war against Russia.

ARES Masters & Training Scholarships In Belgium 2024/2025

Application Deadline: 17th November 2023 at 12pm

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Students from African and Developing countries

To be taken in: Belgium

About the Belgium ARES Scholarship: Each year, the Academy of Research and Higher Education (ARES) grants an average of 150 fellowships in the framework of the Masters and 70 fellowships in the framework of the internships to the nationals of the countries of the South.

Eligible Countries: South Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Bolivia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cuba, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Uganda, Peru, Philippines, DR Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia, Vietnam and Zimbabwe

Accepted Subject Areas (Masters): 

• Master of Specialization in Development, Environment and Societies
• Specialization Master in Human Rights
• Master of Specialization in Aquatic Resource Management and Aquaculture
• Master of Specialization in Risk and Disaster Management
• Specialized Master in Integrated Management of Health Risks in the Global South (IManHR)
• Specialized Master in International Development
• Master of Specialization in Transfusion Medicine
• Specialized Master in Microfinance
• Master of specialization in integrated production and preservation of natural resources in urban and peri-urban areas
• Specialized Master in Public Health Methodology
• Master of Science in Public Health – Methods of Research Applied to Global Health
• Master of Science and Environmental Management in Developing Countries
• Specialized Master in Transport and Logistics

Accepted Subject Areas (Training): 

• Internship in control and quality assurance of medicines and health products
• Research Initiation to Strengthen Health Systems
• Internship in Geographic Information System
• Internship in secondary resource development for sustainable construction
• Methodological internship in support of innovation in family farming

Type: Masters, Training

About the Belgium ARES Scholarship: Within the framework of the Belgian policy for development cooperation, the Minister for Development Cooperation and the Directorate-General for Development Cooperation entrust the Belgian Higher Education Institutions with the preparation of Postgraduate Programmes (Advanced Masters) and Training Programmes that are specifically oriented towards young professionals from developing countries.

International Courses and Training Programmes are part of the global study programmes of the Higher Education Institutions. They are open to all students who satisfy the conditions of qualification but aim at proposing training units that distinguish themselves by their openness towards specific development issues.

Eligibility: The following will apply for the selection of holders of scholarships:

1. Originally from a developing country. To be eligible, applicants must reside and work in their own country at the time of filing;
2. Only nationals of the following countries are eligible to apply for scholarships ARES: Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cuba, Ecuador, Ethiopia ( only for courses in English ), Haiti, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Peru, Philippines, DR Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Vietnam ;
3. Either under the age of 40 for courses and under 45 for training periods at the start of training;
4. Either holds a diploma comparable to a diploma of the second cycle of Belgian university education. However, for certain types of training, different requirements may be set out, which will be specified below;
5. Demonstrates a professional occupation in a developing country of at least two years after completing his / her second cycle or three years after the end of his / her studies when the candidate holds a post-graduate diploma from a university in an industrialized country;
6. Good knowledge of written and spoken French. For courses organized in another language, it is necessary to have a good knowledge of the language of the course, written and spoken. The candidate will also be asked to commit to learning French to participate in everyday life in Belgium;
7. Apply for a single training

Selection Criteria: 

• The academic curriculum
• For courses, priority will be given to candidates who are already holders of a diploma third cycle, save in exceptional circumstances duly justified in the application.
• Priority will be given to candidates who have not already received a grant in Belgium.
• Professional experience
• Belonging to a partner institution: The commitment of the candidate in development activities
• Nationality requirements
• Gender equality
• The future reintegration prospects

Number of Scholarships: Belgium ARES grants 150 scholarships for participation into the masters and 70 scholarships for participation into the training programmes.

Value of Belgium ARES Scholarship: Travel (internal and external), Monthly living allowance, Indirect mission costs, Installation costs, Tuition fees, Registration fee, Insurance costs, Housing allowance, Allowances for dependents, Return fees, In 1st session completion bonus (June).

Duration of Scholarship:  For the duration of the program

How to Apply: Would you like to submit an application form and receive a grant? Are you unsure about your eligibility?

Follow these guides :

• 01/ Procedure for submitting applications
• 02/ Admissibility criteria
• 03/ Application form

It is important to go through the Application requirements and procedures on the Scholarship Webpage (see Link below) before applying.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Important: Applying for a Belgium ARES Masters and Training scholarship is free of charge. ARES does not charge any fee at any stage of the application or selection process. You may raise any question or concern about persons or companies claiming to be acting on behalf of ARES and requesting the payment of a fee by emailing ARES at maryvonne.aubry[at]ares-ac.be.
Any application containing cash will be automatically rejected.