Europe steps up crackdown on refugees in Mediterranean

Marianne Arens 

The grizzly balance of the European Union’s refugee policy in the first six months of 2017 amounts to close to 2,400 people who have either died or are missing in the Mediterranean. And if the wishes of the EU and its member states are realised, this number will rise significantly.

The “Sophia” mission, jointly conducted by Germany, France, Italy and other EU members, is allegedly supposed to reduce the number of drownings by combating people smuggling. Warships have been deployed equipped with the most modern drones and satellite technology, enabling them to carry out surveillance on every centimetre of the Mediterranean. In spite of this, 2,385 people either died or went missing in the Mediterranean this year by the end of July, according to the International Organisation of Migration.

Only some 8 percent of those who survive the Mediterranean crossing in one piece are rescued by the “Sophia” mission. By contrast, some 40 percent of those who reach the European coast are rescued by non-governmental organisations (NGOs). However, Italy, with the backing of Germany and the EU, is adopting a series of new measures to bully these organisations.

The latest attempt at harassment, the code of conduct, is equivalent to a blatant attempt to block the rescue of refugees at sea. NGO ships will have to accept armed Frontex police on board. The ships will also no longer be allowed to transfer rescued refugees to larger ships, meaning they will waste much more time sailing to and from ports, instead of providing aid on location. All of this is aimed at hampering the NGOs and keeping them away from the most dangerous waters where the most people face emergencies.

Five aid organisations—Doctors Without Borders, Sea Watch, Sea Eye, Jugend Rettet (Youth Rescue), and SOS Méditerrannée—have rejected the code of conduct. “We could not sign it due to our principles,” said Titus Molkenbur of Jugend Rettet. The organisations invoked the law of the sea, which applies to all captains.

Italy is now threatening to close its ports to them, and the Austrian Interior Minister has added another threat: “These NGOs are automatically placing themselves outside of the organised rescue system in the Mediterranean, with all of the consequences that brings for their security.” The conflict will further restrict their rescue work, with deadly consequences for refugees.

The EU states, led by Germany and Italy, continue to adopt new measures against refugees. Their proposals are increasingly aimed at keeping refugees in North Africa and preventing them from even reaching Europe.

The Italian government agreed July 28 to send its navy with 1,000 sailors and soldiers into Libyan territorial waters to support the Libyan coastguard in “combating people smugglers.” Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni (Democratic Party, PD) described the move as a “possible turning point in the refugee crisis.” Parliament still has to agree to the proposal.

The move means that shortly after they start out from Libya, refugees will be intercepted by the Italian navy, brought back to Libya and turned over to the Libyan coast guard’s notorious prisons and those run by other warlords.

These prisons are among the worst imaginable. Refugees are confined by the hundreds in spaces which are far too small and exposed to violence, including beatings, rape, and even death. The necessities of life are often entirely absent—washing facilities, clean drinking water and food—and disease is frequently rampant. The Libyan coast guard, which is corrupt and brutal, is enriching itself through the smuggling business. With its support, the EU is making itself complicit in torture, people trafficking and murder.

The Libyan government has protested Italy’s move. The presidential council (the Libyan cabinet), led by Fayez al-Sarraj, immediately denied having requested military assistance. Libya is a sovereign state, it said, and Italy did not have permission for such an intervention within Libyan territorial waters. Only further cooperation with the coast guard in training and the provision of equipment had been agreed in the latest talks in Paris and Rome, it added.

Shortly before the Gentiloni government’s decision, a proposal by French President Emmanuel Macron hit the headlines. Macron declared suddenly on July 27 that before the end of the summer he would ensure that hot spots for refugees would be established on Libyan territory as reception centres for refugees.

The proposal is not new. European politicians have been suggesting for months that Libya be turned into a bulwark against refugees and that reception centres, or “hot spots”—it would be more accurate to say concentration camps—be established on African soil. This has been coupled with the implicit assumption that setting up such camps would require the deployment of European soldiers in North Africa.

Macron invited Libyan Prime Minister al-Sarraj, a UN puppet, and his rival, General Khalid Hafta, to Paris. He subsequently declared that the two parties in Libya’s civil war were ready to end their armed conflict. Macron went public with his proposal for hot spots in Libya shortly afterwards. This prompted significant disquiet in Italy, which as Libya’s former colonial power sees itself as responsible for Libya.

French-Italian relations have also become tense over the STX shipyard in the French port city of St. Nazaire. Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, a joint venture with a Chinese consortium, was originally set to take control of a large proportion of the shipyard’s shares. The world’s largest cruise ships are built there, but it is also important for the navy. Macron has now annulled the deal with Fincantieri and moved swiftly to “temporarily nationalise” the shipyard, as the government put it.

On August 1, German Social Democrat (SPD) politician Boris Pistorius, who is responsible for domestic security in the SPD election campaign team, called for reception centres in North Africa. In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Saxony’s Interior Minister declared, “People who have fled their homes must be kept outside of Europe’s borders. The people should not sit waiting in Italy, but already have advisers to speak to outside the EU if possible, in processing camps,” Pistorius said. Asked who would operate these camps, he said, “Either the Europeans or the UN would have to operate them.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel and Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière (both Christian Democratic Union, CDU) have already proposed holding refugees in internment camps in North Africa. They are thereby reviving the worst traditions of colonial rule.

Camps where masses of people are confined have a grim historical record in Libya. Around 100,000 people were interned in concentration camps, where one in two people died, under the Italian occupation of 1911-1942. Libya’s legendary Omar Muchtar was executed in front of the prisoners. Under fascism, the occupation was accompanied by widespread terror, with more than 100,000 dying in Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, now Libya. The latest plans by European governments to detain refugees en masse revive the terrible memories of these crimes.

Several weeks ago, de Maizière and his Italian counterpart, Marco Minniti, presented a plan to the EU to militarily seal off Libya’s southern border with UN and EU troops.

The latest proposal from German and French defence ministers Ursula Von der Leyen and Florence Parly is also the result of the same neo-colonial policy. They intend to create a joint military force for the Sahel zone and station soldiers in Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Mauritania. The German army already has troops deployed in Mali, Western Sahara, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti and in the Horn of Africa, while France has secured its supply of uranium from Niger and has troops deployed throughout Central Africa.

The goal, according to Von der Leyen, is to combat Islamist groups and “stabilise the region.” Germany’s new great power policies are being packaged with the slogan of “more security and stability.” At the same time, all of the European powers are rearming so as not to leave North Africa to the United States, the main imperialist plunderer, or the rising power China.

Their efforts are part of a new imperialist scramble for Africa to secure strategic positions and oil, gas and other raw materials. The latest phase of this scramble began six years ago with the destruction of Libya and the murder of then-leader Muammar Gaddafi. This was the chief factor in the destabilisation of North Africa.

For the imperialist powers, the refugees are merely a cost factor. They view them as they view the working class: as material for exploitation or cannon fodder, or as an irritating burden that must be dispensed with. Without batting an eyelid, they are permitting thousands to drown or die of thirst in the desert. Instead of assisting refugees, they are sending tanks, bombs, warships, submarines and drones to Africa, and ensuring that more people will be turned into refugees.

France launches attack on rights of refugees and immigrant workers

Athiyan Silva

President Emmanuel Macron is preparing a drastic assault on the rights of refugees and immigrants designed to appeal to nationalist and far-right sentiment in France. Last Thursday, at Orléans, he said, “By the end of the year, I do not want to see anyone in the streets or in the woods anymore.”

Macron’s action plan includes both attacks on democratic rights of refugees and immigrants who have been able to arrive in France, and plans to set up a network of concentration camps in Africa to prevent the majority of refugees from ever arriving to Europe. In this, Macron is continuing the reactionary attacks on refugees and immigrants carried out by France’s previous Socialist Party (PS) government, in which Macron was a minister.

Already, Macron’s prime minister, Edouard Philippe, has announced a new plan of action for refugees and immigrants, which cuts the time for examining immigrants’ asylum and residency cases from 14 months into six months. Those not approved by then could be rapidly deported.

Before they prepare their documents, refugees will be called for an inquiry by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) and the National Court of Asylum (CNDA). The OFPRA and CNDA reject most cases. Under these conditions, refugees would likely be forced to live without any documents. Today, approximately 400,000 undocumented immigrants live in France under imminent danger of deportation.

Macron’s government also plans to construct detention centres in Libya to block refugees and immigrants from coming to Europe. At these detention centres, OFPRA officials would arrive and examine immigrants’ files to identify the “real refugees.” There can be little doubt that the overwhelming majority of people will be turned away, and that French officials would only allow in immigrants based on their calculation of the French state’s financial and political interests.

The Italian government already signed an agreement last May with Libya, Niger and Chad to set up similar detention centres. Macron also aims to reinforce the European border agency Frontex in the Mediterranean, where thousands of refugees have drowned in recent years trying to escape countries devastated by poverty and imperialist wars, from Iraq and Syria to Libya and Niger.

Macron’s policy is a reactionary attempt to deal with the consequences of these wars. Millions of innocent people have been killed, and 65.3 million people worldwide have been forced to flee their homes as refugees, the greatest refugee crisis since the end of World War II. Earlier this year, a German intelligence report estimated that over 6 million refugees have arrived in North Africa, hoping to attempt the crossing of the Mediterranean to Europe.

The UN High Commissioner on Refugees issued a report finding that in Libya over 1.3 million refugees or displaced persons are living in appalling conditions, preparing to attempt the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. All suffer from the bloodshed and civil war unleashed by the war waged by the NATO powers, including France, to overthrow the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Most of them, however, are living in notorious detentions camps run by Western-backed President Fayez al-Sarraj’s corrupt government, together with various Islamist militias and criminal gangs. According to media reports, 34 detention centres have been identified in Libya, holding between 4,000 and 7,000 detainees each. Refugees are treated as prisoners in these centres, facing torture, extortion, or even rape and execution. There are reports that women and children face sexual abuse or are sold by their captors. Food, drinking water, health care and education are inadequate.

Last May, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi visited the Tariq al-Sikka detention camp and commented on the condition of refugees: “I was shocked at the harsh conditions in which refugees and migrants are held, generally due to lack of resources. Children, women and men who have suffered so much already should not have to endure such hardship.”

These are the camps to which Macron will send OFPRA officials to determine who are “real refugees” who can be rescued, and who should be left to rot in misery.

This underscores that Macron’s government is a full participant in the Fortress Europe policy pursued by the European Union (EU) against refugees and immigrants. His main ally in Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and other European governments deployed similar drastic measures to tighten external borders to block refugees’ entry into Europe. They closed the Balkan land route from the Middle East with barbed wire fences last year, and coordinated with Turkey the construction of mass detention camps in Turkey, to block refugees from arriving to Europe.

This also exposes the falseness of arguments that workers were obliged to vote for Macron in the presidential elections because, as a pro-immigrant candidate, he was a “lesser evil” than his opponent, neo-fascist Marine Le Pen. In fact, he bases himself not only on the ruthless oppression of refugees, but on nationalist and anti-immigrant appeals that will inevitably strengthen Le Pen’s National Front.

Two days after announcing his immigration policy, Macron invited the two rival imperialist proxies vying for control of Libya, al-Sarraj and Benghazi-based military strongman Khalifa Haftar, to the château at La Celle-Saint-Cloud, west of Paris. One subject in the talks was how to strengthen the Libyan coast guard, which is tasked with preventing refugees from leaving the Libyan coast. France, Italy and Germany also provide money, military equipment and training to the Libyan military and collaborate in hunting for refugees in the Mediterranean.

While Macron mounts his offensive against refugees in France and in Africa, he is simultaneously launching a new military intervention into Africa’s Sahel region, which includes countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania and Chad. On July 2, he visited the Malian capital, Bamako, to meet the Malian government , advocating French intervention in the name of the “war on terror.”

Some 5,000 French troops will operate in a new French force deployed to the Sahel, alongside 12,000 UN peacekeeping forces. The various military operations carried out by these new forces will create new waves of refugees seeking to escape these countries.

With as many as 17 million people internally displaced by war and climate change in the Sahel countries, Macron is planning to set up new detention camps in states bordering Libya, including Niger and Chad, to prevent these refugees from coming to Europe.

Conservative daily promotes Germany’s nuclear armament

Sven Heymanns

“The German elites want war again—We do not!” is one of the slogans the Socialist Equality Party (SGP) is advancing in the Bundestag (parliamentary) election. The urgency of this warning was demonstrated by two articles published in the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) recently. One calls for Germany to arm itself with nuclear weapons for a war against nuclear powers China and Russia. The other opposes the prohibition against non-nuclear countries acquiring atomic weapons.

Under the headline, “Atomic submarines for the Baltic Sea,” Maximilian Terhalle writes that “Germany, together with Poland and the Baltic, should now also use the know-how Israel has long made available about nuclear-armed submarines for its own protection. Such nuclear-equipped vessels should operate as a deterrent in the Baltic.”

“The nuclear protection of Europe must be re-conceptualized” with France and Britain, the article continues. “Germany’s contribution must be directed towards its own abilities,” that is, to build up its own nuclear arsenal.

Terhalle’s demands for Germany to have its own nuclear weapons are embedded in a long complaint about Berlin’s lack of a real foreign policy strategy. The “mantra” that “Germany should assume more responsibility for security policy” was launched years ago, “primarily at the Munich Security Conference,” he writes. However, if one asks how this should look concretely, “this is often met only with empty phrases”.

The foreign operations of the Bundeswehr (armed forces) were not being determined according to strategic criteria, complains Terhalle. For this reason, they have “led to an irresponsible erosion of the strategic orientation and capacities of Germany over the past 20 years.” In other words: Germany had always oriented its foreign policy only in response to acute conflicts, but not according to its own world-strategic interests.

Terhalle sees the “vital security-policy and economic foundations of our existence” threatened above all by China and Russia. Islamic terrorism also is not given sufficient weight, he adds. He believes a war between China and the United States, “which would only remain strictly limited in the best scenario,” is unavoidable because of the “lack of compromise on both sides.”

As far as Terhalle is concerned, this is where Germany must act “in association with others.” Since there are enormous economic interests on the ground there—almost a third of German trade is conducted with the Far East—Germany would be directly affected. But what Germany lacks is a “militarily underpinned strategy” to deal with China’s supposed expansionist policies.

More importantly for Terhalle is Germany arming itself with nuclear weapons against Russia. In his opinion, Germany has missed a great opportunity in this regard. At the beginning of this year, the Baltic states, even Poland, had demanded stronger German engagement in Eastern Europe and “visibly welcomed” the idea of a European nuclear arsenal under German leadership. But in Germany, the proposal had been rejected by politicians and the media “lock, stock and barrel.”

Two days later, the FAZ further stoked the fire. In a guest commentary titled, “A nuclear ban would be damaging,” Karl-Heinz Kamp argued that there are “good reasons against a world free of nuclear weapons.” The condemnation of nuclear weapons, as demanded by their opponents, undermined “the idea of nuclear deterrence for the prevention of war, upon which NATO has successfully rested for almost seven decades.” A ban on nuclear weapons soothed “one’s own conscience in an uncertain world ... it does not contribute to greater security and stability.”

The idea that a nuclear arms race in Europe and Germany’s armament with atomic weapons would contribute to “more security and stability” is sheer insanity.

An article published in the July/August edition of the journal InternationalePolitik paints the following scenario: “If Germany were to build its own genuine military nuclear potential, the risk of conflict in Europe would be considerably exacerbated. Russia would probably do something to prevent a German rearmament. It could try to have German scientists assassinated, to paralyse industrial plants with cyberattacks, or perhaps even to destroy them with air strikes.”

If it really came to nuclear war, either in Europe or in China, it would cost hundreds of millions of lives and probably mean the end of humanity.

But Terhalle and Kamp are not insane, at least not in the clinical sense, but are well-connected servants of the ruling class. Terhalle is a political scientist and major in the reserve. He is currently teaching at the University of Winchester in England.

Kamp has worked for the Christian Democrats’ Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and for NATO, for many years. Since October 2015, he has been president of the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS) in Berlin. BAKS functions as a think tank as well as a training institution for state and political leaders in the fields of security and defence policy. As can be seen on its web site, it is “directly linked to the federal government as a central training institution.” Its leading body, the Board of Trustees, is also the Bundessicherheitsrat (Federal Security Council), which is composed of a number of federal ministers and is chaired by the chancellor.

The fact that a leading member of the security apparatus like Kamp publishes such a piece in the FAZ shows how far the discussion about the armament of the Bundeswehr with nuclear weapons has already advanced behind closed doors.

The fact that these contributions appeared in the FAZ is no coincidence. The newspaper plays a leading role in the ideological preparations for war. For example, it has defended professors Herfried Münkler and Jörg Baberowski in hysterical articles against students who denounced their militaristic and ultra-right views—especially against the SGP and its youth organization, the IYSSE.

In his book “Macht in der Mitte” (“Power in the Middle”), Münkler had already declared two years ago that Germany had to go from being “paymaster” to become “Europe’s task master.” Significantly, he is also a member of the BAKS Advisory Board and is involved in foreign policy discussions at the highest level. Baberowski minimises the crimes of the Nazis, rails against refugees, and asserts that violence can only be answered by counter-violence, and that the terrorists’ own methods must be used in the fight against them.

The call for German nuclear weapons in one of the most powerful German daily newspapers two months before the Bundestag elections is a warning. In its plans to impose its imperialist interests a third time on the global arena, the German ruling class will shrink from nothing. It is therefore all the more urgent to build the SGP as a new socialist mass party. The SGP is the only party that places the struggle against militarism and war at the centre of its election campaign and links this with the struggle against their source, capitalism. We call on all readers to contact us today and support the election campaign of the SGP financially.

Israel: Netanyahu forced to remove metal detectors from the al-Aqsa compound

Jean Shaoul 

Last week, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu ordered the removal of metal detectors and security cameras that provoked mass protests by the Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. But he has ordered them to be replaced with “smart” cameras that identity faces and “see though” clothing for weapons.

Israel installed the metal detectors at the entrances to Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa/Temple Mount complex following an attack on July 14 by three Israeli Palestinians in which two policemen were killed. Palestinians responded by boycotting the al-Aqsa Mosque and holding their prayers outside the compound. This and the broader protests were attributed to Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls Gaza.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas used the opportunity to posture as an opponent of Israel. The Palestinian Authority (PA) would freeze ties with Israel until all the recently installed security devices were dismantled, he said, while worshippers would continue to stay out of al-Aqsa and hold prayers in the street.

Netanyahu removed the metal detectors under pressure from Washington, after the Saudi Arabian and Jordanian monarchs warned their US protectors that unrest could spiral out of control, destabilise their regimes, give succour to Qatar, which sponsors Hamas, and derail Washington’s broader machinations against Iran. Nearly all the Arab media sought to minimise their coverage of the conflict so as not to bring protestors out onto the streets.

Jordan, where the economic situation for workers is dire, is particularly vulnerable. The Muslim Brotherhood there, in contrast to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, enjoys legal status, has 16 of the 130 seats in parliament and is able to mount demonstrations over relations with Israel and the holy sites.

Palestinians held street parties around the Old City after the withdrawal of Israeli police checkpoints at the entry points to the al-Aqsa compound.

The crisis had intensified on July 23, after an Israeli guard at the embassy in Amman, Jordan, which is the ultimate controlling authority of al-Aqsa, shot dead two Jordanians while allegedly fighting off a stabbing attack in retaliation for imposing the metal detectors.

Jordan, one of two Arab states with which Israel has peace treaties, had refused to allow the Israeli ambassador Einat Shlein and her staff to return to Amman unless the guard was put on trial. Jordanian forces held the embassy in lockdown, as Amman demanded the guard’s handover for questioning and trial--which Israel rejected citing diplomatic immunity.

Jordan’s King Abdullah held telephone calls with US President Donald Trump. After this, Netanyahu despatched Shin Bet security service director Nadav Argaman to join Trump’s special envoy, Jason Greenblatt, in Amman to resolve the standoff and seek the release of the embassy staff to return to Israel.

After speaking with Abdullah, Netanyahu reluctantly agreed to the removal of the metal detectors as the price for their release. But, in a move aimed at shoring up his support among his political base, Netanyahu publicly embraced the returning Jordanian guard as a hero.

Infuriated and embarrassed Abdullah said, “We demand that the Israeli prime minister abides by his commitment and takes all measures to ensure the trial of the killer and not to handle this like a political show to achieve personal political gains.”

The Israeli authorities have also handed over the bodies of the three Israeli Palestinians who killed the two police officers to their families.

Greenblatt said that he “welcomes the efforts undertaken to de-escalate tensions in Jerusalem today” and added that, “calm and security will create the best opportunity to return to dialogue and the pursuit of peace.”

However, the number of people praying on the streets outside the compound in Jerusalem continued to increase as a mark of opposition to Israel, with the PA, Fatah’s militia Tanzim and Hamas all calling for protests across the Occupied Territories. Israel has responded with its customary brutality. Israel’s Defense Forces ordered the deployment of six more battalions to the West Bank ahead of Friday prayers, while police restricted access to the mosque to men over the age 50.

Israel’s ultra-nationalists feel emboldened by Trump’s declared support, including his visit to the Old City of Jerusalem, which takes place in the context of his attempt to build a regional alliance against Iran encompassing the Sunni oil monarchies. As a result, Netanyahu is coming under increasing pressure from the right wingers within his cabinet, who accuse him of surrendering Israeli sovereignty over the issue. He also faces several investigations for fraud and breach of trust for accepting very expensive gifts from businessmen who are his close friends that could lead to an indictment.

Thus, far from seeking to calm the situation, Netanyahu has further inflamed tensions. Speaking at a visit to Halamish, where a Palestinian stabbed to death three members of the Salomon family, Netanyahu called for the death sentence for terrorists.

The prime minister’s office announced that Netanyahu had “instructed” Likud legislator Yoav Kish to submit a bill that would expand Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries to incorporate Ma’aleh Adumim and the settlements of the Gush Etzion Regional Council in the West Bank.

Netanyahu’s office also announced that he would take action to stop Al-Jazeera broadcasts from Israel, a move that delighted Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies which are locked in a bitter conflict with Qatar.

On Thursday, thousands of worshippers poured into the compound and neighbouring areas of the Old City, protesting Netanyahu’s announcements. Police fired stun grenades, fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas, wounding around 100 people.

On Friday, angry clashes also broke out in the West Bank and Gaza on Friday, leading to the killing of two Palestinians and injuries to around 122, bringing the total to six deaths and 225 wounded since the violence started on July 14, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Fifty-four Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire so far this year.

Israel’s continuous provocations threaten the precarious compromise over the management of al-Aqsa Mosque/Temple Mount compound, regarded as sacred by Muslims and Jews alike. Under the arrangement between Israel and Jordan, following Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem after the 1967 June war, the site continues to be managed by the Islamic Waqf trust and Jews are allowed to enter, but not pray, inside the compound.

For some years, Zionist leaders and politicians, including the leader of the Temple movement Likud legislator Yehuda Glick, have been agitating for Jews to be able to pray inside the compound, once the site of two ancient Jewish temples, as well as visit it. The additional security measures, coming atop a series of provocations surrounding the mosque, angered the Palestinians who viewed them as the first step by Israel to assert greater control over the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Sections of the military-intelligence forces fear that inflaming Muslim sentiment across the Middle East could disrupt the plans for an anti-Iranian alliance.

The head of the Arab League warned that Israel’s attempts to control the highly sensitive religious sites in Jerusalem risked igniting a “religious war.” Ahmed Abul Gheit, speaking at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, said that Israel’s actions were “playing with fire, and will only ignite a religious war and shift the core of the conflict from politics to religion.”

Pakistan: The Nawaz Ouster

Rana Banerji

Though not entirely unexpected, the five-nil Supreme Court denouement disqualifying Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as Member of Parliament for an unspecified period came on 28 July 8 2017. It deemed as `assets’ even `un-withdrawn receivables from Capital FZE, Jebel Ali, UAE’, which were not disclosed in Sharif’s nomination papers filed for Pakistan's 2013 general elections, thereby  categorising him as neither `sadiq’ (honest) nor `ameen’ (trustworthy) under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution. The Court directed the National Accountability Bureau to send references, within six weeks, on the acquisition of the Mayfair flats in London, and other inquiries into the shady business dealings of the prime minister’s family to Accountability Courts, which have been required to complete trials `within six months’.

This brings to a rather ignominious end, perhaps, the political career of a politician once spawned by a military dictator, who however, successfully transited to a resilient, mass-based politician. He cocked a snook, several times, at the powerful military establishment. Taken to Attock jail in chains after the Musharraf coup in October 1999, he came back from a ten-year disqualification, albeit with assistance from the Saudi Royal family, to become prime minister thrice, though he could not survive the jinx of unfinished terms. Today, Nawaz Sharif may be rueing having spurned the April 2010 advice of Senate Chairman, Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) Raza Rabbani when as Opposition leader he did not help forge a consensus to do away with Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution as part of the 18th Amendment. 

Though the Generals maintained a low profile as the Panama papers’ trial came to a head, it was quite clear to a judiciary traditionally trained to look over its shoulder, where sympathies of this powerful institution lay. During the hearings, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) unusually expressed concern about the `need for probity in public life’ and `the importance of ending corruption’. After the 202nd Corps Commanders' Conference at General Headquarters on 25 April, the ISPR again clarified that the military would play its 'due role' in the Joint Investigation. The JIT included two uniformed representatives, Brig (Retd) Nauman Saeed (ISI) and Brig Kamran Khurshid (MI).

Ironically, the judgment was spearheaded by Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, who cited Balzac’s quote from Mario Puzo’s novel, Godfather in the preamble of his April 20 `minority’ or `dissenting’ order, referring to the unseemly wealth acquired by the Sharifs, as constituting “a crime” which lay.. “behind every great fortune”. Khosa - the son-in- law of late Chief Justice Nasim Hassan Shah, who gave Nawaz Sharif a temporary reprieve in June 1993 when then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolved the National Assembly, using the powers under the now deleted Art 58(2)(b) - is likely to become the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in January, 2018. Perhaps the bumbling defence put up by Sharif's attorneys, the repeated obfuscation and subterfuge employed to hide the `money trail’ leading to the London flats turned off the judges. The wheel has indeed turned full circle, adversely, for Nawaz.

59-year-old Shaheed Khaqan Abbasi, till recently the minister of petroleum & natural resources has been elected interim prime minister (227 votes), easily defeating opposition candidates, PPP’s Naveed Qamar (47 votes) and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI)’s Sheikh Rashid Ahmed (33 votes). Member of the National Assembly(MNA) from NA-50 Rawalpindi with a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the US, he is the son of late Khaqan Abbasi – who was a minister in Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo’s cabinet – who died in the April 1988 Ojhri ammunition dump explosion when a missile destroyed his house. Abbasi’s candidature as interim prime minister may have been conditioned by the need to paper over rifts within the ruling party, between the Khwaja Asif (Defence Minister) and Chaudhry Nisar Ali (Interior Minister) factions. Abbasi himself faces allegations of corruption in the past. These could relate to his stint as PIA Chairman (1997-1999), for ownership of a private airline, Air Blue since 2007 and for a Liquid Natural Gas deal concluded with Qatar after he became minister of petroleum & natural resources. 

Meanwhile, Shahbaz Sharif, currently the chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province will contest elections to the National Assembly from Nawaz’s Lahore constituency before taking on the premiership. 65-year-old Shahbaz Sharif is also three times chief minister of Pakistan’s largest province, with 11 years of experience. He has long nursed ambitions to succeed his brother. In Punjab, he built up a good reputation as an efficient administrator, credited by bureaucrats as having a longer attention span and a more rigorous working style than his elder sibling. In the past, he, along with Chaudhry Nisar Ali, worked as mediator with the Army leadership whenever contentious issues came up in the fraught civil-military relationship. 

However, there have been questions about his health – reportedly of a spinal cord cancer infection detected early, and also a rather colorful personal life. After his first wife, Nusrat died in 1993, he had two other involvements and then married Tehmina Durrani (of `My Feudal Lord’ & Mustafa Khar `fame’) in 2003. Seniors in the Sharif clan were not too happy or supportive of these alliances. However, in male dominated Punjabi ethos, Shahbaz may have outlived these reservations.

In the past, Shahbaz in his stint as chief minister of Punjab kept Islamic terror groups at bay by tactically sewing up alliances with groups like the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Maulana Masood Azhar’s Jaish-e-Mohammed, which have sizable pockets of influence in Multan and Bahawalpur. After the Peshawar Army School (December 2014) and Attock (August 2015) attacks, the latter killing his interior minister and former ISI Colonel Shuja Khanzada, he may have discreetly distanced himself from their open patronage. 

In any case, his past business dealings and suspected hardline role in the 2014 crackdown against Tahirul Qadri’s demonstrators in Lahore may keep him in the firing line of those who may wish to destabilise his ensuing prime minister-ship. 

There is also the question of who will control Punjab. The name of Excise Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman is doing the rounds but others like Law Minister Rana Sanaullah or Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan could be in the fray. Shahbaz Sharif himself may eventually prefer to have his son Hamza succeed him but this may be difficult in the present political ambience where the judiciary is perceived to be up in arms against the Sharifs. Also, if some reports are to be believed, Nawaz may not be too keen about the Punjab mantle going to Hamza just yet. Factional splits within PML (N) may intensify in days to come. Already, former Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali has declined to join the Khaqan Abbasi Cabinet.

The Supreme Court verdict, though controversial, enjoys some popularity among sections of Pakistan’s middle class. Though there is an electoral disqualification related case pending against him in the Supreme Court, much of the credit for doggedly pursuing the alleged corruption of the Sharif family in courts and keeping the issue in public limelight goes to Imran Khan. He may benefit politically in the days to come. His real test in the ensuing parliamentary elections would be to see how much dent he can make in rural Punjab, where the PML (N) still has solid pockets of support. Imran will demand cleansing of Election Commission appointments before these elections. These changes may get the nod from the military and judiciary. Ayesha Gulalai Wazir, a prominent female MNA from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, quit PTI alleging ill-treatment of women. This could be a setback.

Much is being made about how the Supreme Court verdict will strike at the roots of endemic corruption in Pakistan’s politics. A well-known political analyst who fell out with Nawaz Sharif and is now rooting for Imran Khan, held that this kind of a cleansing has never happened before. Accountability was abused by generals and politicians alike in the past but no real accountability ever occurred. Some went about this business openly, while others operated with greater stealth and cunning.

The Panama case and resulting probes have apparently `uncovered the most cunning’. Given the prevailing south Asian political ethos of tolerance for such deeds, this would seem to be a somewhat naïve and premature premise.

Suffice to say, though, that Pakistan is headed for a period of continuing domestic political turmoil. For India, despite claims of `worst-case’ scare-mongers, this instability is unlikely to presage any difference in policies or the fraught relationship, in general. No newly elected civilian politician is likely to challenge the Army’s hold on security, neighborhood or Pakistan’s nuclear policies in the near future. Neither would the Army be inclined to encourage any diversionary distractions to ratchet up tensions at present. The behavior of non-state actors would be less predictable though, and India would need to keep its heightened vigil intact.

North Dakota State University (NDSU) Academic and Cultural Sharing Scholarship for International Students 2018

Application Deadline: 1st October 2017 for Spring academic session.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: International

To be taken at (country): United States of America

Eligible Field of Study: Courses offered at the university

About the Award: The Academic & Cultural Sharing Scholarship offers international undergraduate students the ability to receive a tuition waiver of 50% of the Non-Resident Base Tuition rate, currently a savings of about $8,500 for the academic year.  This scholarship is available to all undergraduate international students who qualify for admission at North Dakota State University, hold F-1 student status, and continue on a semesterly basis to uphold the necessary academic and cultural sharing requirements.

Given the nature of the scholarship, recipients are expected to share their cultures with U.S. students, faculty, staff and members of the community in activities that are both academically and culturally beneficial. This will enable people to increase their knowledge of the cultures and countries where the scholarship recipients come from and gain a better sense of the global society.  In turn, the recipients gain a better understanding of themselves and of American culture. Examples of qualified services for reporting hours can be found on this webpage under the Qualified Hours link on the right-side column of this page.

Type: Undergraduate

Eligibility: 

• Candidates are encouraged to apply for scholarships if they have earned a cumulative GPA (grade-point average) of 2.5/4.0 or equivalent in their previous academic study.
• The candidate must be admitted to NDSU by the application for admission deadline to be considered for these scholarships.
• Please note, minimum qualifications do not automatically qualify students for scholarships as the candidate pool varies from year to year and some awards may require a higher GPA.

Selection Criteria: The application will be reviewed as soon as it is received and a decision will be made after you have been regularly admitted to North Dakota State University. If you are awarded conditional admission to NDSU with participation in the Intensive English Language Program (IELP), and you meet the Academic and Cultural Sharing Scholarship requirements, you will be conditionally awarded the scholarship. The condition of this award is based upon achieving the qualifying, intensive English placement score, during the on-campus test during orientation, which is required to enroll in one or more undergraduate academic courses.

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Scholarship: Tuition waiver of 50% of the Non-Resident Base Tuition rate, currently a savings of about $9,028 for the academic year.

How to Apply: Interested candidates should visit Scholarship Webpage to apply

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: NDSU

Algonquin College Undergraduate Scholarship for International Students 2018/2019 – Canada

Application Deadline: 30th November, 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: International

To be taken at (country): Ontario, Canada

Eligible Field of Study: Courses offered at the University

About the Award:  Algonquin welcomes highly qualified students from around the world. This scholarship is meant to reward those applicants who have above average grades and English language proficiency.

Type: Undergraduate taught

Eligibility: To be eligible, candidate must:

• be an international student
• be paying full international student fees and not receiving any other scholarships or bursaries.
• be accepted into your program for the upcoming academic semester and have completed all conditions. (Students in the English for Academic Purposes program leading to post-secondary Algonquin Programs, please refer to the International EAP Student Scholarship program).
• submit a completed International Student Scholarship application package including:
  • a. Completed scholarship application form
  • b. 500-word personal statement explaining how and why you chose your field of study and what skills, knowledge and contribution you bring to the program and to Algonquin College
  • c. Copy of Academic Transcripts
  • d. Copy of IELTS or TOEFL scores if you are not from an English speaking country

Selection Criteria: Candidates are urged to only apply AFTER they’ve received a Letter of Acceptance and they have met all conditions of admission and travel.

Number of Awardees: More than 30.

Value of Scholarship: $3000

How to Apply: Interested candidates should apply and view Scholarship webpage for more application details

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: Algonquin College Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Important Notes: Applying for this scholarship does not guarantee successful selection. All applications are reviewed and only successful candidates are contacted by December 15, 2017 for the Winter 2018 intake.

Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) Distance/Blended Learning Workshop 2017. Fully-funded to Antwerp, Belgium

Application Deadline: 20th August 2017

To Be Taken At (Country): Antwerp, Belgium

About the Award: The workshop targets teams of 2 people, consisting of (i) a subject-matter expert (planning to deliver a teaching activity in either blended or distance learning format) together with (ii) an ICT specialist from the same institution.

ITM welcomes initiatives for the development of joint e-modules and e-courses by two institutes, the content of which are aimed at master students, PhD students or other postgraduate students in tropical medicine and international public health. We thus encourage staff of different institutes to develop e-project proposals together.

Type: Workshops

Selection Criteria: A selection will be made based on the applicants’ motivation in terms of:

• involvement in actual or “about to start” distance/blended learning modules of relevance for tropical medicine and international public health;
• management/development role in the field of online courses, e-facilitation and e-assessment in their home institution;
• commitment and support from home institution for distance/blended learning projects;
• potential for further collaborative development of the e-project, after the workshop.

Number of Awards: Approximately 15 participants will be admitted.

Value of Award: Travel, subsistence and accommodation grant, for the face-to-face component of the workshop will be financed with DGD funds.

Duration of Program: The programme lasts for 6 weeks online (participants’ investment time: 3-4 hours per week) and 5 days face-to- face. Modules start on:

• 02 October 2017 – 12 November 2017 for the online component; and
• 27 November 2017 – 01 December 2017 for the face-to-face component at ITM, Antwerp.

How to Apply: The application form can be found here. Applications should reach ITM Antwerp no later than:
20 August 2017 (extended deadline).

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM)

Important Notes: Note that this workshop is meant for DGD partner institutions only.

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Sponsorship Internship for International Students 2017

Application Deadline: 21st August 2017

Eligible Countries: All

To Be Taken At (Country): ICC international headquarters – Paris, France

About the Award: This wide and varied role includes: creation of marketing materials, client relations, administrative support and event logistical support. The successful candidate will work closely with the Sponsorship Project Manager and Sponsorship Assistant to explore and commercialize ICC content, events, products and services, and business networks.

Required profile:

• Exceptional presentation, written and oral communication skills in English
• Proven skills in writing, client relations, communications and project management
• Ability to manage simultaneous projects in fast-paced working international environment with challenging deadlines
• Organized, detail-oriented and ready to take initiative
• Works well independently
• Pro-active team player
• Sales experience in an international organization a plus

Specific tasks include:

•  Assisting in drafting pitches & preparing materials for email marketing campaigns
• Maintaining contact list and files and overseeing electronic mail distribution lists
• Creation of materials for projects/events
• Logistical support for events
• Client follow up
• Creation of promotional materials, edition of logos

Type: Internship

Qualifications and skills:

• The candidate must speak, read and write English fluently. Knowledge of other languages would be an asset, particularly French
• All programs from Microsoft Office, basic knowledge of Photoshop/GIMP
• Proficient user of internet tools with good understanding of web marketing
• Master degree or B.A in marketing preferred

Eligibility: 

• The applicant must be currently enrolled in a third or fourth year of under- graduate (BA/BSc.) or in a graduate (Masters) programme, and will continue to be enrolled during the period of the internship.
• Nationals from outside the European Union or Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Andorra, Monaco, or Switzerland should get an appropriate visa from the French consulate.
• The internship is gratified according to French law
• The successful candidate will work on a full-time basis. The average working week is 35 hours.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Duration of Program: End August 2017- End February , 2018

How to Apply: Should you be interested in this opportunity, please send your CV and cover letter to Ms. Sandra Sanchez  Nery , ssy@iccwbo.org

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: International Chamber of Commerce

University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Undergraduate Scholarship for Ghanaians 2017/2018

Application Deadline: 4th August, 2017

Eligible Countries: Ghana

About the Award: The University of Professional studies, Accra (UPSA) in cooperation with the  Drolor Education Foundation  and supported by the Drolor Centre for Strategic Leadership  (DCSL) has launched the Drolor Scholarship Scheme (DSS), the brain-child of HRM Drolor Bosso Adamtey I, Chancellor of the University.

The Scheme is in line with the mission of UPSA to provide and promote Quality High Academic and Professional Education in Business and related disciplines by leveraging a structured mix of scholarship with professionalism.

The Scheme focuses on undergraduate education as a means of inspiring and supporting the next generation of scholars from the Shai and other Ga-Dangbe Traditional Area, by providing much needed assistance to brilliant but needy students from the area.

The Scheme is currently supported by funding from the Chancellor of the University.

Type: Undergraduate

Eligibility: The DSS applicants can be new or continuing undergraduate students.

Selection Criteria: This fund shall be used to assist eligible applicants from the SƐ (Shai) Traditional Area pursuing programmes at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA). The Scholarship selection criteria vary:

• Applicants must necessarily be indigenes of the SƐ (Shai) Traditional Area or any other GaDamgbe traditional area applying or pursuing programmes at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).
• Academic performance, standardized test scores, class rank, and a student’s personal statement shall be used to determine eligibility.
• For incoming students, the scholarship fund shall be used to serve a recruiting function and shall therefore be evaluated in a competitive context by prospective recipients.
• For students already on campus, the scholarship fund shall be used to recognize concrete achievements during a student’s career at UPSA and may also permit students to continue at the University when their financial resources might not otherwise permit them to do so.
• In most instances, the application for admission, including the required personal statement, shall be sufficient for award consideration.

Number of Awardees: Several

Value of Scholarship: Scholarships cover tuition only.

Duration of Scholarship: Duration of program

How to Apply: All applications must be forwarded to the Drolor Centre for Strategic Leadership Secretariat at UPSA.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: The University of Professional studies, Accra (UPSA)

University of British Columbia Future Forests Fellowship for Doctoral Students 2018

Application Deadline: 24th November 2017

Eligible Countries: Domestic and International

To Be Taken At (Country): Canada

Field of Study: The fellowship recipient will enroll in a UBC PhD program and conduct research focused in one of the following areas:

Forest Products Biotechnology  – Bioenergy – Forest Genomics – Climate Change – Urban Forestry – Forest Management – Conservation – Forested Landscapes – Salmon Ecology – Forest Health – Forests and Indigenous Peoples – Forests and Human Health

About the Award: The UBC Faculty of Forestry’s Future Forests Fellowship aims to attract and retain world-class doctoral students by supporting students who demonstrate both leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: 

• Applicants must be seeking financial support for their  first doctoral degree.
• Applicants must meet the eligibility requirements for admission to full time doctoral studies at UBC Forestry and intend to register beginning September 2018 (a completed application to the Forestry PhD program September 2018 intake is part of the documentation required for applying to the Future Forests Fellowship).
• To receive funding, the successful recipient of the Future Forests Fellowship must:
  • remain enrolled as a full-time student in the UBC Forestry doctoral program and demonstrate continued satisfactory progress documented through annual progress reports;
  • not hold any other awards from the Canadian government or the University of British Columbia at the same time as the Future Forests Fellowship.

Selection Criteria:

• Academic Excellence: Weighting 30%
• Research ability or potential: Weighting 50%
• Communication, interpersonal and leadership abilities: Weighting 20%

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: $70,000 CAD annually for up to four years. The fellowship is intended to cover all expenses incurred in the preparation and conduct of research.

Duration of Program: 4 years

How to Apply: The FFF application and list of supporting documents required will be made available starting August 1, 2017. In order to be considered for the Fellowship, a complete PhD program application (September 2018 intake) must also be submitted

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: UBC