TEHRAN: Promises of more help for Afghan refugees made by the European Union aid chief on his visit to Iran this month were not enough to dissuade Mariam Haidari from wanting to head to Europe.
She plans to go to Germany to join her husband and three of their children who were among a million-strong wave of irregular migrants to arrive in Europe last year, causing a rift among the bloc’s members who struggled to agree on how to deal with them.
“Life was very difficult here and my husband was the only breadwinner for the family ... We couldn’t afford the living expenses,” said Haidari, who was at a refugee administration center in Tehran when EU humanitarian affairs commissioner, Christos Stylianides visited the facility.
To help stem the influx, the bloc is increasing aid to certain countries on migrant routes in the hope of persuading people there to stay put. So far these have included Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and some African countries.
Now the EU is trying this strategy in Iran, which sits on the main transit route for Afghan refugees — the second-largest group after Syrians to have reached Europe by sea last year.
In Tehran, Stylianides announced the doubling of EU humanitarian aid to Iran to 12.5 million euros this year, with a special focus on education and health services for Afghan refugee children.
“It’s better to be close to your home and move back when the situation gets better than to be far away,” Stylianides said.
“It’s better for Afghan refugees to integrate in this society than in Europe. Here it’s the same religion, similar mentality, culture. It’s much harder in, let’s say, Germany.”
Iran ties
Iran has only recently become more accessible to such EU diplomacy, enabled by a tentative rapprochement after a landmark agreement last year for Tehran to scale down its nuclear program and the West to ease its hard-hitting sanctions.
The EU hopes humanitarian aid could help re-establish ties with Iran, an Islamic republic of some 78 million people, which has a high number of executions and ranks second in the world on the highest number of imprisoned journalists.
Freedom of expression, rights of ethnic and religious minorities and women there all are a major concern for the bloc.
But during his visit Stylianides carefully avoided criticizing Iran on that, instead playing up the need to rebuild ties with Tehran to be able to engage more on the ground.
Education
Nevertheless, EU’s aid to Iran fades compared to 3 billion euros the bloc promised to Turkey for its help in managing migration.
Iranian officials said foreign aid covers only about 6 percent of the cost of hosting the Afghan refugee community and said the EU should do more.
“I would call it an investment for the European Union, any kind of support to the education system,” said Hamid Shamsaldili at Iran’s Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs. “Any kind of support to this country will prevent these people from going to European countries.”
The situation of the three million Afghan refugees in Iran is often dire.
Iran has hosted the large refugee community for more than 30 years now as Afghans first fled the Soviet invasion, then the long Taliban insurgency and now Daesh attacks.
A third of them have a formal refugee status with some limited benefits. But the other two millions are “undocumented,” meaning that for generations they have had no access to education, jobs or health care.
Last year, as its ties with the West started to improve slowly, Tehran allowed children of the “undocumented” Afghan refugees to attend public primary schools. Aid groups on the ground say some 48,000 such children enrolled in 2015.
It was the first time Western aid agencies could reach out to this large and extremely vulnerable group.
“There has been quite a lot of hope, from the Iranian authorities as well as from our side, that this political opening will create more funding options,” said Olivier Vandecasteele, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s head in Iran.
“So far it has raised interest but it hasn’t translated into any additional huge funding decisions.”
At the time of Stylianides’ visit, Swedish officials were in Tehran to pick 157 Afghans for resettlement, a tiny share of the large numbers of such requests.
It is mostly the younger Afghans who want to go to Europe but EU’s asylum acceptance rates for them are low.
And they face dangers along the way: For those crossing the Mediterranean, as most Afghan refugees do, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said 2016 is shaping up to be the deadliest year yet.
European Union reaches out to Iran over Afghan refugees
European Union reaches out to Iran over Afghan refugees
Jordan and Qatar condemn burning of Gaza hospital by Israeli forces
- Actions of troops are a ‘heinous war crime’ and ‘blatant violation of international law and humanitarian law,’ Jordanian Foreign Ministry says
- Qatar calls it a ‘dangerous escalation’ with potentially ‘dire consequences for the security and stability of the region’
LONDON: Jordan has described the actions of Israeli forces in clearing and burning one of the last hospitals that was still operating in northern Gaza as a “heinous war crime.”
Troops stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia on Friday, forcing staff and patients from the building and setting fire to it.
Sufian Al-Qudah, a spokesperson for Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the attack was a “blatant violation of international law and humanitarian law. Israel is also held accountable for the safety of the hospital’s patients and medical staff.”
Jordan categorically rejects the “systematic targeting of medical personnel and facilities,” he added, and this was an attempt to destroy facilities “essential to the survival of the people in the northern Gaza Strip.”
Al-Qudah urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks on civilians in Gaza.
Qatar also denounced “in the strongest terms” the attack on the hospital as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
The country’s Foreign Ministry said it represented a “dangerous escalation of the ongoing confrontations, which threatens dire consequences for the security and stability of the region,” and called for the protection of the “hundreds of patients, wounded individuals and medical staff” from the hospital.
UN worker seriously hurt in Israeli Yemen strike moved to Jordan, WHO says
- WHO chief Tedros was at Sanaa airport with his team when Israel attacked
ZURICH: The UN worker hurt in an Israeli air strike on Yemen’s main international airport on Thursday suffered serious injuries and has been evacuated to Jordan for further treatment, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
Israel said it had struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen, including Sanaa International Airport, and Houthi media said at least six people had been killed.
“Attacks on civilians and humanitarians must stop, everywhere. #NotATarget,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X that showed him sitting in a plane looking across at what appeared to be the injured man.
Tedros was at the airport waiting to depart when the aerial bombardment took place that injured the man, who worked for the UN Humanitarian Air Service. A spokesperson for the WHO said the man had been seriously injured.
Tedros said he and the UN worker were now in Jordan.
The man underwent a successful surgical procedure prior to his evacuation for further treatment, Tedros said.
He had been in Yemen to negotiate the release of detained UN staff and to assess the humanitarian situation.
Jordan’s King Abdullah reaffirms support for Syria’s sovereignty, calls for Gaza ceasefire
- King in phone conversation with French president
AMMAN: King Abdullah II reaffirmed on Friday Jordan’s commitment to supporting Syria in building a free, independent, and fully sovereign state that reflected the aspirations of all its people.
In a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, the king emphasized the importance of Syria’s security, and stability for the Middle East region as a whole. He also reiterated Jordan’s firm stance against any violations of Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, Jordan News Agency reported.
Syria faced nearly 14 years of devastating civil war before the fall of President Bashar Assad’s regime earlier this month following a swift takeover by militants led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham.
The country remains fragmented, grappling with the challenges of rebuilding amid competing political and military influences.
The discussion between King Abdullah and Macron also addressed the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.
The conflict, which erupted in the aftermath of a Hamas attack on Israeli territory on Oct. 7 last year, has led to a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, with tens of thousands of lives lost and infrastructure heavily damaged.
King Abdullah called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a strengthened humanitarian response to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians trapped there.
He also stressed the urgent need for progress toward a just and comprehensive peace in the region, underscoring the two-state solution as the basis for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
King Abdullah highlighted the importance of sustained efforts to ensure the success of the ceasefire in Lebanon.
Syrian equestrian champ reveals 21 years of torture at hands of Assad regime
- Adnan Kassar was friends with Bassel Assad until overshadowing him at a championship event in 1993
- Kassar was detained, and his treatment worsened after Bassel’s death a year later
LONDON: A former champion equestrian has revealed the torture he suffered when he was detained by the Syrian regime after besting the older brother of former ruler Bashar Assad.
Adnan Kassar told Sky News he endured 21 years of imprisonment, during which he was physically and mentally abused, after Bassel Assad, his teammate at the 1993 International Equestrian Championship, became irritated at his performances.
The two had been good friends, but Kassar’s showing won his team the gold medal at the event on home soil in the port city of Latakia, after Bassel had produced a poor display.
“The crowd lifted me on their shoulders. It was a moment of pure joy, but for Bassel, it wasn’t the same. That day marked the beginning of my nightmare,” Kassar told Sky.
He was later arrested over what he called “fabricated” accusations and subjected to severe physical and psychological abuse.
“I was kept underground for six months, beaten constantly, and interrogated without end,” he said.
Bassel had originally been tipped to succeed his father, Hafez Assad, as Syria’s ruler. However, Bassel died in a car crash in 1994, propelling the younger Bashar to power.
For Kassar, though, Bassel’s death only made his situation more dire, as he was transferred to Sednaya Prison, where “the torture only got worse.”
Kassar said: “They blamed me for his death. Every year on the anniversary of his passing, the torture intensified.”
He was later sent to Tadmur Prison for seven-and-a-half years.
“They pierced my ear one morning and broke my jaw in the evening,” Kassar said. “For praying, they lashed me 1,000 times. My feet were torn apart, my bones exposed.”
Kassar was released in 2014 after a campaign of appeals by international human rights groups. For years, he resisted discussing his time in captivity for fear of reprisals but felt ready to speak after the fall of the Assad family.
“After years of imprisonment, torture, and injustice, the revolution finally toppled the dictatorial regime,” he said.
Iran FM warns against ‘destructive interference’ in Syria’s future
- Abbas Araghchi: Iran ‘considers the decision-making about the future of Syria to be the sole responsibility of the people... without destructive interference or foreign imposition’
BEIJING: Iran’s top diplomat warned Friday against “destructive interference” in Syria’s future and said decisions should lie solely with the country’s people, writing in Chinese state media as he visited Beijing.
Abbas Araghchi touched down in the Chinese capital on Friday afternoon, Iranian state media reported, to begin his first official visit to the country since being appointed foreign minister.
China and Iran were both supporters of ousted Syrian president Bashar Assad.
Assad fled Syria this month after an Islamist-led offensive wrested city after city from his control, with the capital Damascus falling on December 8.
Iran “considers the decision-making about the future of Syria to be the sole responsibility of the people... without destructive interference or foreign imposition,” Araghchi wrote in a Chinese-language article in People’s Daily published on Friday.
He also emphasized Iran’s respect for Syria’s “unity, national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Iran’s supreme leader – a key backer of Assad’s administration – predicted on Sunday “the emergence of a strong, honorable group” that would stand against “insecurity” in Syria.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Syria’s young men would “stand with strength and determination against those who have designed this insecurity and those who have implemented it, and God willing, he will overcome them.”
In People’s Daily, Araghchi said supporting the Syrian people was a “definite principle (that) should be taken into consideration by all the actors.”
Beijing had also built strong ties with Assad – he met President Xi Jinping in China last year, where the two leaders announced a “strategic partnership.”
China has affirmed its support for the Syrian people and has said it opposes terrorist forces taking advantage of the situation to create chaos.
Araghchi’s two-day visit will include talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, according to Iran’s foreign ministry.
China is Iran’s largest trade partner, and a top buyer of its sanctioned oil.
Xi pledged in October to increase ties with Iran during talks with his counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in Russia on the sidelines of a BRICS summit.
Araghchi told reporters in a video published by Iranian state media as he arrived in Beijing that the visit was taking place “at a very suitable time.”
“Now it is natural that there are sensitive situations, both the region has various tensions, and there are various issues at the international level, also our nuclear issue in the new year will face a situation that needs more consultations,” he said.
“The invitation of our Chinese friends was for this reason, that at the beginning of the new year... we should think together, consult and be ready for the challenges that will come.”
He wrote in his editorial that Iran and China shared the “common view” that calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza was the biggest priority in the Middle East.
