Belgium gives DR Congo inventory of looted artefacts


DR Congo's prime minister, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, receives the inventory of looted artefacts from Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, centre. At right is the Belgian state secretary for scientific policy, Thomas Dermine

 (AFP/JASPER JACOBS) 

Thu, February 17, 2022, 7:21 AM·1 min read

Belgium on Thursday gave the DR Congo an inventory of tens of thousands of art objects from the former Belgian Congo held in its colonial era museum, the latest step in the restitution of looted artefacts.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo handed the catalogue to his Congolese counterpart Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde at a ceremony in the museum on the outskirts of Brussels held on the sidelines of an EU-Africa summit.

From the inventory, Kinshasa will be allowed to lodge, as early as this year, requests for restitution which will be examined by a Belgian-Congolese team of researchers soon to be in place, officials said.

Sama Lukonde hailed "a historic moment".

"It is not only a transfer of objects but also of knowledge and experience necessary for the conservation of these elements," he said.

The Royal Museum for Central Africa, opened in 1898 as a legacy of Belgian King Leopold II who administered the Congo as his personal property from 1885, contains one of the world's largest collections of looted African artefacts.

The inventory covers some 84,000 objects -- including sculptures, masks, utensils and musical instruments -- that arrived in Belgium up to 1960, the year of the country's independence. The stock represents about 70 percent of the museum's collection.

De Croo urged Belgians to "not be afraid to look our past in the face".

He recalled that in 2020 King Philippe had expressed "regret" for acts of violence and cruelty during the colonial period in Congo.

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Period products: How menstruation is managed around the world

In the early 20th century, rags were used to manage periods. Since then, lots of options have been developed to make menstruating far more comfortable. But many across the world are still "on the rag" — literally.

Menstruation cups are expensive, but reusable and better for the environment than disposable pads and tampons

Disposable tampons and pads have become ubiquitous in wealthy countries over the past century, making periods easier to handle.

But although the products are convenient, they are not perfect.

The monthly cost can be unaffordable for people living paycheck-to-paycheck, and the products pile up in landfills, harming the environment — a regular non-organic pad can take 500–800 years to break down, according to UK researchers.

On top of that, improper tampon use can cause toxic shock syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal infection.

Still, for many menstruators across the world, these products are a luxury — if they're even available at all.

Every month, 1.8 billion people menstruate, according to the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).

But it's easier for some than others. The high prices, stigma and a lack of access to convenient menstrual products and basic sanitation facilities can even result in young women missing school. Studies show that some girls in Bangladesh, India, Uganda and the UK regularly stay home during their period.

Period products continue to pose financial burdens for menstruators across the world
What are the options?

People disenchanted by disposable tampons and pads can now opt for new alternatives: reusable menstrual cups, period underwear, reusable cloth pads and period discs.

Menstrual cups are one of the most well-known alternatives to disposable period products. They are reusable and can last up to 10 years. The popular DivaCup brand can be worn for 12 hours straight, according to its website, and should be washed with soap and water between uses.

However cups can be expensive (around €26) and must be boiled in hot water, which is inconvenient for those without stable access to water and means to boil it. And like tampons, they can still cause toxic shock syndromeif handled incorrectly, research shows.

Period underwear, although good for backup, typically don’t work on their own and are prone to leakage, review websites say. They're also expensive: if a person wants to wear them throughout the course of their period without doing laundry everyday, they'll have to buy at least three or four pairs. This might save money in the long term, but can be a big cost upfront.

Period discs are inserted like menstrual cups, but like tampons, they are disposable. Unlike the cup or tampons, the disc sits near the cervix and catches blood before it enters the vaginal canal, making it possible to have mess-free sex. So far, there haven't been any reported cases linking disc use to toxic shock syndrome.

Watch video 07:11 What your body does when you menstruate

What to avoid

When people have the luxury to choose between multiple options for period management, the "right" method is the one that works best for them — within reason, experts say.

"Sea sponge" tampons — made from either real or synthetic sea sponge — have been lauded by many women's health websites as a natural and sustainable alternative to cotton tampons. But these and other tampon "hacks" shouldn't be used, says Jen Gunter, a Canadian obstetrician-gynecologist who writes a monthly column about women’s health for the New York Times.

Gunter said sponges should be avoided because there is no way to clean them, which means they can introduce foreign bacteria into the vagina. And their rough surface can cause abrasions in the vaginal wall that are too small to notice, but large enough for bacteria to enter through.

The size of the sponge could also cause abrasions, she said, because it expands horizontally rather than vertically, like a tampon. This could become a problem during the removal process, she wrote.

Menstrual sponges examined in 1980 were found to contain sand, grit, bacteria, and various other materials, according to a US Food and Drug Administration guidance paper. One sample was confirmed to contain Staphylococcus aureus, it said.

Most sponges were voluntarily recalled by distributors after the FDA examination. But the sponges are still sold online by companies such as "Jade and Pearl."

Regulators found that toxic shock syndrome was associated more with high-absorbency tampons and tampons from the brand Rely, which were pulled from the market in 1980.

Many people across the world use homemade reusable pads to deal with menstruation.

Barriers and accessibility

While menstruators in the US use pads nearly as often as tampons, in Europe more stick with tampons.

Cotton tampons biodegrade much quicker, in around six months. However the plastic applicators and wrappers that come with most tampons in the US take much longer.

In Europe, tampons are typically sold without applicators or wrappers and come in cardboard packaging, which reduces waste.

In other parts of the world, tampons are rarely used. This is sometimes for cultural reasons — in some places they are seen as impure, damaging a woman's virginity — and more often for economic reasons, studies show.

Many across the world — in Zambia, Sudan, Ethiopia, for example — still use old rags, cotton or cloth to absorb their periods because they can't afford or don't have access to disposable period products.

A 2015 study in South Sudan found just 17% of girls surveyed reported using commercial disposable sanitary pads. The rest used pieces of old cloth, goat skin, or nothing. Around 17% of the girls surveyed said they dig small holes to menstruate, which they later cover with soil, the study said.

In Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania, less than a quarter of girls reported using disposable pads to manage their period. The rest use a combination of cloth, cotton and toilet paper, according to the study.

Some in Nepal "free bleed" in menstruation huts each month. Although this practice, called "chhaupadi", is illegal, many still practice it . A 2019 survey showed that among 400 adolescent girls in villages in midwestern Nepal, 77% practiced chhaupadi even though 60% knew it was against the law.

Menstrual cups and reusable pads like the Afripad have been distributed in places where access to period products is scarce, like Ethiopia, where women use cotton or cloth to absorb their periods. But these options don't address the other period-related problems some of these women face, like lack of access to clean water or a toilet at home.

Editor: Louisa Wright

Watch video 02:44 Zimbabwean girls lobby for free period products

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Turkish women protest: 'Sanitary products are not a luxury'

For months, the "Campus Witches" of Turkey have protested against the rising cost of sanitary products, which they say should be free. For many of their compatriots, the subject of menstruation remains taboo.

Indian schoolgirls dropping out during puberty

Young girls in India menstruating for the first time are considered impure and are excluded from social life. Tradition dictates they are not allowed into the family home and many are forced to stop going to school.

Virginity and menstruation myths behind Asia's tampon taboo

In a region where many communities chastise unmarried women for not being "virgins," tampons, believed by some to cause hymen breakage, are still rare.

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Laura Philipp: Pioneering menstrual training

The female economic factor

Bulgarian lawmaker gives Nazi salute in European Parliament

Angel Dzhambazki of the Bulgarian nationalist VMRO party gave the salute in the chamber shortly after making a rigorous defense of the rule of law in Hungary and Poland.

Angel Dzhambazki spoke during a debate on the rule of law in Poland and Hungary

A Bulgarian nationalist MEP gave a Nazi salute in the chamber of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, after he spoke during a debate on the rule of law in Poland and Hungary.

Angel Dzhambazki of the Bulgarian nationalist VMRO party is seen extending his right arm in front of him before exiting the chamber in a video of the debate. VMRO is in the euroskeptic European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament.

What did Dzhambazki say?

"We will never allow you to tell us what to say and do. Long live Orban and Fidesz, long live Kaczynski and PiS, long live Bulgaria and our nation-state," Dzhambazki said during the debate.

"Long live the Europe of nations," he concluded.

On Twitter, he also described as an "abomination" the European Court of Justice's decision to validate a mechanism that allows the blocking of funds to countries where there are violations of the rule of law. Hungary and Poland had contested the law, which was dismissed by the EU's top court.

The state of the rule of law in Hungary and Poland has long been a contentious issue within the European Union. Brussels has criticized judicial reforms in Poland that it claims undermine the independence of judges. The EU has also taken a dim view of Warsaw's refusal to accept the primacy of EU law over Polish law.

In the case of Hungary, the European Commission has voiced concerns over the issuing of public contracts, conflicts of interest and misspent EU funds.

Reactions

The vice-president of the European Parliament, Italy's Pina Picierno, said the institution would "check with the cameras what happened in this hemicycle, to see if there was a fascist salute or not."

"We do not in any way allow fascist gestures and symbols. If this has been done, it is extremely serious and sanctions will be taken," she warned.

In a tweet published after the debate, Picierno decried the salute, saying "in the session I presided over this evening, Bulgarian MEP Dzhambazki gave the Roman salute. I immediately condemned the incident and asked for this shameful and unacceptable gesture to be sanctioned."

"The European Parliament is a living monument of democracy against barbarism and fascism," she added.

Manfred Weber, German MEP of the European People's Party (EPP) and Christian Social Union in Bavaria(CSU), condemned the salute "in the harshest possible terms" in a tweet.

"It is the opposite of what the European Parliament stands for and we call for immediate sanctioning," he added.

AFP contributed to this article.

Edited by: John Silk

Africa groans under the weight of COVID-19 waste

African countries were already swamped by trash before the pandemic hit. Now COVID-19 related waste is making the situation worse.

An explosion of medical waste across Africa strains waste removal system

Discarded masks can be found pretty well everywhere on the planet — littering streets, fluttering from trees, clogging drains and polluting waterways and oceans.

The baby-blue surgical masks have proved essential in helping curb COVID-19 transmissions during the pandemic. 

But now the masks, along with other COVID-19 medical waste, have become a whole new problem.

Sub-Saharan Africa might have experienced more shortages of coronavirus vaccines and protective equipment than other regions, but this hasn't spared the continent from the effects of this new garbage crisis. 

Some 353 million single-use face masks are thrown away every day in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a Ghanaian study. 

Masks, and other medical waste such as gloves and protective gowns, have also altered the quantity and composition of waste on the continent, the study found.

Disposable masks are polluting the planet

 When waste disposal entrepreneur Catherine Wanjoya walks through Kenya's capital of Nairobi, she can hardly contain her anger at the number of masks lying discarded in the street.

Her business, Genesis Care, previously specialized in the disposal of sanitary products, but at the beginning of the pandemic Wanjoya reworked the company's incinerators to also burn protective equipment like masks and gloves.

Environmental and health risks

As well as posing an environmental threat, the discarded masks are also a potential health threat, said Wanjoya, explaining that she knows of cases where discarded single-use masks have been collected, cleaned and re-sold. 

It's not just masks that are discarded carelessly, Wanjoya said, but all kinds of medical waste. 

"If you go to the open landfills, you'll find that they will get even needles, you can get drugs, you're going to get used bandages. People go to scavenge in those areas to try and get useful products, which they can sell," she said. "So you see such people also get infected by those medical waste, which has been thrown into the open landfills."

Low-income countries, 23 of which are in Africa, toss 90% of their waste in unregulated dumps, on fields or through open burning, according to the latest figures by the World Bank.

Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa lack adequate waste disposal systems

This is because many African cities like Nairobi lack functioning waste management systems, said environmental activist Lillian Mulupi from the Kenyan political party, the United Green Movement.

"In many districts [of Nairobi] there are not enough trucks or even bins, some areas will go for more than three days without the trash having been picked," Mulupi told DW.

COVID-19 related waste

The amount of health care waste related to the COVID-19 pandemic is enormous. 

The United Nations alone distributed some 87,000 tons of protective medical clothing, 2,600 tons of non-infectious waste and 731,000 liters of chemical waste to less-developed countries between March 2020 and November 2021, according to a WHO report.

The billions of COVID-19 vaccinations administered worldwide are responsible for another 144,000 tons of waste, which includes syringes, needles and collection containers. 

But the true scale is likely to be far higher, the WHO report acknowledges. 

60% of health care facilities in least developed countries aren't "equipped to handle existing waste loads, let alone the additional COVID-19 load," the report found. 

Landry Kabego, a WHO specialist for infection prevention and control, told DW that correctly disposing of medical waste is an important part of fighting the coronavirus. 

"When a country is dealing with a pandemic like this, they need to put in place all the measures that will allow them to break the chain of transmission of the disease, and waste management is one of them," Kabego said.

Catherin Wanjoya, founder of Genesis Care

Waste disposal entrepreneur Catherine Wanjoya agrees.

Her organization works with small clinics, who can't afford large medical incinerators "because they are too expensive for them," she said.

Her company is the only one in Kenya making smaller incinerators, she said, adding that one solution to the waste problem would be for the Kenyan government to partner up with companies like hers to ensure clinics can burn medical waste so it doesn't end up in landfill. 

Another way of tackling the issue is to make sure communities understand the environmental and health risks potentially posed by poorly disposed medical waste. 

Failure to separate infectious waste

Kenya's National Environmental Management Authority introduced guidelines about the separation and disposal of health care waste at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. 

Under the guidelines, masks for example are defined as infectious waste and shouldn't be thrown away with general rubbish. 

For Kabego, separating medical waste into infectious and non-infectious waste is key.

Masks are abundant, cheap, and easily discarded

"Most of our health care facilities do not segregate waste properly. When you are not segregating well, you have a lot of infectious and non-infectious waste together," he said.

For that reason, special rubbish bins in health care facilities as well as in public spaces are vital, he said.

Protecting your community and the environment

The WHO report also recommends developing reusable or biodegradable protective equipment, as well as reducing the amount of packaging. 

"There is a need to really minimize the quantity of the waste that is being produced, especially during a vaccination campaign," said Kabego. 

"You don't need to use the gloves. You just need to perform hand hygiene appropriately when you touch the patient and after you touch the patient," he said. 

As for Kenyan environmental activist Lillian Mulupi, she believes ordinary people also need to get together to clean up streets, rivers and beaches.

"The same way you clean your house, take an extra step and make sure that your village is clean, your county is clean, your country is clean and even the whole of Africa is clean," she said. 

TURNING FACE MASKS INTO A FASHION STATEMENT IN AFRICA
Masks with personality in Algeria
Mounia Lazali, a designer in Algeria, has sewn and donated hundreds of masks – singer Joe Batoury models one of her designs, above. She told DW people "want to assert their culture and their tastes, so I think that the mask will not escape the fashion effect. If that can encourage people to protect themselves more, art will have succeeded in its mission by entering citizens’ everyday lives."
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This article was original published in German.

What does the future hold for Afghan cinema?

Three award-winning female directors appeal to the international film industry to save Afghan cinema. Supporting women filmmakers is more important than ever.

A shot from the documentary 'Sonita' about an Afghan female rapper, directed by Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami

At an event held in conjunction with the current Berlinale film festival, titled "Imagine Afghanistan: Women filmmakers and their vision," directors Sharhbanoo Sadat, Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami and Zamarin Wahdat discussed how best to support Afghan cinema. They called for female Afghan filmmakers now living in exile, to be included in existing networks and receive financing for projects.

Director Sharhbanoo Sadat further emphasized the importance of being included in networks. Sadat has gained international attention since her feature film "Wolf and Sheep" won the 2016 Art Cinema award in the Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight selection.

Just a year ago, she was living in Kabul. "I really wanted to believe in Afghanistan, to trust that I had a future there," the 30-year-old filmmaker said during a panel discussion at the International Women's Film Festival — part of the Berlinale. Born in Tehran to Afghan refugees, when she was 11, she and her family returned to Afghanistan, living in a mountain village, before moving to Kabul when she was 18. "I had even bought an apartment there," she said.

Director Sahraa Karimi is one of the most recognized filmmakers from Afghanistan

However, the Taliban's takeover of Kabul in August 2021 put an abrupt end to her dream of having a filmmaking career in Afghanistan. The Taliban ordered the closure of cinemas in the country; thus, the future for the country's filmmakers is uncertain. Sadat fled Afghanistan and was taken in by colleagues from the film industry in Hamburg. This year, she is a member of the Berlinale jury.

Can Afghan cinema come from exile?

While Sadat is hopeful that she will be able to make Afghan films in exile, her Iranian colleague Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami expressed less confidence during the event. In the West, she said, only films that repeatedly spread the same prejudices about Afghanistan and the Middle East are financed. "When I made a film about Iran, I was told not to show any shots of the many modern highways. In Kabul, I was told not to show elevators."

Although her documentary "Sonita," about a young Afghan rapper in exile in Iran, won an award at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in the US, the film almost broke her heart, the filmmaker said. "We have to show the versions of Kabul or Iran that people in the West want to see, and they're not interested in what it's really like there."

Criticizing Western cliches

Positive stories, in particular, are overlooked added Zamarin Wahdat, a German-Afghan director who grew up in Hamburg. The British documentary "Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)," for which she was an assistant director, was rejected by many film festivals. The reason was that it was not considered to be "dramatic" enough, she said. "In Germany, you can tell a father-daughter story where nothing dramatic happens," Wahdat explained. "But as soon as the story is set in Afghanistan, suddenly that's not enough."

The panel discussion received a lot of support on the web. The three directors are now pinning their hopes on films that can be made in exile.

"It will take us four or five years to learn new languages and make contacts," said Sharhbanoo Sadat. "But in 10 years, we may have Afghan cinema that is created in exile."

It is crucial to include the perspective of women, who are now once again excluded everywhere in Afghanistan, the filmmaker continued, "The best revenge is to keep making films."

This article was translated from German.

Three workable solutions to environmental problems

Shifting seasons, burning forests and cities so loud they're making us sick and harming birds. We look at three environmental problems and how they can be solved.

Making cities greener is one way to help reduce noise pollution

The constant din of cities is bad for our health. That's one conclusion of a UN report published Thursday.  

People across the globe from Barcelona and Cario to New York are at risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease thanks to the constant roar of traffic, construction sites and other sources of noise pollution, according to the UN environment programme. 

Noise pollution: Cities that never sleep  

In Europe alone, loud and constant noise is responsible for 48,0000 cases of heart disease and the premature death of some 12,000 people a year.  

In the animal world, birds are among the worst affected by the problem. Zebra finches, tree sparrows and tits are singing louder or adjusting their frequency so they can communicate with each other over the clamor. But that's resulting in more frequent misunderstandings between birds and can damage the chances of males finding a mating partner. Their new songs are not always well received.  

Planting more trees and shrubbery in cities could help, according to the report's authors. Plants would disperse and soften the noise, while also improving the climate and urban landscape. A line of trees growing behind a noise barrier wall, for instance, can reduce noise levels by around 12 decibels.  

Researchers says giving cyclists more space would help cut down on noise

Traffic noise could also be reduced by expanding cycleways and reducing car lanes. Creating green zones in cities would promote quieter electric vehicles and improve air quality.   

Disrupted natural rhythms  

Migratory birds are no longer flying south in the winter, plants are blooming much earlier, and birds are building nests for their young earlier when there are not enough insects around to feed them.  

Climate change is not just increasing global average temperatures, it's also disrupting life cycles established over thousands of years. These changes are affecting all kinds of habitats from mountain areas and coastal regions to forests and grasslands.  

Animal and plant species cannot adapt at the speed at which the planet is warming, increasing the risk that entire ecosystems on land and in the ocean could collapse with unforeseen consequences for humanity.   

To slow the pace of climate change, we must drastically and quickly cut emissions. But to deal with changes to life cycles, the researchers say it's essential to actively protect species, restore ecosystems and connect habitats by creating wildlife corridors. This is the only way to ensure that species' gene pools remain intact and that they have the chance to adapt to new conditions through natural selection.  

Fighting fire with fire  

Wildfires are a natural part of many environments but longer and more extreme heatwaves and droughts are prolonging fire seasons and increasing the probability of fires breaking out.  

Fires destroyed huge swathes of forest from California and Siberia to Turkey and Australia last year. Those fires also released enormous amounts of pollutants such as soot, particulate matter and greenhouse gases, significantly worsening air quality in nearby cities. Wildfires can also cause water pollution, marine eutrophication and loss of biodiversity. 

Fires related to climate change have become increasingly widespread across the globe

According to the authors of the UN report, some precautionary measures could help ameliorate wildfires and their consequences. Better cooperation between neighboring regions, satellite monitoring, lightning detection, improved early warning systems and firefighting capacity could all help.  

Experts also recommend using traditional methods of fighting fire with fire. Controlled burning of forest or bush creates a barrier to an oncoming forest fire as it will use up all the available fuel. Fires can have benefits in certain ecosystems, as some flowers and plants only grow when their seeds are heated through burning.  

This article was originally published in German

Pakistan: Militant attacks in Balochistan put pressure on China's infrastructure plans

Several attacks in recent weeks in the southern Pakistani province have caused concern that a separatist movement is jeopardizing the completion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor


Several people were killed, including a Chinese national, in a bombing at Gwadar in 2021

A militant separatist movement in southwest Pakistan's Balochistan province has stepped up attacks in recent weeks, targeting the Pakistani military and complicating infrastructure projects being developed by China as part of Beijing's Belt and Road initiative (BRI).

In 2015, China announced the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $46 billion (€41 billion) infrastructure network linking a port in Gwadar, a remote city on the Arabian Sea, to China's western Xinjiang region.

Many of the Chinese projects are being built in Balochistan, and Baloch separatists say the Pakistani government is exploiting local resources on behalf of Beijing's ambition to expand its influence.

CPEC also includes plans to create road, rail and oil pipeline links running though Balochistan to improve connectivity between China and the Middle East.

With CPEC, Beijing aims to expand its influence in Pakistan and across Central and South Asia in order to counter US and Indian influence.

However, Baloch separatists have staged violent attacks in the vast province, which creates a precarious security situation for developing large infrastructure projects.

Earlier this month, the so-called Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) waged multiple attacks on security forces in Panjgur and Nushki districts. The assault lasted four days and left 20 militants and nine Pakistani soldiers dead.

The Pakistani military said in a statement it was the biggest separatist attack in recent years.

The assault came as Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was on an official visit to China. Khan paid tribute to the "brave" military forces for repulsing the attacks and acknowledged their "great sacrifices."

Pakistan has accused arch-rival India of covertly supporting the Baloch insurgents in the province, a charge New Delhi denies.

Who are the Balochistan militants?

The BLA is the largest and insurgent group in Balochistan and has been active for decades. It, and other groups, have stepped up its activities targeting Chinese interests in the province after CPEC projects began to expand.

In August 2018, a suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying Chinese engineers in Dalbadin, Balochistan, wounding five people, including three Chinese nationals.

In November 2018, a Baloch insurgent group claimed responsibility for an attack on the Chinese consulate in southern Karachi city, killing four people. In May 2019, separatists attacked the Pearl Continental hotel in Gwadar , killing five people and injuring six persons.

In 2019 a luxury hotel Gwadar was attacked by gunmen from a Baloch separatist group

In June 2020, armed separatists raided the Pakistan Stock Exchange, where three Chinese companies at the time owned 40% of the stakes.

"The target of the Baloch nationalists is the Pakistani state, which they see as an oppressor," Husain Haqqani, the South Asia director at the Hudson Institute, a US think tank, told DW.

"They target China because they think that might get them Western and Indian support, and also because they see China's backing as important for Pakistan’s security establishment," he added.

Rafiullah Kakar, a political analyst from Quetta, said the nationalists are demanding "freedom from the Pakistani state."

"They claim the Pakistani government and China are responsible for the abject poverty and oppression," he told DW.

A truck rolls down a highway funded by CPEC in Balochistan

Is China feeling pressure in Pakistan?

Stable security in Pakistan is necessary for Chinese investments to bear fruit, and increasing militant attacks could complicate projects.

"No investor, including China, wants to deal with constant violence or a long-running insurgency," said Haqqani.

"The Baloch might be weak and outnumbered but they have been consistent in their battle with the Pakistani state for years while getting little international support," he added.

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan and India, as well as Iran, of supporting Baloch insurgents but some experts say the view has attracted little support outside Pakistan.

"The attacks will not expel the Chinese from Balochistan," said analyst Kakar. However, he added that larger commercial investment in southern Balochistan in the presence of an insurgency is "not possible."

"Attracting private sector investment is impossible in presence of a conflict, and the Baloch insurgents could hurt Chinese development ambitions," he added.

Chaudhry insists the situation in Balochistan is "under control" and that Pakistani forces have made big gains against the militants in recent years.

But analysts are of the view that if the situation in Balochistan is to improve, the province will need to be better integrated into Pakistan's political and economic system.

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province by land area, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, but has the country's lowest population.

"They are not included in the power structures, over the years there has been resentment," said Kakar.

The Pakistani government has pledged to end deprivation in the province. Chaudhry says that not being satisfied with the government is "an excuse to justify terrorism and take up arms against the state."

Edited by: Wesley Rahn

SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for Balochistan 

Pakistan: River Ravi project draws ire from environmental activists

The Pakistani government wants to spend billion of dollars on the Ravi River Urban Development Project. But the plan has left opponents counting the cost to the environment in nearby Lahore.


Farmers protest the Ravi River Urban Development Project at Sheikhupura, Punjab


Pakistan's Ravi River Urban Development Project (RRUDP) is envisioned by the current ruling government, Pakistan Tekreef-i-Insaf, as an innovative and efficient solution to the country's exponentially growing population in one its major urban center's ⁠— Lahore. However, the project has been met with criticism from environmentalists and activists as well as being involved in a legal tussle between the provincial Punjab Judiciary and the country's apex judiciary, the Supreme Court.

The Ravi River is a 720-kilometer transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan.

The RRUDP is envisioned as a 41,308-hectare (102,074-acre) planned city, which would make it Pakistan's second planned city after the country's capital, Islamabad. The project boasts rehabilitation of the Ravi River into a perennial freshwater body and is expected to be the largest riverfront of the world when finished.
An idea dating back 75 years

The idea of an urban development on the Ravi riverfront was first conceived in 1947 and in 2013, the Government of Punjab began considering the project but it was not inaugurated until August 2020 by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan. While construction began in December 2020, not much progress has been made since as the project has been embroiled in legal cases

Watch video 03:07Pakistan: Child activist goes on a climate education mission

The provincial judiciary and Supreme Court have been at odds when it comes to judgments regarding RRUDP.

On January 25 of this year, the Lahore High Court (LHC) scrapped the ambitious RRUDP, declaring several provisions of the Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) Act 2020 unconstitutional.

In an uncharacteristically quick-fire response, just six days later the Supreme Court suspended the LHC's initial order to halt the RRUDP until RUDA rectified and amended their legal lacunas. The RRUDP has, in-effect, been given the green-light for implementation, which has garnered a range of criticism from environmentalists, human rights activists and the farming community that reside along the Ravi River.
Pakistan's Land Acquisition Act pushes boundaries

In Pakistan the government can purchase and acquire land from residents for public interest projects. However, the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 is seen by many as antiquated and against article 9 of the Constitution (Security of person. No person shall be deprived of life or liberty save in accordance with law).

This point was raised by the LHC in the hearing regarding RRUDP and advised that the government should elaborate further on farming and agricultural land in the Act to protect vulnerable farmers, the country's food security and ecological health.

Speaking to DW, environmental lawyer Rafay Alam, who was one of the petitioners on behalf of the farmers against RRUDP, commented: "This project is ​​an unashamedly green-washed land grab. There needs to be a limit and regulation to the government's acquisition of agricultural land otherwise where does it end?"

A farmer couple sowing and tilling the land for potato crop

In rebuttal, the CEO of RUDA, Imran Amin maintains that the RRUDP project is well within the purview of the constitution as it is the government's duty to provide amenities and housing to its population, and if it was not for the Land Acquisition Act, the government would not be able to proceed with planned urbanization and development.

Is RRUDP going to endanger Ravi's agriculture?

In 2021, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) launched a fact-finding report on RRUDP and one of the primary concerns was the impact the project may have on Punjab's ecology, food security and farmers' livelihoods.

According to the report, almost 77% of the site area is agricultural land while the remainder comprises of a delicate ecosystem of community and flora. The HRCP fears that the agricultural land of over 76,000 acres could be affected under the 30-year project.

The HRCP'S Chairperson, Hina Jilani, told DW: "Such so-called development projects are favoring concrete over agricultural land which is problematic as the land around Ravi is supplying much of Lahore's fruits and vegetables and especially the farmers themselves, who live and feed off this land, this project is impinging on their social and economic rights."

Watch video 03:10 Offsetting polluted air in Karachi

Mazhar Abbas, a spokesperson for the Ravi Farmers' Movement, who have been protesting the RRUDP's actions, told DW that there are several reasons farmers who are skeptical about the project.

"Farming is all these people know, they don't want to give up their lands because it is their livelihood and community," said Abbas. Further, he shared that even if farmers were amenable to giving up their land, under the Land Acquisition Act, farmers receive very little settlement rates per acre (€1,008) which gives them less security.

However, RUDA CEO Imran Amin maintains that the RRUDP is a means to conserve the Ravi river and increase agricultural efficiency. "There is a misconception that we want to remove all farmers and agriculture from the area. In our plan we have given a 40% allotment to forest cover and agriculture. Right now, the Ravi river is acidic and we are not producing crops, fruits and vegetables we could be. As this project helps improve the river and ecology that we are committed to, we will also improve farmer livelihoods and produce."

Conflicting urbanization strategies

At the center of the RRUDP debate between opponents and proponents is conflicting strategies to tackle urban sprawl. According to Alam, the RRUDP represents a "a fixed housing template" that favors the more affluent and adds distances and vehicular use in the city, further exacerbating Lahore's smog crisis.

However, Amin argues that Lahore and many of Pakistan's urban areas are in trouble because cities have not been planned and views the RRUDP as an antidote to Pakistan's rampant "housing society boom" and urbanization problem.

"RRUDP is not a housing society, we are making a planned city that is anticipating the population rise taking into consideration economic factors, pollution air index, forest cover, etc. We are planning for all segments of society and low cost housing is a compulsion in the plan."

Amin shared that in the initial plan, they are making a labor colony of 3000 apartments that will increase on need basis. This housing model, Amin hopes, will lead to a less informal sprawl and bad living conditions for the labor class.
Feasibility studies controversy

Another criticism hurled at the RRUDP is that the feasibility study is not robust, as per the LHC's ruling. In 2014, the Lahore Development Authority hired Singapore based urban development firm Meinhardt Group to run a feasibility study. This study also formed a significant part of the Environmental Protection Authority's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

However, eyebrows have been raised regarding the efficacy of the study as Meindhart Group was allegedly blacklisted by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) in early 2022. The group has publicly denied this and is pursuing arbitration/defamation cases against the LDA.

Also, Amin, now CEO of RUDA, served as Director Operations at Meinhardt Pakistan from 2012-2020 which petitions against RRUDP, and this has been deemed as a "conflict of interest."

Amin shared with DW, that the conflict of interest claims are baseless as he was not involved with RUDA at the time Meinhardt was consulted. "When anyone goes to a job interview, having experience and knowledge with the project is an asset. Since I was already experienced with the Ravi project, I had an added advantage and relevant experience. How is that a conflict of interest?" said Amin.

Edited by: John Silk

ECOCIDE

China govt to help run coal power plants at full capacity


Two-thirds of China's economy is fuelled by coal 

Wed, February 16, 2022, 

China will help its coal-fired power plants run at full capacity, the government has announced, raising further alarm about the fate of Beijing's climate pledges.

Swathes of the world's second-biggest economy were paralysed last year because of power shortages, partly caused by a drop in coal supply as global prices of the fossil fuel soared.

China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change, and has pledged to peak emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060.


But coal production has been ramped up since last year's energy shortages, sparking uncertainty and concern about those targets.

The focus on energy security and economic growth was reiterated at a high-level meeting of China's State Council, chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, state news agency Xinhua reported Tuesday.

It was decided in the Monday meeting that "coal supply will be increased and coal-fired power plants will be supported in running at full capacity and generating more electricity" to meet industrial and residential demand, according to Xinhua.

The move comes weeks after President Xi Jinping told top policymakers to ensure that emissions reductions do not hurt economic growth and energy security -- widely seen as a signal to limit restrictions on the coal sector.

Following the energy crunch last year, China reopened dozens of coal mines and scrapped production quotas, unravelling earlier steps to curb emissions.

The country's coal output hit a record of over four billion metric tons last year -- the highest in a decade -- after imports were disrupted by the pandemic.

Two-thirds of China's economy is fuelled by coal, and it generates an estimated 29 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, double the US share and three times that of the European Union.

The Chinese government's measures to curb emissions are considered crucial to keeping global temperature rises to under 1.5 degrees Celsius as agreed in the landmark Paris climate accord.

"We are pivoting back to the model of supporting the economy at all costs," said Li Shuo, a campaigner for Greenpeace China.

"China is losing time for crucial climate action."

prw/qan/axn

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