Lebanon: Soaring inflation turns olive oil into a luxury

INFLATION IS PRICE GOUGING 
Lebanese olive oil has become unaffordable for many in the crisis-ridden country. As inflation bites and the US dollar reigns supreme, poorer people are forced to part with their traditional local diet.

Dario Sabaghi

 Beirut, Lebanon

DW

May 8, 2023


Imad Waresbi is a 43-year-old resident of Tripoli in northern Lebanon who produces and trades olive oil for a living. He sells his oil for a wholesale price of $5 (€4.50) per liter, which is a fairly reasonable price for the product, he said.

In the shops, however, a liter nowadays costs around $10 or even more, he told DW. "People buy olive oil from me so they can profit from it or save some money or because people are looking for cheap olive oil today."

Lebanon has a rich history of both producing and consuming olive oil. Not only is it a crucial component in many traditional Lebanese dishes, such as Tabbouleh, Fattoush, and Mujadara Hamra, but the olive tree itself is deeply ingrained in Lebanese culture.

Furthermore, as a country that relies heavily on imports, olive oil is one of the few commodities that Lebanon can export.

High prices for top-quality olive oil make pooerer people turn to less healthy yet cheaper cooking oils

Dario Sabaghi/DW

Olive growers squeezed by inflation and crisis

The ongoing economic crisis in Lebanon, including currency woes that saw the US dollar become the preferred legal tender, has pushed millions into poverty. It has significantly impacted the purchasing power, particularly of those who continue to earn in local currency instead of dollars.

Waresbi said that despite selling olive oil to dozens of clients, he only earns around $500 per month. With the cost of living in Lebanon worsening day by day, he sometimes struggles to afford olive oil for himself and is forced to use cheaper cooking oil instead.

"What I earn is not enough as I have to pay bills, rent, food, and other expenses," he said.

The latest inflation figures published by Lebanon's Central Administration of Statistics show the annual inflation rate for food and nonalcoholic beverages has surpassed 350%. In March, the rate surged by 264% over the year, despite the official decision in February to devalue the Lebanese pound by 90%.

The official exchange rate now pays 15,000 Lebanese pounds for a US dollar — significantly higher than the previous rate of just over 1,500. However, the parallel market exchange rate currently stands at around 96,000 Lebanese pounds at the time of writing.

Retail markets in Lebanon sell olive oil for prices ranging from $7 to $11 per liter, or even higher, depending on the quality of the product. This equates to between 672,000 and 1,056,000 Lebanese pounds, well beyond the means of many given a national minimum wage for private employees of 9 million Lebanese pounds per month — equivalent to approximately $93 or €84.

Lebanon's economic crisis has made many food staples unaffordable for poorer people

Image: Dario Sabaghi/DW

The wholesale market of olive oil

Those who cannot afford to buy olive oil in shops use other cooking oil, such as sunflower oil, or buy olive oil at the wholesale market.

The price of wholesale olive oil varies from $65 per 16-kilo (35-pound) tin to more than $100.

Olive oil vendors advertise their products on Facebook groups and other social media platforms and deliver olive oil across the country. They may also be known through word-of-mouth recommendations.

People who have land for olive trees, especially those living in small villages, often take their olives to the mills to be pressed into oil for their own personal use. However, the cost of transportation and maintenance of the land means this is not a cheap option.

Wine production becomes a beacon of hope in Lebanon

02:29 Medal-winning olive oil

Although the price of olive oil has increased, Lebanese people have not relinquished their historic attachment to it, continuing to take pride in the excellence of the country's traditional ingredients.

In April, a Lebanese brand named Darmmess, based out of the village of Deir Mimas and founded by Rose Bechara, won a gold medal at the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, the largest and most prestigious olive oil quality contest in the world. Bechara told DW that Lebanese olive oils are not well-known globally.

"This has been a challenge because one of our missions is to build a territorial branding for Lebanese olive oils. So, it has been quite hard to tell the whole world that we can have outstanding olive oil," she said.

Bechara attributes the success of Darmmess phenolic extra virgin olive oil to the centenarian and millenarian olive trees, the collaboration with local farmers who use organic agriculture and early harvesting to ensure top-quality olives, and the unique soil and altitude of Deir Mimas, which has earned it the nickname of the "Bordeaux of Olive Oils."

Darmmess olive oil is sold domestically and internationally, priced at $15 per 500 ml in Lebanon and between $20 and $30 abroad.

Lebanon's olive oil is among the best in the world 

Colourbox/expressiovisual

Lebanese olive oil industry struggles

The success story of Darmmess, however, did not come without challenges.

Bechara's socially oriented enterprise lost money when the economic crisis began because the funds in its bank account were frozen. Additionally, it encountered various production-related issues.

Fuels have become much more expensive after the government lifted subsidies, and Bechara faced a shortage of glass for bottling, which is imported. Additionally, Bechara said she struggled to find a qualified workforce in the village, as many people had left the country or become less interested in agriculture.

Another problem is the frequent electricity cuts. "Power shortages frustrated me as people of my village cannot afford a 24-hour working generator, and we had to organize the work according to power availability, focusing on the organization rather than product quality," she said.

Bechara says the primary reason for higher olive oil prices in Lebanon is soaring inflation, both in Lebanon and internationally. At the same time, she warns against using cheaper seed oils for cooking because "it is refined during its processing and kills all the nutrients."

"If you want to take care of your lands, you have to consider that the price of fertilizers and fuel have increased. It happened simultaneously when the purchasing power of Lebanese citizens decreased. So, if people used to afford three or four tins of olive oil a year, now they can barely afford one, which is not enough for a family," she said.

Edited by: Uwe Hessler

Barge to house migrants arrives off UK coast

ARAB NEWS
May 09, 202314:33

Bibby Stockholm to host up to 500 male asylum-seekers at daily cost of £20,000

LONDON: A giant offshore barge has arrived in the UK to be used to house asylum-seekers.

The 222-bedroom Bibby Stockholm vessel is currently on its way to the port of Falmouth to be repurposed and updated to accommodate up to 500 male migrants.

It will be used over the next 18 months as part of efforts to improve the UK’s asylum-seeker processing measures, providing “basic” shelter, food, healthcare, and security at “significantly cheaper” rates than the current system of hotels, the British Home Office said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously suggested the UK was spending around £6 million ($7.57 million) a day on mainland accommodation for tens of thousands of asylum-seekers.

The cost of maintaining and running the three-storey barge, which will be situated off Portland Port, will come to approximately £20,000 per day, when staffing, facilities, and renting the area are taken into account.

The plans have drawn criticism in the UK, including from human rights campaigners and local Conservative MP Richard Drax, who told Sky News the “floatel” had been “dumped on our door” without consultation with local residents or the council.

Drax previously warned the site of the barge was a “very, very restricted area” and that the local police force was “very small,” and would struggle to fulfil its duties with such a large number of incoming people.

He warned that the local tourism economy could be affected by the presence of the barge, describing the area as a “summer resort dependent almost entirely on visitors and tourists.”

The barge was previously used to house asylum-seekers in the Netherlands, who described it as an “oppressive environment,” but its operator, Bibby Marine Ltd., said it had been refurbished since then.

Portland Port Chief Executive Officer Bill Reeves said: “We encourage everyone in the community to approach this with an open mind and help us show other areas just how successful this type of initiative can be, both for the migrants and the local community.”

The UK has so far received around 6,000 people who crossed the English Channel illegally in small boats claiming asylum. Last year, at least 45,755 made the trip from northern France.

Boris Johnson, King Charles reportedly clashed over Rwanda deportation policy

The clash between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince Charles reportedly took place in Rwanda in June last year amid a summit of the Commonwealth countries. (AFP)


ARAB NEWS
May 09, 2023

Future king was ‘appalled’ at scheme to deport migrants to African country

LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly clashed with Prince Charles last year over the government’s Rwanda deportation policy, MailOnline reported.

Charles, who was crowned king last week, was said to have been “appalled” at the scheme, which involves the removal of migrants who cross the English Channel in small vessels to the African country.

The 15-minute clash reportedly took place in Rwanda in June amid a summit of the Commonwealth countries.

Johnson is said to have warned Charles to avoid interfering in national politics as well as to cancel a plan to deliver a speech on slavery over fears that it could catalyze demands for reparations.

However, the government denied the reports of a row at the time, while associates of Johnson described them as “inaccurate.”

But Guto Harri, former director of communications for Downing Street, claimed on the “Unprecedented” podcast that the former PM “went in quite hard” on Charles over the Rwanda matter.

Harri also wrote in the Mail: “Boris briefed that the two had ‘a good old chinwag’ and had ‘covered a lot of ground.’

“What actually happened was less amicable. ‘I went in quite hard,’ he told me at the time, essentially squaring up to the prince and confronting him about what he — as unelected royalty — had said about the actions of a democratically elected government.

“Prince Charles was busted. He had obviously expressed some criticism, and though he tried to play it down, Boris pointed out the obvious, (saying): “If you didn’t say it, we both know your people could ring the newspapers and kill the story. The fact they haven’t done that says it all’.”

The former communications director added that Johnson’s relationship with the prince had been strained for years as a result of the former London mayor showing up late for a meeting.

But the Rwanda argument proved to be the final straw, Harri said, adding: “Relations never fully recovered and Charles will be relieved that Boris had left No. 10 before he ascended to the throne.”

Charles had long faced controversy over accusations that he was actively interfering in government affairs.

His comments on the Rwanda policy reportedly left government ministers “infuriated,” the Mail reported.

Sources close to Johnson also told the newspaper that Harri’s account of the conversation with Charles was inaccurate: “This account is simply inaccurate and does not reflect the conversation that took place.

“Boris Johnson has had nothing to do with this podcast, had no knowledge of it and deplores any attempt to report such conversations in public.”

Rwanda floods, landslides fueled by climate change

Stuart Braun
DW

As severe flooding and landslides again inflict heavy fatalities and displacement in Rwanda, one of the most climate-impacted nations on Earth struggles to adapt to global heating.

At least 130 people died amid severe flooding and landslides in Rwanda in early May, while thousands were displaced as entire villages were engulfed. Beyond the 5,000 homes, 17 roads and 26 bridges destroyed, a whole hospital was lost amid torrential rain that followed an extended drought.

The small, mountainous, landlocked African nation — often called the "land of a thousand hills" — is one of the most densely-populated countries in the region, note researchers.

More and more usable land is being eroded and degraded to service a growing agricultural-based economy that employs 65% of the population, reported the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). As a result, its inherent vulnerability to climate shocks is increasing.

Climate the likely culprit

Globally, there has been a 134% increase in climate-fueled, flood-related disasters between 2000-2023, according to the UNDP. And Rwanda, which is naturally vulnerable to floods, has become a flashpoint.

"The whole region looks like a tornado went through," Simone Schlindwein, a journalist located in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, told DW in early May. "Literally whole villages were washed away. It is quite a dire, disastrous situation."

Richard Munang, deputy regional director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Africa office, believes that temperature rise is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events.

While the globe has warmed to 1.1C, he notes that Africa is "warming up at twice the global average," and that "extreme events" will only get worse.

"East Africa has seen temperature increases of up to 1.7C," Munang said. "This means the consequences of a warming globe, that includes such as extreme precipitation will continue to escalate."

Flooding impact on agriculture could lead to famine

In 2021, Rwandan president Paul Kagame promised to respond to worsening extreme weather — devastating rains and windstorms later that year also sparked mudslides.

"In Rwanda, the changing climate is already making itself felt in unusually heavy rainfall and flooding," Kagame said. "Changing weather patterns also affect agriculture. We are responding by investing in water resources management, restoring catchment areas and wetlands."

Reforestation and forest conservation are important means to combat the rapid soil erosion and landslides that follow heavy rain, according to Damascene Gashumba, the country director of Rwandan environment NGO, the Rural Environment and Development Organisation (REDO).

Flooding and landslides not only destroy the built environment and biodiversity but also badly erode the soil that sustains crops. Nearly 600 million tons of soil is lost annually in Rwanda as a result of torrential rain, with sloping croplands losing the most, noted the UNDP.

The loss of harvest due to heavy rains means communities could "experience a famine," said Gashumba.

"The Rwandan government has focused strongly on adaptation and resilience to climate change, but this is not enough," Gashumba said, pointing out that developed countries are the primary source climate-inducing emissions and beyond their own climate mitigation must help Rwanda improve resilience.

A woman gathers crops from a flooded field in Musanze district in northern Rwanda

Rachid Bugirinfura/AP Photo/picture alliance

Working together to build resilience

The Green Gicumbi Project in the highlands of Northern Rwanda is working to make hilltop farming both flood and drought resistant.

Much of the land was so eroded that it has been left fallow. But the building of terraces and run off channels along with water storage for irrigation during the dry months is rapidly transforming the landscape.

"The harvest that we are expecting this season is a miracle," said Jacqueline Nyirabikari, a Green Gicumbi Project farmer. "This land was no longer usable. But since the arrival of Green Gicumbi, climate change is no longer stopping us from growing crops."

The transformation of an arid wasteland into a productive and climate resilient agricultural region was mostly funded by the Green Climate Fund that emerged out of the Paris climate agreement, and has been implemented by the Rwandan government.

Will it be enough?

UNEP's Munang notes that cities and towns in Rwanda and across the region continue to encroach on "natural drainage areas such as swamps and wetlands that surround cities."

But while priority needs to be given to preserving wetlands and forests, and to increase the efficiency of these drainage areas to limit flood damage, the other benefit will be to retain biodiversity and store more climate-killing carbon.

"We are positive for the future," said Gashumba. "We have hope."

Another dimension of this climate adaptation will also be to simply relocate vulnerable communities to safer, less flood prone areas, he added. But the solution is not ideal.

"When you shift from your home you lose everything."

Edited by: Sarah Steffen

Germany sees record number of politically motivated crimes

Politically motivated crimes in Germany increased by 7% to a new high, according to the police. Offenses connected with the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine were not the only reasons for the jump.

Germany recorded 58,916 cases of politically motivated crime in 2022, an increase of some 7% compared with the previous year, according to figures released on Tuesday.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said right-wing extremism remained the greatest threat to German democracy, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic also cited as important factors for the rise in politically motivated crime.

A significant increase was also recorded in crimes and acts of violence by the far-right Reichsbürger (citizens of the Reich) movement.

What the report said on Ukraine and COVID

Germany recorded 5,510 politically motivated crimes in connection with the Russian war in Ukraine. This was accompanied by a soaring number of "foreign ideology" cases, totaling 3,886 — a rise of 237%.

The war of aggression by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is in violation of international law, "was a turning point for internal security in Germany," Faeser said.

Braving the pandemic of conspiracy theories  02:06

There was also a significant increase in cases linked with the coronavirus pandemic — a jump of 52% to 13,988.

However, Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) President Holger Münch emphasized that the high point of these cases was at the beginning of 2022. They then "continuously decreased with the lifting of state restrictions."

Rise in Reichsbürger cases

The criminal offenses of Reichsbürger and Selbstverwalter (Sovereign Citizen) movements increased by around 40% to 1865 cases.

Both terms describe a loose grouping of people who do not recognize the authority of Germany's current system of government and many of them refuse to pay taxes or fines. The Reichsbürger insist that the laws of both the German Empire and Nazi Germany still apply today.

While these crimes mainly involved coercion, threats, and insults, the number of violent crimes in this area also increased by 40% to 333.

Germany: Fresh raids on Reichsbürger group 01:34

Faeser said the state would continue to act "with all severity against the Reichsbürger," referring to a major raid at the end of last year against an alleged attempted coup from the scene.

Faeser said care should be taken when it came to the availability of weapons, with some 400 Reichsbürger adherents having at least one gun permit.
Right-wing threat lingers

Faeser and Münch emphasized that overall right-wing extremism continued to be the greatest threat to democracy. The number of such cases rose by 7% to 23,493. While the number of acts of violence in the left-wing extremist area fell significantly, they increased in the right-wing spectrum by more than 12% to 1,042.

The number of acts of violence across the board rose by 4% to 4,043. There were 2,386 cases of physical injury.

In the area of climate and environmental protection, 1,716 politically motivated crimes were registered, including street and other infrastructure blockades attributed to the Last Generation protest group. This was 72% more than in the previous year.

The minister said she had "not the slightest understanding" of such crimes, adding that the climate crisis must be "democratically fought."

rc/sms (dpa, KNA, AFP)

Criminal or hero? Man who dethroned Austrian far-right speaks out

Blaise GAUQUELIN
Tue, May 9, 2023 

Julian Hessenthaler speaks at the Vienna Volkstheater on April 20, 2023

Four years after a far-right Austrian politician was revealed to have cut deals with a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch, the private detective who dreamt up the sting operation is speaking out.

The "Ibiza scandal" caught the then leader of Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) Heinz-Christian Strache promising the purported Russian public contracts in exchange for election campaign support.

Filmed in 2017, but not released until 2019, the video led to the spectacular collapse of the coalition Strache was part of and triggered corruption investigations. It ultimately dethroned former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Julian Hessenthaler, the detective who conceived of the video filmed on Spain's resort island of Ibiza, was jailed in 2021 for trafficking cocaine and possessing forged documents.

Venerated by supporters as a heroic whistle-blower who exposed the corrupt nature of Austrian politics, to his critics he is a venal criminal deserving of imprisonment.

Now fresh out of jail, the 42-year-old told AFP in an interview that Austria "has not learned much" from the scandal as the FPOe again surges in the polls.

Released from prison on April 7, the former "security consultant" has been giving his side of the story in rounds of interviews and talks.

He argues that he was "wrongfully convicted" without material evidence after stepping on powerful people's toes and describes the whole procedure as "dubious to say the least".

- 'Deterrant effect' -

Dubbed the "Ibiza detective" by the press -- a nickname he despises -- Hessenthaler was behind the trap for Strache, a boozy evening in a luxury Ibiza villa during which the FPOe's illegal dealings came to light.

Hessenthaler alleges that a wealthy, Iranian-born lawyer based in Vienna paid at least 100,000 euros ($110,000) to orchestrate the fateful video.

At the time the lawyer had as a client a former bodyguard of Strache who felt he had been unjustly fired and was seeking revenge.

Published by German media in May 2019, the video and its fallout have prosecutors buried in work to this day.

Some 50 personalities from the world of politics, business and media are under scrutiny in various offshoots of the scandal.

But in contrast to Hessenthaler, so far no trials or indictments have produced any convictions for the political heavyweights implicated in the scandal.

The minute Hessenthaler became a free man again, Vienna's renowned Volkstheater staged public debates with him, featuring journalists and artists.

Press rights group Reporters Without Borders and a dozen other non-profits praised Hessenthaler's "courage" and warned his conviction could have a "deterrent effect" on potential future whistle-blowers.

- Leftist 'darling' -

German investigative website Correctiv wrote a long article about Hessenthaler, casting doubt on the prosecution's findings that put him behind bars for drugs.

But conservative Austrian daily Die Presse dismissed him the new "darling of many leftists", while far-right supporters have denounced him as a drug-pushing criminal.

Now Hessenthaler questions whether it was worth producing the video that ousted the FPOe from office, given that the far-right party has since gained national momentum.

"The FPOe has already become the leading political force in the polls," he told AFP.

The far-right party enjoys nationwide support levels of 29 percent, up from the 16 percent it won at polls in 2019.

With the governing coalition weak, the FPOe has tapped into voter anxieties over the war in Ukraine and inflation, as well as anger over strict measures during the pandemic, on top of its trademark opposition to migration.

As for reforms mooted in the immediate aftermath of the scandal, there was "a lot of talk," Hessenthaler said. But the most important legislative changes brought in to tackle corruption "have still not been implemented", he added.

Nevertheless, he said he would "do it again without hesitation", calling Austrian politicians peanuts compared to "far more dangerous" people he has dealt with in the past, albeit without elaborating.

bg/anb/kym/gil/jm

Illegal mining booms in Brazilian Amazon 'promised land'

Marcelo SILVA DE SOUSA
Tue, May 9, 2023 

A miner works at an illegal copper mine in Canaa dos Carajas, Brazil, in April

Working under an improvised shed hidden in the rainforest, Webson Nunes hears a shout and flips on his winch, hauling a colleague up from deep inside a giant hole with a bucket full of riches.

Nunes, 28, and his four colleagues are "garimpeiros," illegal miners who dig for precious minerals -- in their case, at a wildcat copper mine outside Canaa dos Carajas, a small city at the edge of the Brazilian Amazon that has become a boom town in recent years thanks to mining.

Canaa -- Portuguese for Canaan, the Biblical "Promised Land" -- is a place of extremes: At one end of the spectrum sits mining giant Vale, which runs one of the world's biggest open-air mines here.

Known as S11D, the iron-ore mine made the city the richest in Brazil in 2020 in GDP per capita.

At the other end are an estimated 100 illegal mines like the one where Nunes is employed, bootstrap operations where "garimpeiros" -- Portuguese for "prospectors" -- make a living digging holes in the earth, living on constant alert in case of a raid.

"I work with one eye here (on the mine), and the other outside. The police could arrive at any moment," says Nunes, inside the tarp-covered shack above the narrow, wet, 20-meter (22-yard)-deep hole into which he lowers his colleagues with a harness and steel cable to haul up big blue buckets of shiny, mineral-rich rocks.

But Nunes, who has been doing this for seven years, says he sees it as just another job -- albeit a lucrative one. The mine owner pays him 150 reais ($30) a day, a nice salary in these parts.

- 'Severe environmental damage' -

Illegal mines make around $800 per metric ton of copper they sell on the black market.

This one typically produces more than that in a day, the miners told AFP.

Authorities say the copper mined illegally in Canaa mainly gets exported to China.

Police say they have also detected illegal gold mines in the area, which cause greater environmental damage because of the mercury used to separate gold from soil.

Canaa's population has boomed along with its economy.

Since 2016, when Vale launched S11D, employing 9,000 people, the town has nearly tripled in size, from 26,000 inhabitants to 75,000.

The town, located in the northern state of Para, voted heavily in Brazil's presidential elections last year for far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, who narrowly lost to veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro, whose father was a garimpeiro, defended wildcat miners as president, pushing to allow mining on protected lands in the Amazon and drawing condemnation from environmentalists.

Since taking office in January, Lula has cracked down on illegal mining in the world's biggest rainforest.

Police have staged six raids in the Canaa region since August 2022, unearthing what they called "severe environmental damage" in the form of "severely" discolored rivers and forestland turned into giant pools of toxic mud.

Officers typically destroy miners' operations, flooding their mine shafts and seizing or burning their equipment.

But it does little to stop them: The same miners can sometimes be seen back at work the next day, says Genivaldo Casadei, a garimpeiro leader.

Casadei, 51, is treasurer of a local small-scale miners' cooperative trying to win legal status for their work.

Under Bolsonaro, miners were in advanced talks with the federal mining agency to do just that, he says.

Lula's victory put an end to that.

"In the cities, people see garimpeiros as criminals. But we're just workers trying to feed our families," says Casadei.

"If (wildcat mining) were regulated, it would create jobs and tax revenue. Canaa could be the richest city in the world."

- 'Dangerous job' -

Garimpeiros say it is unjust that Vale, the world's biggest iron ore producer, has a monopoly on mining rights on local land, but uses just 13 percent of it.

Getting authorization for small-scale mines is nearly impossible, they say.

Crouching over a pile of shiny rocks from a mining pit, Valmir Souza bangs at them with a hammer, separating the copper from the rest.

"It's a hard, dangerous job," says Souza, 33, who works in gloves, rubber boots and a white helmet.

He arrived here seven months ago from his northeastern home state, Maranhao, the poorest in Brazil, where he worked teaching capoeira, a Brazilian dance form and martial art.

There is more opportunity in Canaa, he says.

But "we have to work in secret," he adds. "What else can we do?"

msi/jhb/nro/md/dva

Hong Kongers find new ways to defend democratic ideals

Holmes CHAN and Xinqi SU
Tue, May 9, 2023

Hong Kongers like Lau Ka-tung are still grappling with the aftermath of huge protests that roiled the city in 2019

Two years after being released from a Hong Kong prison, Lau Ka-tung has lost count of the times he has returned -- not as an inmate, but to offer support to pro-democracy activists in jail.

Hong Kongers like Lau, 27, are still grappling with the aftermath of huge, and often violent, protests that roiled the Chinese finance hub in 2019, and a subsequent crackdown by Beijing that saw thousands arrested.

Despite the collapse of organised opposition or pro-democracy activism due to a sweeping national security law passed in 2020, some Hong Kongers are still looking for ways to fight for their values.

During the protests, Lau, a registered social worker, had tried to mediate at a clash between police and demonstrators, an act that landed him in jail for six months for "obstructing police".

"Everything felt incomprehensible and frightening... at the time I had an emotional breakdown, I was crying non-stop," Lau said.

Now, he has made it his mission to ease those anxieties for jailed protesters and their families, making near-daily visits to prisons dotted around Hong Kong.

"Those who have spent a long time in custody are looking for emotional support, while those who just arrived often want to learn about the procedures and unspoken rules," he said.

Frequently asked questions include how to write to judges to request leniency, and what types of supplies prisoners are allowed to receive.

Sometimes, prisoners just need someone to talk to, such as during one recent visit when Lau found himself engaged in a spirited chat about Chinese literature with a young pro-democracy protester.

Lau said there were very few social workers in Hong Kong specialising in protest-related cases.

"If I quit, the very small minority will become even smaller."

- Living through a crackdown -

Hong Kong's protest movement kicked off in June 2019 over an unpopular bill that would have allowed extraditions from the semi-autonomous city to the Chinese mainland.

The movement soon morphed into a wider push for democratic change that brought hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers from all walks of life onto the streets to take part in huge protests, some of which turned violent.

The subsequent crackdown saw more than 10,000 people arrested over the protests, with more than 6,000 still awaiting formal charges.

Under Beijing's national security law, which sounded the death knell for the protest movement, another 150 people have been charged, with dozens of the city's best-known democrats facing allegations of "subversion" and "foreign collusion".

National security cases have, so far, had a 100 percent conviction rate.

The crackdowns have decimated Hong Kong's once-vibrant civil society, which was made up of dozens of political parties and advocacy groups across a wide spectrum.

At least 60 groups -- including the two largest pro-democracy labour unions and the organiser of a yearly Tiananmen vigil -- have disbanded.

Still standing, however, is the political party League of Social Democrats, where 31-year-old Dickson Chau serves as external vice-chairperson.

"Civil society has been seriously atomised," Chau told AFP.

The LSD was once known for its boisterous street-level campaigning, with activists using megaphones to deliver pro-democracy messages.

"The situation (now) is so bleak that we can only run into each other in courts or prisons and all we can have is small talk -- no one would collaborate for any actions," Chau said.

The group is now allowed only to operate a single booth at a designated location, and police scrutinise every word on their banners.

Police question every new volunteer, Chau said, and group members are warned not to protest around "politically sensitive" days, such as the anniversary of the city's 1997 handover to Chinese rule.

Still, the LSD continues to oppose some government policies, such as a recent $74 billion project to develop new artificial islands around Hong Kong.

"Citizens can no longer speak out in public... but Hong Kong is not yet a pond of stagnant water," Chau said.

- Creating space -

With the streets of Hong Kong cleared of rallies and protests, some have tried to build alternative spaces.

"Civil society around a decade ago was very different... Now, having a space is precious because we don't have many groups and venues left," said Sum Wan-wah, a veteran journalist who recently opened a bookshop named "Have A Nice Stay".

Sum's business partners are former reporters of Stand News, an independent online news platform that closed after police raided its newsroom and arrested its editors for "sedition".

Since opening last May, the bookstore has registered over 1,500 members and organised more than 50 closed-door events -- mostly talks by journalists, authors and documentary filmmakers.

Many of the books on sale focus on media literacy, democratic development and authoritarianism. Events cover a range of topics, from Russia's invasion of Ukraine to documentary production workshops.

The store also displays award-winning news photography and sells handicrafts made by reporters who have lost their jobs since the crackdown.

"As long as people can have a place to gather, there is no limit to what can be imagined," Sum said.

"You won't know whether it will make a difference or how many people it will nurture, but I want to give it a chance."

The bookstore is not immune from pressure and surveillance, with the shop sometimes subject to inspections and event participants once questioned by police in the last year.

Sum remains undeterred.

"I don't want a situation where nothing can happen," he said.

"I am making a choice between zero and 0.1, and I choose 0.1 even though all the efforts may eventually go down the drain."

su-hol/aha/dhc/ser

iPhone maker Foxconn buys huge site in India tech hub

Aishwarya KUMAR with Sean GLEESON in New Delhi
Tue, May 9, 2023 

Apple is making its own push into India and last month opened its first two retail stores in the world's most populous country

Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn has bought a huge tract of land on the outskirts of Indian tech hub Bengaluru, the key Apple supplier said in a filing Tuesday as it looks to diversify production away from China.

Also known by its official name, Hon Hai Precision Industry, Foxconn is the world's biggest contract electronics manufacturer and a principal assembler of Apple iPhones.

Both companies are seeking to shift manufacturing away from China after strict Covid policies, a bout of industrial unrest and ongoing diplomatic tensions with the United States hurt production.

The 1.2 million-square-metre (13 million-square-foot) acquisition in Devanahalli, near the airport for Bengaluru, was announced in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

It said that subsidiary Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development was paying three billion rupees ($37 million) for the site, the size of more than 50 Manhattan city blocks.

Another Foxconn unit was acquiring land use rights to a 480,000-square-metre site in Vietnam's Nghe An province, it added.

Karnataka state chief minister Basavaraj S. Bommai said in March that Apple would "soon" manufacture iPhones at a new plant that would create "about 100,000 jobs".

Bloomberg News reported that month that Foxconn was planning to invest $700 million in a new factory in Karnataka.

Foxconn chairman Young Liu visited the state then and also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has urged foreign firms to manufacture goods in the South Asian nation.

Foxconn has manufactured Apple handsets in India since 2019 at its plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The company is expected to break ground on a new facility in Telangana state next week, local media reported.

Two other Taiwanese suppliers, Wistron and Pegatron, also manufacture and assemble Apple devices in India.

- 'Good growth' -

Apple has been making its own push into India and chief executive Tim Cook last month opened its first two retail stores in the world's most populous country.

The California-based firm is betting big on the nation of 1.4 billion people -- home to the second-highest number of smartphone users in the world, after China.

Navkendar Singh of market intelligence firm International Data Corporation told AFP that Apple had already proved "quite successful" in India, with domestic iPhone sales of 6.7 million last year.

"This is good growth considering that Apple plays at the price range of more than $500 all the time," he added.

The world's biggest company in terms of market value is also expanding its manufacturing footprint in India.

Apple said last September it would manufacture its latest iPhone 14 in India, just weeks after launching the flagship model.

The country last year accounted for seven percent of Apple's iPhone production, according to Bloomberg, lagging behind the United States, China, Japan and other countries.

China, by far the leading producer of Apple products, saw production disrupted by violent protests last November at the country's largest iPhone factory, also owned by Foxconn.

Hundreds of employees protested over conditions and pay at the plant in the central city of Zhengzhou, spurred in part by public frustration over the government's zero-tolerance approach to Covid during the pandemic.

"Having contingency or diversification plans helps so you are not too dependent on one region," Counterpoint Technology Market Research senior analyst Prachir Singh told AFP.

"It's not like the Chinese operations will come down to zero," he added. "It is about building a similar world in India so they have multiple locations to rely on."

ash-gle/mtp

ASEAN at a ‘crossroad’ as Myanmar violence escalates

ASEAN’s diplomatic attempts to resolve the crisis have been fruitless as the junta ignores international criticism and refuses to engage with its opponents. Above, a vacant chair for the Myanmar delegation during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia on May 9, 2023. (AFP)

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Updated 09 May 2023
AFP

Myanmar has been ravaged by deadly violence since a military coup deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s government more than two years ago


LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia: Southeast Asian nations are at a “crossroad,” a senior Indonesian minister warned Tuesday, as escalating violence in junta-controlled Myanmar loomed over a regional summit.

Myanmar has been ravaged by deadly violence since a military coup deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s government more than two years ago and unleashed a bloody crackdown on dissent.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — long-decried by critics as a toothless talking shop — has led diplomatic attempts to resolve the crisis.

But those efforts have been fruitless, as the junta ignores international criticism and refuses to engage with its opponents, which include ousted lawmakers, anti-coup “People’s Defense Forces” and armed ethnic minority groups.

An air strike on a village in a rebel stronghold last month that reportedly killed about 170 people sparked global condemnation and worsened the junta’s isolation.

It also fueled calls for ASEAN to take tougher action to end the violence or risk being sidelined.

“ASEAN is at a crossroad,” Mahfud MD, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for politics, legal and security, warned Tuesday on the first day of the summit.

“Crisis after crisis is testing our strength as a community. And failure to address them would risk jeopardizing our relevance,” he said according to a copy of his remarks, listing Myanmar among the emergencies facing the bloc.

Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that last month’s air strike in the central Sagaing region was a “likely war crime,” and urged ASEAN to “signal its support for stronger measures to cut off the military’s cash flow and press the junta for reform.”

Pressure on the regional bloc increased Sunday after a convoy of vehicles carrying diplomats and officials coordinating ASEAN humanitarian relief in Myanmar came under fire.

Few details have been released about the shooting in eastern Myanmar’s Shan State, but a foreign diplomat in Yangon said diplomats from the embassies of Indonesia and Singapore were in the group.

Singapore confirmed two staff members from its embassy in Yangon were in the convoy but unharmed.

“Singapore condemns this attack,” its foreign ministry said late Monday.
Indonesia, the ASEAN chair this year, has not yet said if its diplomats were in the vehicles.

The shooting happened days before the May 9-11 ASEAN summit on the Indonesian island of Flores, where foreign ministers and national leaders will continue efforts to kick-start a five-point plan agreed upon with Myanmar two years ago after mediation attempts to end the violence failed.

The foreign ministers held talks Tuesday while their countries’ leaders were scheduled to meet Wednesday and Thursday.

Ahead of the arrival of officials in Labuan Bajo, the army deployed more than 9,000 personnel and warships to the small fishing town that serves as the entrance to Komodo National Park, where tourists can see the world’s largest lizards.

In her opening remarks Tuesday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the ministers had already discussed “the implementation” of the peace plan, but she did not elaborate.

A Southeast Asian diplomat said that Sunday’s shooting “raises the urgency of Myanmar as a key discussion point at this summit.”

The US State Department said it was “deeply concerned” about the shooting and urged the junta to “meaningfully implement the Five-Point Consensus.”

Myanmar remains an ASEAN member but has been barred from top-level summits due to the junta’s failure to implement the peace plan.

Marsudi said Friday that her country was using “quiet diplomacy” to speak with all sides of the Myanmar conflict and spur renewed peace efforts.

ASEAN has long been criticized for its inaction, but its initiatives are limited by its charter principles of consensus and non-interference.

US-based analyst Zachary Abuza said the group was unlikely to offer more than “another milquetoast statement of condemnation” despite Sunday’s attack.

“Had a diplomat been killed, there would have been more pressure on the organization to do something, but frankly they’ve been so feckless in the past two years that it’s hard to see them actually acting in a meaningful way,” Abuza said.