Cyprus, Lebanon Collaborate To Block Syrian Refugees From Reaching Europe, Report Shows

ANDREA LÓPEZ-TOMÀS
09/18/2024

Thousands of Syrian refugees continue to be denied safe asylum and face violations of their rights, with Human Rights Watch accusing Europe of complicity

(Beirut) Hassan has made up his mind. This young Syrian refugee wants to leave Lebanon. In the country where he has lived since the civil war broke out in his own country, there are no opportunities for him and racism has already turned into violence against those like him for months.

“I want to try again,” Hassan told The Media Line, showing videos of his previous attempts. He once reached the Italian coast, over 2,000 kilometers from where he set off. Another time, he made it to Cyprus, just 200 kilometers from Lebanon.

But, on both occasions, the sweet dream of a dignified future on the European continent lasted only a few minutes. Hassan and his fellow travelers were returned to Lebanon. Like them, there have been many others. Thousands of Syrian refugees have once again become victims of even more violations of their human rights.

In this case, the perpetrators are the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Cypriot authorities. A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) shows that agents from both countries work together to prevent refugees from reaching Europe and then deport them despite the danger they face in Syria. Caught between a home country at war and a host country mired in one of the worst economic crises in recent decades, some Syrian refugees choose to seek a better life in Europe.

But Europe, too, is unwelcoming. Cyprus, the nearest European shore to Lebanon, has seen hundreds of Syrians embark on overcrowded boats with anywhere from 17 to 200 people, according to refugees interviewed by HRW. Some of them are also desperate Lebanese and Palestinian citizens.

In its report, “I Can’t Go Home, Stay Here, or Leave: Pushbacks and Pullbacks of Syrian Refugees From Cyprus and Lebanon,” HRW states that many refugees are stopped before even reaching the sea. Lebanese Armed Forces and Internal Security Forces frequently raid boats and coastal departure points, blocking refugees from leaving.

These arbitrary arrests violate Syrian refugees’ right to leave. Even those who reach the sea aren’t safe. Some report being attacked by Lebanese and Cypriot forces while still in the water to prevent their arrival. Once they enter the European Union, their human rights violations continue.

In Cyprus, the authorities deny them the right to asylum procedures and they are forcibly returned to Lebanon with the risk of being expelled back to Syria

“In Cyprus, the authorities deny them the right to asylum procedures and they are forcibly returned to Lebanon with the risk of being expelled back to Syria,” Nadia Hardman, a refugee and migrant rights researcher at HRW, told The Media Line. Refugees also report “‘cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” by Cypriot officials.

Authorities disregard refugees’ status and the dangers of deporting them to Syria. “The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has declared that Syria remains unsafe for Syrians to return to and has called on governments not to return their citizens there,” Hardman said.

Despite these recommendations, both Cypriot and Lebanese authorities ignore them. Expelled refugees report that Lebanese Army officers in Beirut hand them over to Syrian soldiers or unidentified armed men across the border. Neither Lebanese nor Cypriot authorities provide clear legal justification for their actions, and the refugees are denied access to international protection procedures.

In 2023, the UNHCR recorded 13,772 people either expelled from Lebanon or returned at the Syrian border, a violation of the principle of non-refoulement and the ban on collective expulsion of vulnerable groups like Syrians.

“Once in Syria, expelled refugees faced not only detention by the Syrian army, but also extortion by armed men for payment to be smuggled back to Lebanon,” the HRW report notes. The organization has documented cases of detained returning Syrians being persecuted, tortured, and even killed by Syrian government forces.


Once in Syria, expelled refugees faced not only detention by the Syrian army, but also extortion by armed men for payment to be smuggled back to Lebanon

In May, the European Union allocated a €1 billion aid package to Lebanon through 2026, including funds for the Lebanese Armed Forces and other security forces for border management and anti-smuggling efforts. Between 2020 and 2023, the EU and its member states provided up to €16.7 million to Lebanese security agencies for border management projects aimed primarily at reducing irregular migration.

“With all this funding, the EU is complicit in the abuses of the Lebanese Armed Forces against Syrian refugees,” Hardman said. “Despite the fact that this humiliating treatment is widely known, the European authorities have not implemented any monitoring mechanism for abuses or made funding for projects conditional on the actor receiving it violating human rights,” she added.

Like Hassan, the Syrian refugees interviewed have attempted to leave Lebanon by boat between three and five times. Many persist despite being stopped by Lebanese authorities or turned away by Cypriot officials.

Any kind of abusive migration control measures are not going to work, as they have been proven time and again to be ineffective

“This shows that any kind of abusive migration control measures are not going to work, as they have been proven time and again to be ineffective and do not stop them from trying to reach European shores; all they do is make the journeys more dangerous,” Hardman said.

According to Hardman, refugees like Hassan “have no legal avenues to leave, so they will always use irregular crossings by boat,” calling for “more resettlement avenues for Syrian refugees in Lebanon.” Hassan echoed this sentiment: “Here there is no life, only suffering; life in Europe is better,” he said.

Ethnonationalism and Myanmar’s future

The crisis in Myanmar is a fundamental struggle over the identity and structure of the nation-state. Underpinning this conflict are ethnonational politics that are driving war but also create avenues for peace.


A camp of the Kachin Independence Army, April 2014. Photo: David Brenner.

David Brenner - 18 Sep, 2024

Observers in the West have largely interpreted the devastating violence that has engulfed Myanmar following the February 2021 military coup as a “battle between democracy and authoritarianism”. This understanding has become commonplace amongst journalists, researchers, and policymakers describing the conflict. The struggle for democracy has indeed long served as the main analytical lens through which Myanmar’s troubled politics are interpreted in Washington, London, Brussels and Canberra. This emphasis on Myanmar’s political system, however, fails to account for the root causes and key dynamics of the crisis. The crisis is not merely a clash over governance models, but a fundamental struggle over the identity and structure of the nation-state itself.

More problematically, the “lens of democracy” renders these root causes of conflict invisible. It does so by viewing the nation-state as the natural form of political organising. But state formation in Myanmar has remained highly contested. It has also become inseparable from violence along ethnic lines: in a region where colonial modernity has imprinted questions of ethnicity into the trajectory of state-making, ethnonational politics shape Myanmar’s current crisis in a profound way. Shifting our focus to such ethnonational politics is therefore key to understanding the main drivers of the conflict, and by extension, how policy can support a more peaceful future in the country.
Rethinking the drivers of war

The biggest challenge to peace in Myanmar is the country’s military and its attempt to terrorise the population into submission. But while the generals are chiefly responsible for dragging the country towards the abyss, there is a need to reckon with the underlying structural features of Myanmar’s state, which have haunted the country since British colonial rule. Since an attempt to negotiate power between ethnic groups failed at the eve of independence in 1947, the state has not been able to address ethnic minority grievances or forge a unified national identity.

Ethnonational conflict has also long been exacerbated by the country’s leaders, who have sowed ethnic division and violence for decades. The military has maintained its longstanding stranglehold over the country precisely because generals have used the threat of ethnic separatism to portray themselves as the “guardians of the nation”. These generals have turned Myanmar into an ethnocratic state that discriminates against ethnic minorities, or ethnic nationalities, who make up about 40% of the population. Ethnic conflict has consequently remained a defining feature of the postcolonial state.


The military-controlled Ministry of Border Affairs in the Naga-Self Administered Zone, Nanyun, January 2018 (Photo: David Brenner)

Many ethnic nationalities have resisted institutional discrimination for decades, including by taking up arms against the central state. The military has responded with waging war against them, painting them as internal enemies of the nation. This strategy has become the military’s key means of state making, and it is why the military has long fuelled ethnic tensions with divide-and rule tactics. It continues to do so in the current war with devastating consequences. As a result of the military’s divisive tactics, a multitude of ethnonational rebel movements, known as Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs), have mobilised across the country. In addition to fighting for more autonomy for their respective constituents, EAOs have built de facto states within the state in territories that have never been exclusively controlled by the military.

EAOs have played a critical role in the current countrywide armed mobilisation, including the formation of People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) that have taken up arms against the junta. Some EAOs, such as those of the Karen, Chin, Karenni, and Kachin, aligned themselves with the Spring Revolution early on and have sheltered, trained, and organised armed resistance units on a large scale. But even EAOs who have kept a distance from the countrywide campaign for democracy, such as the Ta’ang, Kokang, Arakan, and Wa movements, have proven instrumental in the armed uprising across Myanmar. Their non-state territories and guerrilla logistics have helped to scale up the military capabilities of armed opposition forces countrywide.

The rapid unravelling of military control over large swathes of territory, including urban centres in the country’s borderlands since late 2023, is a direct consequence of unprecedented EAO offensives. Yet despite their recent coordination, EAOs follow different strategies. Indeed, the aforementioned escalation was spearheaded by EAOs that have remained sceptical about the Spring Revolution. Notwithstanding their positioning on the revolution, the main concern of all EAOs remains autonomy for their ethnic constituents. The key difference is that some EAOs seek to achieve this autonomy in closer cooperation with the countrywide revolution for federal democracy, while others seek to achieve it more independently.


AA commander Twan Mrat Naing in the group’s temporary Kachin State headquarters, March 2014 (Photo: David Brenner)

Twan Mrat Naing, commander of the Arakan Army (AA), one of the most powerful EAOs in the country, illuminated the latter position to journalists in 2022. Explaining why his movement did not join hands with the Spring Revolution after the coup he stated, “Our main objective is ‘Rakhita,’ to win back our lost sovereignty. The previous generations in Arakan wasted a lot of time in following and supporting the Burmese … Arakan was even involved in the 1988 movement to restore democracy, but failed to reap any benefits.” He continued, “After such experiences, we no longer want to follow the Burmese. We want to work towards our own objectives. It is our strategic position to remain at a distance from the ongoing struggle for democracy now in Burma.”

Importantly, though, these positions are not fixed, and continue to evolve with the rapidly developing situation. This is why EAOs cannot easily be divided into two camps. The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, for instance, voiced strong concerns against a closer alliance with the opposition National Unity Government (NUG) in late 2022. Since then, it has rapidly developed alliances with NUG-affiliated PDFs. The movement currently seeks to cooperate with the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) to restore public services in the territory that it has captured in its offensives since last October. In a recent interview, the AA’s Twan Mrat Naing explained how evolving relations with other resistance forces has also shaped his outlook over the past two years. He stressed the need for building more alliances and partnerships and adopting a “holistic view that accounts for the entire union and our surrounding environment.” In his perspective, this is not inconsistent with “the confederation that Rakhine has been advocating” (rather than a federal union).
Finding avenues for peace

Ethnonational politics in Myanmar are not only a force of war—they have also long worked as one of the main determinants of local stability. As the state has never exclusively governed its territory, EAOs have been operating non-state administration for decades. These alternative political orders are especially sophisticated in Myanmar’s borderlands with China and Thailand, where organisations such as the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) have long remained influential governance actors. Their administrations are instrumental in delivering health and education to hundreds of thousands of conflict-affected people. They have also become important international partners, as demonstrated by their crucial role in humanitarian relief aid, refugee protection, and regional pandemic responses.

A nurse prepares an anaesthetic in the KIO-operated hospital of Laiza. March 2014 (Photo: David Brenner)

Mainstream accounts in the literature on “rebel governance” fail to adequately capture the diverse functions of EAO administrations. EAO governance is not only an instrumental means to power, with which rebel groups deliver public services in return for local support and legitimacy. A purely regulative perspective that highlights the maintenance of public order is also insufficient. Rather, EAO governance is primarily about fostering national sovereignty in ethnic nationality communities. Put differently, EAO governance is about nation-building.

What does this mean for Myanmar’s future and potential avenues for peace? At a time when multiple EAOs are drastically expanding their territories, their governance apparatuses and nation-building ambitions are expanding, too. While most such claims precede the military coup, they have become more sensitive with the rapid expansion of EAOs. This presents an increased risk of inter-EAO conflict over territorial claims. (That said, northern Shan State, a place where inter-EAO relations have long been tense, also showcases that EAOs are mostly pragmatic in addressing such conflict with each other.)



Related

Revolution and solidarity in Myanmar
On the end of the “transition paradigm” and the meanings of the present revolution
Justine Chambers & Nick Cheesman 09 September, 2024

More pressing are issues of inclusivity and accountability. EAOs govern over ethnically heterogeneous populations, and this heterogeneity has only increased with their current territorial gains. This becomes particularly worrisome in regions where communal conflict predates the current crisis. For instance, reports of the AA’s attacks on Rohingya communities, its inflammatory anti-Rohingya rhetoric, and intimidation of civil society rightfully raise alarm bells. However, we must not tar all EAOs with the same brush. EAOs are hugely diverse organisations, with a vast variety of ideological leanings, historical experiences, internal governance mechanisms, and material conditions.

Some EAOs have produced more accountable and inclusive relations with local communities than others. The KNU and the KIO, for instance, have a long tradition of engaging with civil society actors. These actors have played an important role in spearheading new forms of accountable governance, such as in the case of the Salween Peace Park, a land rights and conservation project led by Karen activists in collaboration with the KNU. The KNU and KIO also operate extensive non-state education systems that support ethnic diversity. While their curricula stresses mother-tongue based education, they both strive for more inclusivity in their education systems that partly operate in heterogeneous communities. The KIO has, for instance, just announced its support for other ethnic and religious groups setting up private schools in its territory.

A Karen National Police Force member of the KNU at the Salween Peace Park opening in Mutraw, December 2019 (Photo: David Brenner)

None of this is perfect, and how could it be, in the context of a decades-long war? But it clearly suggests promising possibilities for a more peaceful future. The key to such a future is bolstering initiatives that support inclusive and accountable EAO governance. Rather than shun all EAOs because of the actions of individual armed groups, donors and development agencies should step up their engagement with these groups, who will only grow in their role as governance actors in Myanmar. Similarly, as US policymakers seek to step up their support for Myanmar, the newfound Congressional Burma Caucus should work with rather than against the grain of EAO governance. Concretely, this means partnering with EAOs beyond humanitarian aid relief.

US lawmakers and government agencies should follow through on the pledges outlined in the BURMA Act of 2022 and step up the provision of non-lethal support for resistance actors in Myanmar. Other donors should do the same. Part of this aid should be used for supporting EAO governance in areas that foster cooperation and stability, such as education, health, justice, and land rights. To do so, donors should seek the partnership of local civil society actors from diverse ethnic nationality communities for this endeavour. These actors are key to ensuring that support goes to initiatives that strengthen inclusive and accountable forms of governance. This targeted approach to support is the best way to incentivise all EAOs to adopt governance practices that promote inclusivity and accountability, carving a sustainable path to peace in Myanmar.

Working with EAO governance can in turn serve as a useful impetus for rethinking international interventions in conflict-affected contexts more generally. To be sure, calling for closer engagement with local governance actors is nothing new in and of itself. On the contrary, the “local turn” has become the mainstay of critical peacebuilding research and practice. The bulk of this work, however, remains wedded to Eurocentric understandings of the state and “the local”—or at least those local actors whose politics are deemed worthy of support.

Unsurprisingly, ethnonational armed movements have hitherto not been viewed as local peacebuilding partners. And while we must not romanticise exclusionary tendencies of ethnonationalist ideologies, we need to contextualise them within the postcolonial politics of ethnocratic state formation in a context like Myanmar. Doing so produces a more differentiated understanding of the drivers of conflict and suggests new avenues for peace.

Author’s note: I am grateful to Jenna Marcus for her helpful feedback.

 New Mandala


About the Author
 

David Brenner
David Brenner is Senior Lecturer in Global Insecurities at the University of Sussex. He has researched ethnonational politics and EAOs in Myanmar since 2012, including for his PhD at the London School of Economics. He has published widely on the matter and is author of "Rebel Politics: A Political Sociology of Armed Struggle in Myanmar’s Borderlands" (Cornell University Press, 2019).

Kenya: Islanders upcycle washed up plastic waste into boats


Flipflopi, claimed to be the world’s first recycled plastic sailing dhow on the ocean off the island of Lamu, in eastern Kenya on Sept. 13, 2024.

 -

The Flipflopi Dhow — The Flipflopi

By Rédaction Africanews


Kenya

On the Lamu island, off Kenya's east coast, 47-year-old Usmail collects plastic which he then sells onto the Flipflopi Project.

The NGO was founded in 2016. It upcycles the waste into boats and furniture.

Lamu is contending with mounds of plastic waste - some washed up on its beaches, others genrated by its residents.

"We started collecting plastics a while ago," Usmail says.

"There used to be a lot of plastic waste in this area, Lamu. We collect the plastic waste and sell it to the organization at Ksh16 per-kilogram or about 16 cents in dollars, We do not have a job. That is where we get money to educate our children and also make a living."

The Flipflopi Project receives grants from other NGOs which they then use to buy plastic waste from locals.

The co-founder detailshow the process unfolds at this facility.

"We go to the community, and because we have some grant, we buy from the community," Ali Skanda starts.

"And we have our transport agents who bring the plastic to us. After pre-sorting, we have our sorters, and they categorize into different type and colours. After the separation, we send them to the shredding point where we break them into flakes, into small particles. Then we get some lumbers of different shapes, round, square, like a piece of wood, and then from those lumbers of different colours, is when now we pick it and we make furniture."

The NGO also conducts research on what to do with plastic.

Indeed, Skanda says recycling also comes with challenges.

He says nowadays, plastic manufacturers are adding additives into plastics, which makes it more difficult to recycle.

Elsewhere, some plastics may be degraded by the sun and lose quality.

In principle, almost all plastic can be recycled. But items with different types of plastic for example and plasticcontaminated by substances can hardly be recycled.

Since 2019, the NGO has been sailing Flipflopi, claimed to be the world’s first recycled plastic sailing daʊ

It notably sailed from the Indian Ocean to Lake Victoria.

Two boats were launched subsequently.

UK calls for “ambition” on COP29 climate finance goal but won’t talk numbers

Published on 17/09/2024

The UK’s new foreign minister, David Lammy, says Global North rhetoric on climate action must be matched by funding but stays silent on the size of a new global finance goal

David Lammy makes his speech at Kew Gardens on September 17, 2024 (Photos: Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office/Ben Dance)

By Joe Lo


Britain’s new foreign minister has called on governments to set an “ambitious” new goal for climate finance to help developing countries at the COP29 UN climate summit, but declined to discuss how much it should be.

In his first major speech in government, after the Labour Party won power in July, Foreign Secretary David Lammy told journalists, diplomats and green campaigners at London’s Kew botanical gardens that, at COP29, the UK will “push for the ambition needed to keep 1.5 alive”. That refers to a global warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius agreed by governments, which is set to be exceeded unless climate action is ramped up dramatically.

However, when asked by Climate Home, Lammy declined to say how high the UK government thinks the new global finance goal should be – or when it will put forward its proposal. “I can’t make announcements here because if I did, I’d go back to a storm with [UK finance minister] Rachel Reeves,” he said.



The new collective quantified goal (NCQG) will determine how much finance should be mobilised for developing countries each year starting from 2025. It is the main outcome expected from COP29 in Baku in November. The current goal of $100 billion per year is widely viewed as inadequate and was only met two years late in 2022.

Developing-country negotiators have complained that rich nations are refusing to discuss the size (or quantum) of the NCQG. Developed countries have instead pushed to expand the list of contributors to the goal to include wealthier, higher-emitting developing countries like China and Saudi Arabia.

Developing-country “frustration”

“It’s been frustrating for most of the developing-country negotiators,” Kenyan climate finance negotiator Julius Mbatia told journalists on Monday. He accused developed countries of trying to “dodge” their mandates and responsibilities and “avoid committing to a scale that they are actually not committed to deliver politically”. “It’s a tactic,” Mbatia said. “Unfortunately, it’s being played at the worst moment when we are talking about meeting the needs and priorities of vulnerable countries.”

Melanie Robinson, global climate director at the World Resources Institute, said on Tuesday the context has changed since the current finance goal was set 15 years ago, as the impacts of climate change have worsened. All countries now need to get onto a net-zero, climate-resilient economic development pathway that benefits everyone and restores nature, she said.

“We know just how huge that challenge is for all countries,” she added. “But while developed countries and China can probably find the finance to make that transition themselves, we know that developing countries will need international finance.”

Slow progress in Baku risks derailing talks on new climate finance goal at COP29

Asked about developing countries’ frustrations, Lammy said: “I recognise the disjunct between rhetoric sometimes in the Global North and the real pressing needs that exist in the Global South as they look to see is that rhetoric going to be actually matched with funds.”

He said his government would deliver on the promise made by the former UK government to provide £11.6bn ($14.7bn) in climate finance between 2021 and 2026, despite inheriting from the Conservatives a £22bn ($29bn) “black hole” in Britain’s annual budget and a “tough fiscal environment”.

The previous government cut the UK’s overseas aid target from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national income. The new one has repeated the Conservatives’ pledge to reverse this when “fiscal circumstances allow”. Lammy said on Tuesday he wants to restore it “as quickly as possible, and of course that’s a discussion that I’m continuing to have with colleagues in the [finance ministry]”.

He added that the UK government will propose to Parliament a guarantee for the Asian Development Bank which will “unlock $1.2 billion in climate finance for developing countries in the region”. He repeated the previous government’s support for a capital increase for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development “subject to reforms”.

Clean Power Alliance

In addition, Lammy announced that the UK will appoint two new envoys for climate and nature, reporting to climate minister Ed Miliband and environment minister Steve Reed respectively. It will also launch a Clean Power Alliance that aims to help countries leapfrog fossil fuels and transition to energy systems based on clean power. The UK itself aims to get all its electricity from clean sources by 2030.

“Of course, there are different obstacles from different countries but, despite several other valuable initiatives pushing forward the energy transition, there is no equivalent grouping of countries at the vanguard of the transition,” Lammy said.

He added that the alliance would “focus on diversifying the production and supply of copper, cobalt, lithium and nickel – the lifeblood of the new economy”. These minerals are key to the global energy transition because they are needed for things like electric cables and batteries – and their processing is largely dominated by China, something that is a concern for Western politicians.

Lammy stressed the need to “bring these commodities to market faster while avoiding the mistakes of the past”, and said the UK would help developing countries “secure economic benefits while promoting the highest environmental standards for mineral extraction”.

Human rights must be “at the core” of mining for transition minerals, UN panel says

Climate Home has reported on how mining of these minerals has hurt local communities in Indonesia and Argentina – and may fail to bring fair benefits to local communities in Zimbabwe. A United Nations panel said last week that supply chains for critical minerals should not harm the local environment or human rights.

Lammy said the UK would restore its international credibility on climate action – after perceived indifference from former Conservative prime minister, Rishi Sunak – by ending new licenses for oil and gas production and overturning an effective ban on onshore wind power.

“We’re bringing an end to our climate diplomacy of being ‘do as I say, not as I do’,” he said.

(Reporting by Joe Lo; editing by Megan Rowling)

DEI

Japan has a goal of having women occupy at least 30% of executive roles by 2030

Less than 1% of top-1,600 Japanese companies led by women

By Dwaipayan Roy

Sep 18, 2024

What's the story

A recent survey has revealed a significant gender imbalance in Japan's corporate leadership.Out of the nation's leading 1,643 firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's prime market, only 13 are headed by female CEOs.This figure represents a mere 0.8% of these top-tier companies, according to financial statements from fiscal year 2023, analyzed by Kyodo news agency.The findings highlight Japan's sluggish progress in promoting diversity among its corporate decision-makers.

Diversity goals
Struggle to meet gender diversity targets

The low representation of women in CEO positions underscores the challenges faced by the Japanese government, in achieving its goal of having women occupy at least 30% of executive roles by 2030.This disparity persists even when considering a broader definition of "executive" that includes corporate officers, auditors, directors, and executive officers.

Global comparison
Lagging behind in global gender equality rankings

Japan's gender inequality extends beyond its corporate sector, as evidenced by its poor performance in international gender comparisons of politics and business.A 2022 OECD survey revealed that women held just 15.5% of executive positions in Japan, significantly lower than the figures for Britain (40.9%) and France (45.2%).Among the nations surveyed, only China and South Korea had a smaller proportion of female executives.

Gender disparity
Japan's 'glass ceiling index' and recent progress

Further highlighting Japan's gender disparity, an Economist survey last year ranked it 27th out of 29 developed economies on its "glass ceiling index."Despite these challenges, there has been some progress.The Kyodo survey found that the number of female board members has surpassed 3,000 - a significant increase from five years ago.Additionally, women have recently been appointed to several high-profile positions in Japan.

Leadership roles
Women breaking barriers in Japan's corporate world

In recent years, women have begun to break through Japan's corporate glass ceiling.Mitsuko Tottori, a former flight attendant, became the first Female President of Japan Airlines in January.In July, Naomi Unemoto was appointed as the country's first female prosecutor-general.Additionally, Tomoko Yoshino made history in 2021 by becoming the first woman to lead Rengo - Japan's largest trade union organization.

UAE announces women mandatory on board of directors for some firms from 2025

Picture used for illustrative purposes.

The Ministry of Economy has issued a ministerial decision mandating private joint-stock companies in the UAE to allocate at least one seat for women on their boards of directors after the completion of the current board's term.

This decision is a vital component of the nation's broader strategy to enhance diversity in the corporate sector and increase women's representation in leadership roles.

Aligned with the UAE's efforts to raise its global competitiveness rankings, the initiative demonstrates the leadership's unwavering commitment to empowering women, ensuring they play a vital role in the country's sustainable development.

The Ministerial Resolution No.137 of 2024, which addresses the regulation of private joint-stock companies' governance and operations, follows a similar initiative previously applied to public joint-stock companies. The earlier decision has already yielded positive results, enhancing institutional performance and economic outcomes.

Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, emphasised that under the guidance of the UAE's wise leadership, the nation remains dedicated to strengthening women's contributions across various fields, especially in economic development.

The latest decision reinforces the UAE's vision to enhance gender balance, empowering women in the business sector and increasing their presence in leadership and decision-making roles. The initiative further strengthens the UAE's global competitiveness and its position as a leader in gender equality.

He further said, "Over the past decades, women in the UAE have consistently proven their capabilities, making significant contributions to the business, financial, and investment sectors.

Today, they are indispensable partners in economic growth and vital to the UAE's global competitiveness. This decision will bring added value to private joint-stock companies, enhancing their institutional performance by drawing on the insights and experiences of successful businesswomen in the country."

He also expressed his deep gratitude to Sheikha Manal Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council and wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, for her tireless efforts to increase women's participation in the economy.

Her initiatives, including the "Women on International Boards" programme and the "SDG 5 Pledge to Accelerate Gender Balance in the UAE Private Sector," have been instrumental in promoting gender balance and aim to raise women's representation in leadership positions to 30% by 2025.

Mona Ghanem Al Marri, Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, highlighted the strategic collaboration between the Ministry of Economy and the Council, noting that the ministry's decision will have a significant impact on advancing gender balance.

"Guided by Sheikha Manal, the decision paves the way for greater women's representation on boards, a transformative step that will contribute to the UAE's comprehensive economic growth. Aligned with Her Highness's vision of women as essential partners in the nation's development across sectors, the decision reaffirms the UAE's strong record and global leadership in gender balance," she said.

"The decision reflects the close, fruitful collaboration between the ministry and the UAE Gender Balance Council, demonstrating the country's unwavering commitment to empowering women economically and enhancing their participation in the workforce.

This initiative not only advances social development but also contributes to raising the UAE's status as a prominent global investment destination. We look forward to deepening this partnership to advance the UAE's strategic goals and further cement its growing status as a global leader in gender balance," she added.

The Ministry of Economy further announced that the implementation of this decision will commence in January 2025, and urged private joint-stock companies to factor this requirement into their future board restructuring plans. This directive reflects the ministry's dedication to adopting global corporate governance best practices and ensuring that company boards represent all segments of society.

In 2021, the Board of the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) issued a landmark decision that mandated public joint stock companies listed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai stock markets to have at least one woman board member. The latest decision of the Ministry of Economy to extend the requirement to private joint-stock companies further supports the UAE's vision to empower women and encourage them to play a greater role on the boards of listed companies.

WAM

 

US confirms release of American pastor David Lin from China prison

George Macauley | U. Toronto Faculty of Law, CA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2024 

The US State Department confirmed in a press conference on Monday that David Lin, an American pastor the US alleges was wrongfully detained since 2009, has been released. US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that Lin returned to the US for the first time in almost 20 years after he was released from prison in China.

Lin’s release comes after Jake Sullivan, the current US State representative, wrapped up a three-day trip to Beijing, China to meet with top Beijing officials. While Miller did not confirm if the release was a result of negotiations during the trip, he stated that the US Secretary raised David Lin’s case whenever he met with Chinese officials. Miller also said that the US State Department would “continue to push for the release of other Americans.”

Lin was originally arrested in 2009 after he attempted to create a Christian training center in Beijing, where he was then arrested and sentenced to life on the charge of “contract fraud”. According to rights organization Dui Hua Foundation, contract fraud charges are “frequently used against Church house leaders who raise funds to support their work”. The foundation previously wrote:

Dui Hua found that the 1997 revision to the criminal law placed “cult” trials into the purview of district courts, resulting in less transparency and attention [to] such cases. By 1999, trials of Article 300 cases—for those accused of organizing and using superstitious sects, secret societies [] and religious organizations to undermine the law—soared, largely due to the ban on Falun Gong.

EU court confirms Qualcomm's antitrust fine, with minor reduction

September 18, 2024 
By Reuters

 In this Nov. 6, 2018 file photo, attendees look at the latest technology from Qualcomm at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

Brussels —

Europe's second-top court largely confirmed on Wednesday an EU antitrust fine imposed on U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm, revising it down slightly to $265.5 million from an initial $2.7 million.

The European Commission imposed the fine in 2019, saying that Qualcomm sold its chipsets below cost between 2009 and 2011, in a practice known as predatory pricing, to thwart British phone software maker Icera, which is now part of Nvidia Corp.

Qualcomm had argued that the 3G baseband chipsets singled out in the case accounted for just 0.7% of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) market and so it was not possible for it to exclude rivals from the chipset market.

The Court made "a detailed examination of all the pleas put forward by Qualcomm, rejecting them all in their entirety, with the exception of a plea concerning the calculation of the amount of the fine, which it finds to be well founded in part," the Luxembourg-based General Court said.

Qualcomm can appeal on points of law to the EU Court of Justice, Europe's highest.

The chipmaker did not immediately reply to an emailed Reuters request for comment.

The company convinced the same court two years ago to throw out a $1.1 billion antitrust fine handed down in 2018 for paying billions of dollars to Apple from 2011 to 2016 to use only its chips in all its iPhones and iPads in order to block out rivals such as Intel Corp.

The EU watchdog subsequently declined to appeal the judgment.

WWIII

In a 1st, Chinese aircraft carrier sails between Japanese islands

Aircraft carrier Liaoning, 2 destroyers passed between Yonaguni and Iriomote islands in southern Okinawa province, near self-ruled Taiwan, says Japanese Defense Ministry

Riyaz ul Khaliq |18.09.2024 


A Chinese aircraft carrier, along with two warships, sailed between two Japanese islands, in a first such event, according to Japan's Defense Ministry.

The People’s Liberation Army’s naval aircraft carrier Liaoning and two destroyers passed between Yonaguni and Iriomote islands in the southern Okinawa province, near self-ruled Taiwan.

They sailed from the East China Sea and are headed to the Pacific.

The ministry clarified that the Chinese naval group “did not intrude into Japan’s territorial waters,” the Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.

It comes after Japan said on Aug. 26 that a Chinese military spy plane violated its airspace for the first time as it entered Japanese airspace above the waters in the East China Sea, near islands in the southwestern province of Nagasaki.

Meanwhile, the US' Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group entered the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday.

Its transit through the Strait of Malacca follows its deployment in the Middle East amid the Israeli war on Gaza.

Delta flight from Salt Lake City in Utah diverted as passengers experience 'bleeding from their ears'

People on board Flight 1203 described nosebleeds after a cabin pressure issue that saw the flight divert and return to Salt Lake City in Utah.


Wednesday 18 September 2024 

A Delta Air Lines plane at Salt Lake City airport. File pic: JayLazarin/iStock


Passengers were left bleeding from their noses and ears after a cabin pressure issue forced a Delta Air Lines flight to divert.

Delta said Flight 1203 was diverted back to Salt Lake City in Utah on Sunday where at least 10 people required medical attention, according to US media reports.
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One passenger, Jaci Purser, told local news outlet KSL-TV that it felt like somebody was stabbing her in the ear.

She said she felt her ear pop from the pressure in the cabin, then bubble.

"I grabbed my ear, and I pulled my hand back, and there was blood on it," she told the station

She was diagnosed with a ruptured eardrum.

Another passenger told the news outlet she looked over and saw her husband hunched over with his hands covering his ears - and said another man was suffering a nosebleed.

All passengers were reportedly treated and released.

In a statement, Delta said the Boeing 737-900 aircraft suffered pressurisation issues, but did not go into detail on what caused the problem.

The airline said: "We sincerely apologise to our customers for their experience on Flight 1203 on 15 September.

"The flight crew followed procedures to return to SLC where our teams on the ground supported our customers with their immediate needs."

South Africa

Construction workers rescued from collapsed trench in Gordon's Bay

MOST COMMON CONSTRUCTION INCIDENT GLOBALLY

18 September 2024 - 

By Kim Swartz

Emergency services had to extricate one of the trapped workers in the collapsed trench. Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/feverpitched

Three construction workers in the Western Cape had to be rescued after part of a trench being dug to install a pipeline collapsed on them.

“Our contractor was busy installing the rising sewer main along Broadway Boulevard in Gordon’s Bay when a section of the trench collapsed, trapping three workers,” said City of Cape Town water and sanitation MMC Zahid Badroodien.

“Of the three workers, only one was trapped requiring extrication by the relevant emergency services.”




There were no serious injuries and the workers were taken to hospital for medical evaluation.

Badroodien said safety measures were in place at the time, including the stepping and battering of the trench.

“The site is now closed off pending an investigation by water and sanitation officials. The contractor will be expected to submit a proposal for additional safety measures before the work can reconvene.”