Tag: Children at Risk

VIDEO: VICE – Yemen – A Living Hell

Ben Anderson returns to Yemen to witness the apocalyptic effects of four years of war and indiscriminate bombing of civilians. With statistics that range from 10,000 to 20,000 civilians killed, and a report by Save the Children estimating that 85,000 children under the age of five have died from starvation. Where millions more people have fled their homes, and survivors are now facing death by preventable famine and disease.

The world’s greatest humanitarian crisis, created in large part by U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE, using American and British supplied weapons, fuel, intelligence and warplanes, has turned Yemen into a living hell.

In his latest visit to Yemen, Ben Anderson gains access to the various fighting groups waging war for the Saudi-led coalition, and witnesses the devastating effect the chaotic fighting and indiscriminate bombing is having on civilians.

Unicef has reported that 1.8 million Yemeni children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition, and the lives of 400,000 severely affected children are under threat. 

Geert Cappelaere, regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at UN children’s agency Unicef, “Yemen is today a living hell – not for 50% to 60% of the children – it is a living hell for every boy and girl in Yemen,” he told a news conference in the Jordanian capital.

Cappelaere added that 30,000 children die of malnutrition each year in Yemen, while a child dies every 10 minutes from easily preventable diseases.

“The human cost and the humanitarian impact of this conflict is unjustifiable,” UN humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande said in a statement to media. “Parties to the conflict are obliged to do absolutely everything possible to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and ensure people have access to the aid they are entitled to and need to survive.”

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YEMEN: What Does The Word Starvation Mean To You?

The Republic of Yemen is under siege, the people are starving to death, and they are running out of time.

By its very definition, starvation is a process. Our bodies are not like vehicles which promptly shut down when they are out of gasoline. Starvation is defined as a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake needed to maintain human life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and inevitably – death. 

What Does The Word Starvation Mean? The answer to this question lies in a series of evolved physiological and metabolic defenses that work to keep a person alive for as long as possible in the event they do not have access to food. Just because a person is starving does not mean they have become helpless. What follows is an explanation of how a person’s body fights to keep them alive and active.

When we experience prolonged low-energy intake and as long as water is available, our bodies enter into a series of metabolic modes. Basically, a person’s body is buying them some time to give them a chance to find some food. Despite the cause, starvation takes about the same course and consists of three phases. The events of the first two phases happen even during fairly short periods of dieting or fasting. The third phase happens only in prolonged starvation and will end in the person’s death.

The First Phase of Starvation:

  • During the first stage of starvation, blood glucose levels are maintained through the production of glucose from proteins, glycogen and fats.
  • At first, glycogen is broken down into glucose. Only enough glycogen; however, is stored in the person’s liver to last a few hours. After that period of time, blood glucose levels are maintained by the breakdown of fats and proteins.
  • Fats are decomposed into glycerol and fatty acids. Fatty acids can be used as a source of energy, particularly by skeletal muscle, thereby decreasing the use of glucose by tissues other than the brain.
  • Glycerol may be used to make a small amount of glucose. Some amino acids might be used directly for energy.

The Second Phase of Starvation:

  • In the second phase, which might last for several weeks, fats are the main energy source.
  • A person’s liver metabolizes fatty acids into ketone bodies that can be used as a source of energy.
  • After approximately a week without food, a person’s brain starts to use ketone bodies, as well as glucose, for sources of energy. Proteins not essential for survival are used first.

The Third Phase of Starvation:

  • The third phase of starvation starts when a person’s fat reserves are depleted and there is a switch to proteins as the major source of the person’s energy. Muscles, the largest source of protein in the body, are quickly depleted. At the end of this phase, proteins – essential for cellular functions, are broken down and cell function degenerates. Along with loss of weight, symptoms of starvation include:
    • Apathy
    • Withdrawal
    • Listlessness
    • Increased susceptibility to disease
  • Additional signs of starvation may include flaky skin, changes in hair color and massive edema in the lower limbs and abdomen, causing the person’s abdomen to seem bloated. During the process of starvation, the ability of the human body to consume volumes of food also decreases.
  • The process of starvation also results in dehydration and dehydration.

Few people die directly from starvation because they usually die of an infectious disease first.

Starvation and Death:

  • Starvation wreaks havoc on a person’s immune system, largely on account of an extreme deficiency of minerals and vitamins.
  • Some people will become weak and perish of immune-related diseases during starvation. Eventually, the person’s body will run out of options. Fats, glucose, muscle mass and tissue are finite resources that will eventually be spent and the person will die. The end-stage of starvation usually brings with it one of two different diseases – kwashiorkor and marasmus.
  • Marasmus happens due to extreme energy deficiency, often from inadequate amounts of calories and protein. The person’s body weight reaches dangerously low levels and infections are common. Kwashiorkor is a related disease that affects children who are protein-energy deficient and might result in edema and an enlarged and fatty liver, resulting in the distending of the children’s bellies, providing the illusion that children who are starving are well-fed.
  • When the person’s death finally arrives, its most immediate cause is by cardiac arrhythmia or a heart attack brought on by either extreme tissue degradation brought about by autophagy, or severe electrolyte imbalances. [01]

People can die of starvation in as little as three-weeks, or as long as seventy days.

Effects of Starvation:

Starvation affects many systems.  Most changes are completely reversible as weight is regained and these include psychological symptoms.

  1. Metabolic and endocrine effects: these are changes that are adaptive and are about trying to conserve body mass. Growth rate is slowed and puberty will be delayed. Physical activity is often initially reduced but there can be symptoms of hyperactivity in some. Cortisol and insulin secretion are both altered. Muscle starts to brake down to use as an energy source. As starvation precedes losses of electrolytes such as calcium, potassium, sodium and magnesium occur. There will be marked loss of calcium from bones. Overall muscle, liver and gut all shrink very rapidly. Shrinkage in the gastrointestinal tract means feelings of fullness even after only little amounts of food are eaten. Later on kidneys and heart may also lose mass.
  2. Cardiovascular changes: with weight loss a patient can become bradycardic and arrhythmia’s are sometimes seen particularly where there is low potassium. Cardiac arrest occasionally occurs.
  3. Low Sodium, low Potassium and sometimes low levels of other elements such as calcium magnesium are sometimes seen.
  4. Skeletal changes: osteoporosis is frequently seen. Due to lack of calcium and vitamin D particularly. Low oestrogen levels also play a part. There can be growth retardation before full stature is reached. A milder form of bone thinning is osteopaenia. Fractures can occur as a result.
  5. Body temperature: cold intolerance and very low body temperature or hypothermia can occur.
  6. Haematological: anaemia can occur adding to weakness and tiredness. White cell counts are also impaired and immune deficiency states can result. Occasionally low platelet concentrations can lead to clotting problems.
  7. Dermatological: skin may become dry or discoloured. Excess hair growth on the face, arms and down the back is often seen..
  8. Renal, liver and pancreatic function: in advanced stages these three systems can all be impaired.
  9. Neuro-psychiatric: cognition is slowed, concentration is impaired and thinking becomes very restricted with states of depression and anxiety.
  10. Muscle changes: in advanced stages of starvation there can be severe muscle weakness.

Heart and Circulation:

  • With weight loss the heart rate slows below its normal rate of 60 to 70 beats per minute.  There are sometimes dangerous changes in the electrical activity of the heart as seen on a cardiogram.
  • Heart affects are more dangerous if there are also abnormalities in the body chemistry, particularly low potassium. The most serious consequence is cardiac arrest.
  • The blood pressure is low and this can be associated with fainting, especially with changes in posture.

Bones:

  • Bones become thin due to lack of nutrients particularly calcium and vitamin D.  Low oestrogen levels also play a part.
  • If starvation starts in adolescence before full stature is reached there can be growth retardation.
  • The milder form of bone thinning is called osteopaenia and the more severe state is osteoporosis. These conditions can lead to fractures after quite minor injuries.

Kidneys, Liver and Pancreas:

  • In advanced starvation there can be abnormalities in the function of all these organs.

Body Temperature:

  • Because of poor insulation when patients are underweight there is cold intolerance.
  • There is also poor circulation to the feet and hands which can cause a painful condition called Raynaud’s phenomenon.
  • Very low body temperature or hypothermia is potentially fatal.  It can cause further slowing of heart rate and abnormal contractions.

Blood Cells:

  • There can be reduced manufacture of haemoglobin, the oxygen carrying chemical in the red blood cells.  This is anaemia which causes weakness and tiredness.
  • Production of white blood cells is also impaired in anorexia nervosa and this will weaken the body’s defenses to infections.
  • The blood platelet concentrations may be low.  Platelets are important in the formation of clots and in rare cases there is the possibility of a bleeding tendency when the platelets are low.

Skin:

  • Skin may be dry or blotchy or have an unhealthy grey or yellow coloration. Sometimes, excess hair grows on the face, arms and down the back. This is a fine downy hair called lanugo.

Endocrine System:

  • In starvation states the ovaries and pituitary produce very low amounts of female sex hormones leading to loss of periods and infertility if not reversed. The equivalent hormone changes also occur in male patients.
  • There are also reduced levels of thyroid hormones. Blood cortisol, the stress hormone, can be high and this may contribute to thinning of the bones. [02]

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Yemen: The Trip To Hell On Earth – By Founder Of Mona Relief

Our humanitarian NGO Mona Relief planned a short trip to Hareeb al-Qaramish district in Marib Governorate, where 10,710 people (including 6,426 children) live. The purpose of the trip was to conduct a survey to assess what relief aid the people there would need. Located in eastern Yemen, Hareeb al-Qaramish district is 72 Kilometers from the capital Sana’a.

The situation there is horrifying beyond description. We noted on this trip that more than 200 people are in dire need of basic amenities.

Intense battles are being fought in the district itself between the two opposing sides in Yemen. Due to the conflict there, hundreds of families have been forced to flee from the luxury of their homes to caves in the countryside, to save their families from being caught under the crossfire from both the warring sides.

During our visit to the district, we met many families living in the same situation because they have no other options. They had the choice to live in the caves without any amenities or die in a crossfire of bombings and get buried in the rubble of their houses.

Abdul Qader, a father of eight children told us about his daily sufferings in the cave that he along with his family chose to move to for safety.

“Ten months ago, I came to this place leaving behind my own house after it was hit by a mortar shell and half of my house was destroyed” he said. He added, “Thank God! I still alive and none of my family’s members were injured.’’

“Looking for a suitable place to live in is hard especially when destiny puts your life at risk and you are left with no choices,’’ Saleh commented. He is a farmer and used to live near the al-Saleb mountain, where clashes are going on presently. He has two wives and twelve children. Now he lives with them in a cave that lack any basic amenities.

Abdul al-Qader and Saleh chose to live close by in the same area to be able to come to the aid each others families in the case of attacks by wild animals at night. “Every single night since the past 10 months, I keep awake at night alert for any movement of wild animals nearby to ’’ Saleh mentioned.

“Not only the wild animals, but I also have to be careful about poisonous snakes,’’ he added. “Once my little boy, Ahmed was about to be bit by a poisonous snake but thank God who saved his life and we killed the snake in time.’’

Not only is the environment cruel but also the cruelty of the human being themselves that they are treating by. Inside their caves nothing is available- neither food, nor water, nor  clothes, blankets, nothing!  But they have only have hope, the hope to return to their houses sooner or later after the war ends but when no one can predict.

During our visit, I entered the cave of Abdul Qader trying to find some food in his new house, I mean cave. But I couldn’t find any. When I asked him how do you get the food for your family, his answer shocked me.

“Don’t say me how, as you see yourself. We have no food, we are just trying to stay alive by eating one meal every two days.’’ He added, “The helpful neighbours, provide us some food from time to time and we stock it up to use in the coming days.’’

Due to the ongoing war in that area, no one dares to travel to that area and hardly any of the local and international NGOs are able to reach out to people there to save them from starvation and diseases.

Hareeb al-Qaramish district in Marib Governorate.

I had seen a truck loading wheat while on the road to Hareeb al-Qaramish months ago. It was rumored to have been hit by an airstrike during its trip to the area. I didn’t believe it then but I later saw broken parts of the a truck myself. While on our way back to Sana’a, fighter jets of the Saudi-coalition hit a vehicle on the road but thank God we weren’t hit.

Upon arrival in Sana’a along with Mona Relief’s crew, I received a call from well wishers in Hareeb al-Qaramish inquiring if we are safe because they heard news that a fighter jet bombed a car en-route to Sana’a, and that they were worried that the car is ours. I reassured them that we are safe.

These are my personal experiences from my short trip with my crew at Mona Relief from Sana’a to Hareeb al-Qaramish.

Video of the interaction (in Arabic) with these two families:

This article is written by Mona Relief founder, Mr. Fatik Al-Rodaini.

Please take a moment to visit our Go Fund Me Campaign located here. We are raising money that is sent directly to Mona Relief – where your donation is saving lives in Yemen. 

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YEMEN: Saudis Number One Sex Offenders Prey On Impoverished Children

According to a recent U.S. Human Rights Report, Yemeni children were subjected to sex trafficking within the country and in Saudi Arabia. Girls as young as 15 years old were exploited for commercial sex in hotels and clubs in Governorates of Sana’a, Aden, and Taiz, before the Saudi attacks began in 2015.

Prior to the conflict, most child sex tourists in Yemen were from Saudi Arabia, with a smaller number originating from other Gulf nations, including the United Arab Emirates.

Some Saudi men used legally contracted “temporary marriages” for the purpose of sexually exploiting Yemeni girls – some reportedly as young as 10 years old, and some of whom were later abandoned on the streets of Saudi Arabia.

Somali prostitutes gather in a slum house in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden February 7, 2010. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Somali prostitutes gather in a slum house in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, February 7, 2010. (REUTERS/ Khaled Abdullah).

Civil society organizations reported that, as a result of the dire economic situation in Yemen, particularly in the north, sex trafficking of Yemeni children increased over the past several years. In addition, some sources reported the practice of chattel slavery in which human beings are traded as property continues in Yemen.

While no official statistics exist detailing this practice, a 2014 study by a human rights organization documented 190 cases of slavery in three directorates of Hajjah governorate. Sources report there could be several hundred other men, women, and children sold or inherited as slaves in al-Hodeida and al-Mahwit governorates.

Prior to its departure, the Yemeni government and international NGOs estimated there were approximately 1.7 million child laborers under the age of 14 in Yemen, some of whom are subjected to forced labor. Since the escalation of armed conflict in March 2015, human rights organizations reported all parties to the conflict have increased their use of child soldiers.

Yemeni and Saudi gangs transported African children to Saudi Arabia for the purpose of exploitation. Traffickers abused and abandoned in Yemen some refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa who voluntarily transited Yemen en route to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. In past years, multiple NGOs reported criminal smuggling groups had built a large number of “camps” near the Yemeni-Saudi border city of Haradh, where migrants hoping to reach Saudi Arabia were held for extortion and ransom.

Yemeni and Saudi gangs transported African children to Saudi Arabia for the purpose of exploitation. Traffickers abused and abandoned in Yemen some refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa who voluntarily transited Yemen en route to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. In past years, multiple NGOs reported criminal smuggling groups had built a large number of “camps” near the Yemeni-Saudi border city of Haradh, where migrants hoping to reach Saudi Arabia were held for extortion and ransom.

During the previous reporting period, the government enacted a regulation requiring MOI approval for Yemenis to marry foreigners, in an effort to reduce sex tourism among foreigners, particularly Saudis and Emiratis who “temporarily” married young Yemeni women; however, they often did this in exchange for bribes, and officials continued to provide such approval.

Further, the government (under Hadi) did not provide anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel and did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, forced labor, or address the problem of sex tourism more broadly. In addition, it did not provide anti-trafficking training to troops prior to their deployment abroad as part of international peacekeeping missions. Yemen is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. [01]

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Armenia: Disabled Children Isolated And Separated from Families

Thousands of children in Armenia are needlessly separated from their parents and placed in institutions due to disability or poverty, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The government should urgently provide community-based services and quality, inclusive education so that all children, including children with disabilities, can grow up in a family.

Read the 102-page report, “‘When Will I Get to Go Home?’ Abuses and Discrimination against Children in Institutions and Lack of Access to Quality Inclusive Education in Armenia”, documents how thousands of children in Armenia live in orphanages, residential special schools for children with disabilities, and other institutions.

They often live there for years, separated from their families. More than 90 percent of children in residential institutions in Armenia have at least one living parent. Human Rights Watch also found that the Armenian government is not doing enough to ensure quality, inclusive education for all children. Inclusive education involves children with disabilities studying in their community schools with reasonable support for academic and other achievement.

“The government of Armenia has made some bold commitments to reduce the number of children in institutions, but needs to make sure those promises are backed by serious, sustained action,” said Jane Buchanan, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “All children have the right to grow up in a family, and government and donor resources should support families and children, not large institutions.”

Children have the right not to be unnecessarily separated from their parents. Neither poverty nor disability can be a justification or a basis for placement of a child in an institution.

Residential institutions often serve as the main distributor of social services to families facing difficult life circumstances such as poverty, unemployment, poor housing, health issues, or disability. Services and staff are often concentrated in institutions, rather than available and accessible in communities, including for the rehabilitation and education of children with disabilities. This compels many families to send their children to residential institutions, even when they would prefer to raise them at home.

Please defend human rights for all.The government aims to move children out of at least 22 residential institutions by 2020 and transform these buildings into centers for community-based services. Some have already been converted. However, the three orphanages that exclusively house children with disabilities will continue to operate. Failing to provide family-based care for children with disabilities on an equal basis with other children is discriminatory and should be ended immediately, Human Rights Watch said.

The government also has stalled key amendments to the Family Code, which would facilitate foster care and adoption – options essential when children cannot safely return to their birth families. The current government budget provides support for only 25 foster families in the country.

According to UNICEF, financial support for children in institutions in Armenia is between US $3,000 and US $5,000 per year per child. These funds could be used for community-based services and direct support to families, which are less expensive in the long term, according to UNICEF.

Children with disabilities often do not attend classes with other children or if they are in the classroom, may not be provided with the services they need to participate in an academic curriculum. They may instead be given art, sewing, or other tasks to occupy them. For many children with disabilities, their education consists primarily or exclusively of one hour or shorter individual sessions once or a few times a week.

Community schools often lack sufficient staff, in particular aides who can provide direct support to one or more children. In some cases, a parent, most often a child’s mother, will remain with the child in the classroom to provide support. Some children with disabilities receive sub-standard home education, with teachers visiting a child at home to teach basic literacy and numeracy only.

International standards provide that schools should be fully accessible, and provide reasonable accommodations to support students, regardless of their disability. Support measures provided to children with disabilities should be individualized, based on each child’s particular learning needs, and strengthen opportunities for students with disabilities to participate fully in the classroom.

Children with disabilities who age out of orphanages or special schools may remain in institutions as adults indefinitely. This can be due to the lack of accessibility in housing, transportation, and employment. In other cases, however, they remain in institutions because they are deprived of their legal capacity, denied the right to make decisions for themselves. They can be denied opportunities most people take for granted, such as deciding where to live, having a job, developing friends and hobbies of their choosing, finding a life partner or spouse, or raising children.

“Edmond” (not his real name), a young adult with a mild intellectual disability who lives in an institution, told Human Rights Watch, “I cannot answer who decides that I stay here. … I have been here since I was 8 years old, and I will stay here. It is one of my dreams to be able to live on my own and live my own life. For a long time, I thought about being able to live on my own, but I lost hope.”

“Children and young adults with disabilities have the same rights to education and opportunities as their peers,” Buchanan said. “Making sure children with disabilities can go to school in their communities is a good first step, but it is an empty gesture unless children get a quality education that enables them to achieve academically, fulfill their potential, and contribute to a diverse society.” [01]

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Pakistan: Largest Mass Forced Return of Refugees In History

Pakistani authorities have carried out a campaign of abuses and threats to drive out nearly 600,000 Afghans since July 2016, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The returnees include 365,000 registered refugees, making it the world’s largest mass forced return of refugees in recent years. They now face spiraling armed conflict, violence, destitution, and displacement in Afghanistan.

The 76-page report, “Pakistan Coercion, UN Complicity: The Mass Forced Return of Afghan Refugees,” documents Pakistan’s abuses and the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in promoting the exodus. Through enhancing its “voluntary repatriation” program and failing to publicly call for an end to coercive practices, the UN agency has become complicit in Pakistan’s mass refugee abuse.

The UN and international donors should press Pakistan to end the abuses, protect the remaining 1.1 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and allow refugees among the other estimated 750,000 unregistered Afghans there to seek protection, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch - Please donate today to protect human rights for all.“After decades of hosting Afghan refugees, Pakistan in mid-2016 unleashed the world’s largest recent anti-refugee crackdowns to coerce their mass return,” said Gerry Simpson, senior refugee researcher at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “Because the UN refugee agency didn’t stand up publicly to Pakistan’s bullying and abuses, international donors should step in to press the government and UN to protect the remaining Afghan refugees in Pakistan.”

Afghan refugees told Human Rights Watch that a toxic combination of insecure legal status, the threat of deportation during winter, and police abuses – including crippling extortion, arbitrary detention, and nocturnal police raids – had left them with no choice but to leave Pakistan.

Many said that UNHCR’s decision in late June to double its cash support, to US $400, for each returning refugee was critical in persuading them to escape Pakistan’s abuses, even though they couldn’t return to their conflict-ridden home areas, or had no house or land to go back to. Refugees also said they felt threatened by the sudden emergence of anti-Afghan hostility in Pakistan.

A 26-year-old Afghan who had returned to Kabul with his wife and two children told Human Rights Watch:

“In July, 11 soldiers and police came to our home at 3 a.m. They entered without asking and threw all our things on the floor. They demanded to see our refugee cards and said they were expired. Then they stole all our money and told us to leave Pakistan.”

Pakistan’s coercion of hundreds of thousands of registered Afghan refugees into returning to Afghanistan violates the international legal prohibition against refoulement – not to forcibly return anyone to a place where they would face a real risk of persecution, torture or other ill-treatment, or a threat to life. This includes an obligation not to pressure anyone, including registered refugees, into returning to places where they face a serious risk of such harm.

On January 27, UNHCR wrote to Human Rights Watch, saying it shares Human Rights Watch’s “concerns regarding the reported push factors affecting the repatriation from Pakistan,” but it that it “strongly refutes the claim that increasing the cash grant constituted promotion of return,” and that UNHCR “provides support to refugees who make the decision to [return] based on a well-informed consideration of best options.”

UNHCR effectively promoted the forced return between its cash support, its failure to provide refugees with complete, accurate, and up-to-date information on conditions in Afghanistan, and its failure to call the situation refoulement, Human Rights Watch said. This contradicts UNHCR’s basic refugee protection mandate and has made it complicit in Pakistan’s mass refoulement of Afghan refugees.

In early November, citing donor shortfalls, UNHCR said it would end cash support to returnees in mid-December, but plans to resume cash support on March 1, 2017. However, Pakistan says Afghans must leave the country by December 31, 2017, after which they again face the prospect of summary deportation in the middle of winter. Providing such support – even if for humanitarian reasons – without public condemnation of renewed government coercion of refugees to return, would be further complicity in refoulement.

On January 27, UNHCR wrote to Human Rights Watch, saying it shares Human Rights Watch’s “concerns regarding the reported push factors affecting the repatriation from Pakistan,” but it that it “strongly refutes the claim that increasing the cash grant constituted promotion of return,” and that UNHCR “provides support to refugees who make the decision to [return] based on a well-informed consideration of best options.”

“The UN refugee agency should end the fiction that the mass forced return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan is, in fact, mass voluntary return,” Simpson said. “If UNHCR feels that giving cash to returning refugees is the best way to help them survive in Afghanistan, it should at the very least make clear it does not consider their return to be voluntary.”

The 76-page report, “Pakistan Coercion, UN Complicity: The Mass Forced Return of Afghan Refugees,” documents Pakistan’s abuses and the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in promoting the exodus. Through enhancing its “voluntary repatriation” program and failing to publicly call for an end to coercive practices, the UN agency has become complicit in Pakistan’s mass refugee abuse.Pakistan’s forced return of Afghans has come at a particularly dangerous time, with the conflict in Afghanistan killing and injuring more civilians than at any other time since 2009, displacing at least 1.5 million people, and with a third of the population destitute.

In addition, faced with almost 350,000 Afghan asylum seekers in 2015 and the first nine months of 2016, European Union member states have increasingly rejected Afghan asylum claims. In October, the EU used development aid to pressure Afghanistan into accepting increased deportations of rejected Afghan asylum seekers.

The Pakistani government should avoid recreating in 2017 the conditions that coerced Afghan refugees to leave in 2016, Human Rights Watch said. It should end police abuses and deportation threats, and extend refugee permits until at least March 31, 2019. UNHCR should publicly challenge any further pressure Pakistan places on Afghan refugees to leave. International donors should help Pakistan to properly assist and protect Afghan refugees until it is safe for them to return home, and support UN emergency operations.

EU members should avoid fueling the very instability the EU says it wants stopped by deferring deportation of rejected Afghan asylum seekers until it becomes clear how Kabul will cope with the influx. In the meantime, EU countries should grant Afghans the most favorable status possible under national law and not detain them.

“One of the poorest nations on the earth now has to deal with the fallout from Pakistan’s mass forced refugee returns,” Simpson said. “This is not the time for some of the world’s richest nations to add fuel to the flames.” [01]

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Let The Truth Be Known – Houthis ARE Yemen – Saudis ARE Invaders!

I have been researching and trying to piece together an article that would send out the message that the Houthi ARE NOT the enemy of Yemen – Saudi Arabia is the enemy. Then I read the following piece by my dear friend Catherine, and knew I had found the perfect article to alert our blog readers to this twisted spin media has put on the Saudi-led attack – that has amounted to no less than genocide and ethic cleansing.

Why do you think the Saudi royals are having their forces target children?

And the ones they can’t kill with bombs, they will starve to death with blockades.

It is time to end this confusion that has been deliberately created by the leader’s benefiting from the arms sales to Saudi Arabia – leaving the average person to believe that the Houthis are the enemy – of their own country!

No! The ruling Saudi regime, the al-Saud’s are the TRUE enemy – as they have proven over and over – with the death of every single innocent Yemeni soul.

Catherine Shakdam’s article:

As Yemen International Conference in the Support of Yemen was in full swing in the British capital, London, Yemenis came in their hundreds of thousands to pledge their support to the Resistance movement this August 20, 2016 – yet another popular show of force, yet another grand display of sovereign political will in the face of foreign diktat.

To the sounds of explosions, and flying Saudi war planes it is Yemen which came to defy its invaders; a proud nation under unprecedented duress, a land united under the banner of its resistance.

“We won’t bow down to the House of Saud” chanted the crowd.

“We will never bow down to the criminal House of Saud,” millions repeated in unison.

If Yemen remains in the throes of a brutal war of attrition for it dared ambition to live free under its skies, its people are quite determined to weather whatever storm Saudi Arabia will throw, so that their right to self-govern and resist oppression could be affirmed – never to be questioned again.

However one chooses to look at Yemen’s war, it would be foolish to deny still that those brave souls corporate media still label as “rebels” are in fact the carrier of a nation’s will; the very expression of a people’s inherent right to carve its own political future, regardless of what anyone else might think.

Let me be brutally honest here – Yemen neither needs foreign approval, nor does it require foreign vetting. Yemenis want what they want because they can! It is really that simple.

Yemen needs no liberating from the Houthis, for the Houthis are Yemen.

Yemen is not being overrun by Shiites, Yemen is Zaidi country. There is no Iranian agenda at play either, only a desire to disappear the suffocating influence of the House of Saud.

Standing in opposition of the most violent, radical and reactionary theocracy ever to grace the pages of our history does not make Yemen an “Iranian agent”, it makes Yemen an expectant independent nation.

Media coverage of Yemen so far has been criminal at best, misleading always.

The public has been conned into a narrative which is devoid of all humanity, and democratic courtesy. The simple fact that media feel entitle to slap derogatory adjectives before the Houthis as to direct their readers’ self-righteous sense of political morality is despicable.

I read the terms “Iran-backed Shia Houthis rebels” too many times not take offense. How dare you define a people whom you know nothing about? How dare you speak over and at an entire nation for their will does align with yours?

Let’s play the adjective game shall we?

When have you ever read the following statement: Wahhabi-back-Western-sold-out- twice-resigned-once-runaway-child-killer-Sunni President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi?

Likely never … why?

Because Saudi Arabia and its allies are still hiding behind this pale figure of a man to legitimize their odious genocidal military intervention against Yemen.

Let me tell you of this so-called legitimate political figure the West has canonised as Yemen’s forever president.

Hadi is a fraud and a traitor.

Not only did he allow for the killing of his countrymen, he actually actively pursued their annihilation in the name of a chair he never truly was appointed to. Hadi was elected in a one-man election in 2012 for the duration of a 2-year’s mandate – not exactly what you call democratic.

Hadi was never the choice of the people, he was Riyadh’s choice through the GCC-brokered transition of power agreement (2011).

How can anyone speak of democracy and refuse Yemenis their own?

How can anyone still read corporate media and not deplore the stench of their abominable hypocrisy and bias?

Do not tell Yemen what it wants, but hear what it is telling you.

Hear what an entire nation is screaming from the top of its glorious lungs, and witness the rise of a Resistance which breadth will maybe crumble al-Saud tyranny.

“We won’t bow down to the House of Saud … We will never bow down to the criminal House of Saud!”

Can you hear them now?

Can you not respect that a nation simply cannot bring itself to live the abomination which is Wahhabism?

Can you not recognise that Yemen is the last line of defense for all free folks in Arabia?

Who will speak for democracy and political self-determination when radicalism will have nations at the mercy of their guns? Can you not see that what you refuse Yemen – free will, is exactly what you demand for yourself?

Do not tell me of the will of a people when under bombs millions have rallied before their appointed leaders.

Yemen is free today by the strength of its Resistance movement.

Yemen is dignified today for one man rose from the oppression of religious repression to reclaim pluralism his own coat of arms. Sheikh Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, one of the sons of Hamdan, Yemen’s very own legacy offered Yemen its Freedom to keep none for himself.

Sheikh al-Houthi liberated Yemen from al-Saud never to demand a seat at power’s table.

Do not speak of what you don’t know Mr corporate media. Do not define with your adjectives the nature of a land for which you have no respect for.

Yemen might be poor and battered but it is a grand and noble land.

Of course Saudi Arabia would want you to believe that Yemen’s political ambitions are illegitimate, unlawful and nefarious.

Have you ever bothered asking why?

Have you even given the infamous “Houthis” the time of day before dismissing them under misapprehension?

I think not. What the public did is assume.

What the public did is read those adjectives media associated ad nauseam to Yemen resistance movement, and automatically accept those labels as truths. Adjectives those days have become dangerous weapons of mass-destruction.

Adjectives have cost Yemen its freedom!

Yemenis this August 20, 2016 came to publicly offer their support to the new highest political council – and still Riyadh has cried foul play.

Millions took to the streets knowing full well that Saudi Arabia warplanes were up above to offer their voice and their arms to the Resistance, and still Western capitals have called for Hadi’s “restoration.”

What will it take for you to wake up?

Yemen has bled, burnt, exploded, pleaded, negotiated, mourned, cried and starved while you turned your nose up in disgust arguing what future a people should have instead of the one they want for themselves.

If you like the idea of a life spent in the shadow of Wahhabism why not book a ticket to Saudi Arabia and experience first-hand the type of democracy al-Saud have in mind for Yemen, you might find new respect then for the Houthis of Yemen.

One more thing before I go: no one said you had to love the Houthis, only that you respect that Yemenis do.

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First appeared in New Eastern Outlook: Saudi Arabia Cries Foul Play in Yemen.

Catherine Shakdam.Catherine Shakdam is a political analyst and commentator for the Middle East with a special focus on Yemen and radical movements. She is the Director of Programs for the Shafaqna Institute for Middle Eastern Studies in the UK, and serves as Special Adviser for the Middle East for Prince Ali Seraj of Afghanistan. She also sits as the Executive Director of PASI (Prince Ali Seraj of Afghanistan Institute for Peace and Reconstruction) She is the author of Arabia’s Rising – Under The Banner Of The First Imam. Her writings have appeared on RT, Press TV, Mehr News, The Foreign Policy Journal, The Duran, MintPress, the American Herald Tribune, Open Democracy, the Age of Reflection and many others. She’s the director and founder of Veritas-Consulting.

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(18+) Yemen: Starvation, Disease And Death

Starvation, disease and death of loved ones are an everyday reality for the impoverished country of Yemen; due to the Saudi-led bombings, blockade on supplies and aid, and US-imposed sanctions, unilaterally has plunged an entire nation into darkness.

The blockade on food and medicine has resulted in innumerable deaths by diseases that are treatable, but are left untreated because medicine is included in that blockade, and Yemen ran out of medicine many months ago – adding to the needless suffering and deaths of both the young and old – by way of treatable diseases such as liver, heart, lung, diabetes and cancers.

Because of the bombing of hospitals, clinics and care facilities, people are dying in greatly increased numbers from lack of medical treatment; victims suffering injuries from the attacks on civilians are unable to find doctors to treat their wounds, resulting in additional loss of innocent lives that could have been saved if the Geneva Convention “rules of war” were being respected by Saudi Arabia – and most importantly enforced by the United Nations.

The destruction of essential services it is not just happening to medical buildings. The Saudi-coalition airstrike targets have included a vast majority of Yemen’s electrical stations, food distribution facilities, farms, livestock, schools and busy markets, even homes for the disabled and elderly.

The destruction of essential services it is not just happening to medical buildings. The Saudi-coalition airstrike targets have included a vast majority of Yemen's electrical stations, food distribution facilities, farms, livestock, schools and busy markets, even homes for the disabled and elderly.

The game of peace talks in Kuwait came to an end this month - with no peace in sight for the helpless families. The Saudi's are surely feeling even more emboldened by the UN's lack of action, and acceptance of their slaughtering thousands of Yemeni women and children, because according to witnesses, airstrikes appear to have increased in the past few days. The game of peace talks in Kuwait came to an end this month – with no peace in sight for the helpless families. The Saudi’s are surely feeling even more emboldened by the UN’s lack of action, and acceptance of their slaughtering thousands of Yemeni women and children, because according to witnesses airstrikes appear to have increased in the past few days. 

Because of the bombing of hospitals, clinics and care facilities, people are dying in greatly increased numbers from lack of medical treatment; victims suffering injuries from the attacks on civilians are unable to find doctors to treat their wounds, resulting in additional loss of innocent lives that could have been saved if the Geneva Convention "rules of war" were being respected by Saudi Arabia - and most importantly enforced by the United Nations.

Instead, the world is fed a "spin" version of the facts, under the banner of political righteousness. A humanitarian blockade is carried out under the banner of political restoration and civilians are being murdered under the banner of democracy! Dr. RS Karim.

There are a handful of humanitarian groups managing to deliver life-saving food, medicine, warm clothing, and even school supplies and gifts for children, and always a warm smile and compassionate companionship – while giving hope to parents and joy to children who are suffering in ways most of us cannot even imagine what it would be like, if we had to watch our children suffer and die in the ways of Yemeni parents.

Mona Relief was founded by Yemeni journalist and activist, Fatik Al-Rodaini, and London based humanitarian, Dr. R S Karim. The two had connected on Twitter social media last year (2015), and their mutual concern for the Yemeni people brought them together under one cause - to save Yemen lives. (Alistair Reign News Blog at www.AlistairReignBlog.com),For those who are aware of our fundraising campaign Colour of War, you will be familiar with the Mona Relief Charity’s dedicated volunteers, who are out there risking their lives to deliver life-saving aid to the Yemeni families and orphans living between a sudden death by bombing, and a slow, agonizing death by starvation.

Mona Relief was founded by Yemeni journalist and activist, Fatik Al-Rodaini. 

The following is a video showing the efforts of Mona Relief volunteers helping to deliver humanitarian aid inside Yemen.

“The world should be outraged at the atrocities carried out in Yemen in the name of democracy; the world should be outraged at the images of butchered children; the world should be outraged at the images of helpless mothers and the frail elderly; the world should be outraged at the blockade and senseless killing period!

In order to educate people, schools and other facilities will have to be rebuilt. Now that Yemen is on the map, albeit for all the wrong reasons, help will be available when all the smoke is cleared. There are always temporary solutions and alternatives available, but they cannot go hand in hand with war and bad politics - in order to do that synergy is essential. Dr. RS Karim.

Instead, the world is fed a “spin” version of the facts, under the banner of political righteousness. A humanitarian blockade is carried out under the banner of political restoration and civilians are being murdered under the banner of democracy! [01]

Always remember that people power is always greater than people in power! The past cannot be changed but the future still remains within our power to make – we can all make it count!

In order to educate people, schools and other facilities will have to be rebuilt. Now that Yemen is on the map, albeit for all the wrong reasons, help will be available when all the smoke is cleared. There are always temporary solutions and alternatives available, but they cannot go hand in hand with war and bad politics – in order to do that synergy is essential.

The power to change things is always within a person – use it!” said Riaz Karim.

I will wrap this article up with an additional video showing the works of Mona Relief  inside war-torn Yemen.

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Send inquiries and request to re-blog article to Alistair.Reign@Gmail.com, thank you.

(18+) Yemen: World Watches As UN Allows Saudi Arabia To Commit Genocide

Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheik Ahmed. UN Photo Elma Ocik
Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheik Ahmed. (Photo: Elma Ocik).

The United Nations envoy facilitating peace talks on Yemen announced that as the discussions wind down for a one-month break, the process will enter a “new phase,” during which “the focus will be on working with each side separately to crystalize precise technical details.”

“We depart Kuwait today but the Yemen peace talks continue. The structure and mechanism will change during the coming weeks so that we give the parties space to consult with their leaderships,” UN Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said of the talks, which have been hosted by Kuwait for the past three months, between a Yemeni Government delegation and a delegation of the General People’s Congress and Ansar Allah.

Meanwhile in Yemen

“We will work with each party separately to crystalize the precise technical details. I once again repeat that a lasting solution is one which is worked upon with care, study and consideration. Every rushed solution comes truncated and incomplete,” he added.

Meanwhile in Yemen

He stressed that the solution for the economic crisis depends on the political solution: “The economic situation has seen a serious decline and the economic indicators are disconcerting if not dangerous. I am sounding a warning for those involved in the internal affairs of Yemen. The alarm is being sounded strongly for the economy and this is a direct result of the war. There will be no economic solution except through a lasting political solution,” he explained.

Meanwhile in Yemen

In his closing statement, he cited to the most significant compromises arising from the meetings of the previous weeks, touching on the following points:

  • Renewal of their commitment to the terms and conditions of the Cessation of Hostilities, and to urgently activate the mechanisms for its implementation;
  • Activation of the De-escalation and Coordination Committee in Dhahran al-Janoub and Local Security Committees in order to strengthen respect for the Cessation of Hostilities;
  • Facilitation of the adoption of urgent measures to ensure unhindered access for humanitarian aid and basic goods and to address the economic situation;
  • Facilitation of the urgent release of all political prisoners, and all individuals under house arrest or arbitrarily detained including those mentioned in UN Security Council Resolution 2216 (2015);
  • Abstention from any acts, escalation or decisions likely to undermine the prospects of finalizing these negotiations and reaching an agreement;
  • Conducting a series of consultations between the delegations and their respective leaderships in the coming phase on the ideas, which were discussed during the talks and study them in detail;
  • Continuation of consultations and resumption of direct talks within one month from the submission of this statement at a place to be agreed upon;
  • Reaffirming the continued positive spirit in engaging with any and all matters, which may facilitate reaching a complete, comprehensive and permanent solution to the conflict in Yemen; and
  • To that end, addition to the delegations, to the next round of talks, military experts in order to provide technical support and advice in their area of expertise.

Meanwhile in Yemen

“We must continue to urge the parties to initiate a series of confidence-building measures and it is their duty to continue the releases of detainees and refrain from adopting unilateral measures,”  he said.

Noting the difficult situation in the country, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed raised the alarm regarding the faltering economy, and called on the two sides to unify their efforts to ease the increasing burden of suffering on the Yemeni people.

Meanwhile in Yemen

On Saturday fighting was reported on the Yemeni-Saudi border, where a Saudi border guard was killed by fire directed from the Yemeni side, the Saudi state news agency SPA said citing a security spokesman.

Meanwhile in Yemen

https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/762343914191937536

Wrapping it up with a tidy bow, Special Envoy noted preparations for another round of direct talks at a time and place to be announced. [01]

Meanwhile in Yemen

Jamila Hanan, an advocate and hardworking activist for the Yemeni people, has a few words of wisdom for Special Envoy Ahmed.

The world must raise their voices louder to save the Yemenis – because the United Nations’ leaders are very hard of hearing, and they are also blind, and apparently have forgotten their responsibility to protect the vulnerable nations – and this is the case worldwide, not just in Yemen.

It is time for the average person to pay more attention to what the United Nations is doing, and not doing. Personally, I feel abandoned by the United Nations, by the fact that I am now living during a time in history that our UN leaders are corrupt, weak and greedy – to the extent of turning their backs on the deaths and suffering of millions of children in the small, impoverished country of Yemen – suffering and deaths that could be stopped – but instead are accepted with impunity.

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World: Adults Before Their Time, Refugee Children Toil In Fields

Having fled Islamic State and crossed the border, a lost generation skips school for a life of back-breaking hardship.

Khaled, a 12-year-old boy, said his parents were too poor to send him to school. Instead he toils in the fields for two five-hour shifts when the work is available, earning the equivalent of $4 for each shift. The money goes to support his parents and six siblings in their refugee settlement – three of the children are too young to work.

“The kids are faster, and when you have a house with 10 children, six of them big and four small, well, the big ones carry the small ones so they can live,” said one of the farmers who works with child labourers.

The 12-year-old cousins from Raqqa were taking a rest after their five-hour shift in the lettuce field. It was early afternoon, a light breeze taming the July sun, and it was time for them to go home to their tents. It’s not yet the season to harvest the cannabis in the neighbouring field – that will have to wait until September.

“You saw what it’s like,” said one of the boys, a shy smile rarely absent from his tanned face, after hours bent over in the field. “We’d like to go to our country. We’re exhausted working on the lettuce, but we’re used to it now.” It’s normal, they said, for them to work.

Syrian girls weed around lettuce plants in the Bekaa Valley. (Photo: Hasan Shaaban/ Observer).
Syrian girls weed around lettuce plants in the Bekaa Valley. (Photo: Hasan Shaaban/ Observer).

“They need the workers so their project doesn’t fail,” said the other boy, laughing as he ran off after a dozen other teenage labourers piling into the pickup truck that would take them home.

All the youngsters here, aged between seven and 20, are from Syria and earn about $8 a day for 10 hours’ work in the fields of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, the agricultural hinterland that abuts the Syrian border.

Thousands of Syrian children have become farm labourers in vegetable fields and warehouses, the destitution and misery of their displacement prompting them to enter a workforce where they are subject to abuse and exploitation. Many skip school to provide for their families, becoming adults before their time.
Thousands of Syrian children have become farm labourers in vegetable fields and warehouses, the destitution and misery of their displacement prompting them to enter a workforce where they are subject to abuse and exploitation. Many skip school to provide for their families, becoming adults before their time.

These children’s day begins before sunrise, when a Syrian foreman collects them from the camps strewn across the Bekaa Valley. Early on in the Syrian crisis, the chronically dysfunctional Lebanese government decided it was political dynamite to build official refugee camps, so the displaced are left to live in makeshift tent settlements and shelters in the countryside.

The government was wary of building permanent dwellings for the refugees – the country has a delicate sectarian balance that would have been overwhelmed by an influx of mostly Sunni civilians fleeing the war. The Palestinian refugee camps built in the 1940s and 1950s after the establishment of the state of Israel are still home to more than 400,000 Palestinians who played a key role in the country’s 15-year civil war.

The arrangement has meant that many Syrian refugees have entered the workforce. The vast majority are women or children, and many of the men are infirm and are anyway legally barred from work, at the risk of incurring large fines for doing so.

Not all the children have become labourers because of the war, though that has vastly boosted their numbers. Many, from Raqqa in particular, often travelled [sic] to Lebanon in summer to work in the fields, earning some money before returning home for school.

Now Raqqa is Islamic State’s seat of power, and many of the children have stayed in Lebanon, working all year in fields and produce warehouses. Some go to local “tent schools” established by Unicef in collaboration with local NGOs, but many skip classes to work in the fields and feed their families. “The children have become used to it – most work from when they’re eight,” said one of the local foremen. “They wake at 5am and finish work at 8pm, wash and sleep. That’s their life.”

But it is hard to get used to working for 10 hours in the scorching sun or biting cold of the Bekaa Valley. Aisha, 20 – her name has been changed, like those of others quoted here – has been working in the fields for 10 years, but said she stayed at home last week after going down with heatstroke.

“We adapted because we have no other work,” she said, taking a break from shovelling soil around lettuce heads. Nearby, in addition to the cannabis field, are onion, almond and okra orchards. Aisha works with two of her sisters, one of whom was on the verge of finishing high school when the war broke out. Now none of them goes to school or college – their parents are too old to labour now.

“Five hours for $4 is unfair,” she said, adding that most of the money goes to buying dough to make bread because they can’t afford much in the way of vegetables. Dinner is often bread and fried potatoes. “I just want to rest. Our life is all work,” she said.

They seem to have a healthy rapport with their employers, who laugh and joke with the children, but Aisha said it’s not always that way – her previous employer would often mistreat the children if they took so much as a few minutes’ rest.

“This employer is a kind person, but others were not,” she said. “They would treat us like cattle.”

Ali, a local farmer, said he tries to reduce the children’s work hours or give them additional money on occasion, and at least they do not have to carry very heavy loads, but he said they had no choice but to hire the youngsters. Lebanon imposed very cumbersome entry requirements on refugees this year, which have slashed the number of new arrivals from Syria, despite the ferocity of the war.

Beyond the humanitarian burden, Lebanon’s infrastructure is stretched to breaking point.

It has the highest per capita refugee population in the world, with 1.1 million registered with the UN High Commission, out of a total prewar population of four million. The country has nearly reached its projected population levels for 2050.

“There are no older people,” Ali said. “The border is closed and they need sponsors. Who’s going to sponsor them? Everybody who can, works.”

He added: “It’s the war that has made them start out this early.”

The Guardian: Adults before their time, Syria’s refugee children toil in the fields of Lebanon.

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Documentary: Stacey Dooley Follows Children On Refugee Trail

Stacey Dooley traveled to Greece last month: “I’d completely underestimated the enormity of the situation...” she observed almost immediately. This is her story.

Families arduous and dangerous journey seeking new lives in Western Europe.

Sorry folks, I have removed this video to make space on my server for new videos. We have a wide variety of films to watch in the Video section.

Read Stacey Dooley’s accompanying article Greece: Refugee And Migrant Kids In Crisis in our News section.

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