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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel, EU agree to boost Gaza aid: ‘More trucks, more crossings, and more routes’
2025-07-11
[IsraelTimes] Israel to open several aid corridors, including through Egypt and Jordan, allow bakeries and kitchens to reopen, ensure security for aid workers, repair vital infrastructure

Israel and the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
have agreed upon "significant steps" to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip "in the coming days," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced Thursday.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar confirmed the agreement, saying the security cabinet decided last Sunday on measures "to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza," including "more trucks, more crossings, and more routes for the humanitarian efforts."

Speaking alongside Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephu, Sa’ar thanked his counterparts "for the fruitful dialogue that we are conducting — with you and the EU — on the humanitarian issue."

The discussions are "based on an understanding of human needs and of the threat that Hamas
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
and the Gaza Strip have posed to Israel over the past 20 years," added Sa’ar, saying, "this dialogue is important and it will continue."

The announcements by Sa’ar and Kallas confirmed an earlier report by Bloomberg, which said that a deal had been reached enabling the reopening of several aid corridors, including humanitarian routes through Egypt and Jordan, and several other crossing points in northern and southern Gaza.

"These measures are or will be implemented in the coming days, with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population and that measures will continue to be taken to ensure that there is no aid diversion to Hamas," Kallas said.

According to the top European diplomat, the agreement will see a "substantial increase" in the daily entry of trucks supplying food and non-food items; the opening of several crossing points in northern and southern Gaza; the reopening of humanitarian routes through Egypt and Jordan; resumed operations of bakeries and public kitchens in Gaza; resumed fuel deliveries to humanitarian facilities "up to an operational level"; security for aid workers; and reparations on works for "vital infrastructure like the resumption of the power supply to the water desalination facility."

"The EU stands ready to coordinate with all relevant humanitarian stakeholders, United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
agencies and NGOs on the ground, to ensure swift implementation of those urgent steps," added Kallas, adding that the EU "calls again for an immediate ceasefire" and release of all hostages.

Since late May, Israel has handed authority over aid distribution in Gaza to the Israel- and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in a stated effort to prevent aid supplies from reaching Hamas. The GHF’s operations have been strongly criticized by the international community for failing to address the humanitarian needs in Gaza.

It is unclear under which bodies the expanded aid measures will be operated.

The EU has been increasingly critical of the humanitarian situation in Gaza amid Israel’s war against Hamas, which began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led bully boyz murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and took 251 hostages.

Israel has said that it respects international law and that operations in Gaza are necessary to destroy Hamas.

The EU is Israel’s biggest commercial partner, with 42.6 billion euros ($48.2 billion) traded in goods in 2024. Trade in services reached 25.6 billion euros in 2023.

More than 100 aid groups and other organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, last month urged Brussels to suspend the EU-Israel association agreement "at least in part."

Spain has also called for the agreement to be suspended, while Germany has come out against such a move.

Suspending the EU-Israel accord outright would require unanimity among member states — something diplomats have said from the outset was virtually impossible.

Halting diplomatic dialogue with Israel — a measure that was already rejected last year — also requires backing from all EU countries.

Trade measures could instead be adopted with a qualified majority, diplomats have said, cautioning, however, that agreeing on those might also prove tricky.
Link


Britain
UK F-35 parts exports to Israel are lawful, High Court rules
2025-07-01
[BBC] The UK's High Court has rejected a case brought by campaigners trying to stop the transfer to Israel of all British-made spare parts for US-produced F-35 fighter jets, saying it didn't have the constitutional authority to intervene.

The government suspended about 30 arms export licences to Israel last September because of a risk of UK-made weapons being used in violations of international law in the Gaza Strip.

But the UK supplies components to a global pool of F-35s which Israel can access. The government had argued it could not pull out of the defence programme without endangering international peace.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch expressed their dismay at the ruling.

Both groups had intervened in the case.

"The horrifying reality in Gaza is unfolding in full view of the world: entire families obliterated, civilians killed in so-called safe zones, hospitals reduced to rubble, and a population driven into starvation by a cruel blockade and forced displacement," said Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of Amnesty International UK.

"This judgment does not change the facts on the ground, nor does it absolve the UK government of its responsibilities under international law."

The two judges said the case was not about whether the UK should supply arms and other military equipment to Israel - because the government had decided it should not. They were being asked to decide on a particular issue: whether the UK "must withdraw from a specific multilateral defence collaboration" because of the prospect that some UK-manufactured parts may be supplied to Israel and used in contravention of international law in the conflict in Gaza.
The poor darlings do find themselves in a thorny dilemma.
"Under our constitution, that acutely sensitive and political issue is a matter for the executive which is democratically accountable to parliament and ultimately to the electorate, not for the courts," they ruled.

UK industry makes 15% of every F-35, according to the Campaign Against the Arms Trade.

Oxfam, which provided evidence to the court, said: "It is unconscionable that the government would continue to license the sale of components for F-35 jets knowing that they are used to deliberately attack civilians in Gaza and destroy their means of survival, including vital water supplies."

The case was brought by al-Haq, a group based in the Israel-occupied West Bank, and the Global Legal Action Network against the Department for Business and Trade.

The court said that Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds was "faced with the blunt choice of accepting the F-35 carve out or withdrawing from the F-35 programme and accepting all the defence and diplomatic consequences which would ensue".

The government also argued pulling out of the defence programme could undermine US confidence in the UK and Nato.

But human rights groups argue that the global rule of law is under threat over Gaza.

"The atrocities we are witnessing in Gaza are precisely because governments don't think the rules should apply to them," said Yasmine Ahmed, UK director of Human Rights Watch.

"Judicial deference to the executive in this case has left the Palestinians in Gaza without access to the protections of international law, despite the government and the court acknowledging that there is a serious risk that UK equipment might be used to facilitate or carry out atrocities against them."

The government says it will continue to keep its defence export licensing under review.

"The court has upheld this government's thorough and lawful decision-making on this matter," a spokesman said.

Lawyers for the human rights groups are considering if they can find grounds to appeal.
The Times of Israel adds:
Al-Haq alleged that the UK broke domestic and international law and was complicit in atrocities against Palestinians by allowing essential components for the warplanes to be supplied to Israel.

The government said the ruling showed it had rigorous export rules and it would continue to review its licensing agreements, a spokesperson said.

The government last year suspended about 30 of 350 existing export licenses for equipment deemed to be for use in the conflict in Gaza because of a “clear risk” the items could be used to violate international humanitarian law. Equipment included parts for helicopters and drones.

But an exemption was made for some licenses related to components of F-35 fighter jets, which are indirectly supplied to Israel through the global spare parts supply chain and have been linked to bombing the Gaza Strip.

While Al-Haq argued the UK shouldn’t continue to export parts through what it called a “deliberate loophole,” given the government’s own assessment of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law, the government said the parts were distributed to a collaboration involving the US and six other partners to produce the jets.

Al-Haq had its offices in Ramallah shuttered by Israel in 2022, 10 months after the Defense Ministry designated Al-Haq and several other Palestinian groups as terrorist organizations over their alleged links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a leftist terror group. The international community has asserted that Israel has failed to provide convincing evidence to back up its claims.

Components manufactured in the UK are sent to assembly lines in the US, Italy and Japan that supply partners — including Israel — with jets and spare parts, the court said.
Related:
Al-Haq : 2025-05-15 ‘’Rights’’ groups take UK government to court over supply of F-35 parts to Israel
Al-Haq : 2025-03-22 New Report Shows U.S. Charities Helping Fund Groups Linked To Hamas and PFLP
Al-Haq : 2024-12-10 Inside story: Hezbollah, Iran and the downfall of Assad
Related:
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine: 2025-04-30 IDF says 3 key terrorists killed in recent strikes, including leader of Oct. 7 Kissufim attack
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine: 2025-04-30 France complains after Israel bars entry to officials; denies claims groups linked to PFLP
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine: 2025-04-13 Universities/Black Bloc/Iran proxies all together: Round-up 4/6-4/12/2025
Link


Arabia
UAE top court upholds life terms for 24 convicted for ‘terror’ links in controversial mass trial
2025-06-29
Do not pass go, do not collect $200. It’s straight to jail for you lot, boys.
[IsraelTimes] The UAE supreme court has jailed 24 people for life after upholding their convictions for “terrorist” links, which had been dismissed following a mass trial criticized by human rights groups.

“The Criminal Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court ruled [on Thursday] to partially overturn the judgment issued by the State Security Chamber at the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal and to reconvict 24 defendants,” the United Arab Emirates’ official WAM news agency reports.

The 24 were originally convicted in a mass trial of 84 people in July last year, most of whom had been behind bars since a similar mass trial of 94 people in 2013, according to human rights groups.

“Following yesterday’s ruling… the total number of convicted individuals in this case has risen to 83 out of 84 referred to trial,” WAM says. Sixty-seven of them were jailed for life.

“The court sentenced the defendants to life imprisonment for collaborating with the ‘Terrorist Justice and Dignity Organisation’, and providing funds to the Al-Islah,”
…translates as The Reform, it is the UAE branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, formed on a core of Egyptian Brotherhooders who fled Nasser’s crackdown in the 1960s. Recruited by the government of one of the emirates as teachers to counter pan-Arab national socialist enthusiasts, they were tapped to run a number of domestic government ministries even as they formed a militant arm to overthrow the government, for which they were banned as terrorists in 2014. This despite two of their number having been involved in 9/11…
WAM adds, referring to a group with ties to the outlawed Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood.

The original 2013 trial of the so-called UAE 94 followed a round-up of dozens of government critics, including activists, lawyers, students and teachers in the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings around the region. It was strongly criticized by human rights groups.

In March, the UAE rejected the appeals of 53 of those convicted in the July 2024 trial.

The Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court overturned the convictions of the other 24 defendants, but the attorney general sought to reverse that decision, arguing it had been “legally flawed.”

Prominent activist Ahmed Mansoor and academic Nasser bin Ghaith were among those tried last July, Human Rights Watch says.

The UAE, a federation of seven absolute monarchies, prohibits criticism of its rulers and any speech that is deemed likely to spark social unrest.

The Emirati courts have convicted dozens of citizens and Egyptian expats of forming clandestine cells, including Al-Islah.
Related:
UAE: 2025-06-27 Trump and Bibi Working on a Super Duper 8 Party Deal
UAE: 2025-06-25 Report: Xi Jinping to Miss BRICS Summit for First Time Ever After Bloc Fails Member Iran
UAE: 2025-06-22 Hot air balloon catches fire and crashes in Brazil, killing eight
Related:
Al-Islah: 2024-07-08 Baghdad Operations Command overthrows a fugitive ''ISIS'' terrorist south of Baghdad
Al-Islah: 2024-04-16 Good Morning
Al-Islah: 2023-03-08 UAE Sends Intelligence Unit to Support STC Against Saudi Moves in Socotra
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Kurds deny plans to transfer ISIS camp control to Damascus
2025-06-23
[Rudaw] Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria (Rojava) have not discussed handing over control of camps housing families of Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) members to the Syrian interim government with either Washington or Damascus, a senior Rojava official told Rudaw late Friday, days after the US embassy in Syria appeared to back such a transfer of control.

The embassy said in a post on X on Tuesday that Washington "commits to a responsible transfer operation for managing" camps in Rojava to the interim Syrian government. The post was later deleted, but a screengrab of it was shared by Charles Lister, director of Middle East Institute’s Syria program.

Rudaw English reached out to the US embassy in Ankara, which oversees the American mission in Syria, for clarification on the deleted post on Saturday but did not receive an immediate response.

Sheikhmous Ahmed, who supervises northeast Syria’s camps for the displaced, told Rudaw English that he saw the embassy’s statement and denied any plans to give up control of the camps that house around 40,000 people with alleged ties to ISIS.

"What they shared is not true. A few days ago, we transferred some families from al-Hol camp to Aleppo city, which is under the control of the interim government of Damascus," Ahmed said.

He added that the US funds humanitarian organizations to transfer the families.

"These camps will not be handed over to the [Syrian] government. The US and the Damascus government have nothing to do with these camps. The Damascus government is only allowed to receive their people and the US can provide assistance in this regard through their humanitarian organization," he said. "There has been no discussions on the handover."

There are several camps in Rojava housing displaced people. The main ones are al-Hol and Roj.

Conditions in al-Hol camp are poor and draw frequent criticism from international monitors. Human Rights Watch said in a report in February that people held in the camp face an uncertain future.

"People detained unlawfully in al-Hol and Roj camps should not be left to languish forever," said Hiba Zayadin, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Their dire situation needs to be included in discussions about Syria’s future, and the fragility of the situation in Syria should push countries to repatriate their nationals with even greater urgency."

Weeks after the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
’s regime in December, Rojava authorities announced that Syrians held in al-Hol camp could voluntarily return to their homes. In May, Ahmed said they had reached an agreement with Damascus to "establish a joint mechanism for evacuating Syrian families from al-Hol camp and returning them to their original areas."

The return of Syrians displaced by the conflict was also part of a landmark agreement signed in March between Rojava and Damascus.

"Ensuring the return of all displaced Syrians to their towns and villages and ensuring their protection by the Syrian state," reads the agreement, though it does not mention control of Rojava’s camps.

Nearly half of al-Hol’s population is Iraqis. Baghdad is repatriating its nationals in groups of several hundred at a time, putting them through a rehabilitation program before they can return to their home regions.

There are also a significant number of other nationals in the camps. The Iraqi government will hold a conference in Geneva in September to encourage countries to repatriate their citizens from the camp, Iraq’s national security advisor announced earlier this month.
Link


International-UN-NGOs
EU report finds ‘indications’ that Israeli actions in Gaza violate cooperation deal
2025-06-21
Ugh.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli official slams review of pact governing Israel-EU ties for ‘exemplifying the double standards’ of the European Union; bloc’s FMs to discuss report but concrete decisions unlikely

The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
’s diplomatic service said on Friday there were indications that Israel had breached its human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
obligations under the terms of a pact governing its ties with the bloc, according to a document seen by Rooters.

Citing assessments by independent international institutions, the European External Action Service said "there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement."

The report comes after months of deepening concern in European capitals about Israel’s operations against Hamas
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip and the humanitarian situation in the enclave.

"Israel’s continued restrictions to the provision of food, medicines, medical equipment, and other vital supplies affect the entire population of Gaza present on the affected territory," the document said.

Asked about the EU review, an Israeli official called it "a one-sided report that exemplifies the double standards the EU uses towards Israel."

Under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which came into force in 2000, the EU and Israel agreed that their relationship "shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles."

The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, announced in May that the bloc would examine whether Israel was complying with the terms of the pact, after over half of EU members backed the conducting of a review.

The report includes a section dedicated to the situation in Gaza, covering issues related to denial of humanitarian aid, attacks with a significant number of casualties, attacks on hospitals and medical facilities, displacement, and lack of accountability.

The report also looks at the situation in the West Bank, including settler violence.

The document relies on "facts verified by and assessments made by independent international institutions, and with a focus on most recent events in Gaza and the West Bank," it said.

Israel has said that it respects international law and that operations in Gaza are necessary to destroy Hamas, the Paleostinian terror group responsible for the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, which started the ongoing war in the Strip.

EU foreign ministers are set to discuss the review during a gathering in Brussels on Monday. Member countries remain divided in their approach to Israel.

While some ministers could advocate for moving toward taking action based on the review, no concrete decisions are expected at Monday’s session.

Diplomats expect EU officials will reach out to Israel with the outcome of the review in an effort to influence it, and that ministers will return to the subject during a July meeting.

Several European diplomats said they expected Kallas to propose some options during that meeting, with one stressing no action was likely to be agreed on before the end of the summer, adding the war in Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
has moved the goalposts — pushing some nations to voice renewed support for Israel.

The EU is Israel’s biggest commercial partner, with 42.6 billion euros ($48.2 billion) traded in goods in 2024. Trade in services reached 25.6 billion euros in 2023.

More than 100 aid groups and other organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, on Thursday urged Brussels to suspend the EU-Israel agreement "at least in part."

Suspending the EU-Israel accord outright would require unanimity among member states — something diplomats have said from the outset was virtually impossible.

Halting diplomatic dialogue with Israel — a measure that was already rejected last year — also requires backing from all EU countries.

Trade measures could instead be adopted with a qualified majority, diplomats said, cautioning however that agreeing on those might also prove tricky.
Link


Africa Horn
Sudanese army denies Nyala bombing as HRW details civilian toll
2025-06-06
[SUDANTRIBUNE] The Sudan
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
ese army on Wednesday denied a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accusing it of using unguided bombs in early February Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s on residential and commercial areas of Nyala, South Darfur State.

Brigadier General Nabil Abdallah, the army's spokesperson, stated that HRW's claims of bombing civilians were ''untrue and detached from reality.'' He called the report part of ''an international conspiracy targeting Sudan and its people,'' criticizing the watchdog for ignoring ''atrocities and violations committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against civilians.''

Abdallah added, ''We affirm that the militia — the RSF — is directly and systematically targeting public facilities, including health institutions, water sources, and electricity, before the eyes of the international community without any significant action.''

HRW, in its report, asserted that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) killed ''scores of civilians'' in these attacks. It deemed them ''indiscriminate'' and ''apparent war crimes.'' The report specified the use of unguided air-dropped bombs, like OFAB-250 and FAB-series general-purpose bombs. These weapons have wide-area effects and limited accuracy, making them unsuitable for targeting military objectives in populated areas.

The watchdog detailed repeated army attacks on Nyala, home to over 800,000 people, since the RSF took control in October 2023. These assaults were indiscriminate, with bombs hitting areas not designated as military targets.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
EU sanctions Syrian militia groups over deadly violence against Alawites
2025-05-29
[IsraelTimes] The EU imposes sanctions on three Syrian militia groups and two of their leaders for serious human rights abuses over their alleged involvement in deadly ethnic violence in March, an official document showed.
All three are units in Turkey’s Syrian National Army.
The Sultan Sulaiman Shah Brigade, the Hamza Division and the Sultan Murad Division, as well as the heads of the first two kkgroups, were added to Brussels’ sanction list for their “part in the violence in the coastal region of Syria, targeting civilians and especially the Alawite community,” the EU’s official journal reads.
Rudaw adds:

“In relation to the wave of violence that took place in Syria’s coastal region in March 2025, the Council has introduced new restrictive measures under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, targeting two individuals and three entities for serious human rights abuses,” the EU Council said in a statement.

Included in the sanctions list are Mohammed Hussein al-Jassim (Abu Amsha) and Seyf Boulad Abu Bakr, the notorious commanders of the Turkish-backed Suleiman Shah Brigade and Hamza Division, respectively, as well as their associated factions and the Sultan Murad Division.

The SNA is a coalition of militias backed by Turkey that have largely been integrated into the Syrian defense ministry. Throughout the course of the Syrian civil war, they have been complicit in attacks on minority communities such as Kurds and Alawites.

The EU accused all three factions of “targeting civilians and especially the Alawite community, including by committing torture and arbitrary killings of civilians,” stressing that they are “therefore responsible for serious human rights abuses.”

The measures are binding and directly applicable in all EU member states.

In March, violence erupted in Alawite-majority areas after armed groups, many loyal to ousted president Bashar al-Assad, launched attacks on forces allied with the government, prompting Damascus to respond with force.

Around 1,500 people, mainly Alawite civilians, were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said most of the casualties were caused by government or government-affiliated forces.

Two weeks ago, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Damascus to exclude those with records of abuse from the Syrian security forces - referring to SNA militants - and said the fighters continue to detain and extort civilians in northern Syria.

Syria’s new authorities have faced backlash, particularly from the Kurds, for appointing militia figures complicit in serious human rights abuses against the community.

Sharaa’s interim government, headed by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has faced repeated criticism for its treatment of minority groups, with many Syrians and foreign powers fearing it will impose strict religious rule, posing a threat to Kurds, Druze, Christians, and Alawites. The violence heightened concerns over the future of these populations.

On May 20, the EU officially decided to lift all economic sanctions on Syria.

“The Council has also removed 21 entities from the EU list of those subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources,” the Council said on Wednesday. “Several of these entities are banks, including the Central Bank of Syria, or companies operating in key sectors for Syria’s economic recovery.”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas hailed the decision, saying it comes at a “historic” time to safeguard Syria’s economic recovery.

“The EU has stood with the Syrian people throughout the last 14 years, and it will continue to do so. Today the EU reaffirms its commitment as a partner for the transition,” Kallas said.
Link


International-UN-NGOs
Trump’s sanctions on ICC prosecutor said to have halted tribunal’s work
2025-05-16
[IsraelTimes] Key organizations paused cooperation with International Criminal Court, chief prosecutor Karim Khan lost email access; US measures response to arrest warrants issued for Israeli leaders

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has lost access to his email, and his bank accounts have been frozen.

The Hague-based court’s American staffers have been told that if they travel to the US they risk arrest.

Some non-governmental organizations have stopped working with the ICC and the leaders of one won’t even reply to emails from court officials.

Those are just some of the hurdles facing court staff since US President Donald Trump
...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party...
in February slapped sanctions on its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, according to interviews with current and former ICC officials, international lawyers and human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
advocates.

The sanctions will "prevent victims from getting access to justice," warned Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

Trump sanctioned the court after a panel of ICC judges in November issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then-defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The US and Israel are not members of the court.

Judges found there was reason to believe that the pair may have committed war crimes by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s campaign against the Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
terror group in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
— charges Israeli officials deny.

Israel says it goes to great lengths to avoid harming civilians as it targets Hamas and other terror groups who have built a warren of fortified tunnels under Gaza and routinely use civilian infrastructure like schools and hospitals as command centers and to carry out attacks.

Staffers and allies of the ICC said the sanctions have made it increasingly difficult for the tribunal to conduct basic tasks, let alone seek justice for victims of war crimes or genocide.

A spokesperson for the ICC and for Khan declined to comment. In February, ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane said that the sanctions "constitute serious attacks against the Court’s States Parties, the rule of law based international order and millions of victims."

ORDER TARGETS CHIEF PROSECUTOR
The February order bans Khan and other non-Americans among the ICC’s 900 staff members from entering the United States. It also threatens any person, institution or company with fines and prison time if they provide Khan with "financial, material, or technological support."

The sanctions are hampering work on a broad array of investigations, not just the one into Israel’s leaders.

The ICC, for example, had been investigating atrocities in Sudan
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
and had issued arrest warrants for former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir
...Former President-for-Life of Sudan. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself head cheese. He fell out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. He was overthrown by popular consent in 2019. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it...
on charges that include genocide. That probe has ground to a halt even as reports mount of new atrocities in Sudan, according to an attorney representing an ICC prosecutor who is fighting the sanctions in US courts. The prosecutor, Eric Iverson, filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking protection from the sanctions.

Her client "cannot do, what I would describe as, basic lawyer functions," said Allison Miller, who is representing Iverson in the suit.

American staffers at the organization, like Iverson, have been warned by its attorneys that they risk arrest if they return home to visit family, according to ICC officials. Six bigwigs have left the court over concerns about sanctions.

One reason the court has been hamstrung is that it relies heavily on contractors and non-governmental organizations. Those businesses and groups have curtailed work on behalf of the court because they were concerned about being targeted by US authorities, according to current and former ICC staffers.

Microsoft, for example, cancelled Khan’s email address, forcing the prosecutor to move to Proton Mail, a Swiss email provider, ICC staffers said. His bank accounts in his home country of the United Kingdom have been blocked.

Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.

Staffers at a non-governmental organization that plays an integral role in the court’s efforts to gather evidence and find witnesses said the group has transferred money out of US bank accounts because they fear it might be seized by the Trump administration.

Senior leadership at two other US-based human rights organizations told the AP that their groups have stopped working with the ICC. A senior staffer at one told the AP that employees have even stopped replying to emails from court officials out of fear of triggering a response from the Trump administration.

The cumulative effect of such actions has led ICC staffers to openly wonder whether the organization can survive the Trump administration, according to ICC officials who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.

Said one such official: "It’s hard to see how the court makes it through the next four years."

TRUMP ALLEGED ICC’S ACTIONS WERE BASELESS
Trump, a staunch supporter of Netanyahu, issued his sanctions order shortly after retaking office, accusing the ICC of "illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel." Washington says the court has no jurisdiction over Israel.

Trump’s order said the ICC’s "actions against Israel and the United States set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel, including active service members of the Armed Forces." He said the court’s "malign conduct" threatens "the illusory sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States Government."

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Netanyahu has dismissed the ICC’s allegations as "absurd," and Israel’s Knesset is considering legislation that would make providing evidence to the court a crime.

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led turbans stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 as hostages to Gaza. Of those, 57, over half of whom are believed dead, are still in captivity, plus the body of a soldier held for the past decade.

COPING WITH DARK HUMOR
Inside the court, staffers have been coping with dark humor, joking about how they cannot even loan Khan a pen or risk appearing on the US radar.

This is not the first time the ICC has drawn Trump’s ire. In 2020, the former Trump administration sanctioned Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, and one of her deputies over the court’s investigation into alleged crimes committed in Afghanistan while the United States military was operating in the country.

US president Joe The Big Guy Biden
...46th president of the U.S. Joe's wife and daughter weren't killed by a drunk driver. He didn't graduate with three or even two degrees, wasn't in the top half of his law class, and his daddy didn't come home from a hard day's work in the mines and play football with the guys. The NAACP hasn't endorsed him every time he's run....
rescinded the sanctions when he took office several months later.

Three lawsuits are now pending from US court staff and consultants against the Trump administration, arguing that the sanctions infringe on their freedom of expression. Earlier this week Iverson, the lawyer investigating genocide in Sudan, won temporary protection from prosecution but if other US citizens at the court want a similar assurance, they would have to bring their own complaint.

Meanwhile,
...back at the abandoned silver mine, a triangular dorsal fin appeared in the water. Then another...
the court is facing an increasing lack of cooperation from countries normally considered to be its staunchest supporters.

The ICC has no enforcement apparatus of its own and relies on member states. In the last year, three countries — including two in the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
— have refused to execute warrants issued by the court.

The renewed assault from the Trump administration comes as the court was already facing internal challenges. Last year, just weeks before Khan announced he was requesting arrest warrants for the Israeli officials, two court staff reported the British barrister had harassed a female aide, according to reporting by the News Agency that Dare Not be Named.

Khan has categorically denied the accusations that he groped and tried to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship. A United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
investigation is underway, and Khan has since been accused of retaliating against staff who supported the woman, including demoting several people he felt were critical of him.
Related:
International Criminal Court: 2025-05-13 Israel asks ICC to withdraw arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant
International Criminal Court: 2025-05-12 Sexual allegations against Khan spurred Israeli ICC arrest warrants, report suggests
International Criminal Court: 2025-05-06 Israeli gov’t report accuses West of bolstering antisemitism by criticizing Israel
Related:
Karim Khan 05/12/2025 Sexual allegations against Khan spurred Israeli ICC arrest warrants, report suggests
Karim Khan 05/06/2025 Israeli gov’t report accuses West of bolstering antisemitism by criticizing Israel
Karim Khan 04/30/2025 ICC prosecutor reportedly ordered to keep silent on arrest warrants for Israelis

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian militants continue abuses in north Syria despite integration: HRW
2025-05-15
[Rudaw] Syrian National Army (SNA) Death Eaters continue to detain and extort civilians in northern Syria despite a decline in arrests in recent months, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report said on Wednesday, warning that commanders complicit in serious human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
abuses are now being integrated into Syria’s official military structure.

"These fighters are being integrated into Syria’s Armed Forces, with their commanders appointed to key government and military positions, despite their past involvement in serious abuses," HRW said, calling on the transitional government in Damascus to "end and investigate ongoing abused and exclude those with records of abuse from the Syrian security forces."

The report cited Syrian for Truth and Justice (STJ) - a local human rights organization - which last month documented dozens of arrests by SNA factions in January and February. Despite the removal of most SNA checkpoints in the vicinity of the Kurdish city of Afrin in northern Syria, "hundreds remain detained in SNA-run, Ottoman Turkish-supervised prisons."

The watchdog also cited a December attack by fighters from the SNA’s notorious Suleiman Shah Brigade, who allegedly took control of a village in Aleppo province, beat residents, stole personal belongings, and arrested seven men "under the pretext of searching for weapons." Two of the men "remained in detention" as of early May, according to the HRW.

It also referred to earlier reports that detail "abductions, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detentions, including of children, sexual violence, and torture by the various factions of the SNA, the Military Police, a force established to curb such abuses, and members of the Ottoman Turkish Armed Forces and Ottoman Turkish intelligence agencies."

"The primary targets were Kurds and those linked to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Turkiye considers part of the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK], which announced its dissolution on May 12," HRW said.

"Turkiye, which still oversees former SNA factions and continues to provide weapons, salaries, training, and logistical support to these factions, also bears responsibility for their abuses and potential war crimes," it added.

In 2018, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
and its allied Syrian militias seized control of Afrin, a Kurdish enclave in Rojava. Thousands of Kurds fled, with many settling in the nearby Shahba region. International organizations have recorded widespread violations in Afrin since then, including killings, kidnappings, looting of crops, and extortion of Kurdish farmers.

In December, the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS) launched a blistering offensive from their stronghold of Idlib in northwest Syria and marched on Damascus, overthrowing Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
’s regime. HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa set up a transitional government and appointed himself as interim president.

But Syria’s new authorities have faced backlash, particularly from the Kurds, for appointing militia leaders complicit in serious human rights abuses, including Ahmad al-Hayes, better known as Abu Hatem Shaqra, the former leader of the SNA’s Ahrar al-Sharqiya, and Mohammad Hussein al-Jassim (Abu Amsha), the notorious commander of the Suleiman Shah Brigade.

In 2021, the US sanctioned Hayes, accusing him of serious human rights violations, including trafficking Yazidi women and kiddies, and connections with the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS). He is also accused by Syrian Kurds of killing popular Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf during Turkey’s 2019 military offensive against the Kurdish-led SDF in northern Syria.

Washington has also sanctioned Abu Amsha for "serious human rights abuses" in the Afrin region and for ordering his Death Eaters to "forcibly displace Kurdish residents and seize their property" in northern Syria.

"The fall of Assad’s abusive government has meant decades of atrocities by that government have come to an end," said Adam Coogle, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "But Syrian National Army factions are continuing to detain, extort, and torture residents with impunity."

Notably, Damascus has also faced criticism over a deadly crackdown in the Alawite-majority coastal areas, where at least 1,500 people, mostly civilians, were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In late April, over 100 were also killed in southern Syria’s Druze-majority areas after sectarian violence erupted like lava from a volcano following a fake audio clip insulting the Prophet Muhammad, initially blamed on a Druze holy man.

Sharaa met with locals in Afrin in February and pledged to remove gangs and end abuses. In March, he signed a landmark agreement with SDF chief Mazloum Abdi to integrate the SDF into Syria’s state institutions, declare a nationwide ceasefire, and facilitate the return of displaced Syrians under government protection.

The deal resulted in a prisoner swap and a joint security arrangement in Kurdish-majority neighborhoods north of Aleppo previously held by the People’s Protection Units (YPG) - the SDF’s backbone.

Ahmed Hassan, head of Afrin’s council of the Kurdish National Council (ENKS), told Rudaw in March that the number of Kurds returning to Afrin has significantly increased since the deal, with some Arab settlers reportedly leaving the city.

However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt...
Nadine Maenza, president of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Secretariat and former chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), told Rudaw in April that many displaced Kurds and Yazidis are still afraid to return due to militia presence.

"The Syrian transitional government should urgently unify its military under an accountable command with civilian oversight and ensure adherence to international human rights standards. It should take steps to prevent further abuses against Kurdish and other residents in northern Syria, ensure the release of all arbitrarily detained people, and investigate past abuses with fair legal proceedings," HRW said, also calling on Ankara to suspend its support to abusive SNA commanders and factions and provide reparations to victims.

The human rights watchdog also called on the international community to provide assistance to ensure that civilians are protected under the new transitional authorities, "including supporting an independent judiciary to ensure lawful detention and treatment of detainees."

"As Syria’s transitional government is integrating into its ranks SNA factions and other gangs, it must exclude those in the SNA that are responsible for abuses and hold them accountable," Coogle said. "If it doesn’t do so, the Syrian people will not be able to trust their armed forces and will be vulnerable to yet more abuse."
Related:
Syrian National Army: 2025-04-10 Syrian Kurds struggle to repair key dam damaged by militants
Syrian National Army: 2025-03-18 SDF says nine civilians killed in Kobane airstrike
Syrian National Army: 2025-03-12 SDF reports 'unprecedented' escalation with Turkey in northern Syria
Link


Africa North
Tunisia opposition figures get jail terms in mass trial; defense pans ‘masquerade’
2025-04-21
[IsraelTimes] Court hands out sentences of up to 66 years for 40 defendants, including prominent opponents of President Saied; French intellectual Bernard Henri-Levy said ordered jailed in absentia

A Tunisian court has handed down jail sentences of up to 66 years to multiple defendants, including prominent opposition figures, in a mass trial criticized by rights groups.

The trial, decried by a defense lawyer as a "masquerade," is of unprecedented scale with around 40 defendants including vocal critics of President Kais Saied.

A prosecutor cited on Saturday by local media announced sentences ranging from 13 to 66 years for the defendants, accused of "conspiracy against state security" and "belonging to a terrorist group."

However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go...
a list communicated to AFP by several lawyers, and "subject to official confirmation," indicates minimum sentences of four years.

Among those sentenced were well-known opposition figures, lawyers and business people, with some already in prison for two years while others were in exile or still free.

Appeals are planned, defense lawyer Abdessatar Messaoudi said.

Bassam Khawaja of Human Rights Watch posted on X: "The court did not give even a semblance of a fair trial." The charges, he said, "appear unfounded and based on no credible evidence."

According to the list supplied by lawyers, those accused who are abroad, including French intellectual Bernard Henri-Levy, received 33-year jail terms.

The same penalty was handed down to feminist activist Bochra Belhaj Hmida and the former head of the presidential office, Nadia Akacha.

Issam Chebbi and Jawhar Ben Mbarek of the opposition National Salvation Front coalition, as well as lawyer Ridha Belhaj and activist Chaima Issa, were sentenced to 18 years behind bars, Messaoudi told AFP.

HARSHEST PENALTY
Activist Khayam Turki was handed a 48-year term while businessman Kamel Eltaief received the harshest penalty — 66 years in prison, the list showed.

Turki’s cousin, Hayder Turki, told AFP he was "very saddened" by the verdict, saying: "He doesn’t deserve this — he’s a great man, his crime was being involved in politics."

Two former leaders of the Islamist Ennahdha party,
...the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia...
which was Saied’s main rival, were also sentenced. Abdelhamid Jelassi and Noureddine Bhiri received 13 and 43 years respectively, according to the list.

Kamel Jendoubi, a rights advocate and former minister tried in absentia, decried a "judicial liquidation" by the courts.

"This is not a judiciary ruling, but a political decree executed by judges under orders, by complicit prosecutors and by a justice minister" who all serve "a paranoid autocrat," Jendoubi charged.

Since Saied launched a power grab in the summer of 2021 and assumed total control, rights advocates and opposition figures have decried a rollback of freedoms in the North African country where the 2011 Arab Spring began.

Late Friday, defense lawyers denounced the trial after the judge finished reading the accusations and began deliberation without hearing from either the prosecution or the defense.

One lawyer, Samia Abbou, told AFP there were "flagrant violations of judicial procedure" with the accused "not heard" during the "masquerade."

Friday’s hearing lasted much of the day and was held amid tight security. Media and foreign diplomats were barred from the proceedings.

Since the trial began on March 4, defense lawyers have repeatedly called for all the defendants to appear in court, including at least six who went on a hunger strike.

The lawyers denounced the case as "empty," while HRW said the trial was taking place in the context of repression with Saied "weaponizing the judicial system to target opponents and dissidents."

Analyst Hatem Nafti posted on X that any acquittal in the mass trial "would have negated the conspiratorial narrative that the regime has relied on since 2021" and "accepted by a large part of the population" relying on restricted media coverage.
Related:
Tunisia: 2025-04-19 US envoy: I’m sure Edan Alexander is in a decent place; we’ll come for Hamas if he’s harmed
Tunisia: 2025-04-16 Cultural Factors Drive 'Disproportionate' Crime Among Migrant Groups: Renowned Swiss Psychiatrist
Tunisia: 2025-04-15 Trump admin secures release of American missionary held in Tunisia for 13 months, 27th American prisoner Trump got freed
Related:
Ennahdha party: 2023-05-17 Tunisia’s moderate Islamist leader gets year in jail after trial decried as sham
Ennahdha party: 2023-04-19 Detained Tunisian Islamist leader hospitalized, lawyer says
Ennahdha party: 2022-11-29 Tunisia ex-speaker in court again over alleged jihadist links
Link


International-UN-NGOs
Despite withdrawing, US still managing to influence UN Human Rights Council
2025-04-06
Consequences guide choices, even after Uncle Sugar stopped paying for the thing.
[IsraelTimes] Diplomats say US lobbying succeeds in blunting Pakistani effort to set up highest-level UN investigation on Israel’s actions in the West Bank and Gaza

Two months after US President Donald Trump
...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried....
announced a halt to American engagement with the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
Human Rights Council, Washington is influencing its work by applying pressure publicly and behind the scenes, seven diplomats and rights workers said.

The United States left its seat empty during a six-week session of the 47-member council ending on Friday, but its lobbying and pressure had some success, the sources told Rooters.

They said the US, which has accused the council of an anti-Israel bias, had focused on blunting a proposal by Pakistain on the creation of an International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM),
…the name most definitely not being an accurate description of the thing, but the Pakis were a tad overexcited and the words just erupted…
the most rigorous type of UN investigation, on Israel’s actions in the West Bank and Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
The version of Pakistain’s proposal that was passed on Wednesday by the council, whose mission is to promote and protect human rights
...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state...
worldwide, did not include the creation of the IIIM.

The council already has a commission of inquiry on the Paleostinian Territories, but Pakistain’s proposal would have created an additional probe with extra powers to gather evidence for possible use in international courts.

A March 31 letter sent by Brian Mast, Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, and James R. Risch, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, cautioned against voting the proposal through.

"Any HRC member state or UN entity that supports an Israel-specific IIM...will face the same consequences as the ICC faced," the letter said.

It appeared to be referring to sanctions approved by the House of Representatives on the International Criminal Court in protest at its arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister over Israel’s campaign in Gaza.

The final version of Pakistain’s proposal referred only to an invitation to the UN General Assembly to consider an IIIM in the future.

Two Geneva-based diplomats said they had received messages from US diplomats before the change of wording asking them to oppose the new investigation.

"They were saying: ’back off on this issue’," said one, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rooters could not establish whether the revision was a direct result of US actions.

A US State Department spokesperson said it was complying with the executive order signed by Trump on Feb. 4, withdrawing the US from the council and would not participate in it, adding: "As a matter of policy, we do not comment on private diplomatic conversations."

Pakistain’s diplomatic mission in Geneva did not respond to a request for comment.

"The US seems to be trying to have it both ways. It doesn’t want to pay for or participate in the UN but it still wants to boss it around," said Lucy McKernan, Deputy Director for United Nations at Human Rights Watch’s Geneva office.

The US was once the top donor to the UN rights system, but Trump has said the UN is "not being well run," and aid cuts by his administration have forced scalebacks.

The US and Israel are not members of the council but, like all UN member states have informal observer status and a seat in the council’s meeting chamber.
Related:
Human Rights Council: 2025-03-28 Trump pulls Stefanik’s nomination for UN envoy due to GOP’s slim House majority
Human Rights Council: 2025-02-17 Hosting Rubio Sunday, Netanyahu says ‘gates of hell will surely open’ if all hostages not freed
Human Rights Council: 2025-02-08 In meeting with Sa’ar, top Italian diplomat says Rome will no longer work with UNRWA
Link


India-Pakistan
Pakistan begins forced deportation of Afghan migrants after March 31 deadline ends
2025-04-03
[KhaamaPress] Pakistain has started deporting Afghan migrants colonists after the March 31 deadline, with no extension granted for voluntary departure.

The Pak government has begun deporting Afghans living in the country without legal documents, starting today, Tuesday, April 1st, after the deadline for voluntary departure expired.

Pak media reports that after the expiration of this deadline, the process of deporting Afghan migrants colonists has formally begun. Despite widespread concerns, international organizations and human rights
...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state...
groups had urged the government to extend this deadline.

Geo News reported on Tuesday, April 1st, that officials in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province confirmed the operation to expel Afghan migrants colonists will proceed without extending the previous deadline.

From the morning of Tuesday, April 1, reports from major cities in Pakistain, including Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...

, Lahore, Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
, and Islamabad, indicated the start of security forces’ operations to identify and detain illegal migrants colonists.

Illegal Afghan migrants colonists, after being arrested, are transferred to temporary centers and then deported through border crossings to Afghanistan. Eyewitnesses report that police and security forces are conducting patrols in areas with large migrant populations and carrying out house-to-house inspections.

The United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
, through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has repeatedly warned about the humanitarian consequences of these deportations.

These organizations have assessed that many Afghan migrants colonists, who fled to Pakistain after the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, face serious risks such as harassment, insecurity, and lack of basic necessities if returned to their home country.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have also criticized the forced deportations, arguing they violate international laws, particularly the principle of "Non-Refoulement." Amnesty has called on Pakistain to halt this process.
Link



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